"Violetta Fares, I need to talk to you."
The dining hall was jointly used by knights and magicians who worked at the castle. It was just past noon, and the bustling atmosphere had begun to quiet down. As I enjoyed my post-meal tea, someone called out to me.
When I turned to look, I saw a large man dressed in a knight's uniform, and behind him, almost as if being shielded by him, was a petite woman.
"Good afternoon, Captain Kargfous, Magician Lurtia. How can I help you?"
"...I’m sorry to bring this up so suddenly, but could we break up?"
With a pained expression, the man—Captain Kargfous, the leader of the knight's third squad—said this.
"Wha—cough… excuse me, what did you just say?"
"I can’t hide my true feelings any longer…! I’ve fallen in love with Lurtia, who understands me better than you ever did…! Please, I’m begging you, break up with me!"
I almost choked on the tea I was drinking, but somehow managed to ask him to repeat himself. With a face drenched in melodrama, he confirmed his words again. Although it was past noon, the dining hall was still fairly crowded, and with his loud voice, suited to his large frame, he began to attract attention. Feeling the unwanted stares of curious onlookers, I couldn’t help but frown.
"Violetta-senpai, Lord Eugene isn’t at fault! It’s my fault, mine! Even though I knew he was your lover, I couldn’t suppress my feelings…!"
As I hesitated, unsure of how to respond, the woman who had been sheltered behind the captain—Lurtia, my junior colleague—clung to the captain’s arm and tearfully pleaded. I had heard that she, with her small and cute appearance, was quite popular among the knights.
Her tear-filled, glistening eyes shed large drops of tears, which apparently stirred up the protective instincts of the men around. The number of prickly glances, mainly from the knights, seemed to be increasing.
But am I just being cynical? Somehow, I couldn’t help but sense a hint of condescension, a mocking tone behind her words.
"No, Lurtia isn’t to blame! The one at fault is me, for falling in love with you despite already having a lover…!"
"Lord Eugene…!"
"Lurtia…!"
The two of them embraced each other with expressions as if they were tragic lovers torn apart by a cruel twist of fate.
At last, I began to understand that I was being dragged into a breakup drama by this pair, who were playing out their melodramatic scene right in front of me.
I had no idea how I had gotten involved in this, but for now—
"I’ve never been in a relationship with Captain Kargfous, so you must be mistaken."
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"Ahahaha!!!"
As I ordered two mugs of ale and a few random snacks, I glanced at the man next to me who was laughing so hard he was practically pounding the table.
After that whole breakup drama, I went back to work, only to have my childhood friend, who had been away on a long expedition, suddenly barge in. Since most of my tasks were nearly finished, I wrapped things up quickly, and now we’re at a tavern often frequented by adventurers.
"I have to say, it was news to me that Captain Kargfous and I were supposedly lovers."
"So, what happened next!? How did those two react?"
"They both just stood there with their mouths hanging open, looking completely dumbfounded. Even the people eavesdropping around us had the same expression."
"Pfft!!"
The man, whose name is Nia, began laughing again, pounding the table once more. He has silky black hair and amber eyes that can appear golden in certain light, giving him a mysterious allure that makes him quite popular as a handsome magician.
...Though, to be honest, he's a bit of an unfortunate magic nerd on the inside.
"Ah... now that I think about it, he did often ask me out on my days off or suggest we grab a bite after work... I turned him down every time. Looking back, were those invitations for dates?"
"He was totally ignored...! Poor guy… haha!!"
I couldn’t help but look at my childhood friend, now slumped over the table laughing, with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation.
"…The food’s here. Can I start eating now?"
"Nghf—wait, wait, I'll eat too. I’m eating… haha!"
"Isn't it a bit rude to laugh at someone’s face, Nia?"
I glared at him, half-squinting, but Nia, still unable to stop laughing, seemed to find even that amusing.
Realizing there was no stopping him anytime soon, I decided to just ignore him and picked up a bowl of warm vegetable soup.
