Chapter 5

I woke up with a loud commotion outside.

It was close to dark.

I blinked my eyes and looked around.

Even though it is a tightly closed space, the cool wind blew softly.

My eyes naturally headed to the magical item, that was on the top.

That looked like the item that makes the surrounding area so fascinating.

There was still a wet towel on my forehead.

I slowly lifted up my weak body.

There is no Lexion.

I became sullen at the fact that he was not around, though quickly regained my energy.

If Lexion had been dispatched to the scene of the disaster unlike the original, he would have been searching the scene.

He was not so content that only one survivor stayed with him because they were sick and weak.

It was dark inside the barracks.

The lamp around the bed was dimly illuminating its shape.

The light, which was burning as close as little that it could fade, soon lost its strength and fell.

Then, total darkness came.

It was dark, but I am not afraid.

Fear of the dark is the value of Tiarozety because it wasn’t me.

I got up from the bed with a rustle.

I could hear my stomach growling.

I am very hungry as if I had starved myself for three days.

I looked around to see if there was anything to eat, and then someone entered the barrack.

The woman stood with a fresh bowl of water and oil to light the lamp.

After a while, she talked to me in surprise.

“You’re up, aren’t you?”

“....Daisy!”

I called her name out of joy.

She was a maid who stayed with me before I got back.

Whenever I was hated by retainers for being Tiarozety. She was also a thankful person who secretly helped others.

At that time, Tiarozety was a thorn in the eyes of Sparrow castle retainers.

It is natural as their noble duke was embroiled in a dirty scandal and even was hated by the imperial family because of me.

“Huh? Why do you know my name?”

Daisy tilted her head with a perplexed face.

Calling her name out of joy, I quickly shook my head.

“I mistook you for someone else..”

Currently, I and Daisy met for the first time.

There is no way for me to know her name, I, who had been asleep all along.

“That’s amazing. My name is Daisy.”

Daisy came to the side, answering back without any doubt.

I went back to bed and sat down.

When Daisy filled the oil of the central lantern, the inside of the barracks became brighter again.

It’s bright enough to recognize each other’s faces.

Daisy apologized to me with a little embarrassed face.

“But you must have been surprised because it was dark. It must have turned off while I was bringing the gas. I’ll get the punishment later.”

“I wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t too dark to worry about.”

I waved my hand to dissuade Daisy from being punished.

Tiarozety became afraid of the dark because of the trauma of being buried at the scene of the disaster for three days.

However, since she was discovered right after the disaster, there is no reason to be afraid of the dark.

The time she was found was in daylight, so it would have been nothing to cause emotional disturbance on me.

Daisy asked me with disapproval.

“Are you pretending you’re not because you’re worried that I’m going to be punished?”

“What? No, I’m serious.”

I opened my eyes wide and answered back, but Daisy said, rubbing her chin still.

“Actually, the Duke told me to wait and see so that you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable because you don’t usually tell me what you’re thinking. Are you sure you’re okay?

“..that’s what the Duke said?”

“Yes, especially since you are afraid of the dark, he always told me to keep the room bright.”

I stared at Daisy with a puzzled look.

Tiarozety was right to not say what she was thinking.

She is too timid to speak properly, and often dawdle.

It was also Lexion who recognized Tiarozety’s heart and helped him.

As a male protagonist, he skillfully recognized the needs of the people around him.

In particular, he recognized the mind of Tiarozety, who was wary and scared.

As a cause of that, Lexion is mainly responsible for her doctor’s confirmation.

He helped me so well that it was said that Lexion had become a babysitter for Tiarozety.

It’s weird, though.

Even if he was a quick-witted man, I couldn’t notice that he was afraid of the dark and didn’t say what was hiding on the inside as soon as he met me.

I thought he might have finally turned to me, but he quickly turned away.

It was a ridiculous assumption.

He is the main character of this book, “The Opponent of the Evil Dragon.”

He had never noticed when I made a mistake, got a penalty and got a warning.

In the end, I thought I was very quick-witted.

At that moment, I heard a growling sound in my stomach again.

Daisy smiled brightly as she rolled her eyes in surprise.

