Volume 3 Chapter 7: Fate truly renders one helpless

Since we missed the last carriage, we could only count on our own feet to bring us back to school. Though it would definitely lead to us being late, it can’t be helped.

“What’s the matter?” Sensing that Alisha was staring at me, I asked her.

“Nothing.”

Alisha gave a ‘hmph’ and turned her head away.

After a moment of silence, Alisha began to speak angrily.

“She’s asleep.”

“Eh?”

I looked at Tina whose chin was on my shoulder. As Alisha said, Tina had fallen asleep with her fringe in a mess as her lips moved lightly.

I smiled unwittingly.

“Tina has a habit of taking afternoon naps. She probably hasn’t ested at all since she came to the market straight after school so she can’t help it.”

“Oh… I don’t nap in the afternoon.”

“There are a lot of benefits to afternoon naps, like reducing the risk of cancer for example.”

(TL: This is a work of fiction. The translator does not confirm or deny this.)

“Cancer?”

“A kind of disease, people in my hometown always take afternoon naps.”

“Is that so.” Alisha paused before continuing, “Why would Tina come all the way to the market when her foot is injured, is she not afraid of pain.”

“There were probably sweets that were worth the pain waiting for her. Though she doesn’t seem to care about much, she is very passionate about sweets.”

“I feel that she is here to see you.”

“Ah?”

Alisha narrowed her eyes and kicked a rock on the ground.

“She probably heard that I was leaving the school with you so she thought of a way to follow us. At the end, she found us in the cafe. Very cute of her, no? Hmph.”

“Why are you saying it as if she is jealous?”

“You don’t think she is jealous? How dense can you be.”

“I’m not dense.”

I have always felt that my EQ is very high.

“You’re clearly mistaken, how can Tina be jealous of you, she doesn’t even like me.”

“…”

“What’s with that look of yours.”

“… Nothing. But why are you so sure of it? Haven’t you both lived together for some time? Did nothing happen then? Like those novels where romance buds after people spend a long time together.”

“Novels are novels, reality is reality. Tina doesn’t have feelings of romantic love to me. Would you fall in love with a puppy you picked up? At the most you might treat it as family, but never as a lover.”

“How can you possibly equate picking up you and picking up a puppy.”

“Why not, there’s not that much difference.”

From the very beginning, I did hold fantasies of Tina falling in love with me over time as we lived together, and eventually she would be mine for sure! Some of her actions would even seem to affirm this, such as how she would always bring me to balls even though I would step on her feet countless times. I remember the first time we came back from a ball, I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep as I stayed up wondering if she liked me. She clearly did, didn’t she? I really was the most most most fortunate man ever! Later on I realised that she only used me as a meat shield and danced with me on the floor only to deter other nobles from incessantly inviting her.

I thought too much about everything.

If Tina likes me, why hasn’t she smiled at me before.

Whether we were watching dramas or eating sweets, her expression was icy and fixed as always. It was so cold sometimes that she seemed inhuman, could it be she never smiles? Until that afternoon. where the wild grass grew out green and healthy and the sun baked the earth with its scorching heat and the canteen was noisy as ever, Tina smiled the silliest, happiest smile with her lips which still had butter on them as she thought of how she could see His Highness William the next day.

And you, you can’t see her most beautiful form, for you are not the right one.

Alisha had been observing me.

“You have something to say don’t you.”

“Hmph.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and held her elbows as she put on an uninterested expression. “You really like Tina huh.”

“!!!!”

I was struck by a soundless grenade and it felt like a thousand needles pierced me as my heart stopped and my breath caught in my throat.

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what a-a-a-a-a-a-are yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-you sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-sa-saying–”

“No need to be so nervous, Tina can’t hear it.”

Alisha stuck out her finger and coiled her hair, round and round, into curls.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“… How, how did you…”

“Anyone who isn’t blind can tell that. Unfortunately I don’t have a mirror, or I could show how despondent you looked when you said Tina doesn’t like you.”

“Geh, is it that obvious?”

“Un, very obvious. Do you remember when we first met? You told me that someone very important had left you and that you missed her. I thought it was that elf, but it’s actually Tina.”

Alisha scrunched her face.

“Tch, in the end, I’m the third party.”

“What do you mean by that…”

“Oi, if you clearly know that Tina does not like you, why are you still so faithful to her? Life is short and painful, why not find someone else instead? Like maybe, me? If you try to woo me, maybe I might be forthcoming?”

Before I could reply, Alisha quickly added.

“Just kidding~ No way no way. A whole day has almost passed and you haven’t even said a word about my hair. Thinking that you might like it that way, I even specially let down my hair today you know? In the end, it was all just me.”

“I really am… An idiot.”

Alisha quickened her pace and pulled apart from me as she left those words.

I hesitated, not knowing whether to chase up or not.

The sky suddenly turned dark as the setting sun went past the horizon. The surroundings were completely silent but for Tina’s quiet breathing which blew against my neck as she slept peacefully.

I seemed to have done something wrong.

