Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

159 – Let’s Do It Together

Her reaction to

my proposal was

quite different than

I had anticipated.

I’d expected her to

demand what it all meant,

picking apart every detail

with exacting scrutiny.

Yet, as she was now, she merely

tilted her teacup to her lips,

relishing the passage of

black tea with a soft slurp.

Accompanying the sip, an utterly profound silence.

Ah, the tea had been prepared

by her lady-in-waiting.

One might expect she’d be surprised by my

unexpected company in her dormitory, and yet,

upon seeing me,

she said nothing,

dutifully presenting us

with refreshments, then

bowing courteously,

exiting the room.

Perhaps, instinctively,

she knew she shouldn’t be

Seemed like they thought it wouldn’t work out.

Indeed, though she looks young,

could you truly call her

the attendant who serves

a young lady of the Four Great Houses?

Her intuition was top-tier.

Even the way she brewed tea

was masterful, and even these

crisp, golden cookies before me,

were said to be hand-baked by her.

It almost made one envy

Isabella for having her as an attendant.

Because even these little things

were enough to reveal

what sort of person

her attendant truly was.

Perhaps it would be good

to approach her separately sometime.

Even if only because I cannot possibly entrust all my affairs to Ella alone.

“Ahem.”

As if she somehow sensed

I was lost in thought,

she raised her dainty hand to her lips,

and offered a small cough.

As if requesting I pay her

a little more attention.

Though, there’s no way she’d

do that for me, so perhaps

this is just my fancy.

All the same, is my expression

really that easy to read?

Shino too, and Ella as well…

Lately, I have the sense that

my thoughts are being read

too easily by others.

Before, even if I went anywhere,

I never heard

my thoughts were so plainly visible.

Actually, I hadn’t even worn such a

noticeable expression.

Perhaps the nobles of

this other world learn a special

way of reading faces.

…Then how does Ella…—

“Excuse me…”

“Ah, please speak.”

“The offer you’ve made,

I truly am grateful, but…”

“Yes?”

“…I must decline.”

A reply so firm, one could almost

sense an invisible wall.

Frankly, I wasn’t entirely

unprepared for such an answer from her.

Her status is that of a

duchess’s daughter, a child of a precious house, and

for someone like her, Professor

Oliver’s offer to grant

her any one wish held

absolutely no merit.

Unless she was intending to

request academic manipulation,

she’d likely never

need to accept offers

like this in the future.

‘…What way is…—’

“..Um, excuse me?”

“Yes?”

“If you think it’s such a

favorable offer…what’s the reason

you’re trying to pass it on to me…?”

“….”

“Don’t you…dislike me?”

For a fleeting moment, her voice

dropped to a very low

register, and I briefly

set down the teacup I was holding,

Her expression showed no sign of clearing.

Like a person constantly gnawed at by something.

Hateful, was it?

Hateful.

He turned the meaning of that word, *hateful,* over in his mind.

He had a general idea why Isabella was showing him such an attitude.

One way or another, she was someone he’d even reached an engagement with.

And yet, far from treating him as her fiancé,

she was rather enamored with his brother,

Allen.

What’s more, she only ever

responded to him with a prickly demeanor.

Frankly, there was a somewhat

unfair aspect to it, back then,

that he couldn’t deny.

Not once had his will been reflected in that engagement.

Of course, being a man, he too

had harbored a slight fondness

for her beautiful appearance,

but the moment he realized

she was in love with Allen,

he’d withdrawn his heart.

He had no desire to

strive after a woman

who already had affections for another.

Though a little bit of

lingering attachment remained,

even those had now completely vanished.

Besides, back then,

he’d even looked for ways

to break off the engagement with her,

but sadly, such methods…

Couldn’t find it, not a trace.

It was, for all intents, a

marriage of convenience, a match between houses.

On my own, there was little I could do.

Still, in my own way,

I wanted to cheer on her love.

Because I knew so well how

vital love was to a human being.

Well, the more the days passed, the more

I grew weary of her

prickly attitude.

But it wasn’t as if I hadn’t

had people openly

dislike me before.

And just recently, she had even

lowered her head,

apologizing sincerely.

So, as for that,

I had no further intention of interfering.

For her, having grown up in

the Duke’s household since birth,

turning her back on the

Great Sage, who had cared

for and taught her since she was a child,

and bowing her head even once,

must have been more difficult than anything.

The sincerity and devotion had already been practically proven,

and I, in my heart, had already

forgiven her then.

Though, I did keep a tab.

So, if I had to put it plainly,

there was no

reason for me to particularly

dislike her, not anymore.