“Oh, you’re hungry, aren’t you?” I’ll bring the food quickly.”

Then she ran out of the barracks.

Somehow, I was embarrassed that I burst into tears without noticing, so I rubbed my stomach.

After a while, Daisy returned with a tray of hot soup and bread.

When Daisy came in, the smell of fragrant soup and sweet bread stimulated the tip of my nose.

I sniffed without realizing it.

Naturally, she sat down at the table and I tried to inhale the food, Daisy asked.

“You’ve been starving for three days, so chew slowly or you’ll get choked.”

“.... Three days?”

I was about to put the bread in my mouth but I answered back.

Daisy looked at me visibly surprised and answered with a curious look.

“Yes, you’ve been sick for three days.”

As soon as I heard her, I hardened like a rock.

The bread in my hand fell off.

“Oh, what a waste.”

Daisy picked up the fallen bread with a sad exclamation.

No matter how hungry I was, I couldn’t concentrate on the room where I was away.

I murmured with a faint expression next to her.

“That’s ridiculous....... then that means the story hasn’t started.”

“What? What do you mean? A story?”

“Is today really June 9th? Not the 8th? No, more than that. What about Seirin’s debut? Is it delayed?”

I pressed Daisy with a barrage of questions.

Daisy then smiled mildly and answered softly.

“Oh, come to think of it, I heard that Seirin’s debut started yesterday. Did you want to go?”

She seemed to think that I screamed because I was sorry I couldn’t go to the big event of the Empire.

But what surprised me was not that I couldn’t go to the event.

I couldn’t answer Daisy’s question with my mouth open.

Queen Seirin Aden-Werbel.

She is the only empress and heroine of the evil counterpart.

Lexion and Seirin have been close since they were young, but after they got older, they checked up with each other less and less.

It was the day when the two, who had been so awkward, met fatefully, on 8 June 408, on her debut tantrum day.

‘What’s going on here?’

I was confused by the whole mess of the book.

It is chaos itself.

At that time, a familiar voice was heard inside the barracks.

“Tiarozety?”

My head naturally turned in the direction of the sound.

There was a man in black, standing.

It was Lexion.

Lexion strode closer to me when he saw me frozen still.

Before I knew it, Lexion, who came to the front of the table, pressed Daisy with an icy aurora.

“Daisy, I told you to take good care of her, but why is Tiarozety so frozen? What kind of harm did you do?”

“Oh, no! I’m just the one who answered what she had asked.”

Daisy bowed flat on the floor and lowered her head to Lexion.

It was the first time I’ve seen him get angry without a hitch.

I looked at Lexion with a surprised look.

I looked at Daisy and asked “What does “hackoji” mean?”

He trusted his people very much.

Because of that, he, who was quick-witted, didn’t know that Sparrow knights were bothering me. I’ve never even doubted it.

Lexion looked indifferently away from Daisy.

And when my eyes met with his, I was worried that he had a frightening expression on his face.

His eyes were kind, even when he frowned.

Lexion raised his hand and caressed my cheek.

I was surprised by the touch that came without hesitation.

He crouched as he looked at me flinching.

After a while, he touched my forehead with his other hand.

It was a gesture to check if the fever had gone down.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately, the fever went down.”

“Why are you so cold..are you still sick? Do you want me to call the physician?”

Questions poured out without me giving an answer.

It wasn’t a mistake.

I opened my eyes wide when I belatedly noticed the changes that had happened to him.

It was just too much when I first met him because he is out of his mind.

‘Lexion’s talking to me.. ..’

If anyone hears it, they will ask why I’m so surprised by it, but it is an important problem for me.

He used to use honorifics to me all the time when I got to know him.

Except once.

“Don’t.”

Before I died, I remembered his words that he had said – as if he were begging.

E/N

T/N: the magical item that is referred to by Tiarozety is a lamp. In Filipino, it is called Lampara [though it is an adapted word from Spanish] and it is lit with oil and matches and is being hanged in any part of the house to give light on the surroundings. Tiarozety referred to it as a magical item as it is her first time to see that kind of thing which mostly applies to most of you.