Chapter 38

"Y-You're wrong!!!"

The voice she squeezed out was a pitiful excuse.

After all, it was true. At that time, her mind was preoccupied with Fiel, and she had no time to think about Sae. But it wasn't that she wanted him to lose. She didn't want him to misunderstand. To Sae, it might have been something trivial, and at that thought, Rabi felt a bit sad.

"I never... I never wished for your victory..."

As she spoke, her voice grew smaller and smaller. Sae blinked several times and looked down at Rabi. Then, Rabi let out a small sigh without him noticing. Yes, it must really be trivial to him. And as she thought about it, "No, it's perfectly normal to cheer for your family," he said in a soft voice.

"It's only natural..."

Is that so? Rabi and Fiel had lived keeping their distance from each other. Probably, that would never change. Because the day Rabi would escape from Nella meant she would have to disappear from their sight.

There was a strange silence. Rabi remained silent, staring at her feet. As for Sae, he kept his mouth shut, thinking about something, and then he smiled slightly. When Rabi looked up at him in surprise, Sae was shaking his shoulders, saying, "No, it's pitiful," and laughing.

"To lose so easily to a much younger boy..."

He found it pitiful to be a guard and yet lose so easily, and he raised the corners of his mouth in a sarcastic smile, a rare expression for Sae, which made Rabi tilt her head in confusion.

"Still, Lord Sae, you weren't fighting seriously, were you?"

At Rabi's casual words, Sae's eyes widened. "Why do you say that?" His gray eyes, which were usually calm, were now staring at Rabi, making her feel extremely embarrassed. "Why do you ask that..." Sae showed no signs of using magic. His medium was his long sword, and the blade he currently held was a training sword. He had intended to hold back from the beginning.

"By looking, I can tell..."

That was one of the reasons Rabi didn't cheer for him. Since he wasn't fighting seriously, her gaze often drifted to his younger brother. "By looking..." The usually serious boy rarely showed such panic. His ears were slightly red, and he bit his lip and glared. Rabi, who hadn't seen such a sharp look from him in a long time, shuddered. The way he tried to cover up so well made it impossible for Rabi to understand what was going on inside him.

Sae immediately took a short breath and returned to his usual self. "A guard can't just knock out a prince, can he?" "So that's what it was," Rabi said, putting her small hands together. Her current perception of him was that he was still a serious boy.

"Still, there's no denying that I was arrogant. I feel ashamed of myself."

"That's not true..."

To begin with, it was monstrous to even enter the main tournament without using magic. The Narsol family, being like the shadow of the royal family, rarely used magic.

Sae was a boy who usually had a lot on his mind. Moreover, most of his troubles were caused by Rabi herself. Though he was supposed to be her guard, he couldn't fulfill his duties at the academy and just spent his days going back and forth between the courtyard and the school building with Rabi, occasionally eating meals together. It was a rather relaxed life.

(Aaaaaaaah!!!)

The more she thought about it, the more she felt guilty. Moreover, Rabi was grateful for Sae's "troubles." Without him, she would have been swallowed by Nella long ago.

"Ah, Lord Sae, are you hungry!?"

So, when she thought about what she could do, all that came to mind was food. Eating a meal would make everything better, no, that's not right. How could that be? Sometimes she was terrified by how her thoughts were completely dominated by food. Was it a trauma from not getting enough to eat?

"I only have onigiri!?"

But she shouted it out with enthusiasm. It was an emergency ration. It was probably not what he was looking for.

It was a round, cute onigiri that went well with pickles. Just looking at it made Rabi feel better. The servant who made it had cried out, "Oh my, Miss, you're even claiming snacks now!?" but the food was a symbol of Rabi's growth. So, giving it to him was very important to her—though it made her feel like just a lady distributing candy. No, no. "Huh!" She came back to her senses.

"S-Sorry. By the way, this one has plum inside! The seeds are removed, but it's only pickled in salt, so it's extremely sour! No, it's bad! Lord Sae will die!"

She had plums, but couldn't get red shiso, so she pickled them only in salt, and they turned out surprisingly delicious, but the servants said it made their eyes water. He had even covered his mouth when eating pickles. It was no good, and as she tried to pull her hand back, Sae lifted the onigiri with his large hand. He quickly put it in his mouth, then looked surprised, shivered, swallowed it all, and finally smiled a little. Strangely, Rabi's fingertips felt hot.

"I feel better, thank you."

The boy thanked her and tried to pat her head, but then he stopped. He noticed her white cheeks were completely red and took a step back. He rubbed his thumb and index finger together and turned away. "Next time..." Honestly, he was confused himself. "Next time, if there's an opportunity, I want to show a proper form," he murmured, and the polite language had disappeared.

Realizing this, Sae immediately averted his gaze from Rabi.

"Lord Sae, you're always impressive..."

It was a sincere compliment, but Sae might not have found it convincing. "If that's the case, please cheer for me properly next time." He extended his little finger as if making a promise to cheer louder than anyone else, but being serious, it was difficult for them to intertwine their fingers. "Please, I ask you," he said, and the way the words slipped out was a bit cute.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go to the prince now."

"Yes, I've kept you here for too long."

"No, I'm sorry."

He quickly bowed and passed by Rabi, heading back to the arena. A boy with fluffy cream-colored hair passed by, heading in the opposite direction. It was Fiel. The moment he noticed Sae, he narrowed his eyes, but then turned away and approached Rabi. "You were here?" He clicked his tongue and looked irritated.

"Fiel, why are you here... and where's Nella?"

"Nella? She was obviously looking for you. If you ask why you're here, that's my line."

The idea that Fiel was looking for Rabi didn't quite click. She thought he would be floating on cloud nine after getting a kiss from Nella. No, this time, Fiel, who had the lowest interaction, had even defeated the original winner, Bard, and won. It was so different from the original story that Rabi couldn't even imagine it.

"Let's go back quickly. The driver is waiting."

"O-Okay, I'll go. But don't pull so hard, it hurts, it hurts!"

The boy, who was holding Rabi's dominant hand, let go when he heard her scream. "S-Sorry." "It's fine, I'm just surprised," Rabi said, rubbing her right hand. For some reason, this younger brother seemed a bit cuter than usual. Was it because she had cheered for him so openly?

Her conspicuous actions might cause some inconvenience later, but since Nella had ordered her to act unbecomingly, it wasn't that big of a problem, Rabi thought. More importantly, the fact that even a set story could be changed was a great discovery.

Rabi smiled contentedly. As for Fiel, he glanced back at his sister, who was following him. A strong sense of wrongness gripped his chest. It was strange. This reaction was strange. The sister he knew couldn't even have a normal conversation, let alone walk properly on her own. She was always miserable, gloomy, and selfish. So, it was strange.

It was the same when he gave her a needle. Thinking about it, something had been swirling inside him since Rabi cut her long hair.

—This is an unknown "woman."

His instinct told him so. He stopped. Rabi bumped into his small back. Her nose flattened, and she looked at the boy, who was about the same height as her, in surprise. The boy was at a loss for words.

Their red and golden eyes met slowly. It was a strange silence. The air was different from when she was with Sae, and the wind blew through, passing by.

The distant noise from the arena could be heard.

"…Who are you…?"

Fiel asked Rabi. He himself realized how strange the question was.