“...I’m fine. I’m so strong. The First Prince’s hand probably hurts more than mine.”
“What does it matter to a person like that whether he’s hurt or not? ...Just a moment. I’ll treat you right away.”
Ophelia sighed and gently placed her hand on Roderick's cheek. He flinched slightly, startled by her warm touch, but didn't pull away.
A warm, lavender light quickly flowed from her palm, enveloping Roderick's wound before dissipating into the air.
And when she took her hand away, Roderick's cheeks were back to normal, without a hint of red.
“It’s done now.”
“Thank you, Researcher Hailing.”
Roderick was sweating profusely, his face visibly flustered. His earlobes and the back of his neck, far from the slap, were flushed red, clearly a sign of embarrassment.
“...Ophelia.”
When Ophelia looked at Roderick like that and said her name, Roderick blinked blankly as if he didn't understand her intention.
“Please call me by my name, Your Excellency.”
“Huh? But you are an honored guest, so how could I...?”
“It’s easier for me if you call me by my name.”
Someone like Byron started calling her by her first name without even asking permission, but the person who she actually wanted to be called by her first name was the one who called her by her formal name, 'Researcher Hailing'.
At her repeated request, he blushed deeply and stammered as he opened his mouth.
“Oh, Ophelia...”
"...cute."
At that sight, she blurted out her true feelings without realizing it. The sight of the muscular, muscular man blushing uncharacteristically was quite adorable.
“What are you saying now...”
When Roderick asked with a puzzled expression, Ophelia realized she had been rude. This was the Peles Empire, a hierarchical society, and the man before her was His Excellency the Duke, a nobleman of the highest rank.
But she decided to shamelessly pull it off.
"I didn't say anything? Oh, I have to go to the ruins. I came back to pick up something I left behind. I'll be going now, Your Excellency."
As Ophelia returned to the ruins, Roderick, left alone, absentmindedly mulled over her words. It was a pity for her, but Roderick had clearly heard Ophelia's comment, "She's cute."
It wasn't a situation where she was angry and said she had been rude.
He was thinking, humorously, of Butler Lester's words: that finding someone cute, not to a child or an animal, but to an adult, was proof of affection.
He wasn't a child, nor was he particularly cute. On the contrary, he was tall and muscular, with a blunt expression that gave him a frightening appearance.
Yet, Ophelia said she was cute.
If Lester is right, doesn't that mean Ophelia Hailing has feelings for him?
Thinking about it, his face felt unusually hot, as if it were going to burst, and he buried it in his palms.
He wasn't sure exactly what Ophelia thought of him, but he felt like he knew his own heart.
The sight of her made her feel happier than ever, and she couldn't stand Byron's constant nagging at Ophelia.
And most of all, he was thrilled that maybe she liked him.
Even if Roderick had no experience with love and no knowledge of the subject, isn't it clear what this evidence points to?
Roderick Allan Weishaffen was in love with Ophelia Heiling.
Time passed by so quickly, annoyingly.
The short summer and autumn of the North were passing away with regret, and a long, harsh winter was approaching.
“So, the dispatch work is almost finished now.”
Roderick put down a thin folder and spoke. It was a document containing the results of his research to date, something Ophelia had brought with her earlier.
“...Yes. Our mission was to disarm the magical trap so that the excavation could proceed safely, and to determine the purpose of the relics.”
She nodded and answered.
The ruins buried in the perennial snow were a facility built by ancient humans to study astronomical movements. Translating the text she discovered, she surmised that they had used magical powers to create miniature versions of the night sky, observed them, and used astrology to divine the future.
Because it was an institution that predicted the future and handled that information, security was tight, and as a result, numerous magical traps still remained to guard the empty observatory.
The immense magical power felt from outside the ruins was the power source for the movement of the stars. For some reason, the star models had been deactivated, leaving the power source intact.
When this fact was reported to the Academy, the Academy decided to restore and preserve the observatory after discussing it with the Duke of Weishaffen, the lord of the land where the ruins were discovered.
Although the power could have been diverted elsewhere, it was agreed that it would be better to leave behind an ancient relic of research value.
“Afterwards, magic engineers will be dispatched to restore the ruins.”
