Chapter 81 - Remnant (2)

“So, you good-for-nothing. What are you planning to do to the girl I consider my little sister that you’re even dragging me into your clutches from beyond the grave?”

With someone like her, being direct would be better than beating around the bush.

To unlock Noel’s Personal Quest, Aiden needed to delve a little deeper into her heart. Their relationship needed to progress.

But when he thought about it...

‘Unlike Katya, Dame Noel is a bit...’

There was still some distance between them, perhaps.

Unlike Katya, who had opened her heart the instant she had a reason to, Noel seemed to be hovering timidly at a cautious distance.

Hadn’t the tips explicitly told him to seek Teresa’s help in bridging that gap?

And her answer was far simpler than he had expected.

“Just tell her about yourself. Even a little will do.”

“... Pardon?”

“She’s scared, that’s all. You have no idea how timid Noel is, do you? She frets over being rejected, frets over whether she’d be a nuisance if she made the first move. That’s the kind of girl she is.”

Teresa chuckled as she spoke, propping her chin on her hand.

“Open up to her a little. Just treating her like another human being should do it. She’s hopeless when it comes to things outside her experience. She probably doesn’t even know where to start. That should be enough to close the distance.”

“... How can you give advice like that after just one quick look?”

“I told you. I have good instincts.”

This went beyond good instincts. Wasn’t it practically a superpower?

As Aiden stared at her in bewilderment, Teresa smiled again.

“I can give you all the advice you want, so feel free to call me up again anytime.”

“Thank you.”

“But let me ask you one favor in return.”

“Yes?”

“Let me meet Noel just once, sometime.”

“...”

“There’s something I never got to tell her. I’d like to at least say that.”

Aiden nodded quietly at her words.

“... Of course I can do that.”

Having brought her here in the first place, he owed her that much.

Though he would have to look into how to arrange their meeting.

“Then I’ll try your advice with Dame Noel tomorrow.”

“Good. Just taking the initiative should make things all warm and fuzzy between you.”

... Hmm.

After quietly listening to her, Aiden gave a cautious nod.

“All right. I’ll give it a try right away.”

▣

Truth be told, Noel Astria Seamus had been spending her days in an utterly miserable state lately.

Her daily routine and work had not changed much. At the capital’s headquarters, she oversaw national defense and the military’s internal administration.

There were a few things giving her headaches, though.

‘... What on earth is he up to now?’

She frowned as she scanned the document on her desk.

It was a brief report summarizing the movements of the imperial prince, who ought to be lying low after picking a fight with her before.

‘He’s too quiet.’

There was no other way to put it.

Actually, he did seem to be involved in various activities, so “quiet” wasn’t quite right. But everything was happening behind the scenes, leaving her unable to trace what he was doing or investigate and root it out.

She couldn’t simply go after him openly.

Still, it left an unpleasant feeling.

The calm before a storm. The sense that he was keeping his head down before unleashing something huge.

Every time she saw the reports, they bothered her enough to make her frown despite herself...

“...”

No, that wasn’t it.

Unpleasant as it was, this didn’t account for all her misery.

She had already been through too much ugliness involving that man to get depressed over something like this. Whatever he came at her with next, she could simply knock him down properly and make sure he never got back up.

The sole cause of her misery was the man who had been chosen as her fiancé.

[“What exactly are you two to each other?”]

... She remembered Katya asking her that question some time ago.

And her inability to give a proper answer still weighed on her.

‘... What are we, really?’

Engaged by contract.

... Even the short version couldn’t have been more ambiguous. Noel had no idea what Aiden thought of her on a personal level.

That was why she, a woman famous for never letting herself get distracted at work, now held a communication mana stone in trembling hands.

[“... So that’s why you called me?”]

The person on the other end of the video call spoke with a disbelieving laugh.

As a veteran of the Coalition War, Noel naturally knew all sorts of people. Elena Ba’del, one of the chieftains of the Great Plains’ Tribal Alliance, was someone she could confide in.

She was also known as the Great Plains’ “normal one.”

“...”

As for how she had earned that nickname...

The world of superhumans was fundamentally a harsh one, full of strife, and those who reached its uppermost ranks were a collection of eccentrics who all seemed to have a handful of screws loose in one way or another. Regardless of gender, they were light-years removed from ordinary common sense.

... Unfortunately, it was hard to say Noel was much of an exception.

How many women in the world had killed more men than they had dated...?

If someone asked her what she knew about men, her only answer would be something along the lines of how surprisingly effective a kick to the crotch could be in a combat emergency.

So a superhuman who still possessed tender feelings like romance was an exceedingly rare breed. Elena was just such a case.

An extraordinary rarity: the only one among these lunatics who had retained an ordinary person’s sensibilities.

In short, as a woman of similar age with plenty of experience in such matters, Elena was practically Noel’s only savior right now.

“... Elena, please. You’re the only person I can ask about this.”

[“... Hmm.”]

Elena stroked her chin, looking Noel up and down.

When none other than the Lionhearted had called her first, she had wondered what this could be about. Now Noel was desperately begging for advice, her eyes brimming with pleading.

