Change of Mood
The next day. The Dukedom's garden.
"Haa…"
Perhaps the events of last night were quite a shock, as Leje had been in low spirits since morning.
It was only natural when you thought about it.
Wasn't it the only coming-of-age ceremony in her life?
Since that ceremony had been ruined, anyone, not just Leje, would have reacted this way.
"…"
Of course, from Rudell's perspective, who could be considered the cause of it all, it was like sitting on pins and needles.
"Are you alright?"
With a feeling as if a large needle was pricking his conscience, Rudell cautiously asked Leje.
"I'm fine. It's just… My head is a bit messy."
What in the world had happened?
Whether it was fortunate or not, not many people were injured in the incident.
Most of the injuries were just scrapes that occurred in the chaos, and the most seriously injured person only had a few pieces of glass lightly embedded in their body.
There was only one fatality.
[Everything… is… for the true god…]
The unidentified man who had said those words and set himself on fire.
She wasn't sure, but she could clearly sense that he had harbored hostility towards her.
[…]
At that time, if the unidentified person who had protected her hadn't appeared and dispelled those ominous flames, what would have become of her now…?
Just imagining the situation made Leje feel cold sweat trickling down her back.
"…"
Meanwhile, Rudell found it difficult to hide his discomfort as he watched Leje.
It was only natural, as he had ruined his only friend's coming-of-age ceremony, even if it was for a greater cause.
Rudell wasn't cold-hearted enough to treat Leje as if nothing had happened.
'Hmm…'
It would be nice if there was something to cheer Leje up…
As Rudell was looking at Leje with a low groan,
"Ah…"
At that moment, something flashed through Rudell's mind, and he said with a triumphant smile,
"Leje, do you have any other plans today?"
"Huh? Plans? Why are you suddenly asking about that?"
Leje looked at him with a puzzled voice at Rudell's sudden question.
"How about we go to the city together to change your mood?"
"The city?"
The way people relieve stress varies, but in Leje's case, she had a very active personality.
If she spent time moving around in the city, wouldn't her mood improve a little?
That was the thought behind his suggestion.
"What's gotten into you? You're the one suggesting going out first."
"Well, well… The weather is nice?"
Rudell answered, deliberately avoiding Leje's gaze as she looked at him as if it was unexpected.
A faint smile appeared on Leje's lips as she looked at Rudell for a moment…
"Since you're the one who suggested going out first, it wouldn't be polite to refuse, would it?"
She let out a chuckle at his answer and stood up.
"I'll go get ready. You can get ready too while you're at it."
"Yeah, alright."
Leje headed towards the inside of the mansion and disappeared from his sight. Rudell watched her for a moment before getting up from his seat.
* * *
A little while later. The city of Lagrandria.
"I always feel this way…"
"I know, I know. You're saying that Lagrandria is huge, right? You say that every time we come out."
Leje interrupted Rudell, who was looking around and speaking.
A viscounty with a total population of less than five thousand and a Duchy with a population of over a hundred thousand.
For Rudell, the difference was something he couldn't easily adapt to, even after seven years.
"So? Do you have any place in mind?"
"Of course I do."
If he didn't, he wouldn't have come out in the first place.
Rudell answered Leje's question in a confident voice and reached out his hand towards her.
"Now, shall we go, Princess?"
"Ahem! Well, if you insist."
Leje reluctantly held out her hand towards Rudell, who was speaking in an exaggerated voice, and Rudell gently took her hand with a faint smile.
Thus, the two of them walked through the streets crowded with countless people…
"Lagrandria really changes quickly."
Rudell said as he looked at the streetscape, which had completely changed even though it had only been a few months since he had last been there.
"It's close to the Royal Capital, so it's that much more sensitive to changes in trends, isn't it?"
The distance between the Royal Capital and Lagrandria was less than a day's journey.
Perhaps because it was so influenced by the Royal Capital, most people were not hesitant about change.
It was certainly a different atmosphere from the slow-paced and leisurely atmosphere of the viscounty.
"Maybe so."
Rudell let out a low chuckle at her words and continued walking.
As they walked for a while, a large square with a fountain appeared in front of them.
"Shall we get something to eat?"
"Shall we? I was just getting hungry."
Leje nodded at Rudell's question as they stopped to take a break.
Judging by her immediate response, it seemed that Leje was quite hungry as well.
Rudell took a seat on a nearby bench and began to look around for something to satisfy their hunger.
A moment later, Rudell spotted an ice cream stand not far away.
"Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back."