“...I see. Thank you for your hard work, Ophelia.”
Ophelia said goodbye and gazed intently into Roderick's eyes, trying to discern the emotion behind his impassive face.
Just as she had done from the day they first met, her eyes read the subtle changes in his emotions.
When Byron flirted with her, a small wrinkle formed between his eyebrows, and when he met her eyes, a warm current flowed into his eyes, which had been like the cold winter sea.
He blushed as if embarrassed, and when the conversation with her ended, he waved his hand for no reason as if he wanted to hold on to her in regret.
Roderick couldn't help but notice that she had feelings for him.
And she didn't dislike him for that. He could be compared to someone who would rush in without regard for the other person's feelings, but that wasn't the reason she was attracted to him.
She was concerned about this warm man, even though he was awkward at expressing his emotions.
But this foolish man was completely incapable of expressing his feelings. He showed off his love with his eyes, his facial expressions, and his unspoken consideration, all while keeping his mouth shut.
It was the same even now. If things continued like this, he would soon have to break up with her, but he felt sad and lonely about it; he didn't express it at all.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
Ophelia stared into his eyes and asked, her eyes urging him to speak now, knowing he had something to say.
"...No."
“Yes, then.”
In response, she pursed her lips and turned away.
If he recalls this moment in the distant future, he might regret turning away instead of speaking first. But he wasn't in the mood for such thoughts right now. His pride was hurt.
But then.
“Ophelia.”
Roderick called out softly from behind her.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Ophelia felt a sense of anticipation, but she deliberately made a colder expression to hide her anticipation.
“...The weather has gotten colder. Dress warmly and avoid getting sick.”
But as expected, she didn't hear the words she expected. Roderick simply offered her his usual, thoughtful, and considerate words of concern.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Excellency.”
Ophelia left the Duke's office, laughing at her own foolishness, both inwardly anticipating and inwardly disappointed. His words about the cold weather were true, for a light sleet was falling outside the window.
As she approached the carriage to return to the ruins, the coachman, who had been brushing the horse's mane with a brush, appeared, seemingly acquainted. He had been her and Candice's transportation partner for several months, and they had become quite close.
“Researcher, are you going back to the field?”
"Yes, please. I still have some work to finish. By the way, it's snowing heavily. Will that be okay?"
She asked anxiously, looking at the heavy snowfall. The coachman shrugged his shoulders, as if this much snow wasn't even snow in the north.
"This amount of snow is fine. There's a tool that uses magic to melt the snow in front of the carriage. Well, you probably know more about magic than I do. But when it snows more than this, the mountain path becomes a bit dangerous. Visibility is poor, and melting the accumulated snow with magic is a challenge."
“I see. I’m glad it’s over.”
After finishing her conversation with the coachman, Ophelia smiled and climbed into the carriage. Although a little uneasy due to her sluggish relationship with Roderick, the scenery of this unfamiliar foreign land was still beautiful.
Snow was rare in the warm Republic of Tamora. In her eighteen years of life, she could count the number of times she'd seen snow pile up on one hand.
It felt like she had seen several times more snow in the past few weeks than she had ever seen in her entire life.
As she gazed out the window at the pristine white landscape, trying to calm her nerves, the carriage arrived at the ruins. At first glance, it felt unfamiliar, but now, it was a landscape she had grown attached to, a place that felt like a second home.
“I’m home, Candy.”
“Hey, you’re here?”
As Ophelia entered the ruins, Candice, who had been buried among the samples and documents she had collected from the ruins, raised her head with a tired expression.
Since she was tired from working all day, Candice stretched out and walked over to her friend.
“So, did you have a nice meeting with His Excellency the Duke?”
“Yeah. I said I’d be back soon.”
“What did he say then?”
Candice asked, playfully patting Ophelia on the side.
“...What can he say? He’ll say thank you for your hard work.”
"That's all? You mean he didn't get down on his knees and say something wonderful like, 'Don't go, Ophelia. Stay here for me.'"
At Ophelia's indifferent reaction, Candice knelt on the floor and imitated Roderick's speech quite convincingly.
“Yeah. He didn’t say anything like that.”