No need to needlessly maintain a hostile relationship myself.

Especially not when the

daughter of the Duke was my opponent.

“It’s alright. Didn’t you

apologize last time?”

“No, but…!”

“It truly is fine.

It wasn’t as if I forgave you for free.”

“…”

“Didn’t I attach a debt

as a condition for forgiveness?”

“Just… for that…”

“Back then, *I* didn’t have the

confidence to continuously antagonize

the daughter of a ducal family.”

“…”

“The outcome, for me,

is satisfactory, so it doesn’t matter.”

“I’m… sorry.”

She apologized as soon as she

heard my last words,

immediately lowering her head deeply.

Had she moved even a little,

her blue hair

would have *plop*ped right into

the crimson-colored tea.

She lowered her head

with such speed that

I couldn’t see her expression clearly,

but it certainly didn’t seem bright.

Judging by the way the teacup

she held was still trembling.

*Slurp*—

The aftertaste of the sweet tea, which

had been so saccharine just moments ago,

now carried the faintest trace of bitterness.

“I’m sorry… truly…”

“It’s alright.”

“Back then… it was cowardly of me, but

it was my first love… so… so…”

“Lady?”

Oh dear, I didn’t expect

such an intense reaction.

It seemed, in all likelihood, that she carried

a guilt far heavier

than I had imagined.

Her voice,

it began to tremble ever so slightly,

and the shadows on her face,

they too seemed altered.

So much more deeply etched than before,

a stark contrast against

the snow-white canvas of her skin.

“…Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t there something you desire,

anything at all, you…wish for?”

Finally, she lifted her head,

her expression

plainly, desperately imploring.

Begging me to name some want,

anything at all.

I couldn’t turn away

from such a face.

If only to ease

the burden of her remorse,

now, with utmost haste,

to ask for anything at all,

would surely do more to dispel her guilt.

“Then, about the proposal you made earlier─”

*

Knock knock─

A hesitant couple of raps sounded on the staff room door, then

Screech─

the door swung inwards,

the rusty hinges groaning in complaint.

“Forgive the intrusion.”

“Hm? Who could it be at

this hour…Lady Isabella?!”

“Good evening, Professor Perom.”

“L-Lady, what brings

“Just… what brings you here?”

“Is Professor Oliver

in his office?”

“Ah, yes…yes! I’ll show you the way.”

Unlike the professor, who seemed utterly bewildered

by her sudden arrival,

a certain ease emanated

from her face.

Or rather, not so much ease as

something closer to relief, perhaps?

A complex tangle of

emotions played across her features,

and as if sensing that

even *she* found them strange,

she would occasionally

touch her face this way and that.

‘ …Nothing’s really changed, though?’

She poked and prodded her

snowy mochi-like cheeks,

twisted a lock of her hair,

said to resemble the wide-open sky,

and even furrowed her brow,

massaging the space between her eyes,

but nothing seemed different to her.

Confused, she simply

leaned back slightly against

the chair’s backrest,

and for a brief moment,

closed her eyes,

replaying what had just transpired.

A leisure time so modest and

brief, one might hesitate to

even call it a social gathering.

The conversations, too, were the kind

guaranteed to breed discomfort and awkwardness,

but she felt not a shred

of either in that moment.

If anything, she felt

a sense of comfort.

Because even like *this*,

there was something she could do for him.

Whether the excuse for that action

was atonement or something else.

“Ah, someone sought me out…?”

“Greetings, Professor Oliver.”

Waiting so patiently,

Professor Oliver, his head still gleaming,

appeared.

He slowly took a seat and

plunged straight to the point.

“Yes, the reason you sought me out?”

“That proposition you offered Jennison, I’ll do it.”

“..No, how could you possibly─”

“Jennison told me.

Might I be considered for it?”

“..Alongside that fellow, you say?”

“Pardon…?”

I wasn’t aware it involved

working alongside someone?

“It…was something we could do together?”

“Of course, the more the merrier.”

…Perhaps he also needed

someone to work with, and so

he requested assistance from me?

Yes, if not for that,

there’s no way he would have

approached me first, a person he loathes to see.

If Jennison’s participation wasn’t mandatory, I could simply decline politely.

He clearly has a reason

to accept this proposition now,

and to do so, he must be in a position

where he’d take help from anyone…

From a young age, her brain, blessed with a rich imagination, began to spin its inner machinations.

‘I must help…!’

“Yes, I’ll work together.”

“Hmm…understood. Talk things over well with that fellow.”

“Yes.”

And Jennison is soon to

3 hours hence, we shall know.