CH 109

“It’s because I can’t pass it to the person himself. My best friend resides in a faraway place. Regardless of how capable the mailman is, they wouldn’t be able to reach him. That is how far he is.”

As Sophie spoke like speaking to a little child, the silver-haired handsome dude put his index finger on his lips.

“I see, so it’s addressed to a dead person.”

And he declared so.

“He’s not dead!!”

Sophie couldn’t help but scream at the silver-haired handsome dude who interpreted her words as the distant place above the sky.

Although Sophie was also at fault for sounding vague, she couldn’t forgive him for treating Tenma like a dead person.

Sophie was always worried about Tenma’s safety after that marine incident. For Sophie, who could do nothing but hope for his safety, the words of the silver-haired handsome dude weren’t something she could tolerate.

She abandoned her ladylike attitude and hit the table furiously.

“Don’t kill someone’s best friend without permission! Tenma will live a long life until he becomes a grandpa!”

Even the silver-haired handsome dude was surprised by Sophie’s outburst and his eyes opened wide.

However, the thing that surprised him wasn’t her anger, but the words she said.

“Your best friend is a man? I heard that friendship between a man and a woman doesn’t exist, though…”

The silver-haired handsome dude wore a pensive expression, like an intellectual man observing an advanced technology.

Who taught this guy that kind of thing…? Well, leaving aside the previous life, I guess it couldn’t be helped to have such thoughts in this world.

The boundaries between men and women were clearly separated in this world. It was a world where if a woman was close with a man who wasn’t her family or her fiancé, she would be considered to have no integrity. 

But as a matter of fact, the relationship between Tenma and Tasuku wasn’t a friendship between a man and a woman, but a friendship between fellow men. As for the pros and cons regarding a friendship between a man and a woman, Sophie herself had no idea.

Oops… I guess a young lady like me declaring that having a male best friend was a bad statement. I was aware of such a thing, so I kept the gender of my best friend vague even to Christina onee-sama.

It was a terrible failure.

“Don’t you think that it’s just you who thinks so one-sidedly and you are just conveniently being deceived by the other party? I have no idea how far you are separated, but seeing as you can’t contact the man through letters, I doubt he is a decent man.”

It was a proper opinion for someone who had no idea about the memories of her previous life inside Sophie. If Sophie was in his position, she would likely say the same thing.

“…Well, I guess it’s natural for you to think that way. However, I’ll have to insist that my best friend is not such a man… Besides, it’s okay either way. He’s a person I can never meet anymore after all.”

She couldn’t meet him even if she wanted to.

It wouldn’t be fulfilled regardless of how much she wished for it.

Because she chose not to forget him, the loneliness inside of her would never disappear.

Even though Sophie already knew that well, she wondered why she felt so painful right now.

Even when she mentioned it to Christina, she didn’t feel the anxiety as if she got left behind.

Perhaps it’s because of the dream…?

When she saw the dream she had on the first day, she felt like Tenma was truly there.

He had a perplexing expression that was unlike what one would expect from a child. Tenma had been such a child ever since Tasuku first met him. Even though Tenma’s elder sister was an expressive person, it was hard to tell Tenma’s emotions, which made Tasuku think of Tenma as a creepy child at first.

“…Oi, what’s wrong?”

Sophie was forcefully pulled away from her thoughts as she was called out.

Sophie revealed a ladylike smile as she forcefully suppressed her depressed feeling.

“Nothing. By the way, what’s your na–”

Sophie was about to ask his name, but she heard Luca calling for her and she instinctively looked at the door.

Perhaps it was already time for lunch? She couldn’t tell the time since there was no clock in the room they were in.

“It seems my companion is looking for me, so please excuse me.”

It seemed that the silver-haired handsome dude still had something to say, but Sophie ignored that and stood from her seat regardless. She, of course, put the notebook he read without permission back into her bag.

Luca’s tone as he called for Sophie sounded panicked. She needed to hurry to leave and tell him where she was. As Sophie hurriedly picked up her bag and the book she was reading and then left the book storeroom, she saw Luca looking for her with a bewildered expression.

“Sophie-sama!”

“I’m sorry, Luca. Is it the time?”

“…No, we still have some time, but I got worried since I couldn’t see Sophie-sama anywhere. Err, where did you go earlier?”

“It seems I made you worried. I’m sorry. I was just in the storeroom over there.”

When Sophie apologized one more time and pointed at the door, Luca tilted his head. Sophie also wondered and tilted her head. The door that was wide open before she left was closed.

“The book storeroom is off limits and supposedly locked all the time, though?”

“Oh my, but I went there since the door was open.”

Luca walked toward the closed door and touched the handle.

“…It’s locked.”

“Eh?”

Sophie also tried to open it herself, but the door was certainly locked.