After that
"Ugh... Ugh..."
Along with a low groan, the first thing that Leje saw when she opened her eyes was the all too familiar ceiling.
"Whe... re...?"
She muttered in a hazy voice and sat up, looking around.
Her blurry vision gradually became clearer as time passed, and she realized that she was in the Weinstein County's mansion...
A place now called a castle.
"What... How...?"
With her mind as foggy as mist, she slowly began to retrace her memories.
Fighting a magical beast, being swept away by an avalanche, and losing consciousness.
That was her last memory.
"Am I... dead?"
Common sense dictated that the chances of surviving such an avalanche were incredibly low.
"I don't think so..."
But all the sensations she felt were too real.
The morning sunlight streaming in through the window.
The soft feel of the bed.
The cold air of the County brushing against her skin.
All of it told her that this was reality.
"Ugh..."
As she struggled to grasp the situation, feeling a throbbing headache...
-Click.
"Huh?"
With the sound of the door opening, she turned her head towards the source of the sound.
And in her eyes, she saw a boy with an all too familiar appearance.
"Young Master, please leave the Princess's care to us!"
"This happened entirely because of my mistake. At least this much, I have to take responsibility..."
Rudell entered, ignoring the maidservant who spoke with an uncomfortable expression.
In his hands were a basin of water and wet towels.
"But...!!"
"It's fine. Leje might wake up, so just prepare a meal... Huh...?"
Rudell replied to the pleading maid and turned his head...
His voice trailed off in surprise as his eyes met Leje's, who was sitting up on the bed and looking at him.
"Oh, hey? Good morning?"
Looking at him, Leje waved her hand lightly.
"Leje!!"
At the same time, Rudell shouted as he approached her and grabbed her hand.
"Ru, Rudell!?"
She looked at Rudell with a bewildered expression, surprised by his sudden action.
His green eyes, filled with a mixture of emotions, were moist as if he was about to burst into tears.
What in the world was going on...?
She woke up in the County's castle, and why was Rudell looking at her with such an expression?
"Ugh..."
Her head spun as too many things happened at once, and she let out a low groan.
And then...
"Eh...?!"
Leje couldn't help but let out a dumbfounded voice at Rudell's next action.
Rudell, who had been staring at her for a moment, stretched out his arms and pulled her into his embrace.
"Ru, Ru, Ru, Rudell!?"
A flustered voice escaped her lips, but only for a moment.
"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry. Because of me..."
"..."
Looking at Rudell, who was speaking with bated breath, she finally understood the meaning behind his expression.
He was blaming himself.
'If only I had been a little faster, if only I had been a little more capable...'
He wasn't revealing his inner thoughts, but Leje could see right through him.
"Honestly..."
The first thing he said when she woke up was 'I'm sorry'...
What a foolish man.
Thinking that, she let out a short sigh and reached out to caress Rudell's cheek, which was trembling with his breaths.
"Leje...?"
At her action, Rudell slowly raised his head and looked at her.
What should she say in this situation?
"Rudell, can you close your eyes for a second?"
"Huh? Suddenly?"
Thinking that, she said with a faint smile, and Rudell slowly closed his eyes, despite his puzzled expression.
And after a few seconds...
"Okay, you can open them now."
Rudell slowly opened his eyes at her voice.
"Eh...?"
And a dumbfounded voice escaped his lips.
That was because what he saw was Leje's flicking finger right in front of his nose.
As Rudell watched the scene with a bewildered expression...
"You idiot!!"
Along with her angry shout, the flick landed on Rudell's forehead...
"Oof!?"
"Yo, Young Master!?"
In the County's castle...
With a loud ‘smack!’, the maid's scream echoed through the hallway.
* * *
How much time had passed...?
"Seriously... What are we going to do about this?"
Rudell pointed to the bump on his forehead, speaking in a dumbfounded tone.
"Serves you right. Think of it as punishment for not getting there in time."
Leje replied in a sassy voice, dipping her bread into the soup and popping it into her mouth.
"Ugh..."
At her words, Rudell could only let out a low groan.
In fact, he was in no position to argue with Leje.
He was the one who came up with the outrageous plan that could have buried the Duke's daughter in an avalanche.
And he was the one who actually carried it out.
It was entirely his fault that Leje was unconscious for over three days because he couldn't rescue her in time.
"So? What happened after that?"
"It's simple. The magical beast died, and the County started reconstruction. That's it."
There were some things omitted, but overall, there was no simpler explanation.
The magical beast was buried in the avalanche and died, and the County began reconstruction with the supplies that started pouring in thanks to the cooperation of the companies.
In the meantime, the wreckage of the carriage Gord, the head of the Gold Rush Company, was riding in, along with his body, was discovered and returned to his family, but there was no need to tell Leje about that.
"By the way... Are you really okay? Moving around already?"
"Look who's talking? Don't you know me? I'm the one you always tease about being an ogre."
"That's true, but..."
A normal ogre would die if caught in an avalanche...
Rudell swallowed those words.
He knew better than anyone that her body was unbelievably strong, defying common sense.
"And, that's not what you should be worried about right now, is it?"
"Yeah... That's right..."
Leje, who had scraped the bottom of her soup bowl, spoke to Rudell, and he nodded with a short sigh.
Duke Lagrind.
By now, he would have heard about what happened in the County.
What parent would stay silent when their only daughter was involved in such a dangerous incident and unconscious for days?
[We're doomed...]
[...How about we seek asylum in the Empire now?]
Even Carlos and Maria were uttering such desperate words.
A man who could be more terrifying and cruel than anyone else when it came to his only daughter.
That was Dathus El Lagrind.
"It was nice knowing you. Let's meet again in the next life if we can."
"Oh, shut up, you idiot. Nothing will happen to the County. Even if my father tries to do something, I'll stop him."
Leje clicked her tongue at Rudell, who spoke in a gloomy voice.
She stepped up for the County entirely out of her own will.
So, Leje believed that whatever happened in that situation was ultimately her responsibility.
"You don't have to push yourself... This was all my fault..."
"Tsk! I told you to stop talking about that!"
"Ugh..."
Leje glared at him and clicked her tongue again, and Rudell looked away with a dejected expression.
"Let me say it again, I have no intention of holding the County responsible for this. I won't let my father do that either. It was my own will to step up for the County, and it's my responsibility that I agreed to your plan. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it..."
Rudell couldn't say anything more because of her firm will.
Even in the original story, her sense of responsibility was second to none, so her current behavior was understandable.
But...
'I wish she would just punish me...'
Rudell's conscience wouldn't allow him to let this go without any punishment.
Of course, he knew that saying such things wouldn't work on Leje, so he just watched her reaction in silence.
"By the way, haven't you heard from your father?"
"I heard he's arriving this evening..."
The Duke's visit was tonight.
Because of that, the places other than the room she was staying in were quite busy.
"I guess I should think about what to say to my father."
Leje muttered in response to Rudell's answer, and that's when it happened.
-Knock. Knock. Knock.
Along with a somehow urgent knock, the door opened.
"Janice? What's going on?"
The one who appeared next was none other than Janice, the head maid of the County.
Sensing something from her anxious expression, Rudell asked her.
"It's... a message that the Duke will be arriving soon."
"Huh...?"
"What...?"
Rudell and even Leje looked at her with bewildered faces at her words.
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