Chapter 34 – Flowers of the North Sea (6)

It was a sudden outing, but there wasn’t much luggage to take.
If she goes with Darling, she will take care of her own expenses, and since she does not have to go to a remote area, she will be able to get enough food while on the move.
Should I say that it is quite different from before? These days, long-distance travel by chariot has become more popular than the leisurely trip of packing up luggage and walking through the wilderness.
So, I gave the store key to Liv, who came by in the morning, and asked her to look after the store.
Since it was the weekend, there wouldn’t be many customers at the store, and all I had to do was dispose of the bread that was delivered from the bakery.

‘If this is enough… ‘It won’t all sell out within the weekend.’

I calculated the amount consumed at the cafe, but it seems I ordered too much. Just looking at it, there was quite a bit of bread left.

As soon as I dusted off the coat that was in the house, it was already dinner time.
It’s time for customers to come to the cafe, which has a thin wall, as opposed to the quiet cafeteria.
As I opened the door and entered the counter, a familiar face was waiting for me again today.

“Pee—!”
“Lewis, come here for a moment.”

There are also some faces that I am not very happy with.

For some reason, Erzsebet came right from opening time. As the princess of Fenheim, she has a lot of construction work, so she visits Hue frequently, but she comes by herself about once a week.

It just worked out well. I need to take care of Adela while I’m gone.
I’m still worried about when he’ll have another accident. Although Liv is with them, they may not be close friends, but they have never once invaded each other’s space.

“Come quickly and hide here.”
“Yes?”

But before I could speak to Herzebet, she came striding towards me and grabbed her arm.
Then she pointed to a table beyond the counter.

“Look over there.”

At the place Erzsebet pointed to, Adela was taking orders from a tall blond man.
Handing her a letter to her with a gentle smile on her face somehow felt suspicious.
At first glance, he was an unlucky guy who looked like a gisaeng brother.

“This is Sir William of the Earl of Clove. “I am in my third year this year, and my grades are good and I receive excellent evaluations from my classmates.”
“Is it so?”
“Yes. They are a family of knights who have been loyal to the royal family of Penheim for generations, and their finances are also flawless. “Running a knighthood costs quite a bit of money, and a lot of high-quality wool comes from the estate.”
“For some reason, I thought it looked exactly like a shepherd boy.”

When Adela received the invitation from him, she was at a loss. Erzsebet looked relaxed, as if she had finally sighed.

“Perhaps they are inviting you to participate in the ball. “When it comes to counts, they usually first contact each other through letters, so I guess Adela was quite taken with her.”
“…”
“It may be a little less formal, but this is a worthy match for Rochear. “I finally feel relieved.”

He’s a guy with really unique tastes.
Erzébet patted him on the shoulder, saying he had worked hard so far, and walked up to them without even asking them to look after Adela.

— Congratulations, Adela. I guess she can finally make her debut.
— Princess!? No, this is… !

Her eyes met Adela, who had been avoiding her gaze in surprise. She put the letter she had received a moment ago into her pocket and lowered her head.
What should I say? She definitely said from the first time we met that she came to the academy with the intention of getting married.
I had a bad appetite for no reason.

“Ugh, it’s done. “I will live my life on my own.”

I found a cigarette in my pocket. Then he went outside and lit a fire.
As white smoke rose in the night sky, memories of Adela passed through her head one by one.

Caught stealing bread from her and rubbing her hands together.
Unable to withstand Ansen’s threats, he ate up all the bread on the stand and was chewing it.
He almost burned down her stall to show off her magic.
In fact, during a competition, her magic went out of control and she almost drowned.
After getting beaten up again by Ansen, who came back from her hell, he even tried to stab her in the back.

‘William, you’ve just screwed up your life mate.’

Suddenly, my mood lifted and I couldn’t help but smile.
Now that I think about it, whether Adela gets married or not doesn’t seem to have much to do with me.

No, it’s better if it doesn’t matter.
It may seem normal now, but when you peel off the skin, it will be completely different on the inside.
When you peel it off… If you take it off… When you take it off, it’s amazing…

‘No, fuck… ! Wake!’

I was going crazy because the metronome in my mind kept swinging from side to side.
As more and more butts fell on the floor, I heard a voice calling me from behind.

“Teacher…”

It was Adela.

***

Has it already been like this?
For some reason, my head felt dizzy. When I looked at my feet, I saw quite a few butts that had passed through my lungs, standing upright and preparing for a revolution.
After lightly suppressing those small, ignorant things with a kick, I looked around.
The sky was already dark, and all the customers had left the empty store. I looked back at her and said, pretending that nothing had happened.

