Chapter 137 - A Return to Peaceful Days? (2)

The suit selection, which lasted a full three hours, did have an end. A black tailcoat with a rather simple design was finally chosen as my suit.

“With this… just adding this one brooch should be fine.”

And just as Regina said, I also received a brooch.

It was a brooch shaped like a flame, and Regina looked back and forth between the brooch and me and grinned. It was her characteristic smile, one that could even look somewhat sinister.

“It could also serve as a mark of whose he is.”

She then muttered something like that, but I couldn't quite understand the meaning of her words.

Did she mean a mark of a subordinate, or was it an idiom? Seeing Aisa, who was next to her, react with some surprise, it seemed to have a significant meaning.

Anyway, when that time came to an end, I thought.

‘I’m drained…’

This is hard.

It was certainly something to be thankful for, but standing around as a model for three hours was more tiring than I had imagined.

Of course, I knew how extravagant it was to receive a suit from the princess, especially one she picked out herself. I didn't know the details, but within my common sense, it could be considered groundbreaking.

Therefore, I didn't voice any complaints. Though the sharp-witted Regina must have sensed my fatigue completely.

She seemed to be strangely enjoying my tired state. That girl…

“Hoo……”

I let out a tired sigh and, while Regina was talking with the tailor, I briefly looked around the inside of the store.

‘Come to think of it, how much does it cost?’

And suddenly, that question came to mind. How much would a custom-made suit from a tailor who handles the imperial family's clothing cost?

As I slowly walked around the store, I was able to see the price of a sample piece, and seeing it, only one thought came to mind.

‘……An artifact?’

Yes. The price range was ridiculous. Was it an artifact with some kind of function?

Step.

I slowly backed away from the sample piece and glanced back in Regina's direction.

Hmm.

I shouldn't have any complaints. That would be right.

***

After that, I left the store with Regina, who had finished her conversation. It was about 12 o'clock, and Regina suggested we have a meal together since we were out anyway.

“Sounds good.”

What choice did I have? Of course, I didn't dislike having a meal with Regina, and strangely, it wasn't uncomfortable either. There were parts where she and I got along quite well.

We talked while moving to the restaurant by carriage, and during our conversation, I brought up something.

“I saw the prices… they were quite substantial. I don’t know if it’s alright for me to receive it without any compensation.”

That was the gist of it. I felt I had to say something like that, at least out of courtesy.

“Oh my, for the heir of the continent’s top noble family, your sense of money is quite cute, isn't it?”

Hearing that, Regina replied with an amused laugh.

“……As you know, I’m not in a position to receive treatment befitting that title.”

“Ah~ I forgot. My, my.”

She even shrugged her shoulders pretentiously. This girl, if you took away the fact that she was a princess, she was a real prankster.

“And, it’s not like I gave it to you without any compensation, you know?”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you save me? Don’t you remember? The incident at the Railroad Mysterium.”

Ah.

Come to think of it, there was that.

“Ah.”

“Sometimes, you have a strangely dense side to you, Young Master.”

“……I will rectify it.”

“You don’t have to. That has its own charm.”

Anyway, when talking with this girl, I couldn't help but feel like I was being played in the palm of her hand.

Well, she seemed to be enjoying it, so it was fine.

“Well, to be honest, even if I hadn't been there, Serene-ssi would have rescued you.”

I then said that, and it was true.

In any case, the fact that Serene reached the train meant she could have wiped out the enemy's forces, no matter how strong they were.

Moreover, perhaps if I hadn't been there, more lives could have been saved.

The rebels who died at my hands, and even Vargas, the enemy leader.

I had been desperate to save my own skin and chose to end their lives for certain, but someone with Serene's skill could have subdued them without killing them.

‘Did I do something unnecessary?’

Was there no meaning to all the hardships I went through? And what kind of expression was I making now, thinking these thoughts? As such questions bloomed in my mind, Regina thought for a moment and then opened her mouth.

“Well, at least I felt relieved because you were there.”

She said, with a rather serious expression that contrasted with her playful one from just before.

“The person you wished was there, is there. That… was more comforting than I thought.”

What did that mean? Did she mean she had wished for me to be there?

It was hard to understand.

“It’s best not to think so negatively, Young Master. By reaching that place, didn't you prove your own abilities? The young lady of Stellia is in a league of her own, after all.”

“……Thank you for your kind words.”

“I didn’t praise you excessively enough to warrant thanks, though.”

At those words, I chuckled. Hearing that seemed to comfort my heart a little.

