I’ll Live My Second Life! - Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Translator: Black Lotus 

Editor: imsara 

After being unable to attend the tea party they were supposed to attend, Fii and Abel spent their days comforting Lynette, who had become depressed. With Fii’s (and Abel’s) encouragement, she regained her energy and went back to work on the last day.

Abel, too, leg injury healed, and then left the inner palace. Everything was back to normal now. Fii was supposed to be able to get back to her normal life, too.

But, even on the eighth day, Fii was still unable to leave the palace.

The reason for that was…

“Fii-sama, I’ve come to visit!”

At noon, just as the guards were disappearing, the one who came was Abel, who should have been able to escape from the inner palace after his leg injury was healed.

(Hmmm……..here he is again…….)

That’s right, Abel, who had completely learned the time of the guards, began to come to the inner palace to play. For Fii, she couldn’t leave the inner palace forever.

So, it was a problem.

In the first place, she hadn’t expected him to come back. On the sixth day after Lynette left, she was glad to be cleaning up the inner palace.

”Hehe, I bought some of your recommended magazines today too!”

For the past three days, Abel has been going into town to buy a piece of miscellaneous paper for Fii every day that he recommends. Apparently, he’s just trying to pass the time in the inner palace.

(Ah … this is another one I’ve read about. By the way, the one Abel is buying for me is the one I’ve borrowed and read all the books from Slad.)

It’s a lot of fun.

“Oh, thank you…”

Abel, with an innocent look on his face, recommends it, and Fii takes it with a bit of a wry smile on her face.

Then, Abel stays in the inner palace and talks with Fii until the guards come to the gate and disappear again.

The talk would be about the state of this city that Fii knew about, the apprentice knights that Fii knew well, and then about Abel himself.

It’s very troubling, but at the same time she thought.

If Abel had come to her at that time…when I was in the Inner Palace and despairing of life, I would have been very happy.

The fact that she was able to meet Abel like this is because Fii was an apprentice knight, and that can’t be possible, but if there was someone who came to see me in the inner palace like this, someone to laugh and talk with, maybe I could have spent my time laughing and smiling happily even if I stayed in the inner palace.

But, as heartless as it sounds, it’s no longer possible. I’ve found a place where I can live more happily. It’s where Crow is, and Taichou is there, and Kooine, and Conrad, and Gormus, and so many others. Even Abel is there.

I can’t imagine going back to my old life in the palace.

So, I have to say it. To Abel, who is kind enough to come here for me.

Just as the guards were disappearing, Fii, who was sitting at the table as usual, drinking tea and conversing with Abel, turned to him and said, ”You know, Abel…”

“What is it? Fii-sama.”

Abel laughs with a joyful smile. When we first met, I didn’t know Abel would laugh like this. I didn’t know that he didn’t like bitterness and that he could only drink tea with five cups of sugar. I didn’t know that he was surprisingly good at talking and that the shops I’d been to would look different when I heard about the city from him.

“You’re an apprentice knight too…. If that’s the case, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come to see me…. I’m sure it’s not good for Abel to continue doing this kind of thing…….”

Abel’s eyes widened.

A silence flowed over the place where they had been having a pleasant conversation until now. Fii awkwardly looked away slightly.

Abel, with an upset face, clattered out of his seat.

“Yes, that’s right. What was I doing? I got carried away when Fii-sama laughed with me and I got carried away. I didn’t want to cause you any trouble…”

“You’re not bothering me…”

“I’m so sorry!”

Before Fii could say anything, Abel ran off. The seat that he had been in earlier was empty.

It must be selfish of her to feel lonely.

”I also have to clean up and leave the inner palace…”

Fii muttered to herself to drown it out.

Finally, Fii began to clean up the inner palace, but a few minutes later, her ears heard the sound of running footsteps. I don’t think it was the guards. They’re always walking at a leisurely pace.

I peeked out of the window to avoid being spotted, and saw Abel running towards the inner palace. He seemed to have made quite a dash, and his orange hair and freckled cheeks were sweaty.

”Abel!”

Fii was surprised and hurried to the front door.

When Fii greeted Abel at the door, Abel held out something with both hands.

“Here!”

It was a flower plant. A white, simple, but beautiful flower. The Marletta, which had bloomed in Fii’s hometown, was swaying beautifully in a small vase.

