That evening, I took a deep breath and waited quietly for Ixion. It was because I felt it was important to clarify the ridiculous rumors that were circulating among the Knights. If the rumors spread like this, there would be nothing good for me and Ixion.
If I jumped on the topic that I had stepped into with my feet and said, ‘We’re not in that kind of relationship,’ people would make fun of me, and in the end, this situation had to be solved by Ixion, who had been with the Knights for a long time.
He returned today with a small wound on his left hand, claiming he cut it while thinking it was a monster’s foot. I sighed and cast a healing spell before settling down seriously.
“Prince.”
Ixion stared at me as if he wanted me to keep talking.
“Now, you don’t have to get hurt on purpose.”
“….Huh?”
“I know you’re getting hurt a little bit every evening because of your excuse to come to my barracks.”
Ixion let out a shallow sigh in response to my words. “However, if I just show up, you might feel uncomfortable—”
“It’s also uncomfortable like this. Just come if you want to come.”
It meant he could just keep his eyes on me without making excuses, but Ixion’s face brightened as if he didn’t have to get hurt anymore.
“That’s good, then. Is it okay if I come whenever I want from now on?”
“If you need to.” I willingly nodded my head. “But did you know there’s a strange rumor circulating among the Knights?”
“What rumors?”
“There have been rumors that Your Highness and I are getting married. I believe it is because you sent me a proposal the other day, but it has been invalid for a long time, so—”
Ixion smiled and leaned his chin against his back hand, staring at me.
‘What is this, you’ll make me speechless if you stare at someone with such a handsome face?’
One of the reasons Elsia fell in love with Ixion, as expected, must have been his appearance.
“What do you mean invalid?”
“I-it’s not valid. I refused it.”
“But I can still ask for a marriage. Trying, waiting.”
“…What?”
He took a step forward. His eyelashes were so close together that they could be seen one by one.
‘Crazy. Why are his eyes so beautiful?’
Without realizing it, my heart was pounding.
“As I mentioned earlier, I still wish to marry you.” After talking a lot, Ixion drank tea without much thought.
“S-still?”
“Even if you declined, I didn’t change my mind when I sent you the marriage proposal.”
In the marriage proposal, he said that he wanted to repay me.
“Huh—”
‘Still’ meant that nothing had changed.
‘Isn’t this guy saying he’ll legally stay by my side and kill me before anything worse happens?’
As the Prince’s wife, I could enter a good grave with honor.
“To tell you the truth, that’s all I think about every day. I’m not sure how I’m going to get your feelings back.”
Regardless, I needed to get my act together. I’m making a survival film, not a romance.
“I’m sorry, but the answer is still no.” I said it firmly because I didn’t like to beat around the bush.
“I’ve been telling you, but you didn’t have to repay me. The Prince gave me freedom, and that’s all I need. I’ll just decide how I want to spend the rest of my life— and then there’s Niel.”
“Niel?” Ixion fixed his gaze on me.
“Wizards are wizards. It’s a blunder to question their sincerity. In the end, it is only used, and the outcome is not favorable. Young Lady, I’m sure you’d know.”
“I know everything.” I responded calmly.
Don’t you realize Niel regards me as a subject rather than a person? That’s how I began with Niel.
But this Ixion was different. I just wanted to end on good terms with him. It could have been greed, but I just wanted to be remembered as “Elsia Artise, who saved his life.”
“I wish you didn’t know. So that I can rationally persuade you. It’s made worse by Young Lady’s cold-hearted attitude toward the situation.”
“But the person who is closest to me right now is Niel. There is no denying it, regardless of logic. But—.” I quickly added that Ixion’s face wrinkled mercilessly. “It’s fine for us to see each other as frequently as we do now, rather than having committed to marriage or something similar. The Prince will be relieved in this way.”
It was, of course, Ixion’s freedom to monitor the risk factors.
He replied with a puzzled expression, whether he understood or not. “Well, if that’s what you mean, Young Lady.”
He leaned back. I didn’t move much, but I was able to breathe.
“Let’s take things slowly.”
‘What are you going slowly? What are you talking about?’
“You must still have mixed feelings.”
“Yes, it’s not like I don’t want to be with you or anything, but— I hate the Imperial Palace.”
“What?”
“It means I’ve been locked up in the Imperial Palace for far too long, and I’m constantly being watched by strangers, and I don’t want to go anywhere near the capital any longer.” I stated it firmly.
“I’ll have to return to the capital to be with the Prince. The Imperial Palace is the Prince’s place, and I’m not going anywhere near the capital.”
