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Chapter 279
That Settles It
A handle shattered by strength no young lady could possibly muster.
Even so, Ruri didn't let go of the mask.
Her lightly painted lips trembled faintly.
Ferda's eyes shifted toward the handle mask she clutched.
"There's no need to grip the handle mask so hard. You'll hurt yourself like that."
W е̄ b̌nо̀v̈е̊l Е̌n um̂а́
Everything had already been exposed, yet she didn't budge an inch.
With nowhere to run, Ruri needed something to hide behind right now.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
She knew all too well that her face was a complete mess.
Forcing her stubborn lips apart, she let out her real voice.
"Uh, uh..."
What came out was a trembling voice carrying the vibration of her heart.
Е̄ǹ ũ m̌а́
"Wh-when did you know?"
She'd hoped he'd found out as late as possible.
"From the start. I knew the moment I saw you."
Her face flushed hot.
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Ruri deliberately scrunched her face, lowering her voice as if angry.
"Then you kept pretending not to know and said th-those things to me?"
Е̇n̈ ŭ m а̄
"That's right."
"Why would you do something like that?"
At that, Ferda said this.
"You know that better than anyone, don't you?"
Ruri's expression grew complicated.
She had her own suspicions.
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Those suspicions were largely influenced by the novel she treasured most, making her think Ferda had impure intentions.
If Ferda really did that with the intention of toying with her too...
Ruri desperately erased that utterly impious guess.
Even with her identity exposed, she didn't want to hand the initiative over to Ferda.
I'm a proud descendant of Silverwind, and Valdrova's attendant!
"D-don't answer a question with a question."
Еǹ ǔ m̈ӓ
What came out was a deflated voice.
How would he respond?
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Just as she was fretting, Ferda said this.
"You were desperately pretending to be a stranger, so I figured there must be a reason."
"Aren't you going to ask about that reason?"
"Is there a need to ask more?"
Ẃе̂ b n̄о̊vė l̈ Е n u̇ ḿа̂
Ferda answered matter-of-factly.
"You said it was a hobby, so it's a hobby."
Strength entered her fist.
She wanted to scream or hit him, but she couldn't.
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Judging by Ferda's reaction, he seemed to know nothing about the book's contents.
The fact that she'd worked herself up alone made her shudder.
W̃ е̃ ḃn̈.о v̊еl̆ Е̌ n̄ u̇m̆.а̌
And above all, it was more important that the <49 Ways to Tame the Cheeky Maid> in her hand wasn't damaged.
"I'll be going then. Anything else?"
"There is nothing, sir."
"Understood, then..."
Ferda turned around.
At that moment, everything that had overwhelmed her vanished.
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Ruri returned to herself.
Even so, she couldn't tear her gaze from Ferda's back.
His back looked enormously large.
Even knowing he was a weakling who'd collapse instantly if he ran even a little.
Why did that back look so big?
"I really hate this..."
W eb̂ǹо̊ v̀е̇l̊ Еṅ ǔm а̊
Vexation kept welling up, and a strange emotion endlessly shook her chest.
So what can I do?
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Powerlessness presses down.
It wasn't because she'd acted the noble lady.
Simply because it was Ferda, she became infinitely weak before him.
Not the shell forged shell tempered shell of a warrior, but only soft, vulnerable flesh.
Énumа̊. іd̈
So she had no choice but to look away with her face bright red and chew her lips.
* * *
Valdrova blankly stared up at the sky.
No, one might not even call it the sky.
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A weightless sensation that made her lose track of where she was.
But it wasn't freedom—it was similar to sinking.
E̊nu m̀ ӑ
This sensation of sinking to the bottom of the abyss, water pressure crushing her entire body.
She had never overcome this sensation even once.
That's how she knew.
'It's a dream.'
Despite possessing the power to shake off everything, the only thing she'd never overcome even once was dreams.
'A sensation I haven't felt in a long time.'
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What she felt was powerlessness.
What followed was pain.
Her body reacted automatically, so used to it.
Familiar, but not painless.
Pain is a sensation you can never get used to.
'What was this?'
Èñů m̆ а ._і d̃
Valdrova thought about what this pain was.
If she had to be whipped, it'd be better to know what she'd be whipped with beforehand.
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With that thought, she quietly closed her eyes and searched her memories.
-Lady Valdrova.
Before she could even realize, someone called Valdrova's name.
At the same time, her vision opened up, colors becoming distinct.
Е n̆ u̇mа̄.і̆d̊
Where she was—a plain.
A yellow-blazing sun and blue sky.
Beneath them, a green meadow spread out.
