“Hey, of course I can’t accept your feelings…”
What, so am I just being dumped out of nowhere now?
Seriously? Are you being serious, you frivolous girl?
This wasn’t in the plan at all—an unexpected ‘confession’, and I actually got dumped by another girl… And by a frivolous, burly girl, no less.
Although her initial show of affection did have some ulterior motives to make her stop interfering everywhere, Erika had never thought she’d so cleanly and efficiently be handed a good girl card.
She was sure Emil was plotting something with her. If not, why would she pretend to dislike her and yet keep coming over and acting all touchy?
Isn’t she supposed to be one of those classic blonde tsundere types?
To be rejected by someone like that… Could it be that Lady Erika is finished just like that?
Before Erika could fully collect herself, Emil went on to twist the knife, “Besides, you’re totally not my type. I’m pretty tall, so I never thought about finding someone the same height, but you’re even shorter than Evelyn. I’d have to stand on tiptoe to kiss you… and, and… anyway… that’s how it is.”
Erika stared at her, eyes blank.
“Me? How should I put it, regardless of gender, I prefer someone gentle and reliable? Wait, why am I telling you about my ideal type? Ugh, whatever.”
Though Emil acted brash, like a tomboy, she was indeed a noble young lady worthy of the label “beautiful girl” without a single flaw.
Not to mention, she’d fought alongside those rough men on the battlefield, standing proud as a Golden Rose amid the blood and rain—she must’ve received and rejected countless confessions already.
She never imagined she’d become one of them!
Ah, could she be the first girl Emil ever rejected? She really didn’t want that achievement. Anyway, things were bad—she’d just been flat-out rejected for no reason…
Wait, did she even confess? She herself wasn’t sure.
Right now, Erika was truly mortified, wishing she could dig a hole and crawl into it.
But she couldn’t say: You misunderstood me, you self-important muscle-head, who’d ever fall for you, you violence-obsessed woman!
If she did, only one of them would walk out of here alive.
Think, think! Erika’s mind was working overtime, nearly steaming, while Emil looked at her with a kind of pitying gaze, adding, “You’re the type who could keep talking even with a knife to your throat, but now you’re so dejected you can’t say a word? Looks like you really like me. Sorry things turned out this way, ahem…”
“…Then, Lady Emil, please tell me what the meaning is behind biting someone’s nape.”
“Hmm… Eh?”
“If you don’t like me, then there’s no harm in telling me, right? Would you kiss the nape of a girl you don’t like? I think that’s a very intimate gesture.”
Emil had bitten Erika’s nape more than once. The hot breath she exhaled onto her neck, the passionate and greedy tongue, the way she looked at her when she lifted her head—all of it made Erika guess that it was definitely not a casual gesture.
Hearing her question, Emil scratched her forehead with her finger. “That… the nape thing, isn’t it just like a greeting? For us nobles, that’s common knowledge… yeah, ‘common knowledge’! Didn’t you know? Or were you a slave before?”
Common knowledge? At those words, Erika’s mind snapped clear.
Heh, Evelyn also said that gesture must never be done to anyone else. Common knowledge? Evelyn would flip out over this so-called ‘common knowledge.’
Though this girl spoke as if it was nothing, Erika could still sense something from Emil’s restless eyes and hands—this frivolous girl was clearly delighted by the ‘confession,’ but out of pride, she pretended to reluctantly reject her.
Don’t you know about ‘chasing the wife to the crematorium,’ you tsundere! Wait, who’s your wife?!
This kind of feeling made Erika extremely irritable, but for some reason, this classic loser girl somehow… though only a tiny, tiny bit… seemed cute.
Once she realized Emil truly held such feelings, the initiative would fall back into Erika’s hands.
There was no way Erika would ever fall for the pretty-faced scoundrel Emil, but right now, Emil definitely liked her.
“Hoo—” Erika steadied her breathing, deciding to turn on her award-winning acting once more.
Deception and misdirection—weren’t these the witch’s best talents?
“My dearest Lady Emil… I’m so heartbroken. I thought, I really thought we both liked each other… a love that crossed identity and gender… I thought it was possible.”
“Is that so? Well, I-I’m really sorry. Hmm… a love that crosses status? That kind of thing doesn’t exist. It’s not a fairy tale, ugh…” Emil awkwardly scratched the bridge of her nose. Her foot kept rubbing at the training ground’s grass, making a swishing sound. The green grass there was scraped bare, leaving a little pit.
She’d been flustered after being hit with a sudden good person card, but now it was clear: Emil’s behavior was the classic anxiety of a tsundere whose mouth denied what her heart felt.
