Side Story 1: Unaccustomed
Chapter 8
Woo was chatting happily with Celine.
I wondered how long they were planning to stay glued to their seats in the restaurant. I was annoyed by their inconsiderate behavior and ripped at the bread in my hand.
‘A bookstore owner, my ass. I’m better off alone.’
Who was this Celine woman anyway?
Was she also some high-born lady?
She looked like one.
But even so, why was he treating her like a noble lady, here of all places?
‘…Is he not treating her like a noble lady?’
I suddenly froze.
…Could it be… that he was genuinely interested in her?
‘So, someone like me is not good enough for him? …But then, what about me?’
“…Uh, Sue!”
“!”
I snapped out of my daze. Pel was looking at me with concern. I gathered the crumbs I had torn from the bread.
Pel watched me for a moment, then said what he had been trying to say,
“Did you know? There’s a parade near the guild headquarters in three days.”
“Uh… Yeah, I know.”
I nodded vaguely, and he seemed pleased.
“You do? That’s good. Let’s go see it together. Parades are really fun.”
“Parade…”
Honestly, I had forgotten about it.
And I had assumed I would be watching it with the man sitting far away from me.
I glanced in his direction, and our eyes met. His gaze was unwavering. I was caught off guard, and my mind went blank.
Strange. This was strange.
This kind of situation was just unfamiliar and strange. I slowly closed my eyes. Woo’s figure disappeared from view as my vision darkened. My heart calmed down a little.
I said in a low voice,
“…Yes, let’s go see the parade together if we have time. Pel.”
***
After breakfast, I went back to my room and sorted through the guild brochures. I was going to keep the ones from the decent guilds and throw away the rest, based on my memories from yesterday.
It was almost lunchtime when I finished. I went down to the first-floor lobby to throw away the discarded brochures, and I ran into the person I least wanted to see.
“Hello, Lady Sue.”
It was Celine. She greeted me in a sweet voice. For some reason, I didn’t feel like responding. So I tried to ignore her and walk past, but she said something that made me stop,
“He’s in the back of the inn.”
“…?”
“Woo, I mean.”
Red hair like mine, gray eyes unlike mine. Her faint smile was still filled with amusement.
“Aren’t you going to see him?”
She tilted her head, her long, straight hair cascading down her shoulders.
“…I was on my way to throw away the trash.”
I smiled nonchalantly. I knew I was bluffing.
How did you know he was in the back of the inn? Have you been with him all this time? Why?
I couldn’t bring myself to ask the questions that were rising to my throat. I forced a smile, trying to hide the suffocating feeling in my chest.
Celine’s eyes crinkled at the corners, a mischievous glint in them.
“He’s a kind man, isn’t he?”
As if she knew exactly what I was thinking.
“…I’ll be going.”
A neat dress, soft hair, clear skin, formal speech.
She was just like Pel. The spoiled daughter of a wealthy low-ranking noble… or something. I was certain of that.
…But what did it even matter if Celine was a noble or a commoner?
I just hated her.
***
I threw the trash in the incinerator and headed for the back of the inn. I had fallen for Celine’s provocation. Even if she hadn’t intended to provoke me, I had been swayed by her.
As Celine had said, Woo was under the old tree. He was sitting on a bench, tending to Rem.
“…Acrea.”
I mumbled his name, relieved to see the familiar scene.
“Sue.”
He must have heard my quiet voice, or perhaps he had sensed my presence. Woo turned around and walked towards me.
“I was just about to tell you something.”
“What?”
He smiled faintly and held out a thick book. It was Jean Emilia’s collection of papers that we had received from Narau yesterday.
“What about this book?”
“There’s magic power embedded in the author’s name.”
Was it just my imagination, or did he look as excited as a seven-year-old who had just finished his first errand?
“What do you mean?”
“I can sense a faint, but unique magic power here.”
Woo gently rubbed the bottom of the book cover, where Jean Emilia’s name was printed.
“It’s clearly a copy, but it’s unusual to sense the author’s magic power in a copy. Sue, your book must also have a trace of magic power in it.”
“…Are you saying the magic power in this book is Jean’s?”
He nodded.
“Probably… It’s just a guess, but the quality of the magic power is so unique and difficult to detect. So… I don’t think it belongs to an ordinary mage.”
“I see…”
Woo continued to explain enthusiastically, as if he had made a great discovery. I just stared at his mouth, speechless.
He had found the author’s magic power in a copy?
It sounded amazing, but I didn’t really understand what was so amazing about it.
The only thing I could think of was that Jean was indeed an amazing person.
