70. Engagement – Room

“Are you okay?”

Leo couldn’t hold back any longer and asked.

“Uh? Y-yeah. I’m fine.”

Lena waved her hand as if it was nothing and approached the startled horse, grasping the reins.

Just as Mr. Noel taught her, she stroked the horse’s cheek to soothe it and climbed onto its back. The two of them rode off again.

Lena looked at Leo’s back as he led the way.

‘Leo… has changed.’

She knew that Leo had been avoiding her lately. He hadn’t come to visit, didn’t engage her in conversation, and didn’t smile much either.

She didn’t know the reason, but she had her guesses.

At first, she thought Leo had become more serious and distant after gaining insights and improving his swordsmanship.

After hunting the Old Phantom Fox, she thought he felt guilty about her getting hurt.

But just now…

If it were the Leo from before, he would have dashed over as soon as I fell off the horse, asking if I was okay and making a fuss about it. He would have at least come down from the horse.

Yet, Leo did nothing.

He just stayed in his seat and asked a simple question.

A chill ran down her spine.

‘Could it be that Leo… no, that’s nonsense. I’m overreacting. It’s just a little bump…’

Lena shook off her delusions and focused on guiding the horse.

It seemed the horse sensed its owner’s emotions, galloping uneasily.

*

The next day, upon arriving at the border gate, Lena and Leo stayed the night at an inn before heading in.

Seeing Leo book two rooms had Lena fidgeting anxiously.

Now was not the time to get embarrassed or picky.

“Leo, do we really need two rooms? There’s a twin room available… You know, the one with two beds. It would be way cheaper…”

Just in case Leo didn’t know what a twin room was, she explained, but he didn’t change his mind.

“Just sleep well,” Leo said before entering his room.

This was impossible.

Once inside her own room, Lena couldn’t bear the pressure weighing on her chest and raced out.

She dashed to the tavern, bought a barrel of alcohol, and hurried back to pound on Leo’s door.

“Leo! Open up!”

“…What’s wrong?”

When Leo opened the door, his face showed signs of exhaustion. Then, he looked at the barrel she was clutching at her waist, his expression almost on the verge of tears.

“Let’s talk.”

Saying this, Lena tried to step into his room.

But… Leo didn’t move aside.

There was a brief silent standoff, both glaring at each other, until Leo finally averted his eyes and let her pass.

For a moment, Lena felt stuck, as if her feet were glued to the ground.

‘Did he just try to keep me out?’

She couldn’t believe it.

She felt suffocated.

The delusions she had dismissed yesterday seemed uncomfortably close to reality. Leo was distancing himself. Or maybe he even disliked her…

“Are you not coming in?”

At Leo’s question, Lena quickly stepped inside.

She chose to break through.

Taking a deep breath, she set the barrel down and plopped onto the floor. Then, she patted the space next to her.

Come sit here.

But Leo, as if he hadn’t seen her, perched on the bed.

Finally, Lena couldn’t hold back any longer and asked, “Leo, why are you acting like this?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? You know better than anyone. Why are you treating me this way? Just tell me why. Did I do something wrong? If I did, I’ll fix it. When did I say something dumb? Right? Huh?”

“What are you saying? Why are you the way you are?”

“No, ugh… Leo, I know. You’ve been avoiding me lately. Just tell me the reason. Okay? I’m struggling here.”

Lena placed her hand on Leo’s knee and pleaded earnestly.

Leo stared at the ceiling for a long moment without answering before finally speaking.

The hand on his knee was tormenting.

“I’m just tired these days.”

“What’s tiring? Is it me making you tired? No, right? Just say something.”

“No. I don’t know, it’s just that I’m not feeling well.”

“……”

That’s a lie. Burly Leo had never suffered from a cold before.

Realizing that no more words would reach him, Lena dropped her head and muttered, “Then… are you not going to drink?”

“…No, I will. You brought good stuff…”

The two filled and emptied their cups in silence. An awkward quiet hung in the air, but neither of them broke the silence.

Then, Lena downed her drink and slammed her cup against the wall.

– Bang!

The wooden cup fell and rolled on the floor.

“Leo! Why are you acting like this? Do you hate me? If you do, at least say that!”