Erika held back her laughter and sighed softly, then seemed to compose herself, putting on a resigned expression as she said:
“Though it’s a shame, as you say, there’s an unbridgeable gap between us. I, a lowly maid by birth, how could I ever hope for Lady Emil’s favor?”
“Th-then, no…”
“It can’t be helped. I’m just a pitiful woman, heartlessly cast aside. So now I must let go of these feelings and face reality. And thank you for waking me up in time—now I can abandon my love and devote myself to the nation’s affairs.”
“You… you’re giving up?”
“Yes, I’m letting go of these feelings completely (ruthlessly).”
“Hey! So your feelings for me are that shallow? You give up that easily?!” Emil’s tone shifted from indifference to an unmistakable ‘big trouble’ feeling.
Just what does this frivolous, dragging girl want from her?
Thankfully, she could stay clear-headed about so-called romance, able to calmly watch as a bystander. If Erika actually liked Emil, just how anxious and helpless would she be in the face of Emil’s attitude?
Was this the suffering honest people face when their feelings are toyed with?
At that thought, Erika truly appreciated the saying, ‘Tsundere ruins lives,’ but she kept her emotions hidden, only pretending to be heartbroken as she countered, “Isn’t giving up all I can do? You are the unattainable High Mountain Flower…”
“Hey, Erika, haven’t you heard the saying ‘Water Drops Wearing Stone’?”
Are you looking for—滴水穿石.
Still, Emil deserved praise for at least not misusing the idiom.
But Emil seemed unaware she’d messed it up, lecturing fluently, “Don’t give up, stick with it to the end! People without perseverance… that’s why you bookworms are so lame, no backbone.”
“Then, if I don’t give up and keep pursuing you, will you agree to be with me?”
“Of course… that’s absolutely impossible!”
“I thought so. Then I’ll just give up, focus on my duties to Her Majesty the Queen, and live out my days alone as fate intended.”
“Mm… yeah… but you, are you really confident you can forget me? Hmm, you’ll think of me suddenly, right? Dream about me, remember me before bed, see my shadow when you look in the mirror?”
“You know more about this than I expected.”
“Of course, things like this… ahem, are just common sense for well-bred ladies. Yeah, it’s true, it’s not easy to forget all at once… How could you possibly cut things off so cleanly? Even quitting drinking isn’t that easy.”
“Swish swish, swish swish.” Emil was using her foot to fill in the pit she’d dug, pushing the dirt back bit by bit. Though she looked quite neurotic and anxious, Erika kept up her act, nodding slowly as if oblivious.
“If Lady Emil says so, it must be true.”
“I-I, since I’m so merciful, for your sake, I’ll allow you to slowly forget me bit by bit, gradually erase me from your life, maybe even let you interact with me a bit in the meantime… So that, in the process, you’ll slowly, little by little, forget about me… how about it?…”
“But I’ll be entering the Academy. Maybe I’ll forget you surprisingly quickly. Of course, days without Lady Emil will be hard to bear…”
“Academy? Oh, yeah, if you’re far away… you’ll forget… me…”
“Gurgle gurgle…” It was as if bubbles were boiling in Emil’s head. Her delicate face, pale as snow and frost, turned crimson red like a cherry bomb about to explode. Her thin lips trembled slightly.
“I might go to the Academy too…”
“Lady Emil, didn’t you say you wouldn’t leave…?”
“I did say that! But, well, it’s not absolutely set, I actually have things I could learn too…” She mumbled this and that, sounding all kinds of pitiful.
To see the muscle girl revealing such a cute weakness—Erika could barely resist the overwhelming cuteness. She decided it was time to settle things. “Lady Emil… though I’m sorry to say this, I swear by your mercy—Erika Angelina, as your admirer, may I make one last, once-in-a-lifetime request of you?”
“Once in a lifetime? What could be so dramatic?”
“It’s a request I’d entrust my very life to… If you agree, I believe I could go on living with passion and hope.”
Entrust her life?!
When Emil heard this solemn request, she naturally reacted dramatically. “…What? You want me to accept your feelings, or marry you, or even elope with you and abandon everything—I definitely can’t agree to any of that…” Her heroic face was full of panic at first, but now Erika could sense a trace of curiosity and a faint hope in her expression.
Whether she could keep this key figure, Emil, by her side, would be decided right now.
Her heart beat faster and faster—though she’d made up her mind, even so, as she was about to speak, Erika’s heart pounded uncontrollably. If she were refused, it would be mortifying.
No, better not to think about that now.
Compared to the advice she’d given Evelyn, this was easy…
Ah, right.
“So, what’s this request? Let’s hear it first!”
Erika took a deep breath. Her cute little face was full of serious determination, resolute to the core.