15
“I’m curious about what you think of Cedy.”
“Huh? What I think of him?”
“Mm. So, not as a friend…”
“……”
“I was wondering if you might think of him differently.”
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of Riette eating almonds next to me fills the silence. Amid the particularly loud, rough sounds of wooden swords clashing, I heard a straightforward answer from Riette.
“He’s a friend. Just a buddy with different secondary gender.”
“……”
“Of course I don’t have balls! Haha.”
Bu, buddy…
“Cedy isn’t my type. He probably feels the same way about me?”
“You never know about that.”
“No, I’m certain.”
Riette burst into refreshing laughter. She soon showed a gentle smile and asked me back.
“What about you?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yeah. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard any romance stories from you. Is there anyone you like? Like young master Cedric, who you’ve become suddenly close with recently?”
“What? There’s no way.”
“Really?”
“I’ve never thought about that kind of thing with men.”
I groaned and rubbed my face. Riette responded in a playful voice.
“I know that. I know, but since I suddenly asked that question, I was just wondering.”
“It was a sudden question…”
“Haha.”
…Not her type, huh. So Ret really doesn’t have feelings for Cedy after all. Even when we first talked about partners, I thought it seemed like Cedric’s one-sided love.
I suddenly felt something strange.
‘Come to think of it, why am I…’
How could I know so little about the hearts of Riette and Cedric, who were more important characters than me in the novel?
No matter how much I was reincarnated as a supporting character and only remember the scenes that a supporting character would have witnessed as if they were real, if I had read the novel, I should know their inner thoughts and psychology well too.
Just that in the novel, the two of them loved each other very much – recognizing that, the emotions I felt myself were so intense…
Hm? Why really can’t I remember?
As if I had only seen a flashy shell, their pink-tinted appearances came to mind vividly, but nothing about what they actually thought inside came to mind.
It was natural that I was reincarnated as the character Edgar in the novel and already understood what future Edgar would experience, but it was a bit strange that ‘that’s all’ I knew well.
Were those parts not described at all?
‘Wait. That novel’s title was… what was it.’
I can’t remember. Not the title, not the author’s name, nothing. My head was throbbing somehow, and I was pressing my forehead when…
“Eddie? What’s wrong, are you okay?”
Riette rubbed my back with a face full of worry.
Only then did I emerge from my thoughts and return to reality, look at her, and let out a light sigh.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not sick anywhere, are you? You shouldn’t hide that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, it’s not that. Sorry for making you worry.”
Riette’s eyebrows drooped. That was cute, so I chuckled without realizing it. Then I had to hear her scold me for laughing when she was worried.
* * *
They said they came out to watch, but what are those two doing facing each other? Riette and Edgar are sitting closer together than before. From a distance, they looked quite intimate.
As Cedric kept glancing at the two and couldn’t concentrate on the sparring, Castian pulled one corner of his mouth up crookedly.
“It seems to bother you a lot?”
At that, Cedric’s brow furrowed nicely. Even in the midst of that, Cedric didn’t miss the opening and thrust the tip of his wooden sword forward, so Castian moved backward to barely dodge while letting out laughter.
“So I’m manageable enough to deal with while distracted?”
“…I won’t bother to deny it.”
“Haha! This hurts my pride.”
Castian smoothly swept up his sweat-dampened bangs. He was also skilled enough in swordsmanship to have no rivals within the Imperial Palace. It felt refreshing to meet someone who sparked his competitive spirit after a long time and move his body thoroughly.
As they stood at a distance for a moment in a lull, Cedric looked away again. His gaze toward the two people held very complex and dark emotions.
“You’re coveting him too, aren’t you? That fox.”
When Castian asked in a voice only Cedric could hear, Cedric looked back at him again.
No answer came from Cedric, but Castian acted as if he was already certain.
“Do you genuinely like him? Or are ‘you also’ approaching him because you covet the divine artifact sleeping in the ancient temple?”
For a moment, Cedric’s eyebrow twitched.
“…Was that the reason you’re bothering that kid?”
“Me? Well, yes.”
Though he did like his appearance too. As Castian was about to swallow those latter words, Cedric opened his eyes sharply and continued.
“Will you regain succession rights with that?”
“Ha, no way! The succession rights I gave up myself?”
“……”
“I don’t want succession rights. I want the divine artifact itself in the ancient temple that stimulates my curiosity.”
Castian added with gleaming eyes.
“In the first place, divine artifacts can only be possessed by those whom their will chooses, and those chosen by divine artifacts can have even greater power than this empire’s emperor.”
“……”
“The Lowell family is currently gaining that level of status. Of course, I’m not trying to ride on that status. Anyway, marriage is the best means to freely enjoy the right to approach the ancient temple.”
“……”
“But if I put direct pressure on the Lowell family, my elder brother the Crown Prince won’t stay quiet… so I have no choice but to hope that child will accept my marriage proposal.”
There was no reaction from Cedric.
Castian shrugged.
“It seems you’re different from me.”
“Don’t treat me the same as you.”
Cedric, who was agitated, breathed roughly.
Castian had been approaching Edgar friendly to achieve his own ambitions. The very fact that it seemed the same as his own feelings was unpleasant.
“Just for such a reason…”
“……”
“I hope you’ll moderate acting like a leech. If you do anything inappropriate to Eddie, I won’t stay quiet.”
Then Castian burst out laughing.
“To see the stone-like young master Soliwen clinging to someone like this, how interesting. If you like him so much and are jealous, why haven’t you confessed yet?”
“……”
“Or did you confess and already get rejected?”
As Castian gently provoked him, Cedric glared while grinding his teeth. Castian just quietly snorted as if mocking him.
Cedric, whose will to continue sparring had completely cooled, loosened his stance.
“I just… have no intention of being greedy.”
Cedric could really give up if Edgar’s partner was Riette. He could bury his gloomy jealousy in a pit and smile on the surface while blessing the two.
But that didn’t mean he was confident he wouldn’t care… it couldn’t be helped. His feelings toward Edgar were still blooming in his rotting, festering chest.
Saying he could give up wasn’t the same as saying it was easy to give up.
Moreover, their changed behavior and reactions since before the regression made things difficult.
Since Edgar was acting differently from before his regression… he kept having ‘what if’ hopes…
“No intention of being greedy? Your eyes don’t look like that at all.”
Castian sharply pointed out the other side of Cedric who was turning away.
Like someone whose hidden secret was discovered, Cedric’s eyes became extremely sharp. Finally, the angry alpha’s pheromones began to ripple and flow out.
However, Castian, who had nothing to fear as a fellow dominant alpha, approached without care and lightly touched his chest area with his wooden sword.
“How foolish. Don’t cry when I steal him from you.”
It was clear provocation.
At the same time, Cedric’s anger finally exceeded its critical point.
Cedric, who opened his eyes fiercely, roughly grabbed Castian’s collar. Cedric’s discarded wooden sword rolled around on the training ground floor.
“Shut up. Who are you to Eddie…”
It’s irritating.
When he had no interest in Edgar before the regression. Even his purpose for approaching was sordid, making his anger rise even more.
“Cedy!”
Riette and Edgar, who noticed the commotion, ran over to stop the two.
Cedric, who barely held back from throwing punches, let go of Castian’s collar and muttered lowly in a voice boiling with anger.
“I clearly warned you. Don’t do anything inappropriate to Eddie.”
And Cedric, who turned around, deliberately didn’t look at Riette and Edgar who were running toward them and passed by, returning to the mansion.
Castian straightened his clothes and looked at Edgar.
He was endlessly watching Cedric’s retreating back.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
