ICTGMP 05

Chapter 5

 A Death Flag Right from the Start (5)

That day, Adel finally admitted to himself that he wasn’t really helping Anastasia at all.

‘Go home. And I don’t want you to come see me anymore.’

When Anastasia asked him to leave, Adel had simply agreed.

He and Anastasia had never been particularly close when they were children.

Their fathers, the Duke of Magnus and the Count of Sinclair, frequently interacted with each other, so the two children had naturally come to know one another.

Anastasia Sinclair had always been quiet and mature. Unlike other people, she never asked Adel for unreasonable favors, bothered him over trivial matters, or bombarded him with questions about his personal life. She wasn’t talkative, nor was she the type to interfere in other people’s affairs.

Adel had always felt comfortable around her.

Then, one day, while they were attending a performance together, Anastasia suddenly vomited blood.

She suffered from an extraordinarily rare illness—so rare that it didn’t even have a proper name. Her attending physician called it a ‘nightmare.’

The confirmed symptoms were extreme physical weakness, dizziness, and vomiting blood. On one occasion, she had even shed tears of blood.

The Sinclair household went into a state of emergency. Everyone searched throughout the Empire for a cure, but there was far too little information about the disease.

Anastasia stopped leaving her bedroom, and Adel began visiting her regularly, encouraging her with promises that she would get better soon.

As far as he was concerned, he was trying to encourage, comfort, and support her.

It was only much too late that he realized his words would have been better left unsaid.

Yet when he saw Anastasia again just a few days later, she had changed.

Adel had tried not to visit her, but his father—the Duke of Magnus, who was also Anastasia’s godfather—wouldn’t allow it.

When Anastasia vomited blood again, her entire family had left her in the care of the Magnus household, trusting them completely.

Adel had no choice.

He prepared himself to take whatever Anastasia might throw at him.

But instead, she greeted him with a radiant smile.

‘You’re Adel!’

It was a smile he had never seen before.

Adel was inwardly stunned by the realization that Anastasia could actually smile like that.

She looked at him and murmured,

‘Just as handsome as I remember.’

She would openly stare at Adel, then repeatedly hide her flushed face behind both hands.

Adel couldn’t understand why she kept muttering about ‘someone else’s man.’

Regardless, the two of them spent a pleasant, cheerful time together.

Anastasia was lively and energetic, chatting innocently with the maids. In just a few days, the atmosphere throughout the Sinclair household had brightened considerably.

Whatever had caused the change in her, she was eating well, talking more, and expressing her emotions much more freely. The maids seemed to have become more cheerful along with her.

With Adel watching, Anastasia even began exchanging playful little jokes with the maids.

Then, when Adel was about to leave for the day, Anastasia stopped him and asked in a cautious voice,

‘You’ll come visit me again, won’t you?’

Before he could even think about it, Adel nodded.

From then on, he visited Anastasia about once every two days.

She now enjoyed going outside.

But Anastasia had become incredibly frail.

Still worried that she might secretly dislike him, Adel had occasionally watched her from a distance. Her steps were unsteady, and she tired remarkably quickly.

He simply couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Little by little, Adel began interfering in her affairs, and before he knew it, he was constantly nagging her.

As if that weren’t enough, he even committed the discourtesy of barging into her bedroom.

Adel wondered if he had completely abandoned proper etiquette, but Anastasia brushed it off as though it were nothing. Secretly relieved, Adel gradually became bolder.

It was only natural that Anastasia eventually exploded.

‘I’m fine! If I say I’m fine, why do you keep interfering? I’m going to die anyway, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it! So if you understand that, just leave me alone and let me do whatever I want until I die!’

The words ‘If you want to go outside so badly, then let’s go together’ had risen all the way to Adel’s throat.

But Adel was always the center of attention, and he was the sort of person who instinctively rushed toward anyone who needed help.

Without meaning to, he had only made Anastasia feel burdened.

Even after Anastasia had become as cheerful as everyone else, she had never actually asked him to accompany her.

Until finally—

‘You can just protect me if we go outside, can’t you?’

When Anastasia finally said those words, Adel felt an unexpected surge of happiness.

It was strange.

Anastasia had merely changed her personality, yet she caught his attention far more than she ever had before. He found himself worrying about her constantly.

Even when she became mischievous, Adel wasn’t bothered.

If anything, the problem was that he enjoyed spending time with her.

Anastasia no longer held herself back.

She was very clear about what she liked and disliked, and whenever Adel made a mistake, she would sharply point it out. She never let him repeat the same mistake twice.

Adel was deeply grateful for that.

He sincerely appreciated her consideration and the thoughtfulness behind her actions.

At Anastasia’s request, Adel continued visiting the Sinclair estate whenever he had free time. Before long, even the maids had become accustomed to his visits.

And today, Anastasia was annoyed with Adel again.

“You’re annoying.”

“I’m sorry. Did I say something inappropriate again?”

Since it was undoubtedly his fault, Adel apologized first.

Anastasia ignored him.

“Hmph!”

“Anastasia, if I’ve done something wrong, please tell me. I’ll reflect on it and correct my mistake.”