“Why? His Excellency doesn’t like you?”
“What does it matter to a person like that whether he’s hurt or not? ...Just a moment. I’ll treat you right away.”
Ophelia sighed and gently placed her hand on Roderick's cheek. He flinched slightly, startled by her warm touch, but didn't pull away.
A warm, lavender light quickly flowed from her palm, enveloping Roderick's wound before dissipating into the air.
And when she took her hand away, Roderick's cheeks were back to normal, without a hint of red.
“It’s done now.”
“Thank you, Researcher Hailing.”
Roderick was sweating profusely, his face visibly flustered. His earlobes and the back of his neck, far from the slap, were flushed red, clearly a sign of embarrassment.
“...Ophelia.”
When Ophelia looked at Roderick like that and said her name, Roderick blinked blankly as if he didn't understand her intention.
“Please call me by my name, Your Excellency.”
“Huh? But you are an honored guest, so how could I...?”
“It’s easier for me if you call me by my name.”
Someone like Byron started calling her by her first name without even asking permission, but the person who she actually wanted to be called by her first name was the one who called her by her formal name, 'Researcher Hailing'.
At her repeated request, he blushed deeply and stammered as he opened his mouth.
“Oh, Ophelia...”
"...cute."
At that sight, she blurted out her true feelings without realizing it. The sight of the muscular, muscular man blushing uncharacteristically was quite adorable.
“What are you saying now...”
When Roderick asked with a puzzled expression, Ophelia realized she had been rude. This was the Peles Empire, a hierarchical society, and the man before her was His Excellency the Duke, a nobleman of the highest rank.
But she decided to shamelessly pull it off.
"I didn't say anything? Oh, I have to go to the ruins. I came back to pick up something I left behind. I'll be going now, Your Excellency."
As Ophelia returned to the ruins, Roderick, left alone, absentmindedly mulled over her words. It was a pity for her, but Roderick had clearly heard Ophelia's comment, "She's cute."
It wasn't a situation where she was angry and said she had been rude.
He was thinking, humorously, of Butler Lester's words: that finding someone cute, not to a child or an animal, but to an adult, was proof of affection.
He wasn't a child, nor was he particularly cute. On the contrary, he was tall and muscular, with a blunt expression that gave him a frightening appearance.
Yet, Ophelia said she was cute.
If Lester is right, doesn't that mean Ophelia Hailing has feelings for him?
Thinking about it, his face felt unusually hot, as if it were going to burst, and he buried it in his palms.
He wasn't sure exactly what Ophelia thought of him, but he felt like he knew his own heart.
The sight of her made her feel happier than ever, and she couldn't stand Byron's constant nagging at Ophelia.
And most of all, he was thrilled that maybe she liked him.
Even if Roderick had no experience with love and no knowledge of the subject, isn't it clear what this evidence points to?
Roderick Allan Weishaffen was in love with Ophelia Heiling.
***
Time passed by so quickly, annoyingly.
The short summer and autumn of the North were passing away with regret, and a long, harsh winter was approaching.
“So, the dispatch work is almost finished now.”
Roderick put down a thin folder and spoke. It was a document containing the results of his research to date, something Ophelia had brought with her earlier.
“...Yes. Our mission was to disarm the magical trap so that the excavation could proceed safely, and to determine the purpose of the relics.”
She nodded and answered.
The ruins buried in the perennial snow were a facility built by ancient humans to study astronomical movements. Translating the text she discovered, she surmised that they had used magical powers to create miniature versions of the night sky, observed them, and used astrology to divine the future.
Because it was an institution that predicted the future and handled that information, security was tight, and as a result, numerous magical traps still remained to guard the empty observatory.
The immense magical power felt from outside the ruins was the power source for the movement of the stars. For some reason, the star models had been deactivated, leaving the power source intact.
When this fact was reported to the Academy, the Academy decided to restore and preserve the observatory after discussing it with the Duke of Weishaffen, the lord of the land where the ruins were discovered.
Although the power could have been diverted elsewhere, it was agreed that it would be better to leave behind an ancient relic of research value.
“Afterwards, magic engineers will be dispatched to restore the ruins.”
