Chapter 74: Conversation (1)

The banquet ended with everyone’s congratulations.

Everyone mourned the death of the 2nd Prince Chris, applauded the Muelia family who protected the peace of the South with him, and praised the emperor who gave them the orders.

Every banquet in the world has an entrance order, but there is no specific exit order.

Some left early after getting drunk, while others left early to spend the night together after catching each other’s eye.

However, the relationship between Emily and me had changed a lot between the start and end of the banquet.

It wasn’t just me, Emily felt it too.

“Rachel. What are you going to do?”

“For now, I need to take the carriage back to the mansion.”

“Okay.”

Awkward silence and awkward conversation. Luckily, Yona relieved the atmosphere.

“Sister. Let’s go together! Yes? Can we?”

Yona clung to my leg.

I checked Emily’s reaction. Fortunately, Emily nodded in approval.

Since we were going to the same place anyway, it was better to ride in the same carriage.

“Ladies. Please get in.”

Aris opened the carriage door.

It’s the spacious carriage I had seen before.

I entered and sat by the window. Yona and Emily followed in order.

For reference, Delkarmen had something to discuss with the emperor, so he wouldn’t be coming back today.

Therefore, only me, Emily, and Yona were in the carriage.

“Let’s go. Giddy up!”

Aris closed the door and drove the horse.

Thus began the uncomfortable journey.

“Snore, hmm. Nya. Snore.”

Yona, nestled in Emily’s arms, dozed off. Her cute little head bobbed as she repeatedly fell asleep and woke up.

I briefly looked at Yona and Emily, then gazed out the window.

The darkness stained black, and the numerous stars and the moon that illuminated it. As I stared blankly at the Imperial capital, the events of today’s banquet came to mind.

The early part, where I was showing my unsophistication by looking around the banquet hall without knowing anything.

The moment I was ignoring the flirtations of several men, I happened to meet two people with whom I could converse.

While I was talking with the children of the baronet family, the troublemaker count I had seen at the entrance came in and started to provoke me.

He demanded that I kneel and lick his shoes in front of everyone. And he suggested spending the night together.

It was a very difficult situation.

Then, Emily appeared like a hero, brilliantly crushed the count, and offered me her hand.

Honestly, I almost fell for her then. Emily, receiving everyone’s attention so confidently, was so cool.

After that, I followed her to the table and we talked about various things.

Clearly, the atmosphere was good up to this point.

The problem was when the 1st Prince Heimer appeared.

When he appeared, Emily looked at Heimer with an intense gaze. So, to prevent any possible relationship between the two, I approached Heimer, and fortunately, he took the bait without any suspicion.

A waltz song came on.

As we were about to dance, Emily started to draw a line, and that atmosphere has continued until now.

‘Why is Emily acting like this?’

Did I do anything wrong here? No.

Did I upset Emily? No, that’s not it either.

Nevertheless, the relationship between Emily and me has become strange.

‘Sigh. I didn’t want this.’

I haven’t had much experience in social life, but having worked part-time since I was young, I’ve felt this kind of feeling a lot.

A scenario where a sweet couple falls out of love due to some incident, gradually grows apart, and eventually separates.

I’m not in a romantic relationship with her, but it could turn out that way.

Human relationships are different yet similar.

In that sense, I didn’t want to grow apart from Emily.

‘But why?’

It might not matter anymore if I grow apart from Emily.

I’ve already built a relationship with Armil, the master of the Blazing Castle, and became a major shareholder of Janna’s merchant guild, which is rapidly growing into a large trading company.

Originally, the reason I tried to get close to Emily was solely to survive the Demon King’s invasion.

But now I’ve built connections with powerful figures, and my own alchemy skills are quite outstanding.

Now, I don’t necessarily need Emily.

But.

‘I don’t want to.’

I didn’t want to grow apart from Emily.

I don’t know the reason.

The time spent with her is enjoyable, her smile is pretty, and she is precious to me.

‘I’ve gotten pretty attached.’

At first, I was going to maintain just the right relationship.

But as time passed, at some point, she became the closest person to me.

It happened so quickly before I even realized it that I couldn’t do anything about it.