Anastasia’s expression changed strangely for a moment.

“Adel, whenever I see you, I just want to tease you.”

“……I see.”

Not knowing how else to respond, Adel simply nodded.

Suddenly, Anastasia’s eyes sparkled.

“Let’s go eat and run.”

“What does that mean?”

Adel genuinely had no idea what she was talking about.

And he was shocked by his own ignorance.

Anastasia suddenly jumped to her feet and grabbed him by the arm.

“Come on.”

She dragged Adel to the kitchen.

The chef was moving around busily and hadn’t noticed the two of them enter.

Anastasia pointed at an incredibly appetizing pie sitting on the table.

“That’s the chef’s special walnut pie. Doesn’t it look delicious?”

Adel readily nodded.

“It certainly looks like he put a great deal of effort into it.”

Even Adel, who knew very little about desserts, could tell that the decoration was elaborate.

The walnuts piled generously on top had a glossy golden hue, making it obvious that only the finest quality had been used. Gold dust had been sprinkled evenly over them.

Strawberries drenched in chocolate lined the edge of the pie.

A rich, sweet, nutty aroma filled the air.

Anastasia spoke in a solemn voice.

“We’re going to steal this.”

Adel was shocked for the second time that day.

“What?”

Before he could stop her, Anastasia snatched the walnut pie off the table.

Adel, caught completely off guard, ended up hiding beneath the table with her.

A moment later, the chef cried out.

“Ah! Where did my walnut pie go?”

His acting was incredibly obvious.

But Adel had absolutely no idea.

“Oh, no! The dessert I put so much effort into making for the young lady has disappeared!”

Adel began to sense that something was very wrong.

“Anastasia, perhaps we should return it. It was made for you in the first place, so I’m sure the chef would be happy to give it to you if you simply asked.”

“Nope.”

Anastasia bit into a piece of pie.

Her small lips moved as she chewed, savoring the delicious pastry.

Adel felt a headache coming on.

“Anastasia……”

“Boo-hoo-hoo. I’ve looked everywhere, but I can’t find my walnut pie anywhere!”

Adel was actually convinced by the chef’s painfully obvious performance.

“The chef seems very upset.”

Anastasia refused to be deterred. She finished the piece of pie, then sucked the filling from her fingers.

For some reason, Adel suddenly thought her lips looked incredibly beautiful.

Feeling as though he had accidentally seen something he shouldn’t have, Adel hurriedly looked away.

Anastasia, however, couldn’t have cared less.

“Let’s leave him alone and go upstairs.”

Adel was bewildered.

“Why are you doing this? Anastasia, you’re a good person. You’ve never done anything to hurt another person before. I don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand why you think I’m a good person either. You saw it yourself, didn’t you? I littered on the street, stole the walnut pie the chef worked so hard to make, and ate it. I’m a bad person. And you’re my accomplice.”

The word ‘accomplice’ lodged itself firmly in Adel’s mind.

Anastasia smiled sweetly.

“But I changed my mind because you convinced me. I’m going to go talk to the chef.”

Something about the whole situation still felt strangely unsettling, but Adel was relieved nonetheless.

“That is the right decision.”

Anastasia stepped out from beneath the table with the pie in her hands.

Adel followed behind her.

“Hi, Luke. Were you looking for your walnut pie?”

“My lady!”

The young chef’s face lit up when Anastasia appeared.

She held out the pie.

“Here. I ate one piece, but I’ll give you the rest back. Actually, Adel suddenly left the room because he was hungry and stole your walnut pie.”

Anastasia had absolutely no shame.

“Wait! That’s a misunderstanding!”

Adel desperately protested his innocence, but the chef merely stared at him with a dazed expression.

“You……”

“Don’t believe him!”

Adel felt completely wronged.

Luke, the chef, and I had to practically pinch our thighs to keep from bursting out laughing as we watched the bewildered Adel.

Wasn’t Adel ridiculously cute?

I’d been worried because the chef was such a terrible actor, but Adel hadn’t suspected a thing.

He seemed genuinely devastated by the fact that he had somehow become a walnut-pie thief in the blink of an eye.

I barely managed to suppress my laughter as I called out to the chef.

“Luke, could you bring some food for Adel? He must be starving.”

“Right away, my lady!”

Luke disappeared at lightning speed to fetch some food.

He was obviously going to turn around and laugh his head off.

I bit down hard on my lips, but even so, a little laughter kept escaping.

Ah, this was driving me crazy.

Adel was unbelievably pure.

He had clearly never been the victim of such a childish prank in his entire life.

Then again, he had always been so mature.

Everyone considered Adel the most ideal and perfect nobleman imaginable.

Well, they weren’t exactly wrong.

Adel had never cried as a child, never thrown tantrums, and always handled his own problems without relying on anyone else.

Even his parents had sometimes worried about how difficult it was to deal with a son who seemed to have no flaws at all.

Who would ever harbor such petty resentment toward someone like that and try to get revenge on him?

That was exactly why it was so much fun.

Whenever I got bored, I would come up with elaborate plans to tease