No matter how much I have escaped fate, I cannot say that this body is weak, as it was one of the fates that was meant to be mine.
I still don’t know if the natural talent I have is as exceptional as the fate I had before.
I haven’t trained this body to that extent. It will probably take a very long time.
It’s a cautious guess, but perhaps I may not even be able to reach that level. The difference in physical structure is not the only issue. Age is also a problem.
Although my fate has changed, my age remains the same. I may look a bit younger, but according to the witch, this body is still the one I had when I “lived to my age.” The body continues to age. Perhaps I have already passed my prime.
But still, glimpses of that talent remain.
For example, even if I haven’t slept for a long time, I can somehow endure. With this body, I was able to last for about a week.
Of course, as the days passed, fatigue increased, making it almost impossible to hold on for longer, but the ability to stay awake when needed is a tremendous advantage in itself.
Though it was a short time for training results to show, I was able to perfectly replicate the posture from my memory.
But…
I’m tired.
Even when I hadn’t slept for a week, or when a witch or a shadow appeared in this territory, I hadn’t felt this tired and had never experienced such a headache.
The two of them didn’t seem to want to sabotage my plan, so there wasn’t much to worry about.
Even when I heard that the empress had started to move, at first I had a bit of a headache, but soon I was able to calm down.
After all, the empress was a human I knew. If I approached her rationally, the empress was not the type to act purely emotionally.
But this outfit…
After changing my clothes, I stared silently at the short outfit in my hand.
It was obvious at first glance that the fabric’s area was narrow. Honestly, if I just tossed it aside, it would be hard to tell how it was supposed to be worn. I
was surprised that Ayla thought of buying such clothes in such a short time, and even more so that she thought of making me wear them.
What could that action imply?
I had never considered that Ayla might feel attraction toward women.
She had shown no particular feelings toward me, a man, and only engaged in physical contact.
But even then, she would occasionally blush when we awkwardly bumped into each other or when I accidentally touched her in an awkward place.
As I thought earlier, perhaps she was only trying to embarrass me…
“That’s strange,” I muttered to myself for no reason.
If Ayla really didn’t like men, then should I be happy about this?
What this means is that I look attractive to Ayla now, but the old me wasn’t seen as attractive to her.
If the latter is true, then the words I had said to Ayla like “I will protect you” were—
“…”
My face turned red for no reason.
After changing all my clothes, I paced around the room for a few minutes.
After Luna went to her room to change, Ayla was briefly left alone with the empress.
The shadow and Daisy decided to wait for now. I had something I wanted to ask first.
Considering how closely the conversation between the two of them and the empress would impact the profits for the count’s territory, it wasn’t very rational.
However, the actual ruler of this territory was Ayla. Unless some distant relative of the count claims the inheritance rights, or Seila tries to oust Ayla.
And for some reason, I had the feeling that Luna would somehow handle those situations.
That was the reason why Ayla was troubled.
“Your Majesty.”
“Hm. It seems you have something you wish to discuss. Aside from your… friends and closest allies, we are alone. Have we met somewhere before?”
“No, Your Majesty. I’ve never left the kingdom in my life.”
“If you ever visit, you will be welcomed. Though there are still many places under restoration, there are still many good places in the Empire.”
“Thank you.”
“So, what do you wish to talk about?”
“It’s about Luna.”
The empress’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Ah, Luna, you say.”
“Did you use a different name in front of Your Majesty?”
“Hm.”
The empress closed her mouth and stared silently at Ayla, as if she were pondering whether it was okay to share what she knew.
I quickly organized the thoughts I had earlier about Luna.
Hadn’t I mentioned the ‘cross-dressing’ earlier? Considering the empress’s reaction, it seemed that she didn’t know Luna cross-dressed. She must have just assumed she was a man.
Had something happened between them? Could there be a reason for the empress to deliberately come here?
Ayla tried to recall Luna’s appearance in men’s clothing.
It wasn’t easy.
