Chapter 155 – Archduke Collector (7)

I remembered the day I first met Louis.
It was at the noisy construction site of Parencia Academy.

— Why is construction not progressing like this?
– That is… There is an old building on the site, but the residents who live there are refusing demolition and are staging a sit-in protest.
– Yes? There is no such building in the blueprint.
— Hmm, we don’t know much about that part because of the security level. In any case, if the building is not cleared, it will be difficult for materials to enter.
— Just wait a moment, I’ll take care of it.

After hearing the site director’s words, we headed to the middle of the academy, where construction was in full swing.
It was a small wooden building covered in dust and sand.
At that moment, a man with bushy hair was sweeping the doorstep with a broom.
In a place full of all kinds of trash, what use would it be to sweep up dust with just a broom?
Lehel slowly came down from the sky, laughing at the foolish man in her heart.

– Hey! You there!! I’m going to push you out of here, so pack your bags and go somewhere else!!
— …
— What, you can’t hear me? Can we still ignore this!?

Super light gathering in the blue sky.
A huge fireball fell to destroy the dilapidated building.

It was a complacent thought that if I controlled the power, I wouldn’t die.
Actually, that wasn’t the problem.
Who would have guessed that that broom would be able to split 〈 Meteor 〉, a 4th level magic.
After that, he was completely captured by Lewis and served as a coward for a whopping five years.

‘That’s right. It started from then… What?’

But Lehel, looking at the expressionless Luis, felt something strange.
He was quietly looking up at the sky without swinging the broom.
A development that does not fit with the known past.

Now that you think about it, where is this place? Dream?

“Huh… ?”

Lehel lifted her head to follow his gaze without realizing it.
The fireball that was supposed to fall into the stall changed direction and was falling directly on her head.

“Uh, uhhh——!!?”

Even though she was shaking her hands and feet wildly, confused by her uncontrollable magic, Meteor did not stop her charge.
And finally——

Wow!!!

Stars appeared before her eyes and the sky turned yellow.

***

“Kkhyaaaaang———! “It hurts!!”

Lehel screams when I lightly hit the honey chestnut on her head.
Is this what happened?
It was a strange request that he wanted to be met by me, but there was nothing I couldn’t grant if he wanted to.
Since I am persuading difficult princes every day, this is almost a professional level of processing speed.
As I got approval votes from them one by one every day, I felt like I was a professional hostage negotiator.

“Keuuuuu… ! Oh, you devil!!! “If you don’t like it, just say no. Why are you hitting me?”
“Are you asking me to hit you?”
“When did I do that!!?”
“I asked you to do like you did to Scarlett a while ago… Ah!”

Only then did I realize what Lehel really wanted and grabbed her wrist.

“Do you want me to cut it?”
“Hiyaaaaagh——!!?”

Otherwise, what is it?

Lehel was screaming her strange screams and thrashing about.
As one of her hands was being held, more and more of her skin was revealed under the blanket.
At some point while we were arguing back and forth, we noticed it almost simultaneously.
As her eyes moved down, Lehel also looked down at her own breasts and her face turned red.

“…”
“… Hiccup!”

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but I think it’s not just about gambling addiction, but also exposure.
Even though it is a house, it is impossible in my common sense to welcome guests naked.

“…”
“Well, that’s not it… !”

She waved her hand and made an excuse, wondering if she, too, had no shame.
From pure white armpits to slender fingertips.
As I followed the beautifully stretched curve, I saw a dress in a corner of the room.

“There was blood on my clothes, so I just took them off for a moment!”
“Yes… Okay.”
“W-It’s real!?”
“Okay, so let’s get dressed. Let’s go eat something. “Isn’t there something on this island?”

She had skipped lunch because she only fed Scarlett bread.
Lehel must have been hungry too, so she wrapped herself in a blanket and nodded.

“If you leave first, I’ll be there right away.”
“Do you have anything to wear?”
“Yeah… “Yes.”

A moment later, the clothes she wore were a scuffed robe with slightly looser sleeves than before.

***

There are currently seven islands in Plum.
Not all of them, but even I, who slept in a different place almost every day, felt bored as the meeting continued for this long.
I want to quickly persuade the remaining two archdukes and return to Parenzia.
My worries about my precious snack shop were growing day by day.
I wonder if Caroline will be searching through her basement as she pleases, and if someone is taking care of the dogs’ food.
However, unlike me, Lehel, who had also vacated her academy, seemed to have no worries.
He seemed to have just ignored the fact that he revealed his secret to me and was as lively as usual.

“Ssajang, Ssajang~! It’s a Kraken disassembly show performed by a craftsman with 30 years of experience! “Let’s go eat that!!”
“What nonsense, this is the Baltic Mountains, how can there be a Kraken? Rather, Chairman.”
“Yes?”
“Is it okay to leave the academy for this long?”

