Volume 2 Chapter 6

Standing before the mirror and with the earrings bearing the colors of my special person in both ears, I felt an indescribably warm happiness. And when I saw that person wearing my colors, I was filled with a bliss beyond words. Hector must have felt the same. The way the lines of love and joy shot upward, when he saw me in the morning was astonishing.

The first person to see us wearing each other’s colored earrings was Yunan, who had come to relieve Hector on guard duty. The moment he noticed the colors in both our ears, he froze, unable to even greet us. His line of surprise stretched out, and both his body and his prediction lines stopped moving. There was no doubt his mind had completely shut down.

He only regained his senses after Hector entrusted his earrings to me and left the Apothecary Tower with a casual, 「I’ll leave the rest to you.」

「Cyril-dono, are you serious!? It’s Hector, you know!?」

「I am serious, but please calm down.」

Turning my back to the agitated Yunan, I began preparing my ingredients. I knew he saw Hector only as his facade, but this kind of reaction still made me a little sad. …Even knowing that he has an incredibly hard-to-understand and troublesome personality, with misunderstandings being inevitable.

「Hector-san isn’t the kind of person you think he is, Yunan-san.」

「Even so…」

When I turned around at his dissatisfied tone, I could see from both his expression and his prediction lines that he wanted to say, You can’t trust the words of a woman in love. For someone whose emotions and expressions matched so perfectly, perhaps it was impossible to understand that people like Hector, who were his complete opposite, even existed.

「Hector-san is just difficult to understand, but he’s a good person. He smiles even in front of things he hates, and when he speaks honestly, he disguises it as a jest, so people have the wrong idea about him.」

If I hadn’t understood that that was simply the kind of person he was, I probably would have kept my distance and accepted him only as he appeared on the surface, never growing close to him. But I could see prediction lines. Once I got to know him, I realized he was simply someone awkward and clumsy at dealing with people.

He was just too good at hiding himself. As a result, aside from Kyos, who was practically a genius at reading people, he had no friends. …Though lately, he had been unable to keep it all hidden, and I often saw that mask crumble. But in front of others, he still put on that expressionless facade.

「…If Cyril-dono says so… I’ll try to believe it.」

Yunan still seemed unconvinced, but with his straightforward personality, I was sure he would begin looking at Hector differently. Hector was diligent in both work and training and lived a disciplined private life. The only thing a serious man like Yunan disliked was Hector’s habit of hiding his true thoughts. But if you understood that tendency, then in a sense it was an honest reaction, and perhaps it made the man that is Hector easier to understand.

(Even though it pains him when people only look at the outside, he still hides what’s inside… honestly, what a troublesome man.)

When it came to dealing with people and expressing himself, there was no other way to describe him besides clumsy. It was the complete opposite of the dexterity with which he handled everything else. Though perhaps that mismatch was one of his charms. …Because whenever that awkward man occasionally showed me his honest expressions, I found them unbearably adorable.

「Though it’s late… Cyril-dono, congratulations on your engagement.」

「…Thank you.」

The congratulations made me genuinely happy. Ever since losing my parents, somewhere deep inside I had believed I would live alone forever. I never imagined someone would help me protect the secret of being a mage, nor had I ever tried to seek such a person. Yet I had met someone I could trust, and was able to make a promise to walk the future side by side. There was no way I wouldn’t be happy.

「Still, I worry. Women have always been a source of trouble around Hector… Though if he hasn’t done anything unfaithful until now, then perhaps he won’t change in the future either.」

「Yes. If anything, it might become even worse.」

It was as though Hector had been the object of countless maidens’ imaginary romances. He was everyone’s admiration, and everyone imagined what it would be like if he were their lover. Until now, Hector had looked at no one. That was precisely why they could continue dreaming. And even in that situation, petty quarrels and incidents bordering on crimes had occurred. If people learned that Hector had finally chosen someone… Who knows what might happen?

It wasn’t that I had no fears, but I had decided to walk this path with Hector. Whatever happened, I would somehow deal with it.

When Hector returned from training, he greeted me with a smile.「I’m back.」I stopped filling bottles with the completed medicine and replied with welcome back and immediately a bright orange shot up above his head. …Such an easy reaction to understand.

「Then it’s my turn. Nothing happened?」

「Yeah. Nothing at all.」

「Good. Thanks for protecting my precious Cyril-san. Seriously, I’m glad that the serious and diligent Yunan was on guard duty. If anything happened to my fiancee, I wouldn’t have been able to train properly. You really helped me out.」

His tone was light, sounding almost joking and sarcastic. Yunan’s eyes seemed to ask, Is that really his true feelings? I nodded. Even now, Hector had truly been worried about me while we were apart. He was genuinely grateful that someone as serious and reliable as Yunan had been my guard. And right now, while Yunan and I silently communicated through our eyes, Hector continued smiling while pale blue-green stretched over his head. He really was the kind of person whose true feelings were difficult to understand if you only looked at the surface.

「Hector, you’re a more interesting man than I thought.」

「…Where did that come from?」

「No reason. Congratulations on your engagement. Be happy with Cyril-dono.」

Surprise shot up above Hector’s head, though his smile never changed. Inwardly, he was in complete confusion. Yunan had never liked Hector’s frivolous appearance, and his words had often carried barbs. So hearing such pure congratulations from him had left Hector wondering why his attitude had changed so suddenly.

「When you act like that, I don’t really know how to react… but, thanks.」

「Yeah. Then I’ll take my leave.」

For once, Yunan left with a smile on his lips. Hector stared suspiciously at the door through which he had gone, a short gray line stretching over his head. After a while, he slowly turned around. Numerous prediction lines hovered above him, clearly showing that he had many questions he wanted to ask. But I averted my gaze and first returned the earrings he had entrusted to me.