“Uh, okay. What’s the matter?”
“It was yesterday…”
“That’s right. You said you had something to say, right? Which one? Should I give you a raise in salary? Or um… Do you need food money? You can eat three pieces of bread a day if you want. It’s not that I don’t know that you work hard, that’s the extent of it…”
“Teacher.”

Adela came close to me.
So much so that you can even see the long eyelashes quivering over the bright pupils.
The smell of cigarettes coming from my mouth was close enough to reach her nose.

And she asked me a question. As before, a question that was asked once in the past.

“Mr. Lewis. “Do you really have no title or anything?”
“… “I said there wasn’t any.”
“Then… “Doesn’t she plan on going to the North Sea and scolding the demons?”

Ugh. A deep sigh came out from my stomach.
I have to say something that makes sense. A title is definitely not something that is handed out like a prize ticket.

The war is over. There was little left on the ashes of the continent.
The Fenheim royal family, which had already provided maximum compensation to many of the fallen and those who survived, would not want to increase the number of nobles any further.

Moreover, she may be a low-ranking noble, but what she is talking about now is clearly the commission of an earl.
A commoner who forgot about his time at the canteen becomes a count? There is absolutely no other way than to create a unique magic spell.
She too will know that her own demands are no different from her child’s whining. The craving for strong cigarettes made her head tingle.

“Now that you’ve said everything, go to the dormitory. “I thought it was because I was going to go somewhere else for a while.”
“Somewhere else?”
“Okay. “I won’t be here for a few days.”

The night air was cool. As I was about to leave, Adela caught me once again.

“Teacher.”
“Why again?”
“We… Would you like to go somewhere else? Not here, just… “Anywhere far away.”

That too—— a wish that can never be granted.
The depth of my heart became heavy, like a safe in the sea.

“I can’t leave this place.”
“Why?”
“You don’t know the reason.”
“Do you hate me, teacher?”

Adela was almost crying, letting out her emotions.
As someone who was ignorant of her nobility, I couldn’t understand what was making her so desperate.

“It’s because I’m an idiot… ? Or is it just a nuisance? Now I can work well, and my pronunciation is… Ugh! Again and again, and again…”

Just as I was about to answer, a carriage approached from far away.
The Iron Cross on the red badge. It was the emblem of the Ruhilen family.

“Adella. Let’s come back and talk about the rest. “I have to go now.”
“No, I do not want. “He’s with me.”
“…”
“Well, whenever I think about that teacher, my stomach keeps hurting. From the first time we kissed. “I just can’t breathe and her hair has turned gray and I can’t think of anything.”
“That’s an arrhythmia. “I’ll buy you some medicine on the way.”
“No! This, this… !!”

Just as I was about to listen to Adela’s cry, I noticed the invitation she had received from William a little while ago sticking out of her skirt pocket.

Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock.

The pendulum that was constantly in agony in her mind, the moment she saw it, she stopped at one side.

“Adella.”

Flowers of the North Sea.

“I’ll be back before the weekend is over, so take care of the store.”

It is not something I can hold with my bloody hands.

“If you steal bread while I’m away, you will die later.”

So I didn’t listen to her answer until the end.

Instead, he got into her carriage, leaving only the words he had always told her.

***

“Ugh, huh…”

As the carriage carrying Lewis passed through the main gate of the Academy and disappeared, Adela burst into tears.

She knew it too. The idea that Lewis would receive a title is not only nonsense, but he has no interest in it in the first place.

Still, she hoped that at least once she would look at her. He wanted me to tell him that even if it was a lie, we should leave together.

“Teacher, I am a teacher… Ugh… !”

Because he doesn’t know anything. Also about Rochear. About me too.
So I tried to change it, but in the end I couldn’t hold on to him until the end.

It’s not that she didn’t like the stupid child, she just thought she was ugly. Adela quietly broke down.

Then suddenly, she took out a letter from her pocket and looked at it.
An invitation from a count whose name I don’t remember.

‘If… If only I could be by your side like this…’

Wedding with the Count. The only way to escape from Roshyar.
If that happens, will I be able to remain at the academy at least until I graduate? Next to Lewis, will I be able to smile and pretend not to know anything like before?

—Tomorrow evening there will be a ball at the Dehatan Saloon in South Street.
— Would you like to be my dance partner there?

My heart ached so much. I wondered if it would be worth it to fill this aching heart with someone else.
Still, even so——

Adela hurriedly stood up. She looked at the northern sky where Lewis had left.
It’s been almost a month since the competition ended. There was not much time left and there were only two choices.

A light cold breeze seeped through the night wind passing through the tree branches.