Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 11.2
Hyacine’s needless worrying was getting noisy, so I ended up shooing him out of the room too.
Only then did I finally look around the now-quiet room and let out a sigh.
‘It seems like this incident has been covered up well enough, but…’
The real problem still isn’t solved.
The day of Acteon’s second awakening at the academy entrance ceremony.
Unless I can fully heal Acteon’s trauma, I can’t be sure I’ll survive, and the futures of me, Hyacine, and Acteon will remain precarious.
Now that I’ve already changed the flow of the original story, nothing would be strange, no matter what new variables show up.
‘If the board’s already been overturned, I might as well change Acteon’s path completely so things don’t unfold as they did in the original.’
Step one.
The second awakening of Acteon that takes place on the day of the academy’s entrance ceremony, six months from now.
Since I can’t just charge in and die as I did in the original, a high-ranking Guide must be there to stabilize him.
‘Millia’s awakening comes late, so she can’t help at that time.’
Unless Millia awakens as a Guide sooner, it won’t work.
To handle Acteon’s second awakening, I’ll need to recruit another high-ranking Guide in advance.
That way, I might be able to safely avoid an early death as well.
“…But why do I feel so uneasy?”
Just then, I remembered Acteon kissing the back of my hand.
…Could this be a different kind of variable?
I shook my head to stop myself from thinking about it, but the unsettled feeling wouldn’t go away easily.
* * *
Soon after, Hyacine, who had stayed with me all afternoon, finally left around dinner time to get us something to eat.
Left alone in the room, I checked over my body for any other abnormalities.
Knock, knock.
“Miss Ortis? May I come in for a moment?”
With a knock came an unfamiliar voice.
I shuffled over to the door and asked,
“Who is it?”
“I heard you’d woken up. The Duchess sent me to see how you’re doing. May I come in?”
The Duchess?
If it had been the Duke, I’d have been on guard, but since it was supposedly the Duchess, my suspicion eased a bit.
‘Well, it should be fine.’
When I opened the door, a tall man greeted me with a broad smile.
Looking up, I saw a man with long dark green hair, half pulled up with a hairpin, and a striking, handsome face.
He almost seemed to shine.
“I’m Belled. Brondearn’s… well, what should I call myself?”
“…Pardon me?”
“It wouldn’t be any fun if I just told you. Why don’t you guess?”
With a friendly grin, he suddenly presented me with a riddle.
Wait, you haven’t even introduced yourself, so how am I supposed to know?
For a moment, I remembered my first meeting with the prince.
This is giving me déjà vu…
Anyone could see he was the same type as Prince Isadore, so I looked up at him, deliberately keeping my expression incredulous.
He didn’t seem phased at all. If anything, he looked like he really meant to stand here until I guessed.
Seeing how he cheerfully waited for my answer despite my blatant expression, I put my hand to my forehead.
‘If he works for Brondearn in some capacity…’
He must at least have some standing.
I should be polite, just in case.
I couldn’t afford a blunder like with Prince Isadore, so I started off with some harmless compliments while pretending to think.
“Well, you look awfully refined…”
“…Ahem.”
“And your hair looks great. What kind of soap do you use?”
“Ahem, I make it myself. Would you like some?”
Why does this man make his own soap?
“I’m not that interested, honestly.”
Nice hair doesn’t matter. I’ll just end up rolling around on lawns and dirt once I’m back at the academy anyway.
I scrutinized this odd visitor from head to toe.
Then I noticed how carefully he’d arranged his long hair to keep it neat.
‘His outfit’s just as particular.’
His cuffs fit tightly around his wrists, buttons stood out, and there was a monocle clipped to his breast pocket.
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