No, even if I could, I wouldn’t have.

‘I have to improve the relationship somehow.’

If you spend time in silence because you’re afraid to talk, the bond between you will quickly disappear.

Like a burning piece of paper.

Above all, Emily is busy, unlike Yona. When she returns to the mansion, she might work all day to rebuild the messed-up family.

The only time to make time is now.

I glanced at Emily.

Emily was stroking the hair of Yona, who was sleeping, with her white hand.

I carefully opened my mouth.

“Um… Emily?”

“What is it?”

She answers without even looking at me.

“Can we talk?”

“Talk?”

“Yes.”

“Our relationship… um. What should I say?”

Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed.

It’s the first time in my entire life, including my past life, that I’ve said something like this to a friend. I don’t know what to say.

[Our relationship isn’t like it used to be.] This doesn’t seem right, [Are you upset with me?] This is too direct.

What should I say in this situation?

My head froze, so I just randomly combined the words in my head and spoke.

“Um, let’s talk at the mansion, just the two of us. Leave Yona to rest, just the two of us. We have a lot to talk about. About what happened at the banquet.”

It’s a sentence with a strange context.

Along with a slight embarrassment, my face turned red.

But Emily didn’t laugh, and she nodded with an infinitely serious expression.

“Then come to my room after you’ve rested a bit.”

“Okay.”

So we arrived at the mansion and went to our respective rooms.

I took off the extremely uncomfortable dress and washed with warm water.

It was a really tiring day.

From dancing in high heels to various other tiring things.

I came out steaming hot, dried my hair, and changed into comfortable clothes.

“Clothes should be comfortable, after all.”

The dress was pretty, but I preferred comfortable clothes.

So I stood in front of Emily’s room and knocked.

Meanwhile, Emily took Yona to her room and then entered her own.

As soon as the door closed, she leaned against the door and sank down.

“Phew. Talk, huh.”

Emily knew.

That she had acted upset with Rachel a lot at today’s banquet. And that because of that, the relationship between her and Rachel had become awkward.

It’s entirely her fault.

Rachel had clearly been very considerate. When she went to the restroom, she even postponed the request of the prince she had fallen in love with at first sight to take her.

She even tried to lighten the mood throughout the banquet, looking out for her.

But every time, Emily pushed her away herself.

Reason?

It’s simple.

It was difficult to deal with Rachel in a state where her mind and thoughts were not yet fully mature.

When talking to her, the image of Rachel smiling brightly with Heimer comes to mind, and she gets angry at the thought that Rachel fell in love with Heimer at first sight.

It’s not rational.

But everyone is clumsy at first experiences.

So she deliberately pushed Rachel away because she didn’t want to hurt her.

It’s not that she dislikes her.

“I have to clear up the misunderstanding in this conversation… but how? Do you want me to say I like you?”

She couldn’t.

If Rachel didn’t have someone she liked, she might have had a little hope, but currently, Rachel is in love with Heimer at first sight.

The evidence was Rachel’s smile.

The way she smiled brightly the whole time she was dancing with Heimer.

It was no different from the other nobles dancing with their beloved partners.

At that moment, Emily felt jealousy for the first time.

She had the ugly thought that she wished that smile was only for her, and that she wanted to break the relationship between the two if she could.

Anyway.

What kind of reaction would Rachel have if a trusted friend confessed to liking her when she already had someone she fell in love with at first sight?

Confessing to someone who has a loved one is already a problem, but the object of that love is of the same gender.

“No. What if we can’t even remain friends after that?”

She was afraid.

Of the relationship between her and Rachel being completely severed.

“I really like Rachel a lot.”

Just imagining it makes my chest ache.

Emily barely got up and rummaged through the wine in the refrigerator.

She doesn’t know how to unfold this conversation. But probably it should lead to her apology.

Apology? It’s not difficult.

She can do it even without being drunk.

But still, the reason she chooses a high-alcohol wine is to find out her true feelings.

‘I heard from Armil that Rachel isn’t strong with alcohol.’

If she gets drunk, she won’t remember anything, and she might be able to hear her feelings about Heimer and herself.