Lena gasped for breath and shouted.

“Look at me! Don’t look away!”

“…It’s not that I dislike you.”

“Then why the hell are you acting like this?”

“….”

Leo felt like he was losing his mind.

He had been told by his father to travel to the Holy Kingdom and planned to find ‘Cleo de Frederick.’

While keeping his distance from Lena, he intended to use {Tracking Skill} to find the prince when they reached Lutetia and set Lena up with him.

He’d heard that the prince often went hunting when he lived as a blacksmith after being kicked out of the monastery. That was the plan he was aiming for, and though it mirrored the past childhood friend scenario, it was truly not something a human should do.

In the childhood friend scenario, Lena had been just a friend.

They had been close enough to potentially become lovers, but Lena’s dream of being a ‘Priestess’ had kept them apart.

So, taking her to the prince hadn’t felt particularly burdensome psychologically.

In contrast, this engagement scenario…

He felt like he could die.

‘Should I just give up? Should I apologize to Lena right now?’

Then what should I do?

It’s good to immediately apologize and mend the relationship. He wanted to. But after that, he had nothing left to do.

He had wracked his brain to stop being cruel to Lena, searching desperately for something to try apart from breaking off the engagement.

One of those was to help Lena and Leo from another scenario.

Knowing how that other scenario would end, it was definitely something worth trying.

But it seemed futile. The engagement scenario was a ‘late’ starting scenario.

Unlike the other scenarios beginning in summer, the engagement scenario had started in the same winter. Thus, the childhood friend and beggar sibling scenarios were already nearing their conclusion.

Speculating, it seemed that the other scenarios were progressing the same as Leo’s playthrough ‘last time.’

As if the new game was overlaying the existing one and saving over it…

This suspicion was confirmed by the previously acquired {Tracking Skill}.

When Lena and Leo from other scenarios came to mind, he could sense their directions, but he couldn’t sense those from the childhood friend scenario.

Of course, the last childhood friend scenario had concluded before winter arrived. They had been slain by Sir Bart at the banks of the Irotashi River, which must have been why their direction felt lost.

There was no way to help a finished scenario.

The beggar siblings scenario hadn’t ended yet. He could sense the direction of the siblings using {Tracking Skill}.

But the war had broken out last month.

If his speculation was correct, Leo from the beggar siblings scenario had already assassinated Toton Tatian and was now happily declaring he would adopt.

Knowing that conclusion made him wish he could rush and help them, but this time, distance was an issue. Even if he dashed straight to Oberg on horseback as fast as possible, it would take three months.

What’s worse, he couldn’t just pass straight into the warring Belita Kingdom. He’d have to take a detour through the Holy Kingdom, which would eat up all his time.

Whether a citizen of a warring nation would even be allowed to enter or how he would obtain permission from the Holy Kingdom would be secondary; by the time he arrived in Oberg, Prince Leo would have already been unmasked by Count Peter.

‘Why on earth is the engagement scenario starting so late…?’

He even considered dropping by the Orun Kingdom or Belita Kingdom.

Not to help the ‘previous’ scenario but to prepare for the ‘next’ scenario.

It was uncertain whether Lena Ainar would come along, but if he could at least visit the Orun Kingdom, the Leo from the next childhood friend scenario could meet with this Leo Dexter.

The childhood friend Leo would have to wait for quite a while for Leo Dexter to arrive, but in the backdrop of the Orun Kingdom, there was potential to unite the oppressed barbarians and instigate a rebellion.

He didn’t know what might happen when the two Leos met, and though instigating a rebellion wasn’t easy, surely two heads would be better than one?

However, Leo had no choice but to abandon that plan.

It was still too early. He couldn’t imagine being able to vie for the throne in the next childhood friend scenario. Even with two, seven would be difficult.

Traveling to the Belita Kingdom was out of the question.

The next beggar siblings scenario promised a very clear means of clearing with {Bloodline}.

In that scenario, he had planned to move to the Conrad Kingdom as fast as possible to find Sir Bart.

To help those beggar siblings, he would have to undertake a massive journey from the Austin Kingdom to the Conrad Kingdom, traversing the enormous continent.

