CH 113

“Who did that?! Who hit Yuri!?”

Anissa began to point her finger at Dietrich with an angry glare.

“Ha?” 

He watched without answering as her long, outstretched, yet small finger shook in front of his face. 

“What’s wrong with her? I haven’t even said anything?” 

When Dietrich didn’t respond, Yuric alone, waved his hand in cold sweat. 

“A-Anissa. Don’t be like that. Please.” 

Please save me. 

His earnestness in wanting to shut her mouth was reflected in his voice. 

I don’t usually share a lot of my grievances against Dietrich, and yet you’re going to betray me like this?

Yuric lamented and grabbed Anissa but she stumbled and stood up, managing to avoid his hand.

“Yuri! Told me! Everything! That you’re bullying Yuri!”

Anissa proudly put her hands on her side and continued speaking. The pinkish blush on her face was very cute but the details coming out of her mouth weren’t so pleasant. 

Dietrich turned to Yuric instead of her and opened his mouth. 

“Is that so?”

“That’s right! You bad guy! I should scold you!” 

I’m in trouble.

Yuric stepped back with a sloppy smile on his face, having a premonition that if he left that mouth alone as it was, he wouldn’t be able to live his life. 

“I think she’s drunk? Don’t you think you should take her home?

“I think I should.”

“Uh, yeah. Before she gets into trouble.” 

It seemed that turning the attention to Anissa worked as Dietrich nodded his head and moved towards her. 

He gave an order in a low voice at the top of Yuric’s head, who was feeling relief. 

“Run around.”

“Huh?”

“The drill hall.”

“All right…” 

That’s right, there’s no way I won’t get hit

The commander of the faceless knights was Yuric, but he had never once won against Dietrich in a swordfight.

He gave a sigh of relief and nodded his head since it was common for him to get hit in the excuse of sparring. 

“But still, Anissa seemed to have persuaded most of the noble ladies so don’t be too harsh.” 

“Persuade?”

“Wasn’t there one or two families who’d rather go to the South because you pushed too hard?”

At Yuric’s nagging, Dietrich stared down at Yuric as if he had cut the dawn with a knife. 

“I clearly said it didn’t matter. It’s enough to wipe them all out.” 

“It’s because you’re like that! Phew, never mind. Let’s just stop talking.”

Since his attitude was so calm, he felt quite rational while speaking but every word that came out of his handsome mouth was all crazy statements. 

‘Did he just say it doesn’t matter whether there are fewer Northern families?’

Dietrich often came out to be extreme that it felt disconnected from his neat appearance. 

“....I’m glad that at least Anissa became your brake.” 

She was the only reason holding together this crazy Lagrange. 

“You’re still here?”

Dietrich glared at Yuric who was trying to save himself from the situation by making use of Anissa as an excuse. 

He scrambled out of the garden because he thought Dietrich would pull out a sword any time soon if he delayed any longer.

“Bring him here!”

“.......”

“Who hit Yuri! Bring him here!” 

Dietrich looked down at Anissa, who was banging her hand on the tea table, repeating the same thing over and over. 

As if there was some kind of hidden strength in her slender hands, which looked like they would break if applied with just a little force, the tea table shook in the recoil. 

“I’m already here.”

He bent his waist and met Anissa’s eyes. Her cheeks, looking like ripe peaches, twitched. She reached out and grabbed his hair. 

“What are you going to do?” 

He spoke like a sigh. In fact, Anissa smiled at the low whisper that sounded like a sigh. 

“I’m going to scold you!”

“Sure.” 

Dietrich felt a little odd. For the first time in his life, someone had grabbed his hair but he wasn’t offended at all. 

“Do you know that if it wasn’t you, their hands would have been cut off in an instant?”

“Hand?”

“That’s right.”

“Cut off?! How?! With knife?!”

He nodded slightly and held Anissa, who stumbled and lost her balance. He had seen her put food in her mouth like a squirrel a lot of times, but she was still light.

“Is it similar to when we were young?” 

Actually, her face hadn’t changed much from when she was a baby. Dietrich glanced down at her round face and started moving. 

“Where are we going?”

“Home.”

“I like home.” 

Was that so?

He nodded his head roughly but didn’t bother to answer. 

Anissa burst into laughter as if she found the conversation back and forth funny. He listened quietly to the refreshing laughter that sounded like glass marbles rolling on a tray. 

“In our home! Detrie is there! He’s handsome!” 

Dietrich smirked at her prideful boast. Then, his smile dried up at the following abuse. 