Luckily, Woo didn’t elaborate on the complicated topic.
“…That’s what I think. We might be able to find Jean Emilia using the magic power in this book and Rem.”
“Ah…”
I finally understood why he had brought up Jean Emilia’s magic power.
“The chances aren’t very high, but still…”
He had investigated this thick book for me.
Could I see Jean again? Really?
“I see, that’s amazing.”
But I wasn’t as surprised as I thought I would be. I thought it was amazing, but I didn’t feel my heart pounding or any joy. I was surprised that I wasn’t surprised.
I had been more nervous when Woo had approached me, saying he had something to tell me.
…No, not “had been,” I was nervous.
“…Master Woo.”
I tried to hide my lack of surprise and smiled brightly, wanting to show my gratitude for his efforts, but it must have been obvious.
Thinking about it, I hadn’t come here because I wanted to hear about Jean, so that must have been the reason.
“Um… Master Woo.”
“Yes, what is it?”
I tapped the ground with my foot and clenched my fists behind my back. I hesitated for a moment, then stopped fidgeting and looked up at him.
“About that man I saw yesterday, Pel… and that woman… Celine…”
His smile vanished for a moment.
“There’s… a reason for that, right?”
But he quickly composed himself and put on his usual emotionless smile.
“What are you talking about?”
My lips twitched at his nonchalant reaction. It wasn’t an unexpected reaction, but it was the one she had least wanted to see.
I pressed on, being more direct,
“Aren’t Pel and Celine both… local nobles?”
“Local nobles? Them?”
“…Aren’t they?”
“I don’t know. Why are you suddenly asking?”
He had been so excited when he was explaining about Jean’s magic power, but now he was tilting his head like a clueless child.
“Then why did you do that yesterday?”
“Yesterday?”
“…You went back to the inn first. Why?”
My voice, unintentionally sharp, betrayed my frustration.
“That’s because…”
He hesitated for a moment, then continued,
“Pel said he knew more about Gemin than I did. So I thought it would be helpful for you. For your… future.”
“…He was a complete stranger.”
“He seemed trustworthy.”
My eyes darted around at his unbelievable words.
How was she supposed to take this?
This wasn’t like Woo Acrea. He wasn’t the type of person to judge a stranger as “trustworthy.”
But he was the type of person who could lie to a stranger’s face.
Woo Acrea had just openly declared, “I’m lying.”
“…What about Celine?”
But even so, I didn’t want to understand his true feelings, the feelings behind his lies.
“I happened to become friends with Celine.”
“Happened to…?”
What did he mean by “happened to”?
Woo, seeing my frown, looked away awkwardly.
“…Yes. So I don’t really know what you’re trying to say, Sue. Sorry.”
A long silence fell. I needed time to collect my thoughts, and Woo, Woo… Well, what was he thinking?
“…Why won’t you tell me?”
My words came out sharp again.
This was strange. My emotions had been all over the place since we came to Gemin.
But I couldn’t just let it go. If I accepted his words, I wanted to curl up and disappear, and if I tried to reject them, I felt angry.
“What am I supposed to tell you?”
“…Haha.”
I chuckled, the sound bitter in my mouth. I thought I had left this kind of behavior behind in Lohn.
“Master Woo.”
I smiled sweetly.
“Do you like redheads?”
“…Sue.”
I saw his expression harden, but I continued, my voice firm,
“You seem to like redheads… No, wait, you liked pink hair too, didn’t you? Is that your type?”
I covered my cheeks with my hands and looked up, pretending to think. He wasn’t even calling me by my name anymore.
The sun was high in the sky, and the summer heat was starting to be mixed with a cool breeze.
What was I even saying on such a beautiful day?
“Sue, why are you suddenly…”
“You’re hiding something.”
His words were cut short.
“…It’s not wrong to hide things. But that doesn’t mean I have to pretend I don’t know… Like yesterday, if you had asked me to wait, I would have waited, but you didn’t even say that.”
“….”
“…I’m Sue, not *Byron*.”
I knew that this would eventually blow over. But I didn’t want to let it go. I was annoyed by him, his lips still sealed, his shoulders slumped.
“You know, I promised to watch the parade with Pel in three days.”
“….”
“You should watch it with Celine, since you’ve become so close.”
I turned around. And at that moment, the wind blew.
“This Gemin trip is fun.”
The rustling of the leaves was so loud that I didn’t hear the sound of something falling from Woo’s hand. And even if I had heard it, I wouldn’t have had the courage to turn around.
Haha nice aggression