「I’ll give your earrings back. If you sit down, I can put them on for you. What would you like to do?」

「…Would you?」

The pale blue-green vanished instantly, replaced by orange, and I barely held back a laugh. His expression hadn’t changed from that smile, but his emotions moved dramatically. To someone like me, who could plainly see what was going on in one’s heart, he was incredibly easy to understand.

I brushed aside the hair hanging over his face and fastened the earrings. His golden hair, which I had always thought looked soft with its gentle curves, really was soft. After finishing both ears, I absentmindedly played with the tips of his hair with my fingers. Well, we were lovers. Surely I wouldn’t be scolded for that.

「Your hair is soft and feels nice.」

I only played with it for a few seconds, but his line of love extended, shrank as if trying to return to normal, then stretched out again. It looked as though he was trying to suppress feelings that wanted to grow larger….Perhaps being so close made him restless.

「…Cyril-san, you’re pretty proactive.」

「Am I?」

「Yeah. I hesitate a lot.」

It was true that Hector rarely touched me first. I had always thought his feelings were too strong for his actions to keep up, and it never bothered me.

Perhaps he didn’t realize it, but I could also see the occasional short crimson lines. Whether he endured his desire for lovers’ intimacy because he was inexperienced or because he was being considerate toward me, I didn’t know.

Either way, even though he wanted to touch me, he hesitated. So I often reached out to him instead. Because I loved him too.

「When you treasure someone, you want to touch them and be touched. So…」

I was about to say, 「So please don’t hesitate to touch me too.」 But my eyes were drawn to the crimson line that stretched out in an instant. It looked longer than usual. …Just what had he imagined I was about to say?

At that moment Hector made a clearly forced cough, and the crimson line disappeared.

「Cyril-san, what was your next task?」

「Ah, yes. I thought I’d gather ingredients in the herb garden.」

「Alright, let’s go.」

Hector stood up and lightly pushed my back. I didn’t say anything and just went ahead quietly.. I knew he was trying to distract me, but I deliberately chose not to mention it. As someone who could see the colors of people’s hearts, sometimes pretending not to see was necessary.

(…You don’t need to be so embarrassed about those crimson lines.)

I couldn’t see prediction lines above my own head, but surely mine would sometimes stretch in that color too. Wanting to hug him. Wanting to kiss him. Such desires toward one’s lover were perfectly natural and not something to be ashamed of. …Perhaps I thought so because I constantly saw other people’s hearts.

At any rate, Hector was embarrassed for me to know, so I pretended not to notice.

When we stepped outside, the weather was wonderful. The plants in the herb garden flourished vibrantly beneath the sunlight. Thanks to the excellent quality of the plants Kyos had prepared, the medicines turned out well, and tending them was enjoyable.

I picked up a basket and was about to harvest what we lacked when Hector gently grabbed my hand and stopped me.

「Wait. Someone’s coming.」

「…Here?」

I looked toward the castle. Sure enough, a small figure was walking down the lone road leading to the Pharmacist Tower. I couldn’t make out who it was, but Hector apparently could.

「Someone you know?」

「Yeah. I think it’s Her Highness Princess Consort Sophia.」

The title told me she was royalty, and my back straightened instantly. Why would royalty come to a place like this? Kyos alone was enough to make my stomach ache.

「Who exactly is Princess Consort Sophia…?」

「Kyos’s wife. …Well, she’s not as unreasonable as he is.」

I remembered the black-haired, black-eyed prince and the colors of the earrings in both ears. Red and green. Apparently the owner of those colors was coming.

I put away the basket and knelt, waiting nervously. When her shadow fell over us and she arrived, I recited the greeting Hector had taught me.

「It is my honor to meet you. I am Cyril Vedito, Court Apothecary and a personal advisor to the First Prince. I humbly offer my greetings to Her Highness Princess Consort Sophia.」

「It has been some time. I am deeply honored to find Your Highness Princess Consort Sophia in good health today.」

「Thank you for your greetings. …Both of you, raise your heads.」

Her voice was dignified and clear. Looking up slowly, I saw a woman with fiery red hair and sharp eyes that gave a somewhat severe impression. Only one knight accompanied her. Her brilliant green eyes examined me intently, and gray color suspicion floated above her head, But after shifting her gaze to Hector, the gray vanished immediately.

「Kyos warned me not to expect proper etiquette from the two of you. I intend to treat you accordingly, so relax. You needn’t stay kneeling forever.」

「…Thank you for your consideration.」

Keeping my smile, I stood up, ending up standing the direct opposite of Sophia. She was tall for a woman, forcing me to look slightly upward, but I couldn’t bring myself to meet her eyes. She was a noble.

I knew nothing of noble etiquette. Though Hector had taught me greetings, only a short while ago I had simply been an ordinary apothecary with a shop in town. That was why Kyos had given me a place far from nobles. Only servants and guards would come here. Or so it was supposed to be..

(…Maybe only nobles who can tolerate my lack of manners and have Prince Kyos’s permission come here…)

Compared to living inside the castle itself as I had originally feared, this was much better. The stressfulness of having to interact with the nobles by itself on top of the fact that I was hiding that I was a mage made the very idea of such an encounter entirely not a pleasant one. I could feel my stomach tighten from nervousness.

「I came here thinking you might be Kyos’s mistress.」

Correction.The words spoken from Sophia’s crimson-painted lips, it felt as though my stomach was being crushed.