Leaving Leje behind, Rudell approached the stand, and a short while later, he returned with two ice creams in small cups.
"Which one do you want?"
"I'll take the vanilla flavor."
"Then I'll have the chocolate flavor."
Rudell handed the cup with vanilla to Leje and sat down next to her…
"Mmm~ Delicious!"
"You can eat as much ice cream as you want, can't you?"
Rudell asked in a puzzled voice as Leje put the ice cream in her mouth and made a blissful smile.
If she wanted, a noble like her could have mountains of ice cream and eat it all.
"I wish that were true. When I'm inside, I can't eat ice cream because it's considered junk food."
"No wonder… You don't eat the snacks you love so much when you're at the mansion."
Only then did Rudell understand why she didn't eat the sweets she loved so much when she was at the Dukedom.
How could she when she wasn't allowed to eat them in the first place?
"But that's all over now! I'm a proper adult now!"
"That's right. You're an adult now."
"What's with that reaction? It sounds like you're implying something."
"No way."
Rudell dodged Leje's suspicious gaze as she narrowed her eyes.
In this world, people were considered adults around the age of fifteen, but by Rudell's standards, fifteen was still a child.
If you want to be called an adult, at least turn nineteen, Leje.
Thinking that, Rudell smiled faintly.
Of course, Leje couldn't read minds, so all she could do was vaguely guess what Rudell was thinking.
"One more!"
Meanwhile, Leje, who had finished her ice cream in an instant, shouted at Rudell as if she was going to relieve all the frustration of not being able to eat snacks.
"I don't mind if you eat more, but it's almost lunchtime."
The clock had already passed noon.
Snacking was fine, but eating meals on time was much more important.
Both Leje and he were still growing, weren't they?
"It's okay, it's okay! This much won't even fill my stomach."
"Well, if you say so."
What could he do if she said she was fine?
Rudell got up from his seat and headed back to the stand, bringing back ice cream in a much larger cup than before.
"Here. I got you a bigger one in case it wasn't enough."
"You're the best."
With a bright smile, Leje received the ice cream and started moving the wooden spoon busily, making a cute "nom" sound.
'A hamster?'
The way she was munching on the ice cream was just like a hamster.
Seeing her like that, Rudell couldn't help but smile.
At that moment.
"Ugh…!?"
"Leje?"
A low groan escaped Leje's lips as she was enjoying her ice cream.
'Did something go wrong?'
Rudell made a puzzled sound at her sudden reaction.
"My head hurts…"
"You should have eaten it slowly…"
Rudell made a dumbfounded expression at the sight of Leje groaning with a frown.
'I thought something serious had happened.'
With a sigh of relief, Rudell pressed Leje's head, and after a moment, she started enjoying her ice cream again as if nothing had happened.
Like that, a little while later…
"Now, shall we get moving again?"
Rudell threw the empty cups into a nearby trash can and stood up.
"How much further do we have to go? Is it still far?"
"We're almost there. Just five more minutes."
It was about five minutes to their destination.
As Rudell answered Leje's question and checked on her condition,
"Wait a minute. Stay still."
"Huh? Why?"
Saying that, Rudell reached out his hand towards Leje's face.
With a confused look, Leje stopped moving, and Rudell gently brushed her lips with his hand.
"You had some ice cream on your mouth."
"…!!"
Leje flinched at the touch of his fingers brushing her lips and looked at Rudell.
If it had ended there, Leje wouldn't have minded.
However, Rudell's action of putting the ice cream from his fingertip into his mouth without any hesitation was enough to make Leje lose her composure.
"What's with that expression? Is there something wrong?"
"N-n-no, nothing's wrong!! But why did you eat that!? Don't you have a handkerchief!?"
"Handkerchief? Ah, right. I forgot."
As if he had just remembered, Rudell took out a handkerchief from his pocket at Leje's flustered outburst and started wiping his fingertip.
'This guy, really…'
Leje had a lot to say after that, but she soon shook her head and let out a short sigh.
There were mountains of things she wanted to say, but in the end, it was pointless.
What was the use of talking to someone who wasn't even aware of his own actions?
"Now, shall we get moving again?"
Looking at Rudell, who offered his hand once again as he put the handkerchief back in his pocket, Leje lightly took his hand.
With an indescribable feeling in her heart.
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If this MC turns out to be another naive type, I'll be rooting for Thanatos to flip everything over.
ReplyDeletethe title says extra, but bro is clearly not an extra with his current identity, he swapped with extra role with protagonist with hidden identity
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