Valdrova lay there.
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-Lady Valdrova!
The one who called her was a very small girl.
Е ñu m a
So frail she looked like she'd burst if she lay down wrong.
Even thinking back now, she was a truly mysterious child.
Every human who looked up at her was always seized by fear and bowed their head.
But that child was smiling brightly, looking straight at Valdrova.
She held out what she was carrying.
-I found a flower as beautiful as you, Lady Valdrova!
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It was a red flower.
Not a rose cultivated in a greenhouse, but a wildflower visible among the summer vegetation.
A wildflower untouched by a gardener's hand couldn't possibly be beautiful.
Even so, Valdrova thought it was extraordinarily beautiful.
Because she saw it through that little girl's eyes.
This vast plain that the small girl's steps could never fully traverse.
Ẅ.е́b n̊ о_v̂ е l Е n̄ ŭm̄a
She must have searched for and picked the most beautiful flower within it—so in the girl's world, it was the most beautiful thing.
-You know... I'm going to gather lots of beautiful red flowers like this. And I'll make a flower crown to place on your head, Lady Valdrova!
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The girl swore it.
-So please watch over me!
That promise rang vividly, and Valdrova opened her eyes again.
Bright colors vanished in an instant, and a dim space caught her eyes.
W̄ е̇b̊ ṅо̀ v̈ еl Е̃ n̄ū ṁ а̀
It was reality—her own cave.
-A dream...
Valdrova recalled the dream she'd had once more.
A dream is like a butterfly perched on the bridge of your nose—forgotten the moment you wake.
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But Valdrova remembered that day's memory vividly.
Because it wasn't just a dream, but one of the memories she held.
Wе bn̂ о v̌ёl̇ E̊ n̊u̇ m̌ â
Valdrova knew that girl's ending.
That young girl's wish was never fulfilled, and now it never can be.
With a melancholy heart, Valdrova curled up.
The past is an ineradicable wound, piling up day by day.
-Ferda...
She carefully calls that name.
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Valdrova recalled the last conversation she'd shared with him.
She also knew what she'd been doing since then.
Valdrova was afraid.
Would Ferda eventually become just another one of those many wounds?
'I don't want that.'
Valdrova's body shrank.
Еñů m а .і̄ d̀
In human form, she stepped out through the giant iron door.
Except for when fighting, she rarely used that door, but now it was terribly familiar.
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The stairs leading up to the castle, too.
The castle corridors that had only been empty.
Everything designed for human living became familiar.
Without getting lost, she arrived straight at the garden.
Е nǔm а
A garden withering as autumn clothes were donned.
The colors were dyed in darkness and hard to see, but the chilly wind seemed to announce winter's approach.
Valdrova walked through that garden alone and sat on the bench in the center.
She looked at the wide-open sky.
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Countless dots on black drawing paper.
And the bright moon.
Ë n̈ um а
'Ferda said...'
When she wasn't that close to Ferda yet,
When she was her unsightly self, armed in armor to hide her shy heart.
Valdrova had pretended to run into him in the corridor to try talking with him.
Back then, Ferda said when things were hard, he'd come to the garden and look at the sky.
He said the giant moon comforted his heart.
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Since Ferda found comfort that way, she thought maybe she would too.
But it wasn't like that.
Looking at that moon only made her knotted heart feel more stifled.
That moon shining brilliantly in the black, black sky looked too lonely and pitiful.
It looked just like herself, floundering.
Her melancholy heart only grew sadder.
Wе b́n̆о̊v е̌l Ѐṅ u m̄а̊.
Even so, Valdrova didn't rise.
Sniffling pointlessly with damp eyes, she just quietly gazed up at that moon.
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It felt like if she looked away, both she and that moon would be alone.
If they kept looking at each other like this, wouldn't that moon tell her something?
Wouldn't it sort out this emotion she didn't even understand herself?
Even while thinking such foolish thoughts, she knew.
Е̂ ń u̇m̄ а̊.і ď
That the moon wouldn't answer.
That everything was something she had to sort out alone.
Because she was someone who knew that well, the next thing that happened could only be called fate.
Because the one who appeared like a lie in this place where she gazed at the moon alone was Ferda.
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* * *
This night was a very rare night for Ferda.
Êǹ um̈а̀
A night where he woke up suddenly while sleeping, tried to sleep again, but absolutely couldn't fall asleep.
A night where he just came out to the garden for a bit, thinking he'd rather take a walk than toss and turn in bed, then fall asleep.
That's why the moment he entered the garden, Ferda froze.
A figure glowing red even under the cold moonlight.
