Chapter 68 68: Cold (3)

This was the first time she mentioned such an existence to me. Fortunately, I already knew that the Protagonist was talking about Liam Tichá―Count Tichá's sole biological son and the heir to the Count title―thanks to prior investigation with Lucretia's help. Of course, I would be stupid to not have researched about the family of my target in advance, so I had her inform me all about it way back. For a noble family, they were comparatively small with just one son, one daughter who was adopted, and Count Tichá himself as the only living parent. We did some further investigation to try and figure out whether the reason for the Protagonist's adoption had anything to do with her hidden power, but nothing ever came of it. Still, if I were to make a guess, I would say it's probably related. Whatever the case, it was certain that finding out about her power was not an easy task. All I knew at this point was that it was a Blessing from the Sun Father thanks to the Goddess... Unfortunately, the Protagonist's body wasn't searing hot when touched, so I couldn't even compare it to the Blessing I had received. "O-oh, that's right. I don't think I told you, but I have a little brother, Liam. Sorry I forgot to mention it until now... Um, we're not related by blood because I'm adopted, but we're still close-- A-anyway! Because Liam studies both magic and swordsmanship at home, he's struggling to decide which he should choose to study at the Royal Academy since you can only choose one of the two as a major..." I watched her try to explain the situation hurriedly, and once she stopped, calmly opened my mouth. "Can't he just choose one subject to study at the academy and then hire a private tutor to teach him the other?" He was the son of a Count, so it's not like they would be lacking in money. Hiring a personal tutor for magic or swordsmanship would be easy like that, wouldn't it? At my simple response, the Protagonist stared blankly at my face for a few moments. "Oh! That's really smart, Enki! I'll say he should do that, then! Thanks so much!" 'No, well, I wouldn't say it's particularly smart, I just think you're a bit...' At the end of the day, you could only expect so much from someone labelled #NaiveProtagonist. This was, once again―further proof that there was only one '-agonist' fit to be empress. "Anytime. I'll always help you out with whatever you need, so don't hestiate to ask." "Yes! I will, thank you...! You're really reliable..." Staring back at the too-warm eyes with which she gazed at me, my stomach churned. Combined with the dreamy romance music playing in the background of my mind, I felt like throwing up at any moment. Nevertheless, I thought the 「scene」 couldn't be going any better. She revealed her brother's existence to me and we shared in joining our warmth. With just a few more gentle nudges, I'm sure she'll be close to revealing her big secret. If I can get her to be more comfortable sharing about the Tichá family, who are the most likely to know something about her hidden power other than the Protagonist herself, there might be a path to solving it. Information that would be difficult for even the incredibly influential archduchess to get her hands on, that's what it is. Although, if I play it well enough, she should come to reveal everything to me on her own. All I could do was keep it up... no matter how disgusting it felt. "Actually, I have a little brother, too, so I'm used to things like that." "Ah, really?! We both do, then! What's his name?" "Gil. My family doesn't live in the empire, though, so I haven't seen him in a while." "Oh, no... Working for, um... L-Lady Lucretia... must be hard..." Seeing her downcast face at just one person's mention, I gave a certain smile. "You don't have to worry that much about me. It's not that bad. Just as it would be serving any other noble, I guess... I do feel bad, though; I try to convince her to treat you better, but I don't think she listens." Putting on a wry smirk, I lightly ruffled that cherry pink hair; tied into back-length twintails, the wonder of knowing that her hair was naturally that bizarre colour once again struck me briefly. It was only thanks to the thick gloves Lucretia had given me that the coldness of my body didn't seep through, but because of that, I was able to make small moves like this. Watching her expression closely to gauge our distance, I noted how she put on an act of subtly pouting but actually blushed slightly underneath, raising her arms to hide the furtive bump at the corner of her lips, evidently failing to disguise it. 'Good... She's gotten used to even this much.' Like this, she would get more and more used to my presence around her. Being around me would begin to feel no less than natural, perhaps even to the point where not being around me would spark a feeling of anxiety, and as that happens, she'd start to feel that it's okay to let me in on stuff that other people aren't supposed to know about. Even if it was the only way to make me stay. Precisely because she's a #NaiveProtagonist, I held no doubt this will happen. She'd feel bad that she's hiding stuff from me, the person closest to her, and eventually crack. No matter how inhumane it was, that was the plan. And, at least so far, it's all proceeding smoothly enough. "Oh, no, don't feel bad, Enki...! It's not your fault... Y-you're trying to protect me, it's just... s-she's... the cruel one..." As her gaze became downcast yet again, I gently pulled her head to lean on my shoulder. At the same time, I felt the insides of my stomach turn into itself as if knotting. All of these nauseating actions of intimacy really were something I shouldn't be doing... 'Ugh... How long...' Inadvertently drawing distant memories back up again, ones I had sworn to bury and drown at the depths of that murky sea for the rest of time, was certainly nothing I could call pleasant. Hiding the look on my face that was surely sullen, I focused my attention on the other party to rid myself of that loathsome plague. Maybe she was too embarrassed at the sudden closeness, or maybe she was too caught up in her emotions to notice, but the Protagonist didn't say anything nor move a muscle to resist my closing of our distance. Then, looking down upon the top of her head from a position she couldn't see, I spoke in a soft tone I myself was still unfamiliar with. "Hey. It's alright." "..." "I'll make sure you get the treatment you deserve. From everybody." "..." "I'll take care of everything, so you can just leave it all to me. Does that sound alright?" In a shy manner, she then moved her head in an ever-so-slight nodding motion. "Mmn. Thanks..." For some reason, even if the one in front of me was the Protagonist, even though my head was full of thoughts regarding what I would do once this all was over, or rather, what I would inevitably need to do to end it all... I felt just sick. Wearing a dark grimace, I glanced up at the sky, exhaled quietly, then turned my gaze back down. As I opened my mouth again, I belatedly realised my lips and even teeth were subtly quivering. Gritting them for a moment, I forced the words off my tongue. "Don't mention it. Like you said, it'll be getting even colder at this time of year, so if you ever need warming up, don't hesitate to come find me, yeah?" Even though, as things stood, my body had run out of warmth to give. Unaware of that fact, she could only giggle cluelessly. "Ehe... I won't..." Thereafter, we proceeded to sit in that position in silence for a while. I turned my attention back towards the sky, which had become partially cloudy for the first time since I arrived in this world. At the moment, the weather was bearable even if you didn't wear multiple layers. At least, for those who weren't the Protagonist. In fact, I wondered how cold it would be by the time Lucretia's birthday came around. Although the weather was consistently good thus far, the temperature continued to drop ever since the night of my arrival. And it would only get colder as time went on. 'Honestly... the least difficult part of this Contract is the Protagonist herself...' One month has passed since I entered this Illusory World. Before the time limit of Lucretia's coming-of-age ball ends, the Protagonist must die. To that end, two months remained.