“...I see. Thank you for your hard work, Ophelia.”
Ophelia said goodbye and gazed intently into Roderick's eyes, trying to discern the emotion behind his impassive face.
Just as she had done from the day they first met, her eyes read the subtle changes in his emotions.
When Byron flirted with her, a small wrinkle formed between his eyebrows, and when he met her eyes, a warm current flowed into his eyes, which had been like the cold winter sea.
He blushed as if embarrassed, and when the conversation with her ended, he waved his hand for no reason as if he wanted to hold on to her in regret.
Roderick couldn't help but notice that she had feelings for him.
And she didn't dislike him for that. He could be compared to someone who would rush in without regard for the other person's feelings, but that wasn't the reason she was attracted to him.
She was concerned about this warm man, even though he was awkward at expressing his emotions.
Having lost his parents at an early age and been forced to grow up too quickly, she wanted to embrace the boy left abandoned within his heart.
It was the same even now. If things continued like this, he would soon have to break up with her, but he felt sad and lonely about it; he didn't express it at all.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
Ophelia stared into his eyes and asked, her eyes urging him to speak now, knowing he had something to say.
"...No."
“Yes, then.”
In response, she pursed her lips and turned away.
If he recalls this moment in the distant future, he might regret turning away instead of speaking first. But he wasn't in the mood for such thoughts right now. His pride was hurt.
But then.
“Ophelia.”
Roderick called out softly from behind her.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Ophelia felt a sense of anticipation, but she deliberately made a colder expression to hide her anticipation.
“...The weather has gotten colder. Dress warmly and avoid getting sick.”
But as expected, she didn't hear the words she expected. Roderick simply offered her his usual, thoughtful, and considerate words of concern.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Excellency.”
Ophelia left the Duke's office, laughing at her own foolishness, both inwardly anticipating and inwardly disappointed. His words about the cold weather were true, for a light sleet was falling outside the window.
As she approached the carriage to return to the ruins, the coachman, who had been brushing the horse's mane with a brush, appeared, seemingly acquainted. He had been her and Candice's transportation partner for several months, and they had become quite close.
“Researcher, are you going back to the field?”
"Yes, please. I still have some work to finish. By the way, it's snowing heavily. Will that be okay?"
She asked anxiously, looking at the heavy snowfall. The coachman shrugged his shoulders, as if this much snow wasn't even snow in the north.
"This amount of snow is fine. There's a tool that uses magic to melt the snow in front of the carriage. Well, you probably know more about magic than I do. But when it snows more than this, the mountain path becomes a bit dangerous. Visibility is poor, and melting the accumulated snow with magic is a challenge."
“I see. I’m glad it’s over.”
After finishing her conversation with the coachman, Ophelia smiled and climbed into the carriage. Although a little uneasy due to her sluggish relationship with Roderick, the scenery of this unfamiliar foreign land was still beautiful.
Snow was rare in the warm Republic of Tamora. In her eighteen years of life, she could count the number of times she'd seen snow pile up on one hand.
It felt like she had seen several times more snow in the past few weeks than she had ever seen in her entire life.
As she gazed out the window at the pristine white landscape, trying to calm her nerves, the carriage arrived at the ruins. At first glance, it felt unfamiliar, but now, it was a landscape she had grown attached to, a place that felt like a second home.
“I’m home, Candy.”
“Hey, you’re here?”
As Ophelia entered the ruins, Candice, who had been buried among the samples and documents she had collected from the ruins, raised her head with a tired expression.
Since she was tired from working all day, Candice stretched out and walked over to her friend.
“So, did you have a nice meeting with His Excellency the Duke?”
“Yeah. I said I’d be back soon.”
“What did he say then?”
Candice asked, playfully patting Ophelia on the side.
“...What can he say? He’ll say thank you for your hard work.”
"That's all? You mean he didn't get down on his knees and say something wonderful like, 'Don't go, Ophelia. Stay here for me.'"
At Ophelia's indifferent reaction, Candice knelt on the floor and imitated Roderick's speech quite convincingly.
“Yeah. He didn’t say anything like that.”
“Why? His Excellency doesn’t like you?”
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