Chapter 138: A Friend’s Reason
Sue, after casually browsing the summer festival, stopped in front of a familiar general store.
“Welcome!”
A man with a familiar tone greeted them. It was definitely the same general store where she had bought the music box last year.
But the owner didn’t seem to recognize Sue, and he didn’t react in any particular way. He also didn’t seem to notice that Sue was from a wealthy family this time. Perhaps because it was too crowded to bother with hawking his wares.
Sue decided that her efforts to disguise herself while infiltrating the Holy Demon Religion for the past few months had finally paid off.
“Sir Knight, how about buying your lady friend a gift?”
“Lady friend… Haha.”
The owner, seeing that Noel wasn’t particularly interested in the displayed items, rubbed his hands together and flattered him. Noel, chuckling awkwardly, finally started browsing.
But this time, there wasn’t a single interesting item, just a bunch of junk. Nevertheless, Sue, wanting to maintain the strange bond she felt with the owner, picked out the best-looking items and paid for them.
A pair of rusty earrings that looked like they would make her ears bleed, and a yellow artificial flower headband that was relatively clean.
“Ahaha! Thank you very much. Come again, young lady, and Sir Knight.”
Sue and Noel left the shopping district after visiting the general store.
“Now let’s go to the sea!”
Sue said excitedly, quickening her pace. Noel smiled at her uncharacteristically childish behavior.
As they walked towards the beach, Noel handed her a piece of bread he had bought at the shopping district. Sue chewed on the hard bread, her gaze passing over the sharp-edged chapel.
She had been disgusted by chapels ever since the Holy Demon Religion incident.
“The Holy Demon Religion is settled, right?”
Noel, who seemed to have had the same thought, asked. He had never asked her about the Holy Demon Religion before. She had even wondered if he knew about it at all.
“Haha, were you worried?”
Sue teased him, and Noel chuckled. He was always refreshing, like the sea before them.
“Look, isn’t the sea beautiful?”
Sue spread her arms wide and smiled brightly. Noel followed suit.
The salty scent of the sea, carried by the sea breeze, filled their senses. It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation.
Sue walked along the soft sand, leaving footprints, and slowly told Noel about everything that had happened in the past few months.
“Anyway, thanks to Master Acrea, the Holy Demon Religion was destroyed, and Lady Melaine and Ten are back safe and sound.”
Noel, who had been listening quietly, exhaled and mumbled,
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re brave or just reckless.”
“I’m just… stupid.”
It sounded like self-deprecation, but it was the truth. Sue always thought there had to be a better way to handle every problem. Everything she did was the best she could do, and at the same time, her limit.
“Haha, don’t say that.”
He was playing along with her joke, but his voice was strained, as if he didn’t like her answer.
And then, they heard footsteps coming from the distance. The footsteps were approaching quickly, splashing through the shallow puddles on the soft sand.
“Is it a villager?”
Sue mumbled. She heard a child’s bright laughter, “Hahaha, hahaha,” like an auditory hallucination. And then, another voice, chasing after the child,
“Hey! Airan! I told you not to run off like that!”
It was definitely Soran Halo’s voice.
“…!”
“Byron!”
The brown-haired girl, who had been running towards them, suddenly stopped in front of Sue. Halo’s face paled in surprise.
“A-Airan! How dare you be so rude to a villager! I-I’m so sorry…!”
Halo, flustered, was about to bow her head when she froze, her eyes meeting Sue’s.
“Oh! Sister Sue!”
And then, the mischievous child, who had thrown herself into Sue’s arms, called out her name familiarly, as if they had grown up together.
“Airan…? You’re Halo’s sister?”
Sue also knew the child’s name. The brown-haired child from Emnon, the Wastelands.
“Sister! This is the sister who saved me! Sister Sue!”
Airan.
Airan Halo.
Airan.
Was Halo’s sister’s name Airan?
She hadn’t even tried to remember, because she had thought they would never meet. And there wasn’t much to remember anyway.
To think that the child she had saved from the merchant’s son in the empty lot last summer was Halo’s sister. It seemed like it was always better to be kind.
“Sister Sue! Sister Sue! Look! I built a sandcastle!”
Airan was the only one who was genuinely happy about their unexpected reunion.
Sue, hiding her bewilderment, was building a sandcastle with Airan. If Noel hadn’t suddenly excused himself, saying he had forgotten something, she might have just greeted them and run away.
