Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Five: Naked Honesty
“Why are you here…!?”
“While we did clear out the monsters, this is still a dungeon. You never know what might happen. I was worried about letting you bathe alone, Lady Karen, so it was decided I would bathe with you.”
While thinking that she wished it could have been someone else, Karen averted her eyes from Therese’s white body as the woman began washing herself.
“You seemed to be thinking deeply about something. What were you thinking about?”
“Work.”
Karen answered flatly. She let it be known implicitly that she had no intention of saying more.
“Your work as an alchemist, I presume. I heard you climbed from F-rank to C-rank in no time at all. I think it’s a great achievement that couldn’t be accomplished with ordinary effort.”
“…Thank you very much.”
“I’m also aware that Sir Julius began dating you in order to keep the talented Lady Karen tied to the Ehlertt family.”
Karen pressed her lips together firmly.
She knew—and still acted like that.
But perhaps it was precisely because she knew that she avoided making a direct move. Therese’s entire being screamed “Look at me” at Julius, though she never verbalized it.
“It seems my presence displeases you, yet why do you not try to separate Sir Julius and me?”
“…Because you’re both just doing your jobs. Both Mr. Julius and you.”
“But you seem displeased as his girlfriend. If you asked, I think Sir Julius would distance himself from me. Yet you choose not to?”
“Even if I’m displeased, I have no intention of interfering when you’re just doing your jobs.”
If Therese knew she was making Karen uncomfortable, she should have stopped—yet she continued, perhaps because she looked down on Karen as a mere commoner. In any case, Karen had no intention of interfering, though she did find herself wanting to. To shake off the desire to interfere, Karen was making desperate efforts to continue avoiding Julius.
“If I don’t interfere now, then when the situation is reversed, I can make sure he won’t interfere either.”
“Oh.”
“Even if a man appeared who liked me and tried to pursue me, if he were necessary for my alchemy work, I wouldn’t let Mr. Julius complain about me working with him. That’s why I don’t intend to interfere with anything that’s required for work.”
After all, Therese’s assignment was Boromias’s decision, and it also benefited Waltride. This was work. Considering when the positions might be reversed, this was something Karen absolutely had to endure. Whether such an eccentric person who would fall for Karen even existed was another matter. And even if someone like that did appear, if he were essential to Karen’s goal of becoming an alchemist, she wouldn’t push him away—not even for Julius’s sake.
“Well, maybe it doesn’t bother Mr. Julius much anyway.”
“That’s not true at all. If Sir Julius knew you thought that way, he might never speak to me again.”
“Surely he wouldn’t go that far… no, I suppose it’s possible if he thought it was for the Ehlertt family’s sake?”
“It’s possible. Though it might not be for the family’s sake.”
“Then for what reason?”
Therese, having finished washing her body, entered beside Karen, who tilted her head, and smiled warmly.
“Lady Karen, before being a woman in love, you are an alchemist, right?”
“I want to be, yes.”
“Then, if Sir Julius asked you not to get close to men for work purposes going forward, since he himself won’t approach women even for work, you’d be troubled, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, I would.”
No matter how unpleasant it made her feel, if she stopped, she might strangle her own future prospects.
If Julius distanced himself from Therese and said he was doing this so he wanted Karen to be considerate too, Karen had absolutely no confidence she could resist that. Since she herself disliked it, if Julius said he disliked it too, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from yielding.
But currently, Julius showed not the slightest sign of trying to avoid Therese. It was because of work, probably. In other words, if it was work, Karen didn’t need to worry about anything at all.
Karen wanted to try making a Philosopher’s Stone someday. She intended to remove all possibilities that might become shackles to that goal.
Therese turned toward Karen—whose expression looked as if she might click her tongue at any moment—and spoke with a tense look:
“Lady Karen, could you please permit me to convey my feelings to Sir Julius?”
Karen glared fiercely at Therese. The fact that Therese was a noble became irrelevant. Perhaps the dungeon atmosphere had left Karen slightly drunk on magical power.
“Whatever your intentions may be, you’re saying that knowing I’m his girlfriend?”
“I’m not going to confess. I intend to convey my admiration and gratitude to Sir Julius.”
“Admiration and gratitude?”
Karen, who had begun to rise, sat back down.
“In the past, there was an incident that hurt Sir Julius’s heart—”
“If you mean the dungeon luring incident, I know about it.”
“So Sir Julius has told you about such things.”
Karen had actually learned the name of this incident from Horst, but she deliberately kept quiet about that.
“Believing I might meet Sir Julius I admired inside the dungeon, I went in alone—that was a terrible mistake. I was one of those who hurt Sir Julius’s heart. But my feelings of wanting to become a warrior who protects the country like Sir Julius were real. I thought that if I could let Sir Julius know that, it might somewhat heal the wound in his heart, so I worked hard until today to show him how strong I’d become.”
“…Why are you telling me this?”
“Because even if it displeases you, I want to convey at least this much to Sir Julius. That incident hurt him. But if he could truly feel that there are people like me who became adventurers because his existence was an inspiration, I think that wound might heal somewhat.”
“To heal Sir Julius’s heart wound, you mean.”
Certainly, Therese’s existence would heal Julius’s heart wound.
In fact, Karen had witnessed him looking happy.
“Please, for Sir Julius’s sake, allow me to convey at least this much.”
Therese bowed her head. Karen felt the earnestness of her prayer.
She had probably admired Julius since long ago.
From Therese’s perspective, she had raised her rank as an adventurer for Julius’s sake and her own, become accomplished, and when she finally returned to see Julius, Karen was already by his side.
Her behavior toward Julius might not have come from looking down on Karen at all. If her feelings had existed for so long and simply leaked into her behavior naturally, then the current situation must be an incredible ordeal for Therese.
Therese must have had her own complicated feelings, yet despite making Karen uncomfortable, she had never once treated her poorly. Even now, Karen could tell she spoke only out of concern for Julius.
To Karen’s eyes, Therese could only look like a good person, and she scratched her head awkwardly. Karen would have felt more at ease if she were an unpleasant woman like Marian.
Karen said with a sigh:
“As long as it’s contact within the scope of work, I have no intention of interfering, so please don’t worry about it. I also don’t intend to restrict casual conversation while working. Please convey your gratitude freely. Sir Julius seemed happy to meet you after you became an adventurer.”
“Thank you for your generous words, Lady Karen.”
Therese looked relieved and bowed deeply to Karen.
Seeing that, Karen’s conviction deepened.
If Julius had met Therese before meeting Karen, he surely would have chosen Therese.
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