My First Love Seems Suspicious After I Regressed - Chapter 1 - I Woke Up and It Was 5 Years Ago (11)
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- My First Love Seems Suspicious After I Regressed
- Chapter 1 - I Woke Up and It Was 5 Years Ago (11)
Chapter 1 – I Woke Up and It Was 5 Years Ago (11)
‘I blurted it out without thinking.’
Calling herself an expensive commodity. It was something Chloe often joked about around this time.
In Arthuzen, where the peace of the Imperial Federation was maintained through political marriages, young ladies from high-ranking noble families like Chloe were valuable assets. While their peers pursued careers as officials by attending the Imperial Academy, or went to the Ridote Academy or the Holy Academy for academic pursuits, or took heir training to inherit family businesses, these young ladies built their positions and refined their manners in social circles. Whether they would become a duchess, a crown princess, or a queen depended on the geopolitical situation of the continent when they reached marriageable age.
‘I was indeed sold for quite a price.’
Thanks to Chloe going to Scandar, Arthuzen’s treasury avoided astronomical losses.
She let out a self-deprecating laugh. Being cherished by the young king and living comfortably in Shevik was a separate matter.
‘As it was supposed to be,’ she would have been waiting for her husband’s nightly greeting, but instead, she was causing a ruckus in the commoners’ district. She wondered if the separate palace of the Imperial Year 918, where she had been, would now be empty. And if so, if her husband would be sleeping peacefully.
It wasn’t a love so passionate that made her yearn for him every night, but having lived together, she found herself missing him at least once a day.
…Or perhaps the past five years that she remembered no longer existed.
At the end of her wandering thoughts, Demetrian stood there, having explained the situation to the guards. His face was grim and sullen.
She didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but he was looking at Chloe with deeply sunken eyes.
“…That kind of joke.”
Joke?
Chloe quickly grasped the situation and spoke what came to mind.
“About me being an expensive commodity?”
Demetrian had no further response. He just looked displeased, his expression hardened.
It was unfamiliar. It was a joke she often made around this time, and Demetrian was usually familiar with it, and his reaction was not typically like this. In fact, he would often say about himself…
“But why did you come here?”
Interrupting Chloe’s thoughts, Demetrian’s question echoed in the room. The tone was almost theatrical, as if he had rehearsed it several times before speaking.
“I went out for a night walk with Rabi. I also wanted to return something I bought at the general store here earlier.”
Chloe quickly gave the answer she had prepared, casting a glance at Mirabelle.
Play along, won’t you?
“Yes, yes, that’s right. I bought new daggers, but they weren’t balanced. But I just used them, didn’t I? Haha, I can’t return them. I managed with them because I’m a genius at throwing? Hahaha.”
“I didn’t know they closed early during the festival week. Then suddenly, there was the sound of a bomb exploding, and I was so surprised to see Sir Faigen there too!”
When spouting nonsense, it’s best to say it all at once so the other person doesn’t catch on. Demetrian’s lips curled slightly, as if he had caught on to this nonsensical story, but… there was nothing to do but hope. Hope that he would notice the difficulty and not press further.
“You… really came out at this hour?”
Was I asking for too much?
“You, who said you wouldn’t go out unless it was a social gathering or to get some fresh air?”
Did he know too much?
Chloe tried her best to conceal her flustered expression.
On the other hand, she felt a bit bitter, recalling that she had said such things to drag Demetrian to social gatherings around this time.
“And you? Why are you here? Is assisting with field investigations a secretary’s job? Is this related to the report you mentioned earlier?”
The best answer was a question. Chloe turned the barrage of questions back on him. She couldn’t let him see that there was nothing she could answer honestly. If she mentioned what she had told Mirabelle, those rational blue eyes of his would shine with disdain.
“That…”
Demetrian started to form words but then stopped.
Chloe sat in a wooden chair that had been kicked into a corner during the fight. Dressed in commoner attire from who knows where, her face was smeared with dust from the earlier explosion.
The iMage of her, sitting across the parlor sofa in a dress from a high-end boutique, overlapped with this scene.
‘Even at the marketplace earlier… did she always go out like this?’
Curiosity that wasn’t his place to have filled his heart. Demetrian couldn’t take his eyes off Chloe’s face for a while.
Unconsciously, Demetrian reached out to Chloe. He tucked the stray hair flowing along her temple behind her ear, and his thumb gently brushed under her eye in a sweeping motion. Her green eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Yes, even with a mask on, even amidst some nighttime adventure in the back alleys, those eyes were exactly as he remembered them.
