Chapter 34

The next day, after not looking at Fer’s secret hobby, Rabi looked up intently at Sai’s eyes, which had been described as lecherous. They were slightly upturned, and at first, they had seemed frightening, but now she knew they belonged to an honest young boy, and she found them endearing.

"Hmm... hahaha..."

Remembering the word "lecherous," a sense of amusement slowly seeped in. "Um, Lady Rabi, is something the matter?" "No, no, hahaha..."

While Rabi’s smile was rather suspicious, setting that aside, when Sai, with a preamble of "I’m sorry," told her the news, Rabi felt a little lonely. Then, feeling anxious about this feeling, she tried to shake her head and pretend nothing was wrong. It seemed that Sai would not be monitoring Rabi the next day.

This was because Nelra was visiting the Harry family, and without Nelra, there was no point in monitoring Rabi. "Oh, is that so? I understand," she said, trying to act as if it didn’t matter, but she felt more lonely than worried about what might happen without Sai. She hated feeling this way, as it showed a strange imbalance.

Rabi’s top priority was to survive and escape from Nelra. Even the smallest anomaly could be fatal for her, and she mustn’t forget that she was walking a tightrope. Sighing unconsciously, Rabi then looked up at Sai, who said, "Perhaps I should tell the prince that I will be with you tomorrow," to which Rabi shook her head frantically. "No, no, that’s fine!"

Originally, it was Sai who was pitiful. Though he was originally the prince’s bodyguard, he had no private time and was now constantly with Rabi, even acting as a teacher. He must have his own classes and training, and no amount of energy would be enough. Despite this, he never showed a tired face, but the stress must have been building up.

"Please take a break, Lord Sai. You have a lot on your mind."

Incidentally, that stress was due to Rabi. She felt guilty.

"No, that’s not—"

"Come, come."

Although Rabi forcibly ended the conversation, Sai was deeply anxious, but Rabi was unaware of this. It would have been easier for her if he had insisted on staying. They were unaware of each other’s feelings.

***

The next day, with Nelra not at the academy, Rabi found herself relaxing a bit. Still, she couldn’t let her guard down, as she didn’t know what traps Nelra might have set.

(Actually, Nelra has parents, right?)

According to Sai, Nelra was at her family’s baronial home today. This meant her parents were there too. Of course, she wasn’t born from a tree, but in the main story of "Hari Nezu," this aspect was vague. The ambiguity of her parents’ roles was common in dating sims, so she hadn’t paid much attention, but this was reality. A strange feeling of loneliness washed over her.

Sai was not there.

She covered her mouth with her hand and coughed deliberately. No, she had heard this yesterday. What was the point of thinking about it? She tried to crush and erase the thoughts that came to mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about how much she had come to rely on him, even though he wasn’t an ally. She wanted to kick herself if she could.

Despite this, she couldn’t focus on her training today. She did her daily routine of going to the pond twice and wandered around like a ghost. In the past, students would scream and make way for her, but recently, her negative aura wasn’t strong enough to elicit such reactions, which made her feel lonely. Perhaps she was getting closer to being human. Even a small step forward was a big leap. After all, Rabi was originally human.

As she thought about this, she found herself standing in front of the library, a place she rarely went. She decided to change her routine rather than go through the motions. She remembered that the first time she had a proper conversation with Sai was here, which made her feel oddly relieved. Smiling, she slowly reached for the door. But there was Baldur. She wanted to close the door right away.

"…Rabi?"

"…Oh, Lord Baldur."

Rabi’s strained face was nothing new.