Accustomed to seeing her on the battlefield, Elena could only prop up her chin in fascination.

‘... This girl.’

She had fallen hard. Very hard.

Elena couldn’t help wondering what sort of man could leave a woman who took lives on the battlefield without so much as blinking, as impassive as stone, fretting like this.

But frankly, she already knew the answer to Noel’s present dilemma: “I want to take our relationship further, but I don’t know how.”

[“Noel.”]

“Yes?”

[“How many men in the world do you think could turn you down?”]

“... Huh?”

[“I think he’d fall for you if you just made a real move. You could pick any man you wanted and take his arm. What are you doing, you silly girl?”]

When she thought about it, that was only natural.

Whether in social standing, personal ability, or sheer physical attractiveness, it was hard to deny that Noel ranked among the very best by any standard.

Political calculations might have been involved, but didn’t the very fact that a nation’s crown prince had courted her prove as much?

And how did this woman with so much going for her respond?

“But he could still turn me down.”

[“... If he had extremely unusual tastes, sure.”]

“... Then what do I do if he rejects me?”

[“...”]

... She was trembling in fear of that utterly minuscule possibility.

“W-what if that makes Aiden start to hate me—”

[“... Hey.”]

Elena pressed hard against her throbbing temples and glared at Noel.

Tears were already threatening to well up in Noel’s eyes as she spoke. Anyone looking at her could easily have assumed that the thing she feared had already happened...

[“You said he happily accepted when you asked him on a date last time.”]

“... He did.”

[“Then just think of it as doing the same thing again. What on earth are you worried about?”]

Elena found it even harder to understand this behavior when Noel had already succeeded once. That was what she meant, but...

“... Maybe he only came along because we’ve known each other for a while?”

[“...”]

“Th-there’s no guarantee it’ll work a second time.”

[“... We are talking about your fiancé, right? How on earth did you two meet and get that far?”]

... Hopeless.

Elena covered her face with her hands, the gesture expressing that sentiment perfectly.

She had vaguely known Noel was more clueless about romance than one might expect, but she hadn’t realized it was this bad.

[“Now I really do wonder what kind of man he is, making you worry this much. I’d like to meet him just once—”]

“No.”

[“...”]

And yet she shut down a remark like that without the slightest hesitation. Unbelievable.

Gone was the woman who had been trembling like a small animal a moment ago. Her answer was icy, her expression suggesting she would start a fight if Elena brought it up again.

“You can’t meet Aiden. Absolutely not.”

[“... Why?”]

“You might be his type. It’s not as if you aren’t pretty.”

[“...”]

Elena wasn’t sure whether to feel pleased by the compliment or hurt at being treated like trash who would steal a friend’s fiancé.

[“... Well, suit yourself. The only advice I can give you is to make the first move.”]

“... That’s a little hard, but... I’ll try.”

Elena gave a faint laugh as Noel shrank into herself again, then tilted her head and continued.

[“Though there is one thing you should watch out for.”]

“What?”

[“I don’t really know him, but judging by how hung up you are on him, he seems far more practiced at this, with a talent for keeping people wrapped around his finger.”]

“... Yes.”

There was no denying that.

Noel and Katya alike. It was plain as day that the hearts of women of their caliber were firmly bound to one man.

If that didn’t count as talent, what did...?

[“Be a little careful if he approaches you first.”]

“If he approaches me first?”

[“Yes. Especially if he makes a point of asking you out because he has something important to say, or suddenly suggests getting to know each other better.”]

“Why should I be careful about that...?”

[“If he had bad intentions, sweet-talking you right now would probably be easier than breathing. He could deceive you about something important and hurt you—”]

“Aiden isn’t that kind of person, Elena.”

At Noel’s icy reply, Elena sighed and answered.

[“I’m talking hypothetically. Hypothetically. What if he just wants to sweep you up in the mood and spend the night with you?”]

“... Oh.”

[“Things can go that way even if he genuinely likes you. Men are very true to those urges. Are you ready for that sort of thing?”]

“...”

Noel’s face turned so red it looked ready to burst.

[“Or you might need to brace yourself. Maybe he’s tired of the two of you constantly fretting over each other. He might say he’s disappointed—”]

“...”

Noel’s eyes turned so red she looked ready to burst into tears.

[“... No, don’t start crying. It hasn’t actually happened—”]

“W-wait! I’ll call you later!”

Before Elena could finish her exasperated sentence, Noel hastily ended the call.

She had heard Aiden knocking on the door.

“Y-yes, A-Aiden! Come in!”

She hurriedly wiped all emotion from her face as she answered.

Fortunately, it did not take long to restore her usual impassive expression.

... The problem was that Aiden’s reason for visiting made it impossible to keep it that way.

“... You want us to go out together?”

“Yes. I have something important to tell you. I’d also like us to get to know each other better—”

Noel stared at Aiden as though her breath had nearly stopped.

“...”

... Why was she reacting like this?

Wasn’t it supposed to get all warm and fuzzy?