“Didn’t you say you missed the flowers in your flowerbed? I was going to get something for you. However, I was too embarrassed to give it to you. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be a bother, but this is the last time.”

Indeed, Fii had said it.

In a casual conversation while spending time with Abel in the inner palace. Staring towards the empty flowerbed, she said, “I’m a little sad…”

Fii took the flower seedlings with both hands, looking precious, and smiled happily at Abel.

“Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.”

Seeing her face, Abel blushed a little, then turned his head away and said, “Well then,” and ran off.

Seeing his back off, Fii whispered.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later…”

Abel muttered in his mind as he ran through the garden of the royal castle.

(Damn it…!)

He was ashamed of himself…

It was understandable after thinking about it for a moment. She was the king’s wife, even though she was being treated coldly.

What would happen if she was meeting with a young apprentice knight.

He is still good. He will get the punishment that he deserves as a foolish apprentice knight who took a liking to the King’s wife. However, not Fii-sama. For helping him and being kind to him, she’ll be punished for her innocence, and she’ll be subjected to the unwarranted indignity and further cold treatment.

(Damn it…!)

He resented his lack of strength.

He hoped that Fii-sama wouldn’t have to feel lonely……. With that in mind, he had gone to see Fii even after his injuries had healed. But, it had only become an annoyance. He is just an apprentice knight. And a fallen one…

Even if he wanted to help Fii-sama, he couldn’t do anything about it…

And in truth, he was sure that he knew.

It was all just an excuse and he just wanted to see her…….. he just wanted to see that sweet girl who was lonely in the palace. To that beautiful girl who was relegated to the shade like that, yet never resented anyone for living.

He couldn’t help but feel frustrated at his own helplessness, stupidity, and selfishness in this situation.

The conversations of the maidservants jumped into Abel’s ears as he was running. It was the voice of the maidservants who were talking to Heath a lot.

“Oh, I want to see you, Crow-sama, I want to see you, I want to see you!”

“If you persist, even the sweetest Crow might not like you.”

“Yeah, you know, we mustn’t end up like the queen who was trapped in that place.”

“She’s such an idiot. You know that people don’t like it when you interrupt someone else’s marriage story.”

“It’s no wonder you have a bad character and don’t like me when you do that.”

“Shut up!　You don’t know anything about her, but don’t talk shit about her!　You’re the ones with bad character!　Ugly people!”

Abel shouted loudly to the handmaids.

Then, he ran off.

“What the hell was that guy?”

“He just yelled at us.”

The maidservants mutter in dismay.

Abel mutters in his mind as he runs off.

(Why is everyone talking so badly about Fii-sama…)

If he recall, it’s not just the maidservants, it’s not just the people in the Northern Quarters, but also the knights, and when the subject of Fii-sama comes up, it’s all bad rumors.

(You don’t know anything about that girl…)

She’s a kind girl…

She defended him when he invaded the inner palace. She gently treated his leg injury. Her cooking skills aren’t very good, but she tried her best to make it for him and Lynette. She welcomed him kindly when he came to see her without thinking about it, and in the end, she warned him about the future for his foolishness.

Even when she was forced into a situation like that, she didn’t try to twist or put anyone down, she cared for the people around her and didn’t hate anyone.

Even when Lynette was crying, she was there to comfort her. It’s impossible not to be sad. It’s impossible not to be sad.

The heavy make-up on her face must have been to hide her tears.

(No one tries to find out what happened to her…!　You don’t even try to know what she’s like…　And all you do is talk shit about her…!　Damn it…!)

His feet suddenly stopped and his mouth muttered as if it was stunned.

”I’m not even with you……..”

He thought Heath was unworthy of the Knights because he was a pauper.

He kept thinking that he didn’t know what he was doing and had a bad character because he was disgusting. And he kept badmouthing him all the time. He didn’t know what kind of person he was dealing with, he just made fun of them, looked down on them, and hated them.

All these years.

The evening breeze touched his cheeks, which were clammy with sweat.

When he looked at his palm, he saw that there was a single petal left in his hand. A single, pure white, tiny petal, much like her beautiful white one.

Abel muttered the words he couldn’t say at the time to himself.

“One day I’ll show you that I can get you out of this place.”

It was a promise made by an inexperienced apprentice knight for the princess trapped in solitude.

A promise that could not be verbalized or communicated, a promise that only he knew.