“Okay, thanks for the information!”
“My pleasure.”
She gave me a deep bow, and I ran up to the Tanzanite Deck—and spotted Ophelia leaning against the bulwark, taking in the night breeze.
I figured she considered herself cool, showing off her delicate profile and letting out a heavy sigh.
“I’m so cool… Picture-perfect…”
Wow…! Her whole body was leaking what she was thinking!
Maybe she heard my footsteps. She jerked and turned around with a start.
“Y-you! The new enslaved person in town!!! H-how long have you been standing there, trying to get the scoop on me?!”
“Since you mumbled, ‘A Margeline daughter not attending a dance…(sigh…) Perhaps it means an existence too noble is bound to be on its own…’”
“Y-you’ve been here that long?!”
“‘That long’?!”
It was a wild guess, but I was right on target. I can get an A-plus on an Ophelia Proficiency Test.
Blushing in embarrassment, Ophelia pulled back her prized blond rolls.
“Hee-hee-hee-hee. It doesn’t bother me that a rude, arrogant servant has seen me. I have a mind that is most fitting for a higher being.”
“Pink.”
“Shut up!!!”
I stood with my hands behind my back, bowing silently after she slapped me in the face.
“And? What does a mere servant want with me?”
“I thought it was a good opportunity for us to chat.”
“Hee-hee-hee-hee! Do you realize your station in life? I am Ophelia von Margeline! I don’t have a tongue for speaking with a common male!”
“Oh, no? Are you saying the daughter of House Margeline won’t reward a poor commoner after he rescued her when she flopped to the ground in a grand style? I wonder if that wouldn’t put a blemish on the career of the great Ophelia von Margeline?”
“Ngh…! Y-yes, perhaps. It’s the spirit of risking it for the biscuit! Hmph!!! Just a little, though!”
What a pushover. She had to be a treasure of humanity.
Exhilarated, I put a little distance between Ophelia, who was blatantly disgusted, and myself and leaned against the bulwark.
“That necklace is a magic device, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s a Margeline family heirloom.”
Inlaid with azure gems, the necklace twinkled against the light of the moon and the stars. The light contained in the gems illuminated her smile in the evening darkness.
“Just as every great individual was once a child, I, Ophelia von Margeline, had a childhood. This is a wonderful treasure that my best friend gave me then when I was barely old enough to understand what was what.”
“Huh…?! That best friend… Was it a girl…?”
“Of course she was! She had short hair, but naturally, she was a girl.”
I couldn’t stop shaking.
I covered my mouth with my hands to prevent my voice from leaking out.
What the heck…? That magic device necklace she wore, called Ophelia of Indulgence, was nothing but a piece of junk. A lovely story about it being a gift from a best friend shouldn’t have existed. If it had, I would never, ever call it a piece of junk.
Stunned to realize there was potential for more possibilities, I felt the spinal cord in my brain go numb.
W-wait a sec… even in The Ophelia Route, Ophelia would never get romantically involved with Tsukiori. I thought that was just to make things convenient for the developers, but what if Ophelia was in love with that best friend? Oh my god… Everything would then make sense… My tolerance for yuri loveliness was going to explode!
“Ngh…! Ngh…! Ngh…!!!”
The corners of my mouth curved upward.
N-no… Don’t laugh yet… Hold back… B-but…I’m dying to ask her if she loves that girl… B-but no, don’t! N-not in a place like this! I can’t die in a place like this!!!
I can’t die—
“A-are you in love…with that girl…?” (I’ve died. I’m dead)
Ophelia blushed and turned away from me.
“I—I don’t remember… I-it was a long time ago…”
Yeaaaaaaaaaah!!!
“Y-you are, aren’t you? D-don’t be shy! You love her, right? Huh? Well? Tell me!”
“I don’t know! I—I no longer even remember what she looks like!”
Lethal.
I stretched my arms out to the heavens to celebrate this world, collapsed to my shaking knees, and then looked up at Ophelia.
“Wh-what color hair did she have?”
“Wh-what has gotten into you? You’re suddenly so vibrant… B-blond hair! She was a beautiful blonde!”
“A-and what kind of relationship did the two of you have?”
“M-my father said…she was my fiancée…a-an aristocrat…and we would eventually marry each other…”
Huh??? What the heck??? Was she putting me on??? I would do everything to give them a boost!!!
“She was very kind. She was like a princess in a picture book. She looked unusually fantastic in short pants, and she always played with me when I was a loner.”
Ophelia gazed lovingly at her beautiful necklace.
“I’m told that I will be able to see her in a little while so we can start considering our engagement. She may not even remember me, but…I’m hoping she’ll recall those days when she sees me wearing this necklace.”
Ophelia closed her eyes and hugged her one-of-a-kind necklace to her chest.
“So I have always been wearing this necklace…waiting for that day to come…so she’ll be able to find me right away, no matter how much time has gone by since we last met, and so she’ll remember the lovely times we shared. I will continue to be the fair Margeline maiden who is right for her… Huh?!”
Ophelia saw me crying and gasped.
Sobbing and choking, I desperately struggled to tell her my thoughts.
“Hey!” I screamed, wailing. “I’ll protect you! I’ll protect you and that necklace! I’ll guard you until the day you see the girl again! So don’t worry! I’ll protect you, that necklace, and your beautiful love with my life!”
Ophelia watched me as I continued to cry, and a gentle smile appeared on her face.