CH 102

I Don’t Need it

19. From Paradise to Hell

Kyrie stroked the flowers a few more times and turned to Bund.

“Bund. If you don’t mind, can you plant this?”

“Don’t you want to take it?”

“I will feel bad if it dies while taking it. Trees should grow on the ground.”

In the first place, Nathaniel was a person who didn’t care about how to deal with gifts. She wondered if she should make some jewels with the seaside pebbles he gave her, however, out of courtesy, Kyrie turned to Nataniel.

“Can I do that, Nataniel?”

The cloudy-faced Nathaniel replied a little late.

[As you wish.]

The low voice was completely subdued differently than before.

‘Did I make it too obvious?’

Kyrie slightly put her hand on her cheek at that thought. She greeted Bund and Eve with her face covered. With the words that she will visit them when she’s done with her work.

Again, only two of them are left. Bund told her the way to the village. The time while going to the village was very awkward.

It was even more so because it became unusually quiet after Nathaniel brought the flowers. He walked ahead with a very complicated look. Whether his usual relaxation was calculated to imprint his superiority on his opponent, but now, he seems to be distracted, it felt like a dense and meticulous anticipation is surrounding Nataniel.

Kyrie let him fall into thought to his heart’s content. Immediately after receiving the Jacaranda flower, she was ashamed to react too liberally. She straightened her face right away, but it must have been a little embarrassing because Nathaniel looked very embarrassed.

‘Stop thinking of the past…….’

Elsus holds the Jacaranda Festival in spring. There was only one time she appreciated purple flowers colored all over the street with her parents, it was the only time that no one fought and no one raised their voice and it still remained strong in her mind.

‘Anyway, I should have been careful.’

In the capital, Sel Arellano, it is difficult to see Jacarandas. It had been a long time since she saw it and Bund’s house is a very comfortable place that must have been a relief. The place is always been invisible to Nathaniel, but the sight only made Kyrie’s steps became faster

Nataniel suddenly opened his mouth long after.

[Flower]

“…….”

[I didn’t know you liked it.]

She wondered what he was thinking so hard about, but what came out was the story of flowers.

‘As expected.’

Kyrie closed her eyes at her mistake and answered without stopping.

“Well? It’s not that I am unaware that I like it a lot to the point that I don’t know what to do.”

[You didn’t know what to do?]

“…Of course. Nobles don’t do that, right?

Fortunately, there was no embarrassment in her voice.

[Oh.]

The embarrassment seemed to have come from Nathaniel. He spilled a meaningless sound. His expression got a little serious. Something seemed to be unpleasant. Being speechless again, he spoke after sometime as if he were tossing.

[Then I’ll give you Elsus]

Kyrie, who was walking earlier, slipped.

“Wait. What did you just say?”

[I’ll give you Elsus.]

Nathaniel answered naturally. After finishing his speech, he scanned Kyrie’s face with blue eyes that became a little relaxed. It was a cautious gaze that seemed to trace something. Kyrie was disgusted.

“You’re going to have a military battle? You’re going to kill more people?”

Nathaniel’s eyes widened, and then he gave a sad expression on his face.

[You’re too destructive]

“You’re wanting too much. Do you think it’s a territory expansion game where you can just put a line through a domain?”

[Isn’t it? Usually, when I drew gold, it used to be my land.]

I’m tired of the scale. 

Kyrie touched her forehead.

“I don’t need it…….”

In response to the evil question, Nathaniel squinted and frowned frustratedly.

[You said you liked it.]

It was a sentence that sounded a little embarrassing. Kyrie crossed a stepping stone bridge in the valley water, hoping that this topic would pass by like a casual greeting.

“I like it, but I don’t want to have all the flowers on the continent just because I like it.”

When she looked back after speaking, Nathaniel stared at Kyrie as if he couldn’t understand at all.

[Is that what you like?]

“That’s right.”

[You’re not very precise.]

It’s also his skill to speak so rudely.  Kyrie’s eyes narrowed. As she was about to say something, Nathaniel, who had crossed the stepping stone bridge in an instant, reached out his hand.

[Kyrie. As a man who’s lived a little longer than you, when you want to have something if you’re not a person to stack it like a mountain under your feet, I advise you to kick it. As a matter of fact, I kicked Lesho first.]

Kyrie looked down at his hand with a grumpy face. Even after a long time, she never raised her hand. Although not directly stated, Kyrie knew that she was proposing an extension of the truce.

“Do you know you’re the only one left?”

Eventually, she sighed and held hands. Just in time, the forest road ended and an open hill came out.

[I guess so]

“Then what do you intend to build?”

