C 107
"I see."
Dad calmly opened his mouth, as if he had already expected it. On the contrary, it was me who kept my mouth even more closed in response.
He lightly stroked my cheek with a calm expression and then opened his mouth again.
"Thank you for your honest answer."
".... Aren't you angry?"
"Everyone has something to hide, don't they?"
"... Dad, will you believe everything I say?"
"If parents don't trust their children, who will they trust?"
I was moved by the kind words I had never heard in my previous life and had always wanted to hear.
As if my throat had opened, I had to smile, forcefully curving the corners of my eyes.
"Actually, I..."
I opened and closed my fist several times.
"I have memories of my previous life..."
I swallowed and closed my eyes tightly. I didn't even realize that, unknowingly, I was holding onto his hem.
"Memories of a previous life...?"
Dad was also a little nervous.
I tilted my head.
I know it's hard to believe. However, I still opened my mouth hoping that he would believe me.
"I'm not lying. In fact, I became an adult in a different world from this place... and then came here."
I couldn't bear to say that I entered while reading a novel. I couldn't even say that this world might really be a novel.
"I think I came here while reading a novel, but I'm not sure."
I don't remember at all how I got to this world.
"And what if I didn't die there and was reborn here...? ... Maybe that's why the test results came out strange...?"
When I finished speaking, my voice gradually became quieter.
It was because my dad was frozen as if he were surprised, and it didn't seem normal to talk about such a strange phenomenon.
"So what I mean is..."
"I know you're not lying."
Dad, who was looking at me, said sternly.
"I was a little surprised. Because I never thought something like this would happen."
With me in his arms, he sat on a bench not far away and sat me on his lap.
"I see."
Dad stroked my hair.
"That's why you were so intelligent."
Dad smiled and stroked my hair.
"I think I know a little about you now."
Dad just stroked my hair and patted my back for a while as if he were thinking about something, but he didn't say anything.
"Have you ever had a dream?"
"A dream?"
"Yes, a dream of that world you lived in in your previous life."
I widened my eyes and shook my head.
I dreamed of something, but when I opened my eyes, I couldn't remember anything.
"I don't know, I dream, but I don't remember."
So I wasn't sure if it was a dream where I swam in pudding or a dream from the world I had lived in before.
"Eirin."
"Yes?"
"If you don't remember, it means you're not ready for that dream."
My eyes opened wide at my father's unexpected words.
"So don't think too much. The time will come when you can handle it."
I nodded involuntarily at the friendly voice. It felt good to bury my face in Dad's shoulder and rub my cheek.
"Whatever happens, you're my daughter."
Even if I don't want to bear it, it will definitely come when I can, so my dad, who added that I shouldn't be nervous, hugged me and got up.
"And when the time comes, make sure to tell me too."
".... Yes."
Dad kissed me on the forehead and quietly headed to the dining room.
Shortly after, the third day of the banquet took place.
* * *
After the results, I attended the third-day banquet and missed the fourth-day banquet.
And today was the last day of the banquet.
In the meantime, I was able to meet quite a few noble faces with the help of the Ethams.
And....
"I'm exhausted, I want to go back."
For a while, I don't even want to set foot in a banquet. Dad said this was a special case, so I'm lucky.
Some Ethams, including Callan and Silian, didn't attend from the third day. From what I heard, something significant seemed to have happened with the Hatar matter.
It was clear that the extensive spiderwebs were swaying slightly.
"Now that it's the fifth day, many of those crowded nobles have left."
Furthermore, few nobles approached me from the third day on, probably because the Ethams erected an iron wall and prevented them from getting close.
"Everything is fine, but I'm bored."
I murmured softly.
"Lady Etham?"
I was thinking of going to the terrace, but someone called me. When I turned my head, it was Phil Rosemont.
"... Phil?"
"Yes... C-Can I have a moment of your time?"
Phil Rosemont asked timidly from a few steps away, blushing.
He was a boy a head taller than me, so he somehow looked cute.
Justice still exists in this world.
I felt a sense of joy and pride.
"Of course."
I was bored, so it's okay!
"You didn't come yesterday..."
"Yes, I couldn't come because I was too tired."
After attending for three consecutive days, I felt like I would get sick if I attended on the fourth day.
"I see..."
"Why? Were you looking for me?"