“However, Elsia. That is not an issue. Do you think I proposed without giving it much thought?”
There was a cheerful voice outside as Ixion continued to try to speak.
“It’s me, Elsia. Can you let me in?”
Ixion’s face hardened as he heard Niel’s voice. I wondered why he despised Niel so much, but come to think of it, it wasn’t just one or two people who hate Niel. It appeared to be because he was a light person with little empathy.
From the Marchioness, to Dalton, and to many of the Knights…
It would have been faster to find someone who Niel liked.
“Uh. Come in.”
“Did you work hard on your divine magic? Oops, the Prince is here again.” Niel was roughly polite to Ixion. “That’s great. I had something to tell you.”
“Really? Why don’t you talk fast and go in and rest?”
“I’ll tell you quickly, but I still have some energy to rest.”
“You’re a wizard, but why aren’t you returning to the Tower?”
“The wizard only stays in places where he is interested.”
Niel replied with a smirk and handed out letters to me and Ixion one by one.
“It was sent by my mother. It’s a good idea to take a break at the Marquis before moving on to the next location. As a thank you, she’d like to treat us to a meal.”
From the Marquis’ perspective, it was a proper way to treat guests.
Ixion and me nodded.
******
“Elsia!” The Marchioness hugged me tightly when I arrived at the Marquis. “You don’t have to do this much to help the Knights destroy the monsters—”
I gave an awkward smile.
‘I’m not doing this for the Marquis.’
Niel murmured sullenly beside her.
“Mother, I also assisted in the defeat of the monsters.”
Niel’s words were clearly ignored by the Marchioness, who remained respectful to Ixion. “Thank you, Prince, as always. Did Elsia provide you with a lot of help?”
“Because she can use healing magic, she has been a huge help to the Knights. When I was hurt, I used to go to Elsia.”
“It was great. The Prince and Elsia are connected—”
Niel stepped in as if dumbfounded.
“I am the one who taught the healing magic.”
“Yeah, you’re doing great.” The Marchioness responded indifferently and inquired.
“But why are you in the monster subjugation field with what kind of wind blows?”
“Elsia says she’ll go. How can she spend her time alone?”
Niel responded deftly.
“Aren’t I her brother?”
“I hope you don’t forget where you are.”
Ixion added sharply, but Niel didn’t seem to be paying attention. Well, Niel never listen to anyone.
“Please come in. It’s quite chilly outside.”
I thought it was okay to live outside the Imperial Palace because I was cramped in there, but when I returned to the Marquis, I couldn’t feel as at ease. People quickly adapted to comfort, as expected.
Until dinner, it was a personal break.
My room remained unchanged. Ixion’s marriage proposal was also kept in the drawer. I felt good after a long time when I was served by maids, washed clean, and changed into nice indoor clothes.
“Aren’t you having a hard time, Young Lady? Leaving such a comfortable house like this.”
Sera said while combing my hair.
“Are you still good at only dealing with uninteresting divine magic?”
“Yeah. I’m not very talented at anything else, no matter how much I learn.”
It’s not that Niel hasn’t taught me other magic. But divine magic was the only thing I could do well. It was only black magic and divine magic.
Both are said to be magic from another world, but I was also a soul from another world, so it seemed that way.
“Well, the monsters are bad, so it’s a good thing to volunteer.” I replied roughly, as if I’d given up halfway.
“Don’t you think the Knights need to recover so they can better fight the evil monsters?”
“That’s correct, but—”
Sera was about to respond further when there was a loud bang in the hallway. Sera was surprised as well because there was a loud noise that made my ears ring.
“Oh, my God!”
“Master Heim, what else is going on with you?”
“Heim?”
“We went to Master Heim’s room while the Lady was away. He stated that he dislikes sunlight, so… it’s the room opposite this one.”
Come to think of it, I’ve never even seen Heim’s face. However, there were no positive feelings for information, such as being weak and nervous, causing quarterly commotion.
Heim, in my mind, was a middle-schooler who couldn’t seem to break out of his bad habits. As soon as I thought they’d taken care of it, another noise rang out.
“Get the hell out! I told you to leave!”
This time, a typical middle school behavior syndrome line was heard.
I can’t help but go out, no matter how much I don’t want to get involved in the Marquis’s messed-up child rearing.
In addition, I’m sure the victims of that situation are more like maids. As someone who has seen far too much injustice in her life, I slowly rose to my feet.
I can say “calm down,” despite the fact that I can’t do much mental education because I’m only a stepdaughter.