Lehel, who was running around in circles around me, rolled her eyes and nodded.

“Not really?”
“Really?”
“I’m not doing much. “There is no problem because even Viscount Ruhilen is not away like last time.”

You speak refreshingly.
If you have any business, I would like to call 〈 Jeon Imun 〉 to check the situation at the store.

“Oh, you want to go back to the canteen?”
“Did you know?”
“It’s obvious what the boss thinks. It’s better not to leave here yet. “If one of the Grand Dukes leaves Plum alone, there will be rumors that the meeting has broken down.”
“Now that I think about it, there might be a problem like that. Rather, Chairman.”
“Yes?”

Chin.
I asked while holding Lehel’s hand as she kept moving around.

“Why are you walking so far away?”
“… !”

Ever since we left the floating island, she has maintained a certain distance from me.
Even on the airship, I sat across the aisle rather than next to me.
Even for that short flight, I couldn’t help but feel a great sense of anxiety due to his firm will to stay away from me.

Is it a bit like that?
People who eat together but don’t want to pretend to be in the same group.
If you accidentally make eye contact in a restaurant, your pupils will shake awkwardly, but it’s the level of intimacy that you’ll quickly check for a notification on your smartphone that never arrived.
Our relationship won’t be such a shallow business one.
Clearly.

“Don’t do that, come this way. “I’m going to bump into people.”
“No! I’m just comfortable with this… “Hiyaaak!!”

With a light tug on her hand, Lehel lost her balance and crashed into me.
I could definitely feel her height decreasing to the point where her head was touching her chest.

But it’s still bigger than Darling.
I know that since she was growing up, she has been collecting all kinds of medicinal herbs from the continent at the top of Ruhilen.
Why hasn’t she grown taller yet?

“Yes, I am the boss…”
“Are you afraid I’ll cut off your hand? Don’t worry too much. “That was half a joke.”
“No, that’s not it… “Don’t you smell it?”

Smell?
She wasn’t very conscious, so she didn’t really know.
When I brought my nose close to her, Lehel pulled down her hat and avoided my gaze.
I was used to the bad smell after rolling on the battlefield for a long time, but I could only feel the light scent coming from my skin, which was smoother than before.

“No, it doesn’t fly.”
“That can’t be possible. “Take charge of it better!”
“Umm…”

A worn robe that shows signs of age.
Her worn leather and fabric retain Lehel’s time intact.
As the midday sunlight shone through the floating islands, the scent became even more evident.
What I was able to smell was a relatively strong part of it – only a very small part.

“Ah.”

The heat felt from the desert sand.
The lingering scent of ambergris that she had passed on to Esther on her train.
Both of them were filled with memories of me.

“It stinks, right? “Right?”
“…”
“President… ?”
“I don’t see anything like that.”

Without letting go of her hand, I pointed to the restaurant in front of her.

“Let’s go eat something.”

***

— The Kraken that will be dismantled today is a sea predator that has been ravaging the North Sea for the past 400 years! This is Mr. Serpent! Let’s cut off the tail first! If you place a flag on your table, the server will bring it to you!

What on earth went wrong?
Lehel was worried as she looked at the large piece of Kraken meat on her plate.
She apparently had the courage to confess that she wanted Scarlett to do the same thing she did.
The destination was a lump on my head.

“I will buy it, so eat a lot. Huh, indeed. “I live and live and eat all the eel in the mountain valley.”

Did it mean rejection?
No, it’s not.
Lehel knew very well that her Louise was not delicate enough to express herself in return.
If she was that considerate, she wouldn’t have broken the magic tower in return for putting the meteor in the stall.
If so, there is still a possibility.

He suddenly came and started using violence.
When I looked at the half-naked figure under the blanket, I felt strangely awkward.
She noticed that she was distancing herself from herself on the subject and caught her as if she were a ghost.
He buries his nose in the crook of her neck and even smells her, denying it.

A push and pull that I’m not particularly aware of.
The problem was that it was not easy for the relationship so far to change because he was the one who was half-obsessed by Lewis.
A business partnership that feels like a friend and subordinate.
The only chance to change that relationship was now.

“How is it? Does it taste okay? “I think the tail is a bit chewy.”
“And! Is it delicious? “Ssajang, I’ll eat really well!”

Although she was Lehel, who had been unfairly beaten, she did not know why Lewis went out of his way to buy her a meal.

‘You probably want to persuade me.’

Because she had no dating experience at all, she made a mistake by blindly asking for a hug.
The price of trying to fly when the lump on your head is so embarrassing that you can’t even walk.
Lehel smiled, promising herself not to make the same mistake twice.

“Oh right! And there is this meeting…”

Because she didn’t know how to capture a man’s heart.
This was her favorite gamble.