Luna’s body, as Ayla knew it, had many curves.
Even if she tried to hide it, could her face be mistaken for a man’s just because she cut her hair short?
“Well, let’s just leave it at that.”
The empress crossed her legs and said this.
“…”
Ayla didn’t like that answer.
Of course, Ayla and Luna hadn’t known each other for that long. It hadn’t even been half a year. Many things had happened in that time, but most of it was incidents that Luna had unilaterally shared.
She had come to… trust Luna. Perhaps it could be said that she had no choice but to trust her, or simply that she wanted to trust her. But for whatever reason, Ayla had decided to trust Luna.
The fact that there were unknown aspects to the person she trusted greatly bothered Ayla.
Even if she didn’t fully understand what exactly about it bothered her.
“Luna is a very useful person. As head maid… She sometimes acts strangely, though.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So, even if Your Majesty tries to take her back, I will do whatever it takes to keep her by my side. Because she’s useful.”
While repeating that Luna was useful, Ayla didn’t realize why she was emphasizing that word so much.
“Oh.”
A smile appeared on the empress’s face.
“What if I say I will take her back no matter what? Are you thinking of stopping me?”
“I’m not sure if I can stop you, but… Well, I don’t want to let her go to someone else. That’s how important she is to me.”
“So, you’re saying you would make her wear that outfit?”
“…She can be rebellious at times.”
“Are you saying you gave unreasonable orders to make them obedient because they were rebellious? That guy accepted it rather easily.”
Ayla’s eyebrows twitched.
“Are you saying they did not accept it easily in front of Your Majesty?”
“Well, that’s right.”
The Empress spoke while gazing into the distance.
“They escaped. Carrying a dragon’s corpse, they even broke through the walls that had confined them.”
“…”
A deep wrinkle formed on Ayla’s forehead.
“You even imprisoned them?”
“Well, aren’t they a desirable talent? I wanted to keep them by my side, no matter what. It didn’t work out very well, though. To be honest, I had an idea. Because that’s just the kind of person they are.”
The Empress laughed heartily, but Ayla wasn’t in the mood to laugh along.
So, the Empress had imprisoned Luna. Ayla didn’t know exactly how she had intended to keep Luna by her side.
If Luna was a woman… Could it be that the Empress planned to have her marry another man? Just as Ayla had been forced into marriage with a count by the baron?
And yet, hearing that Luna had escaped by breaking down walls, Ayla found it both absurd and strangely puzzling.
It was absurd that Luna had ignored the Empress’s orders, destroyed a fortress wall, and fled. It was equally absurd that she had done so while carrying a dragon’s corpse.
But the strangest thing of all was that after escaping, Luna had come to Ayla.
Ayla had never met Luna before. And yet, Luna had come to her, willing to risk her life to follow her orders. To Ayla, that was simply bizarre.
And at the same time, it made her happy.
Could Luna have been someone from Ayla’s childhood? Had she received help from her before? She would never forget those eyes, and yet, Luna was by her side. Spinning countless excuses and lies.
In the end, she might be betrayed. That was the kind of person Luna was, so logically, it would be best to expect it.
But whether she was betrayed or not, it didn’t matter.
Ayla was going to lose everything anyway. If not used by the baron, then toyed with by the count. Even if she ran away, how long could she possibly survive?
If she had known things would turn out this way, she should have fled back then when he had suggested it. How many times had she thought that?
“But in this situation, taking her with me wouldn’t mean much.”
The Empress, who had been laughing for a while, said this.
“Now, I just want to hear what happened to that girl. I owe her something too.”
“You owe her?”
“The dragon.”
The Empress shrugged.
After a brief hesitation, Ayla spoke.
“Your Majesty. If you hear anything from Luna, would you be willing to share it with me?”
“She is a friend with many secrets.”
The Empress chuckled.
“Well, I’ll think about it. But I refuse to make a deal. I already know that friend’s nature all too well.”
At the Empress’s response, Ayla let out a small sigh.