In this castle, there was only one such existence.
Valdrova.
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As a pet name—Eleanor.
Their eyes met with her sitting on the bench.
They looked at each other for a long time.
Ferda carefully moved his feet, approaching her.
"It's truly been a long time, Eleanor."
"Huh? Ah, yes!"
Ė n ùm̄ а̇
Valdrova whipped her head away to hide the expression on her face.
She asked in a trembling voice.
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"Fe-Ferda, what brings you here?"
"I woke up in the middle of the night and came. I never thought you'd be here."
"I, I see..."
Ferda hesitated a little.
E̊.ǹ úm̌а
Their last meeting was after Count Consillus's wedding.
After that, they hadn't met.
He'd only barely learned of her well-being through Ruri.
That's why this unexpected meeting was so terribly awkward.
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"Um... would I be in the way?"
It was a truly strange thing to say.
Е n úm а. i d̃
A dragon with the power to turn not just a person but the very seat and everything to ash saying something like that.
"That's a question I should be asking."
"I'm fine. Rather... talking with Ferda..."
"...Same for me."
Since she couldn't finish her words, Ferda had no choice but to cut in.
Hearing Ferda's words, Valdrova shifted slightly to the side on the bench she'd been occupying in the middle, making space.
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Ferda sat beside her.
A face he'd never tire of seeing, right up close.
But Ferda didn't have the confidence to face Valdrova's face.
The desire to talk was the same, but neither could bring up a topic—they just sat there.
"Ferda..."
In that awkward atmosphere, it was Valdrova who found courage.
Ŵ е̌ b́ n̊о vе̌ l̄ Е numа
"Yes, please speak."
"I... I said I wanted to grow old together with you, didn't I?"
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"Yes."
"Those words... they're absolutely not empty words."
At Valdrova's words, Ferda couldn't open his mouth.
Ferda knew how he would answer.
Еn̊ ūm̊ а . і ḋ
But for some reason, even the words 'I know' trying to leave his mouth seemed like they'd look like empty words.
"If we marry... normally you'd become one and have children, right?"
"In human weddings, that's usually the case."
"Ferda said that and I ran away. I know it's weird. I know I'm weird too."
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"..."
"That day... my head was too confused. So I guess I got scared for a moment. I wondered if it was because having a child was something new for me..."
Е̂n̈u̇mа̇ . і d̃
"Is that so?"
"If Ferda wants... I'll try to get better. Then... somehow it'll work out..."
She felt Valdrova's gaze.
It felt like a wordless request to turn her head.
As if spellbound, Ferda met that gaze.
"As much as you give me this warmth... I'll... try my best too."
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Ferda saw Valdrova smiling.
She was beautiful.
Red hair with long eyelashes.
Golden eyes piercing through them.
A slender jawline and red, plump lips.
An innocence like a sin that made him want to steal dozens of times and erase dozens of times.
Eṅ u_m̂а̃ . і̆d
With such a face smiling, her eyes should naturally be more dazzling than the midsummer sun.
But that naturalness wasn't felt.
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He knew that smile was different from usual.
Valdrova's emotions residing in his heart.
They were speaking.
'What we have in common is...'
Е̊ñuḿ ӑ. їḋ
A very small, wished-for dream.
Building one precious family and living together.
But the world acted as if it didn't want them to be happy, dropping them into a pit.
'And the difference is...'
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The despair she felt was more severe than Ferda's.
A wound so deep Ferda couldn't possibly endure it—deep enough to make him regain his sanity.
W̃ е̇ b́ n ov̆ е.ĺ Ӗ ńů m а̌
The sensation that wound gave was still vivid.
That emotion was telling him.
That her smile right now was absolutely not a smile.
"There's no need for that."
Ferda took her hand.
Knowing her hand was hesitating, he did so.
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"Eleanor. The reason I came to your side isn't to continue my lineage. I don't want to force that on you."
"But... doesn't Ferda want a child?"
"We don't even have enough time to get to know each other. If we understand each other through that, won't our thoughts naturally change too?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes. So please don't think too heavily."
As Ferda reassured her like that, Valdrova's face looked like she'd set down a heavy burden.
W̄ e.b̂ nоv̊.ё l Е nǔ m а
Valdrova quietly snuggled close to Ferda's side, wrapping her arm around his forearm like a snake.
Leaning against him just like that, she felt Ferda's warmth.
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"Thank you."
It could be felt from Valdrova's voice.
She was relieved.
Looking at such a pitiful her, Ferda thought.
Ё ň um̃ ӓ . îd̃
This is enough.
This is enough.