A village was seen under the hill. Nathaniel smiled faintly.

[Elsus.]

“I don’t need it…….”

***

There was no way to know what happened to the magic corps or what happened to MarryAnne and Rubinia. Their news was cut off, and Kyrie decided to return to the capital as soon as possible.

She got in a luggage wagon, passed a few small villages, and arrived in the city.

Nathaniel changed his appearance to a boy. Unlike before, when he pretended to be a commoner boy, a perfect nobleman dressed in shorts and knee socks looked like a restraint.

[This side won’t stand out.]

The adult Nathaniel’s beauty was too dazzling, so it wasn’t wrong to say that. However, he’s not a boy Nathaniel who doesn’t shine, he caught everyone’s attention. Nataniel, who turned into a boy, stared up at Kyrie with his big eyes wide open. Then he reached out his small hand as if to hold it.

[Shall we hold hands?]

……It’s abominable. However, Kyrie hesitated and held his hand.

“I’m going to grab a station wagon first. Let’s look at the time and stay here today.”

[As you want.]

Nathaniel shrugged. It was an impolite gesture in a noble society, so adult Nataniel did not do it. Of course, even if he does, the atmosphere is so elegant that it won’t seem rude at all.

While walking downtown, Nathaniel held Kyrie’s hand and looked around the nearby stores. She wondered why he wasn’t looking straight ahead, then he said,

[Come to think of it, your elder brother took all the gifts I bought for you.]

Kyrie turned her head. Beyond the glass display case, it was full of women’s items.  Nathaniel glanced at Kyrie.

Nathaniel glanced at Kyrie.

[Is there anything you want?]

“Well……”

She didn’t think much, but she looked inside the display case for courtesy. Kyrie realized that he had better eyes than she thought. It was a sophisticated store in this city, but it was far short of the splendor of Sel Arellano.

“I don’t think so.”

Nathaniel’s face, who had been looking at Kyrie’s face all the time, looked disappointed. Perhaps because of the boy’s appearance, his expression was easier to recognize than before.

[It’s not good to see that you don’t have a lot of materialistic desire.]

“You sound like my father.”

Nathaniel made an explicit impression. It was the first time that Nathaniel hated it that much. It was almost hateful.

[Seriously……that statement.]

Kyrie clenched her empty hand into fists and covered her mouth. 

Come to think of it, I think it’s a bit harsh.

“I’m sorry. You’re better than my father.”

[I don’t know why I should be compared to your father. I’m not your father.]

“If I have to choose, it would be my great-grandfather’s…….”

[Okay. I understand how you look at me]

Nathaniel shuddered and let go of her hand and walked away. He seems to really hate Cesar. Kyrie burst into a small laugh.

Then Nathaniel, who was walking earlier, turned around. Kyrie was surprised and smiled without realizing it. The boy with rosy cheeks frowned with a surprised face.

[Just now…]

“I can see the station. Shall we go now?

Kyrie smiled coldly. Nobles don’t laugh out loud. You may also be scolded for not having dignity.

[That’s not it…….]

Nathaniel looked suspiciously at Kyrie with a frown. The gaze was like that, but the blue eyes were clear like glass grains, as if a part of the sea was removed and moved. There was also a little expectation. Why?

Kyrie shrugged as he did earlier, and reached out naturally.

“Should I hold hands with you?”

[…….]

Nathaniel held Kyrie’s hand with an annoying face. In any case, it was very realistic to respond to the situation suggested by others. Kyrie wanted to laugh again. Perhaps because he was hiding the creepy pressure, but Nathaniel was surprisingly like a boy of that age.

Kyrie turned her head forward. An old station with a round roof was seen.

“The child’s appearance is quite natural.”

[I was born accustomed to that]

“Acting like a child?”

[Digging into other people’s cracks.]

Nathaniel replied indifferently. Kyrie paused at the horrors of the words, but was led by Nathaniel and went into the station as if water flowed.

Inside the station, people waiting for the wagon sat sparsely. After checking if Kyrie properly pressed the lobe over her head, she approached the window.

“I’m going to go all the way to Sel Arellano.”

“It doesn’t go that far. You have to transfer at Eden Hawk in the middle.”

“Then let’s do that.”

“Departure tomorrow at 7 AM, and one silver for an adult …….”

A young male station attendant, who seemed to be bothered by everything, hesitated while he raised his head. His gaze stuck to Nathaniel.

The boy with chubby cheeks, white skin, and heavy black hair as if wet, looked like a doll even to Kyrie. When Nathaniel smiled in a seductive way, there was a sound of a sigh coming out of the station attendant’s mouth.