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T/N: The following author’s note doesn’t hold much relevance to us, but I like to translate them anyway. If you ever want help trying to leave comments for the author, hit me up! We can work through it together 🙂
Author’s Note: Thank you so much for writing your reactions and impressions all this time! And thanks for helping me find my typos! It makes me so happy to be able to read all your lovely comments as well as your valuable feedback.
I’m extremely sorry, but real life has been getting pretty busy for me recently, so I’d like to abstain from replying to your comments and really focus on improving the story for the time being. However, I will still make sure to read through all the reactions I receive.
From here on out, I hope you continue to enjoy this story!“It was Neil from the Johnson family,” Duke says simply.
…..Who? I’m assuming he’s a noble, but I have no idea who that is. I’ve never heard of the Johnson family.
“Who is…. Neil?” Alicia asks, blinking in surprise at Duke.
So she doesn’t know who he is either. Inwardly, I feel relieved. How shameful would it be if I was the only one who stupidly didn’t know?
“The Johnson family. You know, the one’s who use earth magic…..?” Henry supplies.
Alicia just looks at him blankly.
“Come on, you remember, don’t you? He was that guy from Liz’s group that you saw at the tea party…. the one that called you a b*tch,” continues Henry. He seems surprised but also amused that we had no clue who the guy was.But that last bit. Right, I remember that guy. He was that loud-spoken idiot who had no idea what he was saying…. One of Liz Cather’s fanatical groupies.
“So, thinking that I was just an eyesore to Liz-san, he decided to get rid of me?” Alicia suggests. She sounds absolutely delighted.
….I guess, in her own way, Alicia is also a bit of an idiot. It’s written all over her face, ‘I’ve become such a good villainess that people actually want to kill me off!’ But to be that happy about being put into a gravely dangerous situation…. isn’t smart. That’s pretty stupid, Alicia.
“Ali, this isn’t something to be happy about,” Henry admonishes her, letting out a small sigh.
I had thought there was a deeper scheme in the works here, but I guess I was wrong. Obsessive, lovestruck fools are just more dangerous than I initially thought.
I glance at Duke and our eyes meet. It’s probably the first time we’ve actually looked at each other like this. Just from his gaze I can tell how intelligent he is.
“I’m Gilles.”
Without even thinking about it, the words slip out. Since I was born, this is the first time I’ve ever taken the initiative to introduce myself first.
All three of them stare at me. They look equally as surprised as I am at my sudden introduction.
The murderous light in Duke’s eyes finally fades away as he replies, “I’m Duke,” a small smile forming on his face.
His face is so pretty that even a man like me could end up charmed by it.
“Gilles, you’re quite sharp.”
“He’s my assistant, you know?”
Alicia’s reply is immediate, her voice sounds triumphant, boastful. It makes my chest feel warm.
So Alicia’s proud of me? To think that one fact would make me this happy…. This is the first time in my life that I’ve ever felt this way before. My heart feels full to the brim and I feel like my eyes might start welling up with tears.
It was only a couple of years ago when I wouldn’t have cared if every noble on the planet just died. No, it was worse than that. I wanted them gone. I wanted them completely eradicated.
But it’s different now. I know some genuinely decent nobles and there are even a few that I actually want to live. Alicia, Henry, and even Duke. I’m happy that they are still alive, and that I’ll be able to see them live and grow.
“As I thought, it just doesn’t make any sense…”
Looking at these three truly intelligent and insightful nobles, I can’t help but voice my doubts. All three of them look at me in confusion.
“I mean, just because she’s the saintess, she’s supposedly going to save the world….? At this rate, I doubt she even has the ability to bring peace to our country, let alone the whole world.”
At my words, Alicia’s eyes fly wide open. Henry and Duke however look like they agree with my opinion.
“Since Liz Cather and all of her followers are nothing but complete morons, I just can’t imagine them achieving anything of that magnitude,” I continue coldly.
Alicia may not seem to mind, but I’m still outraged that Liz Cather and her dunderheaded worshippers basically tried to kill her. Intentional or not, Alicia was inches, mere inches, away from dying.
“Did you just casually insult my brothers along with the rest of Liz-san’s admirers?”
“Yeah. I guess,” I say.
Alicia’s expression relaxes a bit.
“Love really is a frightening thing,” she replies cryptically, smiling. For some reason, she looks kind of happy about it.
Her expression looks so sweet and cute right now, I almost can’t believe she looked like a crazed killer up until a couple of minutes ago.
Since no one’s saying anything, I take the opportunity to ask something that I’ve been wondering about for a while.