“Y-your face is dirty too, you know?”
Chloe instinctively turned her face away as it flushed where he had touched. Mirabelle, perceptive as ever, dug inside her robe for a handkerchief and began to gently wipe Chloe’s face.
“Heh.”
Faigen’s stifled laughter was heard, and Demetrian awkwardly rubbed his neck, perhaps feeling embarrassed.
“…Ugh…”
The quiet was broken by a groan from the one Mirabelle had caught in the alley regaining consciousness.
“Seems like your hand strike isn’t as good as your binding skills.”
“He’s been unconscious the longest! Besides, I was anxious because Loi ran in alone…”
Perhaps uncomfortable with the heavy atmosphere, the two escorts started chattering reflexively. Beyond them, the sound of the guard’s transport carriage approaching was heard.
“It seems their goal was to cause a terror attack during tomorrow’s parade. There are magic stone bombs inside that they intended to use. They used ones below standard size to avoid the system’s checks, so their power shouldn’t be significant.”
Demetrian briefly explained the situation to the squad leader of the guards.
Chloe let out a small gasp at the accurate deduction. In hindsight, the clues from the situations they encountered in the room were indeed sufficient.
Faigen nodded and added to the explanation.
“It was uncertain whether they could escape even if they got out themselves.”
“You almost lost one, didn’t you?”
“If that one had been unarmed, it wouldn’t have been easy for the young lady either.”
Mirabelle was about to retort but just held Chloe’s hand tightly. Faigen’s clenched jaw and mouth showed a firm resolve.
In reality, the man had carried a load as big as his body and landed from the third floor, running away quickly. Mirabelle knew better than anyone how dangerous it had been.
“They attached magic stones to the decorative flowers sold at the market and brought them in. We should watch the parade tomorrow.”
“If they trigger a chain reaction, the explosive power will increase.”
“Their goal might not be just a mass attack.”
“I will report it that way.”
Following the squad leader’s instructions, some guards approached the room where the separatists had stayed, while others headed towards the transport carriage.
“But the two young ladies…”
“We were out for a night market stroll and happened to meet a friend.”
Chloe quickly replied, maintaining a shameless poise. Even though Mirabelle had wiped her face, it wasn’t completely clean, her robe was still dirty as if she had rolled around, and underneath, she was dressed in commoner attire. Mirabelle, who had torn her skirt, hadn’t even come out of the doorway.
“I’ll escort them, so don’t worry. See you at the police station in about an hour.”
When it came to evasion, the young duke’s authoritative silencing was a step above.
In the carriage heading to the Lacroix residence, silence lingered. Only the sound of hooves could be heard.
Chloe was contemplating whether to ask again what she hadn’t properly heard earlier.
‘Why was Demi here?’
Everything seemed to follow her memory unless she acted differently, like with the man in uniform or the clown mask.
So, did Demetrian originally raid this place too?
But in the future Chloe remembered, the separatists’ terror attack happened. On the other hand, tomorrow, there was a high probability that nothing would happen.
‘Because we helped…?’
With a skilled knight from the Imperial Guard and Demetrian, who excelled at everything, their raid wouldn’t have failed even without Mirabelle’s skills.
‘Did the one Mirabelle caught attempt the terror attack alone?’
She considered various possibilities but couldn’t form a coherent question.
‘Were you guys losing before I came? No, more like… I know the future, but were you originally going to fail…? Or you weren’t supposed to be here…?’
Whatever it was, it was obvious that Demetrian’s blue eyes would shine with disdain.
Lost in such thoughts, Chloe didn’t notice that Demetrian couldn’t take his eyes off her.
In the meantime, the silence in the carriage continued endlessly. Had there ever been a time when the two, who talked about anything whenever they met, were this quiet? Only their escorts seemed to find the silence awkward.
As Mirabelle and Faigen, sitting across from each other by the door, exchanged meaningful glances, Demetrian broke the silence.
“It was almost dangerous.”
When Chloe, awakened from her thoughts, looked at him, his eyes were as skewed as the head resting on the arm leaning against the window.
“No matter how skilled Lady Noisette is and how much you trust her.”
“….”
It would be a lie to say she didn’t know it would be dangerous, but she hadn’t expected it to be this dangerous. Although she couldn’t speak the answer that formed in her heart honestly.
“How could I just pass by when you and Sir Faigen were there?”
“Why were you there in the first place…”
“I was just passing by, I told you.”
“Really?”
As if trying to gauge something, Demetrian’s gaze deepened.