And it wouldn’t be a straight line; he would need to detour through the Holy Kingdom and Orun Kingdom due to the war.

That did nothing but consume excessive amounts of time.

If he could go confidently knowing he would get help from the prince who had become Leo after the {Bloodline} event, that might be one thing, but he couldn’t afford to waste runs in an uncertain situation.

At that moment, Lena could no longer tolerate Leo’s prolonged silence and suddenly stood up.

Lena felt like she was on the verge of tears.

The anger that had boiled up at seeing his troubled expression cooled off quickly.

‘Still, he said he doesn’t hate me. Maybe there’s something he can’t say. That must be it…’

She firmly believed Leo’s words.

“…I’m leaving. Sleep well.”

Holding back tears, Lena left the barrel behind and trudged back to her room.

Left alone after Lena departed, Leo sat in despondency for a moment before downing all the remaining beer.

*

The journey continued.

Lena and Leo passed through the gate into the Holy Kingdom with a travel permit issued by the lord. They asked for directions to the Bidorin Castle and arrived that very day.

Lena took a quick look around the castle and said, “This castle is small. They said it was built for military purposes… but it doesn’t really look like it, does it?”

“…True.”

Though Leo’s response was lacking in enthusiasm, Lena shrugged it off by now.

She hadn’t changed much at all.

She still clumsily dropped things and packed her bags, and sometimes asked silly questions just the same.

The only difference was that she now tried a bit harder to get Leo’s attention.

A few days ago, when they had visited a village, Lena had insisted on buying a local specialty candy and putting it in Leo’s mouth herself.

She had smiled contentedly once she finally got Leo to taste the candy, while Leo felt a bittersweet taste while holding the sweet in his mouth.

Lena and Leo arrived at the mansion. When they presented the documentation from the lord of Abrival Castle to the guard stationed at Bidorin Castle, they were promptly ushered to meet the steward in the reception room.

After a brief wait, the lord of Bidorin Castle appeared. He was a rather old gentleman dressed simply, almost indistinguishably from a commoner.

“Welcome. I am Baron Berger Agatha. It’s a pleasure to meet knights in attendance.”

“I apologize for arriving without prior notice. I am Leo Dexter, and this is Lena Ainar. Thank you for personally welcoming us unexpected guests.”

Leo greeted in a manner befitting a noble knight from his days in the Acaian Empire.

An action intended to offset the achievement penalty gained from killing Toton Tatian, the son of Marquis Tatian.

[ Achievement: Noble Murder – All nobles feel a slight apprehension towards you. ]

Baron Berger Agatha flinched, sensing something unusual from Leo, but when he observed his etiquette, he smiled warmly.

“Ah, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a knight use that ancient etiquette. It’s not often I receive visitors in this remote fortress. Shall we sit and chat?”

Lena, Leo, and Baron Agatha took their seats in the simply decorated reception room and discussed over some Audre tea.

Given their asking situation, Leo cleverly suggested “noble conversation.”

The baron, nestled in a northern mountain hideaway with few opportunities to converse with other nobles, gladly accepted the entertainment.

However, the conversation didn’t last long.

Lena was initially delighted to see the Audre tea, but after the conversation veered into incomprehensible topics, she quickly grew bored.

Finally, she let out a yawn.

Baron Agatha chuckled softly.

“Oh dear, it seems our lady knight is rather tired.”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry. Well, it’s just that…”

“It seems Lena had some Audre tea, and that must have made her sleepy since it’s a little intoxicating.”

“That’s right! I must have drunk too much.”

“Oh my, I apologize. I should have brought something else… Now that I think about it, I’m sure you must have been tired from your travel here, and I didn’t take that into account. Shall we call it a day for today?”

The baron called for the steward and instructed them to prepare rooms for Lena and Leo and then took his leave.

The steward inquired, “How shall I arrange the rooms? I understand you are knights, so should we assign separate rooms?”

Before Leo could respond, Lena abruptly interjected.

“No, please give us one room. We’re engaged!”

“Understood. Allow me to guide you.”

What the…?

In shock at the unexpected turn of events, Leo’s face went pale.

This is bad.

Moreover, the room the steward guided them to had only one bed.