“Sister Sue! Sister Sue! Let’s play in the sea!”
Airan pulled Sue’s hand. She laughed cheerfully, splashing in the waves, her face free of any worries.
She looked quite similar to Halo.
And according to Airan, she and Halo were the only residents of the Wastelands who were allowed to come to the village. They were making an exception because Halo was attending Full Bloom.
‘So not just anyone could sneak out.’
She couldn’t possibly remember such details. Sue Byron’s brain wasn’t an encyclopedia.
“Airan, don’t bother Lady Sue too much. And I told you to speak formally.”
Halo, who had been watching them anxiously, finally intervened, her foot tapping impatiently. Airan pouted and grumbled,
“It’s okay, Halo.”
Sue said, and Halo sighed, as if she had no choice.
“Sister Sue, isn’t my sister awesome?”
“Huh?”
Airan, her mood brightening at Sue’s defense, tugged on her robe.
“She lives in the Wastelands, but she goes to the capital! She’s awesome!”
Airan jumped up and down excitedly. She was dressed much more neatly than last year. Sue patted her head and said,
“You’re right, your sister is awesome. Really.”
“Hehe!”
Sue and Halo then left Airan to play on her own and watched her from a distance. Sue prayed that Noel would come back soon.
“…Ah.”
Sue, suddenly realizing they were alone, said,
“Halo, have you chosen your debutante partner?”
Halo’s eyes widened in surprise, both at the unexpected topic and the fact that Sue had asked such a question.
“No, I think a knight from the Ains family will be my partner.”
“I see. I was just curious, since the debutante ball is coming up soon.”
Sue smiled, satisfied with the expected answer. According to the novel, Halo was supposed to be Fritz’s partner.
Halo, oblivious to Sue’s inner joy, wanted to continue the conversation.
“The person you were with earlier must be your partner, right? He’s a cadet in the First Knights Division, isn’t he? I met him once in the infirmary.”
Raines Noel. She knew his name.
Halo actually knew everything that had happened between them last year. But she figured it was better to pretend she didn’t know, both for Sue and herself.
To Halo’s eyes, they looked like friends, or perhaps lovers.
Julia had said they were pretending to be friends, but based on what she had seen in the infirmary, and the fact that they had come to Emnon together, she didn’t think they were just pretending.
But to her surprise, Sue gave her a completely unexpected answer.
“No, absolutely not.”
Sue shook her head firmly. Halo tilted her head, confused by her next words,
“Noel will definitely be partnered with someone better.”
At that moment, a large wave crashed over Airan. Sue hurriedly helped her up, the child soaked like a drowned rat. Halo stared at Sue, then slowly nodded, as if she understood.
‘She must have her reasons.’
They hadn’t talked much, but Halo felt like she was starting to understand Sue’s personality.
Sue refused her kindness, but it wasn’t because she disliked her. And when they were alone, Sue would sometimes open up to her. Even then, she never revealed too much information. But it wasn’t because she disliked Soran Halo.
She had no malice.
Halo was certain of that.
“Lady Byron, thank you for saving Airan last year.”
Because she had saved Airan.
Halo, tucking her windblown pink hair behind her ear, walked towards her sister. The hem of her dress was soaked, but she didn’t care.
“And you were the one who gave her the gold coins, weren’t you?”
Sue, spitting out the salty water, blinked her red eyes, as if she had just remembered.
Come to think of it, she had.
Two gold coins, along with bread. She had told Airan not to give them to anyone else and sent her back to the Wastelands. It seemed like she had made it back safely.
“Hehe, I should have paid more attention when Airan kept saying ‘Sister Sue’ back then.”
Back then, she had been too preoccupied with the fact that she had received gold coins. Airan had kept saying “Sister Sue, Sister Sue” for days after that, but Halo hadn’t imagined that “Sister Sue” would actually be “Sue Byron.”
“Honestly, there’s not much use for them in the Wastelands… And I thought the adults would question us if we suddenly used gold coins without any explanation, so I didn’t use them until we came to the capital.”
Halo chuckled wryly, recalling that day.
“I bought medicine and necessities for my uncle and Airan with those gold coins as soon as we arrived in the capital. Even those gold coins were from you, Lady Byron. I’m always indebted to you. I have no words but to thank you.”