Transmigrated Into A Tragic Romance Fantasy-Chapter 33: I’ll See You Tomorrow!

...Wow, the Betrothal Contest is like a festival...

Since she had always spent her days in the Library, Ariel was oblivious to it.

But the Grand Ducal Betrothal Contest was the greatest festival in the Northern Regions.

Because of her focus, most sounds were simply registered as ‘white noise’ when she read.

However, everyone in the North was interested in the Betrothal Contest.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

Only now did Ariel feel a portion of the people’s fervor for such an event.

And,

There’s so many people here.

Now, she was amid that fervor.

In the central plaza, leading to the Grand Castle, the finalist’s carriages were arriving.

All sorts of people had gathered here, creating a crowd, just so they could catch a glimpse of the finalists.

Among this crowd, stood Ariel.

How she had ended up here was a mystery.

Indeed, it was almost as if she had a gap in her memories.

Ariel herself didn’t know why she was there.

She had been swept away by the crowd’s excitement and ended up also heading towards the central plaza, but now that she was here, Ariel was clueless.

“Lord Deron’s golden hair shines brighter than the wheat fields during the harvest season!”

“Hmph! So what? Lord Blund is clearly the most handsome!”

“Kyaa~! I can’t believe I’m seeing him! I’ve been waiting for so long!”

“You are all delusional. Lord Kyle is clearly the better match! His deep dark eyes are entrancing! Once you look into them, you become lost in it!”

Of course, most of those who gathered were women, and naturally, they were infatuated with the concept of ‘romance’.

But for Ariel, who had a good relationship with her maids, this atmosphere wasn’t unfamiliar.

After all, the maids were pretty vocal about their favored candidates.

The only thing that saddened her, was that, among this chatter, no one talked about,

Elden......

At that moment, Ariel understood.

Her maids never even considered Elden as a ‘candidate’.

Unlike the other candidates who all had spotless reputations, Elden’s was rock bottom.

Ariel also knew how the people commonly referred to Elden [ The Drunkard, The Wastrel...The Barbarian ].

She remembered when Elden introduced himself to the class the other classmates all whispered tales about his infamy.

《That’s him. He’s the Heir of a Count’s family, the Drunkard of Raphelion.》

《No, not just a Drunkard. I heard he’s a complete Wastrel.》

《Wastrel? Pff-. More like a Barbarian.》

Back then, when she heard them speaking,

Oh.

Was all she thought, brushing these comments off.

Because, Ariel was certain that, their paths would never cross.

And so,

Well, he’s a bit scary.

And with this thought, she moved on.

As she predicted, during her Academy days, they had never interacted.

So, Ariel graduated from the Academy with no particular ties to anyone, and the existence known as Elden Raphelion simply became a forgotten memory.

No,

Not just Elden, but most of the events that transpired in the Academy also suffered the same fate.

Had Ariel never encountered Elden on that day, she would have simply brushed off any sort of comments once again.

Because it was natural for a person like him to be badmouthed.

However, the problem was that years had passed since the Academy, and the current Elden was completely different from his past self.

Although she had only been with him for a few days, Ariel could see that Elden was abstaining from alcohol and violence, which used to be his preferred vices. The way that he allows his Knight to eat at his table also shows how his treatment of commoners has changed.

Moreover, Elden preferred the company of a good book over other carnal pleasures, he even set off plans for his future and worked to realize them.

They haven’t seen the new Elden.

Of course, before reuniting with Elden, whenever there was a heated debate about his selection as a finalist, Ariel would have the exact same reaction when people discussed the Duchess ‘unusual’ tastes.

I don’t care about it.

It was more productive to simply read another line of her book than to worry about someone’s prospective husband.

Her energy would be better spent in reading novels than hearing about such pointless matters.

Yet, as she now watched the people’s reactions, Ariel thought it was a bit too much for them to ignore Elden.

Of course, she was also aware of how ironic her current feelings were.

After all, they had only met for a few days, and she didn’t consider herself to be such a close friend of his to have the right to be upset in his stead.

She was just a reading companion who shared a love for pure literature, after all.

Regardless,

I dunno, I dunno, I dunno.

Well,

Since she was here already, Ariel thought she might as well, see him and then head back.

And,

If the scores of the second evaluation are more important, then isn’t Kyle on the leadership?

Of course, without official information, opinions on the victor varied, but there was no news of Elden’s victory among them.

But Ariel remembered Erenscia’s words,

《If Elden puts in the effort, he will surely win.》

That’s what she had told Ariel.

Since this evaluation was supposed to be a physical test, Ariel believed that Elden would surely win.

Her belief was well-founded.

Wasn’t Elden always the first one?

[ Physical Education ]

During their academy days, this subject tested the students’ physical abilities, and Elden had always been at the top with an overwhelming performance.

His reflexes, strength, and endurance were all significantly higher than those of his classmates.

And since some of his ‘classmates’ were now the finalists as well, Ariel was certain of his victory.

That is why she was confused.

Perhaps he did win....?

