CH 134

Chapter 134 of “Mastering Magic in an Otome Game Part 4 (Eildart Castle During Winter Break)”

I woke up with a start.

Then I rolled over in the warm bed I was lying in.

It was only a few hours ago, after a very busy day of defeating magical beasts and discovering Tarot magic, that I had asked the three witnesses to swear an oath of silence before going to bed.

Connie was asleep on the cot beside me, and in the adjoining room were Brother Will, who was my aide, and Brother Oluris, who had refused a single room and shared it with Brother Will.

As I listened to the owls hooting in the distance, I closed my eyes and let my thoughts wander.

There were so many things to think about. There were also so many things I had to do.

…But I was restless.

I quietly got up so as not to wake Connie, put on a gown over my nightie, and quietly walked out onto the balcony.

The cold night breeze of the early winter cooled my skin through my clothes.

The calendar and seasons in this country were almost the same as in my past life. It was normal for it to get chilly when the month reached the double digits, and get colder as the year progressed.

Shivering, I leaned against the balcony railing, thinking that this would be a good way to cool my head.

“Gabriella is probably a reincarnated person…and I am also a reincarnation.”

I thought to myself.

“Senpai, senpai! It’s a popular reincarnation story. Just take a look at the opening!…C’mon, only 30 seconds should be enough.”

The only thing that rang in my head was the cheerful yet somewhat desperate voice of my junior from my previous life.

The game recommended to me by my junior.

“The Golden Rose…If I had played it, I could have learned a lot more about it.”

As I muttered this, I thought about the past.

I had taken a bite out of just about everything recommended to me. When I was a student, I especially read anime, games, manga, and novels if they were recommended to me. I even enjoyed reading novels. I was really into a certain magic novel in particular.

But now that I thought about it, I didn’t enjoy those things at the time when I was extremely busy being a company employee. I’m not sure if it’s because I was immersed in occult hobbies, but in retrospect, it was probably more of an escape from reality than a hobby.

…This was something I had finally come to terms with, though, after seeing how Brother Oluris and the others cried today. My bizarre occult hobby, and the environment that was negative from the start.

It wasn’t enough for me just to be addicted to interesting things anymore.

I thought I was okay, but I guess deep down I really wanted to escape from that company, that pain, that world. Even more so because my vision had narrowed and the company had become everything.

That’s why I hadn’t been interested in the act of ‘playing games,’ which was just a peek into the world of games, no matter how much my dear junior colleagues pushed me to do so.

In order to really feel another world—another world beside my own—I needed real life knowledge…not just a storyline…

Magic, living, monsters, the occult, anything was fine. I wanted to gain knowledge and feel the world I lived in as if it were a real otherworldly place, if only for a moment. That’s why I had read so many books on the occult.

“Ah…when I think about it again, I feel like I really was in a bad state. I’m really thankful. I had  been worrying so much…”

I put my head on the railing and sagged down. I was in tears because it hurt a little too much to be so vigorous.

Perhaps the reason why my junior was so stubbornly trying to get me to play the game was not only to relax, but also to keep my mind off of the world.

And yet, without even being able to thank her, I just died and really came here. I hoped they didn’t cry…No, I’m sure they did. I would have cried. I’m sure they cried as much as Connie did today. I felt sorry for them.

“Alice…?”

I looked up, startled by the sound of a young voice echoing in the darkness, and saw two golden hues floating on the balcony of the next room.

I blinked my eyes and saw that they were the golden eyes of Brother Onyx, reflecting the light of the moon.

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T/N: For anyone who needed a quick refresher, Onyx is Alice’s cousin (Thulite’s son). He’s also Athena’s older brother.