“Alicia, how were you able to stab that guy so easily through the heart in just one blow?”
Alicia stiffens at my sudden question. Her eyes turn far away as she seems to ponder it for a moment.
Henry and Duke also seem fairly taken-aback by my words. They probably never imagined that she’d be able to kill someone with only one stab through the heart.
Alicia’s face turns troubled, as if she’s wondering whether or not to explain it to us. But then she sighs lightly and resignation floods her eyes.
“The truth is that it was pure luck. I knew the general position of the heart in the body thanks to one of the books that I read in the past, so I kept that knowledge in mind while I was fighting with them. But I didn’t think that I’d be able to hit my mark in one go…. I was actually quite relieved when I realized that I hadn’t missed.”
Her explanation is so unexpected that I’m speechless. Alicia truly is unlike anyone else. To think a young noblewoman could accomplish something like that with only a rudimentary understanding of human anatomy learned purely from books…. It’s incredible.
Henry and Duke can’t seem to decide whether to be surprised or impressed.
“Isn’t it about time that we leave this hut?” Alicia asks while glancing outside, either ignoring or oblivious to our reactions.
Oh. I forgot. Liz Cather and her lot are still waiting outside.
“You’re right,” agrees Duke. He lightly snaps his fingers and then the wall dissolves into the air as if it never existed in the first place.
I started noticing this a while ago, but there seems to be two types of magic: spells that require the caster to snap and spells that don’t. Since Alicia snaps no matter what spell she’s casting, I didn’t initially realize there was such a distinction, but neither Henry nor Duke snapped their fingers before casting the healing magic on us…..
As someone who can’t use magic, the whole system still kind of baffles me.
“Then, shall we?”
“Eh!? What are you–!?”
Henry and Alicia’s voices overlap. Or should I say, Alicia’s startled cry practically drowns out Henry’s relaxed agreement.
Before I had realized, Duke had lifted Alicia with his good arm and nestled her there.
“Please put me down.”
“But you’re injured.”
“I can walk just fine on my own.”
“Don’t make a fuss. I might drop you if you move too much.”
Alicia is struggling in Duke’s hold with her face beet red. The blush stretches all the way to her ears. It’s my first time seeing Alicia making an embarrassed expression.
Today I got to see so many new sides to her that I’ve never seen before.
Duke looks secretly happy with her response as well. Though, that’s deep down. Mainly, he looks truly concerned for Alicia’s wellbeing.
“Gilles, you too. Just be good and hold still,” Henry tells me, and this time it’s my turn to be picked up.
“Hah? I can walk by myself.”
“Says the kid whose legs were broken,” retorts Henry, smiling a bit sadistically. He’s definitely enjoying my discomfort.
Compared to him, a guy with a couple of years on me and who has been training his body since young, I don’t have any openings to resist. But I try anyway. I squirm and kick my feet…. which are moving again? Since when did my legs recover? It almost feels like they were never broken in the first place.
…..Magic really is amazing. Once again, I’m awed by its abilities.
“My legs are fi–“
“Fine~. Sure they are. Cause my magic was what fixed them! But you should still let them rest,” Henry cuts me off before I can even finish speaking. He winks at me and grins in a teasing manner.
I can tell from his eyes that he’s actually worried for me though. So I stop arguing and just let him carry me. Having someone worry over you….. isn’t all that bad.
Then finally the four of us exit the hut.
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T/N: Oh Gilles. I’m going to miss your POV T-T He’s so sarcastic and a bit of a tsundere…. He’s just precious ❤
In other news, looks like you guys liked the poll~! At time of writing this, there was a total of 632 votes cast! 😀 Nearly half of you guys got it right! Congrats to the 287 of you who voted for the Liz groupie hehe. You may feel honored and gloat if you’d like. Also, a shoutout to Crimson Nanashi and Vive for coming up with the actual person~ Figurative trophies for all of you!! XD
To the handful of you that voted for Will…. I love you hahaha. Made my day. I literally threw that in there as a long shot. Sometime, you should comment your rationale behind that choice! I’d be super curious.
And, for you write in’s, my favorites were Duke to make Alicia fall for him (love it!), Alicia herself (lol), the author (rofl – not exactly wrong haha), Gayle’s father (which actually seems quite reasonable to me), and someone from another country like Ravaal (very creative~!).
Thanks for playing! Whenever I see a good opportunity, I’ll throw in a poll to spice things up 😉
P.S. I’m going to be working more hours for a while T-T So I am likely to miss weekdays at random when I’m too tired to upload. I’m still going to try to hit the five per week though! Just don’t be too surprised if I skip some days without warning.