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Well..., did you see my uncle too?"
Phil Rosemont smiled cheerfully and asked, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Yes."
I nodded, thinking of Albion.
"I like my uncle. I... haven't had a family since I was little."
Phil Rosemont said with a shy smile.
"My parents died early, and my older brother and I lived together, so there was no adult guardian. All the people around us were just after money."
Phil Rosemont murmured softly.
"My brother hated them."
Phil Rosemont, who moved his fingers and blushed, finally opened his mouth.
"Even though my brother doesn't say anything, he seems a bit happy..."
Hill Rosemont?
It didn't seem that way at all.
"Or not?"
Considering how he harassed him when Albion said he would return, he might have implicitly wished for it.
"So I wonder how I can keep my uncle from leaving... It seems like you have a big family..."
Then Phil Rosemont's face, who whispered that he had come to ask for help, had a hint of anticipation on it.
"The director is coming back because he has a place to return to... There are so many children in the nursery waiting for the director."
"... But we really share the same blood."
That's true, but....
"How can it not work? At this rate, my older brother might kill my uncle."
"He probably won't die easily..."
...I was going to say that, but I was a little skeptical. Now that I think about it, Albion has always lived with guilt towards the children.
"Even if he had found his daughter's grave, his personality wouldn't have changed so easily."
That means there's a possibility he'll die even though Hill Rosemont knows what he's doing. No matter how I think about it, that's not right.
He has to live.
I quickly shook my head.
"Oh... Wouldn't it be good to get rid of the reason for his return?"
Upon my words, Phil Rosemont's eyes widened, and he clapped.
"I see."
"I'm not asking you to get rid of it at all, but to move the nursery to the capital... Do things like getting the children adopted by good families or something."
Somehow, if Phil Rosemont conveyed these words to Hill Rosemont, it seemed that at that moment, the orphanage would be swept away by a mysterious explosion.
"Because the director values the children in the orphanage..."
To eliminate any danger, I added an urgent comment.
"Yes, thank you for the advice! I'll tell my brother..."
"Oh? Isn't that the stupid, weak orphan?"
The low and vulgar words from behind naturally wrinkled my impression. Phil Rosemont's expression darkened.
"Hey, look here. The country bumpkin is here. Ugh, don't you think something smells fishy?"
Wherever you go in the world, there are low and cowardly people.
"My lady, won't you get sick if you associate with someone like that?"
"Yes, how about playing with us? I know a lot about the latest trends and fun games."
Do they know?
That this comment is outdated and vulgar.
At least to me.
And even now, I wasn't the type to avoid fights that came my way.
When my younger siblings were involved, I had to keep my mouth shut and behave, but if not...
"Phil, don't you smell like rotten fish?"
You don't have to put up with that.
"Huh? Ah, I don't think so..."
I smiled widely at Phil's naive words. Then, the faces of the group of young masters watching me turned red.
"It's stupid, but everything the lady says is correct."
"Yes, it's not just me, is it? In her body."
I wasn't in the mood to see empty-headed young people laughing.
"My lady, we really like you. Would you like to join us?"
I know their parents ordered them. They must have told them to somehow associate with me.
"Hey."
"Yes...? Are you talking about us?"
"Yes."
When I nodded, the young people looked at me with bewildered expressions.
"It comes from your mouth. The smell of rotten fish. Don't talk to me, idiots."
I really hated schoolyard violence in my previous life. So I didn't like social violence either.
"I don't talk to kids dumber than me."
I took Phil Rosemont's hand and walked out of the terrace.
"Can you help me close the door?"
"Oh? Of course."
Phil Rosemont closed the terrace door.
"My lady?!"
"You said you liked it, right?"
"What? Yes..."
"Then you'll like this too."
And I wished with a wide smile.
Then something like a dark cloud appeared in the empty space, and soon something fell.
"Aaaaaaah!"
"Aaaaagh! It's, it's disgusting!!"
"W-What is this? Get out of the way! It's raining... Argh! This...!"
Hundreds of lizards descended like rain, clinging to their bodies and piling up like mountains on the terrace floor.
"Eirin, you're like a hero!"
Phil Rosemont said, his eyes shining. Phil's cheeks turned even redder.
It was the end of a pleasant banquet.
* * *
And the next day, the fake hatar we made began to circulate seriously as if it were the original.
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