"Ah, that was a good laugh. Ngh, I swear, if I let my guard down, I’ll start laughing again."
"You really laughed way too much, you know? I’m hurt."
"It’s hard to take you seriously when you say that while stuffing your face with fried wyvern skin."
After laughing his fill, Nia finally started eating. Though I could still hear a faint chuckle from him now and then, it seemed like he hadn’t fully gotten over the fit of laughter.
"Man, I can't believe something this hilarious happened while I was away on that long expedition... Did you really not notice that people thought you two were a couple?"
"Let me ask you this instead: if you were on the verge of making your magic research more efficient, would you have the mental bandwidth to care about anything else?"
"Nope."
"Exactly. I had just managed to reach the point of practical experiments, and I was looking forward to having a leisurely lunch for the first time in a while when they decided to ambush me."
"That’s rough. You’ve had a hard day."
He handed me a half-eaten skewer, which he’d placed on my plate. I guess the seasoning wasn’t to his liking.
Nia has this habit of passing me food he’s taken a bite of if it doesn’t suit his taste or if he’s not in the mood for it. I’ve tried to call him out on it, but it doesn’t seem like he plans to stop anytime soon.
There wasn’t much more to say about the breakup drama, as I had just left everyone standing there dumbfounded and returned to the mage tower, so we switched topics to Nia’s long expedition and the magic I’d been researching.
As I took a bite of the skewer Nia gave me, a thought crossed my mind.
"If I were to choose someone to be my lover..."
It would have to be someone I feel comfortable being around. Ideally, someone I could talk to about magic.
For example, someone like Nia, sitting right in front of me... Just kidding, of course.
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I carried her out of the tavern as she slept peacefully, breathing softly. It seems she still hasn’t overcome her tendency to get sleepy right after eating and drinking her fill.
"I'm glad Vio wasn’t hurt."
As I headed in the direction of her house, I found myself quietly murmuring the words.
I recalled how she hadn’t seemed particularly hurt, though she did look a bit annoyed, and eventually ended up passionately discussing magical theory. I couldn’t help but smile at the memory.
It all started when I was on my way back from the long expedition. I overheard some excited chatter among a group of young girls, and one word in particular caught my attention.
--- "There's a young female magician who, despite being bullied by her senior magician, managed to fall in love with a brave knight and make it work!"
As I got closer to the royal capital, this rumor became more widespread and detailed. The more I heard, the more convinced I became that the senior magician bullying this young woman was Violetta.
But I couldn't imagine her being in love.
She calls me a magic nerd, but she's much more of a magic nerd than I am. It’s a daily occurrence for her to decline invitations to meals because she's busy with magical research.
The idea that she would be in love to the point of hating a rival and bullying them was something I just couldn’t imagine. I didn’t want to imagine it.
In the end, though, it turned out to be nothing but needless worry.
When I pulled her aside, looking tired, and listened to her, it turned out that the other party had just gotten carried away with their own assumptions.
Violetta seemed completely unaware of what had happened, but it was probably during one of the times when she was exchanging documents related to the expedition plans. She must have said something like "You're impressive" or "I respect you" as a polite response, which the other person mistakenly took as a sign of romantic interest. Violetta has a habit of speaking very softly and politely, especially with people she doesn't know well.
While I was relieved, I also felt a bit sorry for the guy who wasn't even on her radar—it was pathetic and ridiculous, and I ended up laughing out loud, though I did feel a bit bad about it.
I used the key Violetta had entrusted to me and entered her home. I carried her to her bedroom and gently laid her down on the bed.
Violetta doesn't like people intruding into her personal space.
Even as her childhood friend, I had to be careful not to scare her off, slowly taking the time to get closer to her, to gauge her reactions, and to help her get used to it, until we finally reached this point.
There's no way I'm going to let another man take her from me now.
With thoughts of how to approach her without crossing any of her boundaries, I left her house.
[The End]
1 Comments
Nooo I want more! That was so funny 🤣
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