While Kyle’s victory was the most mentioned topic, some people also said that Deron or Blund had been the victors.

So Ariel couldn’t dismiss the possibility of Elden winning.

Perhaps it was her impatient heart wanting to confirm this that had led her here.

At that moment, the plaza suddenly became noisy.

A carriage had entered through the north gate of Winterfell.

The carriage stopped in front of the Grand Duchy’s founder, the first ruler of Winterfell - Roktad.

Caught up in the crowd’s fervor, Ariel was also dragged closer to the plaza.

“Ugh!”

She groaned as some people pushed her.

“Oh my gosh! Who do you think it is? I hope it’s Lord Deron~”

“Of course not! It must be Lord Kyle, after all, the victor is always the first to arrive!”

“Don’t be ridiculous~ Can’t you see the noble features behind that curtain? That can only be Lord Blund~!”

As the women tried to guess the identity of the candidate inside the carriage,

Ariel also caught herself wishing to see who it was.

However, she also wished she didn’t have to feel like being squashed by the multitude of people.

Click-.

The coachman then turned the carriage’s door handle.

All eyes were focused on this singular moment.

Soon, the door opened, and an awkward silence spread across the central plaza.

Because a man with long, jet-black hair, crimson eyes, and a relaxed face while chewing on a fruit appeared.

And then,

“Elden–!”

In the midst of that silence, a single shout echoed.

**

While I can certainly feel the romance of a carriage’s ride...

It was also terribly inconvenient.

The journey itself was only tolerable thanks to the high-quality cushions, but moving at 2 horsepower made this ride dreadfully boring.

Still, I suppose I should get used to this.

After all, during my culinary journey, I might be forced to endure long travels in a carriage.

Creak-.

Fortunately, before I could make a cheeky(?) joke to Rachel, the carriage stopped before the central plaza leading to the Grand Castle.

From what I could hear there seemed to be quite the crowd gathered here.

“My Lord, we have arrived.”

“Mn-. Good work.”

As the coachman opened the carriage’s door and greeted me, I took a peak outside, curious to see what this commotion was about.

The central plaza was bustling with numerous women.

Are they...Fans?

Of course, no one in their right mind would cheer for a Wastrel like me.

They must be here for the Regretful Trio. After all, their faces are truly top-notch, just like any other Romance Fantasy leads.

Just when I was about to step down the carriage,

“Elden–!”

A voice called out to me.

Ohh-! I do have a female fan after all!

As I scanned the crowd, looking for the one who called out my name, I managed to find her squeezed among the crowd.

A slender woman, with golden hair stilished into a bun.

Ariel.

Shouldn’t she be in the Library right now? Why was she here?

And she was surrounded by several servants of the Grand Palace, no less!

Waving my hand awkwardly to her, Ariel began to make her way out of the crowd.

“Right. Just hold on a moment, this shouldn’t take long.”

Rachel also stepped out of the carriage and waited, as I faced Ariel.

Meanwhile, the other carriages arrived, diverting the crowd’s attention.

As expected, no one was here for me.

Except, of course, this bun-haired lady.

“Well, what brings you here?”

“Ah-. H-how was the evaluation? Did you win?”

......So this little bookworm took time off her reading to check on me?

A mischievous grin made its way towards my face, as I tried to prank her.

“Thanks to your fervent support, I won.”

I expected her to be pleased,

The cheerful face she had on this morning was still vividly fresh in my memory.

If she started to celebrate, I would tease her by saying I actually lost.

That would be a minor revenge(?) on my part since her actions this morning almost strengthened the curse.

However, contrary to my expectations, Ariel’s expression became a bit weird.

Her lips, which should have been smiling brightly, were pressed into a thin line, and her eyes, which should have been sparkling with joy, were trembling.

Truly, what an odd reaction.

“......?”

“Y-You really won...?”

Her reaction made me forget my planned prank.

Since my little prank caused this, I was the one who should fix it.

“Sorry, it was a joke. I actually lost, Kyle is the winner.”

“W-what?”

Immediately after, some of her cheer returned.

Her awkwardly parted lips now curved into a beautiful arc.

Her trembling eyes now lit up with delight.

That was the exact opposite reaction I anticipated.

Today’s Ariel was utterly unpredictable.

Opening her mouth, she asked with a slightly worried tone.

“...So you lost? Seriously?”

“I didn’t even want to participate in the first place.”

My honest response seemed to surprise her.

“!”

Now I was the one getting confused here.

“?”

Then, Ariel began to fiddle with her fingers as she said.

“So...Um...Ah...W-Will you be coming to the library tomorrow...?”

There was no reason for me to change my routine.

No storm would be able to shake this deep-rooted tree, especially after I’ve found myself a little place filled with peace and quiet.

I would continue following my training regime and reading time.

After all, this was the life Lee Jun-Woo always dreamed of.

So, I nodded my head.

“Of course.”

Ariel beamed, at this moment, her smile could melt the coldest of glaciers.

“Yes! S-So...I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye~!”

......Huh.

Hmm.

Well,

Sure.

I’ll see you tomorrow then.