Chapter 19

“Now then. Perhaps you could explain in exact detail, what exactly had happened.”

“Uuuh.”

Shit……

This was the first time I’d felt such mortification. I was an idiot to have thought, for even a little bit, that children were cute. Those bastards were all scourges, no doubt about it!
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“That’s how it is. So, I never, ever had any thoughts of laying my hands on your son.”

“Ku, kuku……..”

“Are you listening, Knight Commander Moorwright?”

“A, ah. I heard you.”

Well, there was no doubt he’d heard it.

But why had he been looking at the ground for some time now?

Why hadn’t he looked at me in the eye? The clattering sounds his chair had been making while swaying, wasn’t it because he was laughing at me?!

“Kuhaha, sorry! I, ah, I don’t mean to laugh. Please don’t get mad.”

“……”

“Sorry, I accidentally laughed. I didn’t actually think you did anything. Even if you did, I’d have known of it from the bracelet on your wrist.”

“Th-then, what was that just now!?”

“Because your face became extremely red when you tried to explain yourself. So, wanted to tease just a little.”

“……Ugh.”

This schemer bastard.

Firmly holding in the foul-mouth words I wanted to fling at him, I started to correct my frazzled appearance.

Because I had ran around, my ponytail became loose. I spilled a sigh and untied the cord binding my hair.

The loose, wavy hair flowed down my back in a gentle spread.

“You are really… unlike the rumors, you unexpectedly have a bad character.”

“……”

The black hair stretched down to my waist. I combed my fingers through the strands to neaten them.

Maybe it was because I was relieved that the suspicion was cleared, so amongst my sighing, complaints also spilled towards Knight Commander Moorwright.

However, the person himself hadn’t given any response.

While putting the hair tie in my lips and arranging my hair properly, I gave a glance to Knight Commander Moorwright.

“……”

For some reason, he was looking at me with a glowering gaze that seemed to eat into me. Giving people such a piercing look, wasn’t he being rude? It somehow gave me a very bad mood.

Unable to endure under such a strong stare, while nimbly tying my hair back, I returned the glare to Knight Commander Moorwright.

“What are you frowning at me for?”

“…… Nothing.”

“If you have something to say, then why not just tell me? I already know that you guys hate me and stuff. It’s too late for me to get hurt by anything you have to say to me.”

“…… It’s not that. I just thought that your hair is beautiful.”

“…… Haah?”

Those words reached my ears drop by drop, as if they were spilled out unintentionally.

Knight Commander Moorwright, looking surprised at his own words, flusteredly turned his gaze away.

“……Hmph. There’s no need for flattery. From my own view, that hair of yours is far more beautiful.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. In my hometown, snow falls all year round. Seeing the silver-snow color of your hair brings up memories. The white mist of my breaths, the silver scenery when the snow blankets everything. Although it’s a cold and lonely place, sometimes I think of it nostalgically.”

“I see. So you like your hometown?”

“I wonder. You’ve investigated, haven’t you? Then, I think you’ll understand. Because there are places assailed by cruel hunger, my hometown isn’t exactly a place overflowing with happiness.”

There, different from Thoel Empire, the disparity in wealth was severe. Particularly, many people would starve to death every year in rural villages.

That’s why I thought:

Here was truly a place of happiness. Even little joys could overflow so much, hence I couldn’t help but think of this peaceful normalcy as the biggest joy I’d ever experienced.

Author’s Note:
Lilius’s hair is fluffy and fine, and he has it up on a high ponytail, falling down in gen~tle waves.

Commander Jill’s hair is not too long and not too short, and his bangs is long-ish, giving a refreshing feeling. It’s a ladykiller style.

Andrea’s bangs goes to above his eyes, and his whole hair is straight, just a bit long-ish.

Cyril’s has fluffy, curly hair, with the front part hanging low.

Guy’s hair is straight and short. The bangs are long and parted to one side.