Chapter 179

Chapter 179

The next day, Heinrich von Schwartz, who had obviously been drunk, claimed not to remember anything from the night before.

He was the only one who blacked out, so everyone else remembered the scenes from yesterday. Alll latest novels at novelhall.com

Ellen’s feelings toward Heinrich were clear: “disdain”. Harriet seemed to think he was “pitiful”. Adelia initially felt “a bit of dislike”, but after his tirade against commoners the night before, her true sentiment was now “utter disgust”.

Most importantly, there was Riana de Granz.

“... Why should I apologize to him?”

“Just listen to me and do it.”

“... I don’t remember anything.”

“Then just apologize for not remembering.”

Riana de Granz was showing considerable generosity toward him, the same as the night before. She was instructing Heinrich to apologize to give him one last chance to atone for his mistakes yesterday. However, Heinrich was clearly unwilling to do so.

The most important person’s opinion—Riana de Granz—on Heinrich was definite: “complete vermin”.

Not only that, but he woke up around lunchtime, long past morning. All of us skipped breakfast because we felt too queasy in the morning.

One of the servants seemed to have noticed something was up and was speaking to Riana. The strong smell of alcohol was impossible to miss.

Heinrich was arguing over lunch about how unfair it was to be told to apologize without knowing what he did wrong. He insisted that he shouldn’t have to apologize for something he didn’t remember.

“Forget it. What’s the point of receiving that kind of apology? There’s no way an apology for something you don’t remember could be sincere,” I said.

“...”

Heinrich frowned at my comment.

It was easy to get under his skin. The more he showed his immaturity, the more magnanimous I would appear, and the more he would damage his own reputation.

Riana’s eyes widened as she looked at me.

“Huh, Reinhart, you’re all grown up now, huh? You can even tolerate things like this now?”

“I can’t stay childish forever, unlike some people.”

“... Are you talking about me?” Heinrich asked.

I chuckled as I picked up a strip of bacon.

“What, do you feel guilty?”

“Are you mocking me? Do you want to settle this right now?”

Heinrich seemed to have gained quite a bit of confidence in his abilities lately, and he showed it while drinking yesterday as well as before that.

It felt like it was time to settle things.

“Hey,” I called out.

“What?” he replied.

I grabbed my fork and stabbed it into a slice of steak.

“Let’s have a talk after we eat, just the two of us.”

There was only so much I could tolerate. I didn’t want to do this, but it seemed like it was necessary to settle things.

***

I always had a rough way of speaking and used to scare the other kids with threats about gouging their eyes out and whatnot. However, my calm invitation to have a chat must have seemed like a serious warning to everyone else because they all tried to dissuade me from it.

“I’m just going to talk,” I reassured them.

Heinrich seemed confident, no matter what I said or did. In the end, pushing everyone aside, I left the mansion with Heinrich.

We walked to a secluded spot behind the mansion where no one could eavesdrop on us and turned to face Heinrich. I had tolerated his annoying behavior long enough.

“So, you want to try your luck? Come at me if you can,” I said.

Heinrich didn’t look scared. His newfound confidence in his abilities and his assumption that I’d acted in a cowardly fashion while in the Dark Land made him think I wasn’t much of a threat.

“You do realize I’ve been showing you a lot of consideration, right?” I said.

“What?”

I hadn’t paid much attention to his provocations partly because I found them bothersome and had other things to worry about.

In reality, though, I’d shown him plenty of consideration just by letting him be until now.

“Anyway, you seem quite confident. Let’s see what you’ve got,” I said.

It was the moment he had been waiting for, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.

“You might die, you know? I can’t control my strength very well anymore,” he warned, seemingly confident that he could take me out right then and there.

I sighed as I looked at him. Unlike brawling, pyrokinesis wasn’t exactly something you could practice sparring with.

He seemed incredibly excited. He was finally going to pay me back for the humiliation he’d suffered in the first semester.

“I’ll show you that I’m not the same as I used to be,” he declared, focusing intently.

His breathing grew labored as he started to concentrate.

“Hey, you idiot,” I called.

Swish!

I enhanced my body and charged at him while he was gathering his focus.

Thunk!

I drove my knee squarely into his abdomen.

“Guh... ugh!”

“Did you think all I’ve done is play around while you were training?”

Why did this idiot think he was the only one who had gotten stronger?

“Ugh... Ugh! Argh! Ack!”

I looked down at him as he keeled over, dry-heaving. His concentration had already been shattered.

One knee to the abdomen. That was all it took. There was no flashy exchange of powers or abilities.

That night, under the guise of having a reconciliatory drink, we gathered quietly once again and drank. This time, Heinrich wasn’t just sipping alcohol alone; he joined in various topics of conversation.