“But he doesn’t listen! He’s so stubborn!”

"..............."

“Stubborn! Stubborn as a mule!” 

Dietrich just looked at Anissa talking about ‘Detrie’ excitedly all the way to her room. 

She ran on about his face value, that she had a lot of thoughts but he wouldn’t listen, and that he kept on abandoning meetings. 

“I didn’t know you had so many complaints about me.” 

He leisurely placed her on her bed, temporarily shelving his plans to destroy the families who had opposed opening their warehouses. 

Her small body was quickly buried and disappeared under the fluffy wool blanket. 

“Sleep.” 

With those words, Anissa seemed to have fallen asleep without the need to soothe her. Her sound of breathing was constant. 

Like water from a stream, a bright yellow flower quietly fell down from her half-visible face which couldn’t be seen properly due to the blanket covering her. 

Dietrich lost his words for a moment in that silence. 

“I’m going.” 

How much time had passed? 

He stood up from his place after saying a greeting that she couldn’t even hear. Anissa suddenly seized Dietrich by the scruff of his neck when he was about to stretch his arm between them. 

“Ha.” 

He was a little dumbfounded. 

He didn’t suffocate because she didn’t put strength into it but he was bewildered at where she learned to rudely grab people this way. 

“It would be troublesome if this becomes a habit.” 

He sighed low as he adjusted his crumpled collar. Anissa spoke weakly over it. 

“.....I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“I’m scared that everything will go wrong.”

Because of me. I’m afraid I ruined everything by making a hasty choice. 

“I’m scared of that.”

“.................”

────── 〔✿〕──────

The world was dark when I opened my eyes. I managed to get myself up, rubbing my throbbing forehead. The white moonlight dimly fell on the back of my hand.

“....Dietrich?” 

He wasn’t buried in the shadows and feeling the gaze coming from the side, he then slowly walked toward me. 

‘Why is he here?’

I looked up at him with questioning eyes. 

If you're not reading this at blogspot, you're probably reading from an aggregator site. Read this translation at https://notmysisteryoufool.blogspot.com/.

“What are you doing there? I thought you were a ghost.” 

“You said you were scared to be alone.” 

“I said that?”

I’m not even a child so why would I get scared. 

There were two escort knights if I just open the door. I squinted my eyes and then shook my head. 

“Yes, you said that.” 

He, who had somehow come close to the bed at some point, slowly answered. I buried my face in the fluffy pillow and then rolled over. 

“I’m dizzy.”

“Of course, you’d get dizzy if you roll over like that.” 

I did my best to roll over next to Dietrich and he took hold of my head. 

His firm hand, which always held a sword every day, felt cold today. I used his cold hand to cool off the heat on my forehead. 

‘This is refreshing.’

Looking at me rub my head on the palm of his hand like a little animal, Dietrich pressed down on my forehead. 

“You seem to be fine now.”

“Ugh. I feel like throwing up.”

“Who told you to–”

“Are you trying to nag me like a grandma telling me not to drink?” 

When I asked him primly, he then closed his mouth like a clam. I laughed and started making up excuses. 

“Countess Devonshire is a heavy drinker. She’s the key person I need most in my plan.”

Devonshire, the second oldest family in the North next to Lagrange and famous for her direct pride, was the main player to lead the atmosphere of the nobility conference. 

‘If Devonshire will follow us, the rest is easy.’

“I’m quite close now to Countess Devonshire. She also promised to open her warehouse.”

As I flaunted the visiting card that Countess Devonshire had given me with twinkling eyes, he touched his temple with a difficult-to-read expression on his face. 

“......About your plan.”

“Huh?”

“It’s fine if it fails.”

“....eh?”

What was he talking about?

It’d be a mess if it failed. 

No matter how close to divine power Eredia’s ability was, I wouldn’t be able to break his seal. 

When I looked up at him with wide eyes, he caught my gaze and he lowered his head as if calculating. 

His sharp face, half-hidden in the backlight, glows white.  

“So don’t worry.” 

His low voice, as if it was a sigh, fell over my head like the moonlight. 

“I’ll do whatever it takes to clean up the mess, so it’s okay if your plan falls to ruin.” 

But what I’m afraid of ruining is you. 

I watched as Dietrich left the room, swallowing down my words. 

Knock, knock. 

As soon as the dawn broke, a visitor knocked on the door as if they’d been waiting. 

‘This is more important than image reformation. I have to persuade them well.’