Lady Alice beamed happily at the sight of Lord Felix. On the other hand...
“Alice,” Lord Felix muttered coldly. The gentle smile on his face had vanished in an instant.
Due to Lady Alice’s crush on him, she naturally noticed his change in attitude.
“What’s with that reaction?” she asked. “Are you trying to imply I’m a nuisance?”
I expected Lord Felix to immediately deny it, but instead, he said, “Sure, feel free to think that.”
Lady Alice gasped and bit her lip at his emotionless, dismissive words. She looked like she was fighting back tears.
I, too, was startled by the bluntness with which Lord Felix had affirmed that he considered the noble lady’s presence bothersome.
“I... I just love you, that’s all...” Lady Alice murmured.
Her trembling voice was heartbreaking to hear, but no one said anything in response.
Though I’d been confident that Lady Alice wasn’t Lord Felix’s lover, I had never expected him to treat her so coldly. Not knowing what to do, I merely watched in horror. The atmosphere had become extremely uncomfortable.
Wh-What happens now?
“But you’ve always been kind to me,” Lady Alice continued. “Why are you being so mean now?”
That was what I wanted to know too. Even if they weren’t lovers, Lady Alice had said that Lord Felix doted on her like a younger sister, and I assumed she’d been telling the truth. She seemed genuinely confused right now, after all.
So why is Lord Felix acting this way? Even if he isn’t in the mood to talk to her, he could stand to be a little nicer. I mean, sure, he was also pretty mean to me at first, but you can’t compare a childhood friend to some evil woman you’re being forced to marry.
As my mind went around in circles, Lady Alice suddenly glared at me.
“Is it because you’re engaged to Lucille?” she continued. “Is that why you’ve suddenly grown distant?”
“Huh?!” I exclaimed.
I don’t think that’s the reason... I’m not Elvira, after all.
Before I could deny the unbelievable accusation, Lord Felix replied, “Lucille has nothing to do with this.”
“‘Lucille’? Did you just say ‘Lucille’?! I can’t believe you’d say another woman’s name without honorifics!”
“Uh-oh,” Sir Kain whispered. In the corner of my eye, I could see him looking up at the ceiling.
Shaking with anger, Lady Alice turned on her heel and ran away.
“Lady Alice!” I shouted after her. I tried to follow, but Sir Kain stopped me.
“Uh, I think you should leave her alone for now,” he said. “She needs some time to calm down.”
“But...”
I can’t ignore a friend when she might be in pain!
In contrast to my panicked state, Sir Kain looked troubled but composed.
“I don’t think Alice would appreciate you being the one to take pity on her, Lu,” he said.
I swallowed my words. He...had a point.
Lady Alice claimed that Lord Felix was treating her harshly because he now had me as his fiancée. I knew that couldn’t be true, but Lady Alice didn’t have my power of foresight. In fact, I had behaved in a similar way in my prophetic dream—that version of me had been angry about Lord Felix shunning me, and because Elvira had been the one in his heart, I’d denied everything she’d said, unable to accept her words.
My position was very different from Elvira’s, and of course, it was also very different from Lady Alice’s. But at minimum, I understood that I wasn’t the best person to handle this situation.
As I was ruminating, Sir Kain hurriedly added, “Oh, and just so you know, Felix started distancing himself from Alice way before your engagement. So it’s not your fault. She’s just panicking right now, and I’m sure she knows that, so don’t worry about her too much.”
“I understand,” I said. “Thank you.”
Feeling disappointed and restless, I sneaked a glance at Lord Felix, who was standing a short distance away. What did he think about all of this?
Oh?
His face had gone stiff and tense.
Why does he look so conflicted when he was the one who rejected her?
From his expression, you’d have thought he was the one who’d suffered a cruel betrayal.
Noticing my gaze, Sir Kain whispered to me, “I know he was harsh on Alice, but please don’t blame him. He has his reasons.”
I had no choice but to nod and accept his words. Thinking about it, I realized I was just a recent addition here. Sure, I’d befriended Lord Felix and Lady Alice, but there was still a lot I didn’t know about them. It wasn’t a good idea to poke my nose into something I didn’t understand. After all, what seemed natural or right to one person could deeply wound another.
Maybe I’ll bring Lady Alice some sweet pastries later. Good food not only satisfies the stomach, it also fills the heart with happiness! And then we can enjoy some girls’ talk about things unrelated to Lord Felix!
I decided not to dwell on Lord Felix any further, instead focusing on the future. However, my daydreaming was very quickly cut short by a voice coming from the manor.
“Hey! I saw little Alice running toward the forest! Is she gonna be okay?”
It was Grandpa Randy. The implications of his words didn’t quite make sense to me, but Lord Felix and Sir Kain immediately frowned. From their reactions, it was obvious that going to the forest was a bad idea.
Come to think of it, Lord Felix and Sir Kain have had to exterminate a lot of monsters lately, haven’t they?
I had a bad feeling about this. And unfortunately, ever since my Lilybell days, my premonitions practically always came true.
“Meooow!”
Jack, who had gone out earlier, suddenly sprang out from the bushes to inform me of something with great urgency.
“Are you quite certain?” I asked.
The cat’s report confirmed that my hunch was about to become reality in the worst way imaginable.
“Lord Felix!” I exclaimed. “Please come with me to the forest! Lady Alice may be in danger!”
I know I just said it wasn’t a good idea to meddle, but that doesn’t apply when someone’s life is at stake!