That evening, I took a deep breath and waited quietly for Ixion. It was because I felt it was important to clarify the ridiculous rumors that were circulating among the Knights. If the rumors spread like this, there would be nothing good for me and Ixion.
If I jumped on the topic that I had stepped into with my feet and said, ‘We’re not in that kind of relationship,’ people would make fun of me, and in the end, this situation had to be solved by Ixion, who had been with the Knights for a long time.
He returned today with a small wound on his left hand, claiming he cut it while thinking it was a monster’s foot. I sighed and cast a healing spell before settling down seriously.
“Prince.”
Ixion stared at me as if he wanted me to keep talking.
“Now, you don’t have to get hurt on purpose.”
“….Huh?”
“I know you’re getting hurt a little bit every evening because of your excuse to come to my barracks.”
Ixion let out a shallow sigh in response to my words. “However, if I just show up, you might feel uncomfortable—”
“It’s also uncomfortable like this. Just come if you want to come.”
It meant he could just keep his eyes on me without making excuses, but Ixion’s face brightened as if he didn’t have to get hurt anymore.
“That’s good, then. Is it okay if I come whenever I want from now on?”
“If you need to.” I willingly nodded my head. “But did you know there’s a strange rumor circulating among the Knights?”
“What rumors?”
“There have been rumors that Your Highness and I are getting married. I believe it is because you sent me a proposal the other day, but it has been invalid for a long time, so—”
Ixion smiled and leaned his chin against his back hand, staring at me.
‘What is this, you’ll make me speechless if you stare at someone with such a handsome face?’
One of the reasons Elsia fell in love with Ixion, as expected, must have been his appearance.
“What do you mean invalid?”
“I-it’s not valid. I refused it.”
“But I can still ask for a marriage. Trying, waiting.”
“…What?”
He took a step forward. His eyelashes were so close together that they could be seen one by one.
‘Crazy. Why are his eyes so beautiful?’
Without realizing it, my heart was pounding.
“As I mentioned earlier, I still wish to marry you.” After talking a lot, Ixion drank tea without much thought.
“S-still?”
“Even if you declined, I didn’t change my mind when I sent you the marriage proposal.”
In the marriage proposal, he said that he wanted to repay me.
“Huh—”
‘Still’ meant that nothing had changed.
‘Isn’t this guy saying he’ll legally stay by my side and kill me before anything worse happens?’
As the Prince’s wife, I could enter a good grave with honor.
“To tell you the truth, that’s all I think about every day. I’m not sure how I’m going to get your feelings back.”
Regardless, I needed to get my act together. I’m making a survival film, not a romance.
“I’m sorry, but the answer is still no.” I said it firmly because I didn’t like to beat around the bush.
“I’ve been telling you, but you didn’t have to repay me. The Prince gave me freedom, and that’s all I need. I’ll just decide how I want to spend the rest of my life— and then there’s Niel.”
“Niel?” Ixion fixed his gaze on me.
“Wizards are wizards. It’s a blunder to question their sincerity. In the end, it is only used, and the outcome is not favorable. Young Lady, I’m sure you’d know.”
“I know everything.” I responded calmly.
Don’t you realize Niel regards me as a subject rather than a person? That’s how I began with Niel.
But this Ixion was different. I just wanted to end on good terms with him. It could have been greed, but I just wanted to be remembered as “Elsia Artise, who saved his life.”
“I wish you didn’t know. So that I can rationally persuade you. It’s made worse by Young Lady’s cold-hearted attitude toward the situation.”
“But the person who is closest to me right now is Niel. There is no denying it, regardless of logic. But—.” I quickly added that Ixion’s face wrinkled mercilessly. “It’s fine for us to see each other as frequently as we do now, rather than having committed to marriage or something similar. The Prince will be relieved in this way.”
It was, of course, Ixion’s freedom to monitor the risk factors.
He replied with a puzzled expression, whether he understood or not. “Well, if that’s what you mean, Young Lady.”
He leaned back. I didn’t move much, but I was able to breathe.
“Let’s take things slowly.”
‘What are you going slowly? What are you talking about?’
“You must still have mixed feelings.”
“Yes, it’s not like I don’t want to be with you or anything, but— I hate the Imperial Palace.”
“What?”
“It means I’ve been locked up in the Imperial Palace for far too long, and I’m constantly being watched by strangers, and I don’t want to go anywhere near the capital any longer.” I stated it firmly.
“I’ll have to return to the capital to be with the Prince. The Imperial Palace is the Prince’s place, and I’m not going anywhere near the capital.”
