CHGD 13🎉

Chapter 13

“Roaz, did what I’m doing look like a joke to you?”

It was the funniest joke I’d heard since coming to this castle. I let out a hollow laugh without meaning to. Getting angry over something so absurd made all the pent-up frustration I’d been holding resurface.

‘As if it’s not annoying enough that my life hangs on the whims of some monsters. What? A joke?’

I smirked and spoke.

“Listen carefully, Roaz. My resistance might look like a joke to you, but to me, it’s a life-or-death challenge. I have no reason to be dismissed so easily.”

The only weapon I, who couldn’t even lift a sword, could wield against monsters was my tongue.

I didn’t want my desperate efforts to be dismissed as foolish games.

I continued with a sigh.

“I hope you remember—at least in this place, you and I are equal allies. We’re in this together, for life or death. There’s no option for only one of us to survive.”

There were many things I’d refrained from saying to protect his pride.

Roaz often expressed his grudge against the Count, but the underlying fear wasn’t perfectly concealed.

He feared the Count, and he was wary of me—the object of the Count’s games.

The reason was simple.

The Count had the means to ‘definitively’ kill Roaz.

I had no intention of telling him how I’d come to realize that, but I needed to remind him that if he dismissed me like this, I wouldn’t stay quiet.

Roaz’s branches withdrew.

I grabbed a twig on the edge of the wardrobe and spoke softly.

“So let’s act like allies. Got it?”

[…….]

He had stiffened up—maybe I’d made him too angry.

To lighten the mood, I gave a faint smile and added one last word.

“Answer me.”

[……Fine.]

A satisfying answer.

After my conversation with Roaz, I went to find the Count.

When I asked the maid, she said the Count had just arrived at his office.

So I headed straight to his office and stated my purpose.

“……You want to choose your own escort?”

The Count, who had greeted me with a bright smile upon my visit, quickly stiffened at my proposal.

“It seems there are difficulties in finding an escort, so I’d like to help.”

The reasoning was clean. A full week had already passed since I’d been confined due to the lack of an escort knight. I politely but indirectly conveyed, “If you can’t pick one, I will.”

“But my knights are…… a bit rough. I’m worried Deliana might be uncomfortable……”

‘He was about to say “dangerous,” wasn’t he?’

The Count frowned as if troubled.

The knights were probably monsters like the Count, so he likely didn’t want to show them recklessly.

Of course, I had no intention of facing dangerous monsters either.

“Then, let me just meet the people you’ve pre-selected. That would be fine, right?”

“Hmm.”

I said it with a tone of compromise, but in truth, this was also within my expectations.

At my words, the Count rested his chin on his hand, pondering.

‘The reasoning is solid, and I haven’t done anything to arouse suspicion. He won’t refuse.’

I had other proposals ready in case he did refuse.

If the conversation turned to “A bride who was bought has too many demands,” I might have to argue a bit…… but I wanted to end it here. There was no benefit to a battle of wits with the Count.

After a long moment of deliberation, the Count spoke with a complicated expression.

I swallowed nervously, tensing at what answer would come.

“Were you…… feeling trapped?”

But what returned was an unexpected concern and apology.

“Pardon?”

“I’m sorry. The escort I had originally prepared hasn’t regenerated—no, hasn’t arrived yet, so I’ve essentially made you wait without notice. I needed more time.”

“Oh, no……”

“It’s my fault for not understanding Deliana’s feelings.”

Flustered by the polite apology, I blinked blankly.

This was the second time I’d received an apology from the Count.

The first was the formal apology when I arrived at the castle alone. I’d taken it as a perfunctory exchange and thought nothing of it, but this time was different. The Count expressed sincere regret, as if everything was his fault.

I never expected to receive such an apology from a Count.

“Ah, um…… it’s fine. It wasn’t that uncomfortable anyway.”

Flustered, I even stammered. Feeling that I’d just keep receiving awkward apologies, I quickly changed the subject.

“Then, when is the escort knight you were preparing supposed to arrive?”

“Probably…….”

The Count seemed to calculate for a moment, then spoke calmly.

“It seems it will take about a year.”

“……A year?”

My jaw dropped at the suddenly extended timeframe.

‘He expects me to live a year just going between the library, dining hall, and garden?’

Even for someone who disliked going out as much as I did, this was hard to accept.

Seeing me blink in surprise, the Count said in a fluster.

“Was it too long? I did say the minimum estimate…….”

‘Monsters and humans have different concepts of time.’

……I almost blurted that out.

I was glad I’d listened to Roaz’s advice. If I’d stayed quiet, I might have wasted meaningless time waiting for an escort with no set arrival date.

Anyway, the Count decided to accept my proposal. He promised to gather suitable vassals for escort duty and send them to me as soon as possible.

“Then Count, would it be alright if we did it right now?”

Strike while the iron is hot—and meal time was approaching anyway.

‘Let’s do a meal interview.’

The most awkward type of interview—the meal interview. Even in modern times, it’s considered a terrible absurdity, but there was no better opportunity to gauge the monsters’ true natures.

Seeing my eerie smile, the Count muttered.

“Your smile is pretty too.”

I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard.

I went to the dining hall for breakfast.

Perhaps the Count had already given orders, as three people were waiting for me in the dining hall.

They were all faces I’d never seen before.

‘So these are the escort candidates.’

I’d imagined knights as burly, rugged types, but the ones gathered here were all young and handsome. It felt more like a celebrity audition than an escort knight interview.

When they spotted me, they offered brief greetings, and I awkwardly waved back.

I still wasn’t used to receiving polite greetings.

“N-nice to meet you, my lady. I’m Myrdi Labyrinth. Please call me Myrdi!”

The first to introduce himself was a young man with an androgynous appearance. He had black hair and grayish-white eyes, and he seemed nervous, unable to stay still in front of me.

“Nice to meet you.”

I naturally turned my gaze to the person standing next to him.

The second candidate was someone whose gender I couldn’t even tell, their entire face hidden by long hair.

“……Greetings.”

“Yes, your name?”

“ßIJĦж.”

It was a name unpronounceable with a human tongue.

As I was wondering how to respond, Myrdi urgently tried to stop him.

“Y-you have to give your human name!”

He seemed to be trying to speak quietly so I wouldn’t hear, but in the quiet dining hall, it was useless.

‘Myrdi seems somewhat socialized, but this person…… no good.’

I couldn’t even guess what kind of monster he was. I wouldn’t be surprised if what was under that hair wasn’t a human face at all.

Watching the squabble between Myrdi and the nameless candidate, I turned my attention to the third.

He was a man with sharp eyes, standing crookedly and glaring at me.

“Ikavel.”

A terse introduction, without even a greeting. His defiant attitude piqued my interest. I folded my arms and looked at him as if to say, “Is that all?” He met my gaze without flinching, as if in a staring contest, and kept his mouth shut.

“W-wendy!”

On the other hand, Myrdi’s expression turned even more pale.

He grabbed Ikavel’s arm and shouted.

“Don’t be rude to the lady! Do it properly!”

“I told you not to call me that. And don’t force that crap on me.”

I caught the faint mutter of “Lady my ass.”

He probably thought I couldn’t hear, but it reached my ears clearly.