The atmosphere was different from the previous night.

“You called him a commoner... degrading him like he’s some piece of dirt...”

“I... I did that?”

“Yeah... Heinrich, I know you’re a high-ranking noble, but... hearing that made me feel sad,” Adelia, now drunk, spilled the beans about Heinrich’s remarks from the previous night, which hit him hard.

She didn’t call him a bad person outright, but let him know how his comments to me had also hurt her. It was a different kind of confrontation.

“I-I... Did I say that? I’m sorry... I’m so sorry, Adelia.”

Learning about his drunken behavior, Heinrich’s face turned beet red in embarrassment. He finally seemed to understand why Riana had insisted he apologize.

“It was surprising to see Reinhart keep his cool yesterday. Normally, he’d throw a punch in this kind of situation,” Riana said.

Even as Heinrich apologized to Adelia, he kept glancing at me, seemingly unable to believe it himself. Given my normally volatile nature, he probably expected that I would have retaliated immediately.

Of course, I had held back because silently tolerating his buffoonery was the quickest way to get under his skin. Heinrich seemed to realize just how much restraint I had shown.

Despite everything he said, I hadn’t thrown a punch. It dawned on him just how much I had held back.

In the end, he even apologized to me. “Uh, well... I’m sorry, Reinhart.”

“It’s fine. As long as you understand what you did wrong.”

I didn’t make a big deal out of it.

Of course, Ellen’s threats to kill Heinrich or the true nature of the events that had transpired in the Dark Land did not come up. Fortunately, that night, no one got drunk and caused a scene. Riana ended the gathering before things could get out of hand.

Before going to bed, I headed to the beach around midnight to clear my head.

This scene was similar to one that had played out on the deserted island, but with subtle differences. As I sat on the sandy shore, someone joined me.

“Not sleeping?” I asked.

“In a bit,” Ellen responded.

Ellen sat next to me as if it were the most natural thing to do, then leaned her head on my shoulder, just as naturally. I was used to this by now.

We watched the waves come and go in silence for a while.

“Feeling better?” I asked.

“... Yeah.”

If talking to the others yesterday had alleviated some of her distress, then I was glad for it.

“I didn’t have any nightmares last night,” she said.

“That might have been because of the alcohol.”

“... Really?”

“Whether it was the alcohol or not, it’s good that you didn’t have any nightmares.”

It didn’t matter whether it was the alcohol, or the effects of sharing her burden. For one night, at least, Ellen had been free of her recurring nightmares.

Since she’d had some alcohol, I could feel Ellen’s warm breath against me. After a while, I asked, “Are you asleep?”

“...”

“Hey, what am I supposed to do if you fall asleep like this?”

Ellen had suddenly fallen asleep while leaning on my shoulder.

***

Harriet was preparing for bed in her room. The buzz from the alcohol made her feel dizzy, and she felt ready to fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

After changing into her pajamas, she found the moonlight too bright and went to close the curtains. Outside the window, the beach was visible—a beautiful sight any time of day. It wasn’t much different from the view on the deserted island, but here, it was tranquil and safe.

The beach at night, as seen from the mansion window, was truly beautiful. Unlike on the deserted island, there was no need to worry about heat, humidity, or survival.

Dressed in clean clothes, Harriet could simply enjoy the view.

Despite this, her memories of the deserted island weren’t entirely negative. She should have disliked it. It should have been the worst experience of her life—yet it wasn’t.

She gazed out at the nighttime view, lost in thought, and noticed someone walking toward the beach, then sitting down to watch the sea.

‘Reinhart...’ she thought.

Even from behind, Harriet could tell it was Reinhart.

‘Is he having trouble sleeping?’

She thought about going out to talk with him for a bit.

As she stood by the window, contemplating, she noticed someone else heading toward the beach.

It was Ellen.

Ellen casually sat beside Reinhart, leaning her head on his shoulder. Reinhart didn’t react, as if it was a familiar occurrence.

Harriet couldn’t hear their conversation and didn’t know what they were discussing, but she understood.

She knew that Reinhart and Ellen were very close. Since they’d shared such a traumatic experience, it was only natural that they would rely on each other and become closer.

It was inevitable.

Harriet had already noticed the change in their relationship after seeing Ellen so worked up over Reinhart’s issues, as if they were her own.

She knew it, but seeing it with her own eyes was still painful.

Swish!

Unable to bear the sight any longer, Harriet closed the curtains.

‘Would things have been different if I had gone with them?’

Harriet felt wretched for even pondering such a thought.

The memories from her time on the deserted island should have been the worst, but they weren’t.

The memories from her time in this mansion should have been the best, but Harriet felt that they wouldn’t stay that way.

She didn’t think she would remember her time here as pleasantly as she wanted to.