“However, Elsia. That is not an issue. Do you think I proposed without giving it much thought?”
There was a cheerful voice outside as Ixion continued to try to speak.
“It’s me, Elsia. Can you let me in?”
Ixion’s face hardened as he heard Niel’s voice. I wondered why he despised Niel so much, but come to think of it, it wasn’t just one or two people who hate Niel. It appeared to be because he was a light person with little empathy.
From the Marchioness, to Dalton, and to many of the Knights…
It would have been faster to find someone who Niel liked.
“Uh. Come in.”
“Did you work hard on your divine magic? Oops, the Prince is here again.” Niel was roughly polite to Ixion. “That’s great. I had something to tell you.”
“Really? Why don’t you talk fast and go in and rest?”
“I’ll tell you quickly, but I still have some energy to rest.”
“You’re a wizard, but why aren’t you returning to the Tower?”
“The wizard only stays in places where he is interested.”
Niel replied with a smirk and handed out letters to me and Ixion one by one.
“It was sent by my mother. It’s a good idea to take a break at the Marquis before moving on to the next location. As a thank you, she’d like to treat us to a meal.”
From the Marquis’ perspective, it was a proper way to treat guests.
Ixion and me nodded.
******
“Elsia!” The Marchioness hugged me tightly when I arrived at the Marquis. “You don’t have to do this much to help the Knights destroy the monsters—”
I gave an awkward smile.
‘I’m not doing this for the Marquis.’
Niel murmured sullenly beside her.
“Mother, I also assisted in the defeat of the monsters.”
Niel’s words were clearly ignored by the Marchioness, who remained respectful to Ixion. “Thank you, Prince, as always. Did Elsia provide you with a lot of help?”
“Because she can use healing magic, she has been a huge help to the Knights. When I was hurt, I used to go to Elsia.”
“It was great. The Prince and Elsia are connected—”
Niel stepped in as if dumbfounded.
“I am the one who taught the healing magic.”
“Yeah, you’re doing great.” The Marchioness responded indifferently and inquired.
“But why are you in the monster subjugation field with what kind of wind blows?”
“Elsia says she’ll go. How can she spend her time alone?”
Niel responded deftly.
“Aren’t I her brother?”
“I hope you don’t forget where you are.”
Ixion added sharply, but Niel didn’t seem to be paying attention. Well, Niel never listen to anyone.
“Please come in. It’s quite chilly outside.”
I thought it was okay to live outside the Imperial Palace because I was cramped in there, but when I returned to the Marquis, I couldn’t feel as at ease. People quickly adapted to comfort, as expected.
Until dinner, it was a personal break.
My room remained unchanged. Ixion’s marriage proposal was also kept in the drawer. I felt good after a long time when I was served by maids, washed clean, and changed into nice indoor clothes.
“Aren’t you having a hard time, Young Lady? Leaving such a comfortable house like this.”
Sera said while combing my hair.
“Are you still good at only dealing with uninteresting divine magic?”
“Yeah. I’m not very talented at anything else, no matter how much I learn.”
It’s not that Niel hasn’t taught me other magic. But divine magic was the only thing I could do well. It was only black magic and divine magic.
Both are said to be magic from another world, but I was also a soul from another world, so it seemed that way.
“Well, the monsters are bad, so it’s a good thing to volunteer.” I replied roughly, as if I’d given up halfway.
“Don’t you think the Knights need to recover so they can better fight the evil monsters?”
“That’s correct, but—”
Sera was about to respond further when there was a loud bang in the hallway. Sera was surprised as well because there was a loud noise that made my ears ring.
“Oh, my God!”
“Master Heim, what else is going on with you?”
“Heim?”
“We went to Master Heim’s room while the Lady was away. He stated that he dislikes sunlight, so… it’s the room opposite this one.”
Come to think of it, I’ve never even seen Heim’s face. However, there were no positive feelings for information, such as being weak and nervous, causing quarterly commotion.
Heim, in my mind, was a middle-schooler who couldn’t seem to break out of his bad habits. As soon as I thought they’d taken care of it, another noise rang out.
“Get the hell out! I told you to leave!”
This time, a typical middle school behavior syndrome line was heard.
I can’t help but go out, no matter how much I don’t want to get involved in the Marquis’s messed-up child rearing.
In addition, I’m sure the victims of that situation are more like maids. As someone who has seen far too much injustice in her life, I slowly rose to my feet.
I can say “calm down,” despite the fact that I can’t do much mental education because I’m only a stepdaughter.
