“Good morning. You seem to be awake,” Olivier greeted Jared, who had just woken up, with a displeased expression. When Jared tried to move his arm to rub his heavy eyelids, pain shot through his entire body.
“Don’t move suddenly. You were on the verge of death?”
Olivier, with a look of exasperation at Jared grimacing in pain, had faint dark circles under her eyes, indicating she hadn’t slept.
“On the verge of death?”
“Yes. The arrow from that attacker seemed to be poisoned. I don’t know if it’s because you have some resistance to poison or if bleeding prevented it from spreading through your body, but Trane noticed and gave you an antidote, so you’re safe now.”
“I apologize for the concern you experienced.”
“I wasn’t worried! — That’s a lie. I was extremely worried. I kept thinking, what if you actually died! Why did you do something so reckless!?”
Tears welled up as Olivier suddenly became angry, but Jared could clearly feel her concern for him.
“I wanted to protect you, Olivier, and the others.”
“It’s a nuisance if you try to protect us and end up dying.”
“I understand. I regret it.”
“You’re lying. I can tell. You haven’t reflected on anything at all. You’ll surely do something reckless again. And you’ll end up dying because of it.”
“Perhaps.”
“If you were to die, would no one be sad? Your friends? Baron Daum? Would you still do something reckless after considering them?”
Perhaps Olivier might be sad if he died too. He entertained such a foolish thought. But surely, she would be sad. Even though they hadn’t known each other long, Jared could tell she had a kind heart, contrary to rumors. Though he often found her irritating, he felt Olivier’s mask of bravado contributed to it.
It wasn’t romantic love, but Jared Murphy liked Olivier Alway. He liked her enough that he wouldn’t hesitate to risk his life for her. If anything were to happen to Olivier, Duke Alway, who was admired by the people, and Hannelore, who always wore a smile, along with Trane, who was by their side, would undoubtedly be saddened. And of course, Jared would be too.
“I just want to protect you, Olivier. I wanted to protect you, Hannelore, and Trane.”
“I’ll accept your feelings sincerely. However, if you were to die because of me, I could never forgive myself. So please—don’t do anything dangerous.”
Jared couldn’t answer Olivier’s plea. He couldn’t avoid danger if he was to protect Hannelore and the others from Pfeil, an assassin from Waalthe, the continent’s foremost assassination organization. Fighting him, he knew how formidable an opponent Pfeil was. Even with his rare Earth Attribute Magic, confronting an assassin experienced in close-quarters combat in a corner of a residential mansion in the capital city would be difficult. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fight, but the possibility of collateral damage to the surroundings was far too high. The powerful magic of an Earth Elemental Mage could alter terrain and involve bystanders, essentially being ostentatious. If he were to use such magic, he might inadvertently harm the very people he wanted to protect.
Therefore, last night, he had used only minimal magic. It was his full power, with the restriction of not killing, but the result of fighting Pfeil, who intended to kill him, was Jared’s current state. He might have died if Olivier hadn’t intervened.
If he couldn’t use his magic to its full potential, he felt he had to be prepared to sacrifice something of himself. Since he couldn’t use his magic to its fullest, he concluded that he couldn’t defeat Pfeil without sacrificing himself.
“Olivier, I…”
“You can’t even make a verbal promise… I like that honesty of yours. But right now, I hate it. I don’t want to yell at you when you’re injured, so I’ll get you some fresh bandages. Rest well.”
With a sad expression at Jared’s inability to respond, Olivier left the room. His heart ached that he couldn’t give her an answer, even a false one, to Olivier, who genuinely worried about him. But he hated lying. As he fell into self-loathing, he heard a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
After a brief reply, Trane appeared, dressed as a maid. She was as expressionless as ever, but the faint wariness he had felt from her until recently was gone. As he wondered if there had been some emotional change, Trane spoke without changing her expression.
“Olivier is crying right now. Did something happen?”
“She told me not to do anything dangerous, but I couldn’t promise.”
“—Haa. Even if it’s a lie, please reassure Olivier.”
“I don’t want to lie to her.”
“Even if it results in her crying, is that so?”
“I’m sorry.”
He apologized under her seemingly reproachful gaze. But still, Jared didn’t want to lie to Olivier.
“Olivier was constantly worried about you, Jared.”
“About me?”
“Yes. When you went to fight the Dragon Species, she was so worried she couldn’t eat or sleep. It was the same last night. Even though I was with you, she kept blaming herself for you getting hurt and stayed awake waiting for you to wake up. Olivier can be clumsy, but she’s truly a kind person.”
He knew she was kind. But he never knew she had worried so much about him when he went to fight the Dragon Species. It was the same with last night. He knew she had been worried, but he never dreamed she was blaming herself.
“I believe, Jared, that you already know Olivier’s circumstances, don’t you? That’s why you suddenly decided to live together and fought the attackers. Isn’t that right?”
“I don’t know everything. But I accidentally learned that Hannelore is not well-regarded by the consorts and is being targeted. That’s why I rushed here. I wanted Olivier to tell me herself, so I asked, but she evaded the question.”
“How did you learn of the situation? Did Duke Alway tell you?”
“No, that’s not it. Waalthe attacked me and gave me a warning.”
“—!”
Jared clearly heard Trane gasp.
“You knew? So they’re really making a move to eliminate Hannelore and Olivier. The consorts must be serious about killing them.”
“Do you have any suspicions about who the mastermind is?”
“Unfortunately, everyone is suspicious, so I can’t say. Last night, while you were fighting Waalthe’s attackers, someone entirely different tried to infiltrate the mansion intending to harm them. I apprehended that person after defeating the adventurer, but they were just an adventurer hired for money.”
Jared, unaware that something like this had been happening behind the scenes of his fight with Pfeil, couldn’t hide his surprise. He thought it was an extravagant strategy to use the continent’s foremost assassination organization as a diversion. And another adventurer, he cursed inwardly.
“Trane, are you injured?”
“I’m not outmatched by third-rate adventurers. However, I apologize. I didn’t expect the person you were fighting to be a member of Waalthe, so I should have gone to help you. After defeating the adventurer, I was guarding Hannelore in her room…”
“It’s fine if you’re not injured. I want to protect not only Olivier and Hannelore but also you.”
“Me too?”
Trane’s usually expressionless face moved slightly. She was likely surprised.
“Well, Olivier told me you’re family, so I want to protect everyone living in this mansion.”
“…Jared, you understand the risks of living in this mansion now, don’t you? Even so, you still want to protect us?”
“Of course. Why would you think my feelings would change so easily?”
Rather, he found it strange that she would ask why he still wanted to protect them. His feelings hadn’t changed. Jared genuinely wanted to protect Olivier, Hannelore, and Trane. And he wouldn’t change until the mastermind targeting Hannelore was exposed and peace returned to them.
“I see, so that’s how it is.”
“What is?”
“I’ve come to understand that you are kind and perhaps a bit too good-natured, Jared.”
Trane’s expression clearly changed, and she smiled.