Tess stood before the spacious room and looked about anxiously. This room was far too big to tiny Tess and it was also dark so she couldn’t see clearly about her.

Where is this place… So scary.

She didn’t dare to utter a single word for fear of something out there in dark, which might leap out at her should it detect a sound from her. The more she thought about it the more she got scared, and she hugged her long hair in the hopes of getting some sense of security from it.

Why am I here? Where is Zkocha? Where did he go, come find me quick…

Tess held back her tears as she trembled uncontrollably.

She was very afraid of the dark as the dark would always remind her of her mother. Her memory now was back to when she was 8 and her mother had just left her not too long ago. The day her mother had left, it was night and the candles burnt out, leaving Tess in darkness. Her mother said she had to leave for a bit and would be back shortly but she never came back.

So scary… So scary…

She was left alone again, curled up in the darkness holding back her sobs. There was no Zkocha nor was there her mother, and no one would come to save her.

Tess hugged herself and death kept popping up in her thoughts.

All of a sudden, flames sprouted on the candles and the light drove away the darkness and lit up the room.

Tess found that she was in an unbelievably luxurious throne room. The carpeted floor was red like fresh blood, the relief on the walls was lifelike and sparkling jewels formed clusters that were set in an enormous chandelier. At the end of the carpet was a majestic throne, on which sat a young man who looked at Tess with great interest.

Someone else is here!

Tess was scared out of her wits but then she calmed down soon after because she had seen the young man before. It was the big brother who begged her to bring her into the forest of elves half a month ago.

Now he was wearing a set of pitch black plate armour with a cape hanging from the back of the throne. In his right arm, he held a long blade that was encased in ice. His countenance had the arrogance of a monarch.

“You’ve come.”

His tone sounded tired, as though he had been waiting for Tess for a very long time.

“Big brother, you’re here too.” Tess said timidly, “Where is this?”

“This is my palace.”

“Ah? Big brother is a king?”

“That’s right, I’m a king.” He said with a smile, “I’ve been waiting in this palace for you for 10,000 years now.”

Tess was utterly bewildered at the inexplicable words the young man said.

“10,000 years? Eh? Why wait for me?”

A strange feeling suddenly assailed Tess who held her head instinctively.

“Eh? Eh? I seem to have forgotten something I need to do.”

“I know what you have forgotten. It is the reason why you are here.”

“Big brother knows? What is it?”

“Little Tess is here to kill me.”

The young man said blandly.

What is he saying? Instead of doubt, the first feeling that came forth was realisation. That’s right, I remember now, I’m here to kill him, Tess said to herself. With a clear goal in mind, all other thoughts were swept aside. Tess bit her thumb and blood flowed out to form a golden polearm.

Tess made for the young man as she gripped the polearm.

“You remember your mission now?”

The young man did not try to escape. Instead, he leaned back in the throne as he watched Tess walking over.

“So that’s what ‘awakened’ Emissaries look like. Just like remote-controlled robots huh. Little Tess, the you now does not look cute at all.”

Tess could no longer hear him.

The young man smiled bitterly.

“In the end, I still die by your hands. Fate truly renders one helpless.”

He continued to speak, even though no reply came.

“Did I transfer into this world just to be killed? I truly am unlucky huh. Back in my world, I was the top student of my school and I would have received the recommendation to enter Beijing University. My teachers would always tell me that after I graduated from Beijing University, I would easily pass the TOEFL and then go overseas. What a bright future that would have been. Instead I ended up here.”

Tess continued walking forward toward the young man with a blank expression.

“Although, it isn’t really bad luck. After coming here, I got to meet you all and many explosive things happened. I met a lot of people I would never have met back on earth. There’s a saying that life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the breaths we take away. With all the experiences I’ve had here, I feel that my life has been more than fulfilling.”

The young man laughed.

“Also, little Tess may have forgotten, but you actually confessed to me before! Holy crap, that shocked me so much, I nearly leaked then… But I was happy, very very happy. Could there be a more fortunate man than me? Hmph, I had become the most reajuu of reajuu in 2 worlds then and there!”

Tess had now walked up to the front of the young man and raised the polearm.

The young man had not taken a single step from the throne. He could not, because the 5 hearts beneath his plate armour were long since destroyed, and all it needed to end him was the last blow from Tess.

“But at the very end, the person I love still doesn’t love me.” His voice grew softer, “Little Tess, please help me give a message to Tina, tell her ‘I’m sorry.'”

The polearm pierced through the throne and stopped at the floor, cracking the tile. The young man closed his eyes tiredly and the palace shook as it began collapsing.

Tess awoke from the dream, her breath ragged and sweat dripping down from her chin.

She looked around her to confirm where she was. This was the room which Zkocha had prepared for her. The candles would always burn throughout the night and just outside was a glorious garden filled with flowers which could be admired from the window. The moon shone brightly and the air was fresh. There was no room, no polearm, no young man.

It was just a dream.

She heaved as she tried to catch her breath. An inexplicable chill ran down her spine.