“Then I shall gladly accept the suit you gifted me without any guilt.”

“Fufu, though I have no intention of ending the reward with just that.”

There was more to come? She certainly had the generosity of a princess. It seemed she was putting into practice her own words that rewarding merit and punishing demerit was also a virtue of a monarch.

As I relaxed back into the carriage with a somewhat lighter heart, another thought occurred to me.

‘Come to think of it, Yuna probably hasn't thought about her attire either.’

There was an episode in the original Arche like that. When she attended the exchange meeting for the first time after improving her grades, she didn't know about the dress code and attended in her school uniform.

Some easy-going knights praised her for being student-like, but she was ridiculed by those with a strong sense of authority.

An episode that could be considered an embarrassment, given Yuna's personality. That episode suddenly came to mind, and I opened my mouth again.

“In that case, could I perhaps ask for Yuna-ssi’s dress as well? I don’t think she has given it any thought either……”

If I could take care of her, I should do it at times like this. That was my thought.

So I thought…….

“Hmph……”

Unexpectedly, Regina's reaction was somewhat peculiar.

She seemed somewhat displeased, or rather… like she was pouting? The sly smile she had until just now had strangely faded. I wasn't sure why.

“I’ll consider it.”

“……Did I make some kind of mistake?”

“Who knows?”

Um, uh.

Did you two not get along?

Weren't you usually nice to her?

‘This is difficult.’

So difficult…….

***

Well, nothing eventful happened after that. Regina quickly recovered her usual spirits, and we had lunch together.

However, our schedule did not continue after that.

“Well then, I should be getting back soon. I’m already swamped with work, so I barely managed to make this time.”

“……You always work so hard.”

“Fufu, don’t mention it.”

Just as she said, Regina was a busy person in many ways.

It certainly made sense. She was the one involved in the major incident where a mysterious force (which Regina was covering up) attacked the Railroad Mysterium, so she must be struggling to fend off the schemes of the Crown Prince's Faction and Claudio.

…For someone in that position, didn't she spend an excessively long time picking out a suit?

I decided to let that slide for now.

Anyway, I had become free and was about to enter the school gate when…….

“It’s been a while, Rain.”

A voice came from behind me. A girl's voice, somewhat emotionless and flat, with a mechanical tone.

I slowly turned my head to look in that direction, but in truth, I knew who the owner of the voice was without even turning.

“……Arien-ssi.”

What strange timing. I never thought it would line up so perfectly.

“Yes, it is Arien. I have just returned from the Magic Tower.”

Arien, whom I hadn't seen in quite a while, was the same as ever. Her characteristic machine-like speech and the lively gestures that contrasted with it.

She's always so peculiar. Well… it's definitely not unpleasant to look at, and I do think it suits her somehow.

“It’s really been a long time. Would you like a reunion hug?”

And as soon as we met after a long time, she said such a thing without hesitation. With her arms wide open.

Yes. Come to think of it, she was this kind of person. Her image was so different from the original work, far too different.

“……Were we separated long enough to warrant a hug?”

“The time we were apart was exactly 26 days. Roughly a month. I believe this is a period that sufficiently meets the definition of not having seen each other for a long time.”

“……”

No, I mean, if you think about it, it has been a long time. Nearly a month. But I don't think it was long enough for a hug.

As expected of a young lady who learned about the world from books, she completely failed to understand the nuance.

“……Did anything happen at the Magic Tower?”

Not knowing how to respond, I changed the subject. Honestly, there were quite a few people passing by here to be hugging.

Adding another line to my list of bizarre rumors was a bit of a burden.

As I conspicuously tried to change the subject, Arien's reaction was quite… very strange.

“……”

Arien was puffing up her cheeks. As if she was dissatisfied about something. The key point would be that her face remained expressionless, and the angle of her eyebrows didn't change.

“What kind of reaction is that……”

“In the books I’ve read, there were descriptions of the protagonists and various characters puffing up their cheeks like this when they were dissatisfied. Therefore, I tried to imitate it in the same situation.”

“Is… that so……”

The sight of Arien puffing only her cheeks with an expressionless face. It was so strange that I wondered if I should record it, and honestly, it was also a cute scene.

It was a very Arien-like sight, as she absorbed knowledge without any filter.

“Well, it was a joke, though.”

And soon after, Arien returned her puffed cheeks to their original state and said so.

It was a joke?

‘It’s hard to tell……’

Even this hard-to-understand joke was still the same old her.

Well, yeah. It was a relief that she was still the same as ever…….