Transmigrated Into A Tragic Romance Fantasy-Chapter 49: Diagonal Back Seat

“Ugh...My head.”

I massaged my throbbing head.

Perhaps due to the primitive brewing techniques of this world,

The Ale seemed to have caused a stronger hangover than the modern-day beer.

Moreover,

“Whose...Blanket is this?”

It shouldn’t be Rendler’s, since the old butler was still half dead on the sofa.

So, it would probably be Rachel’s, but I couldn’t remember anything from last night.

Getting up, I covered Rendler with the blanket as he stirred in his sleep.

Creak-.

Leaving the room, I looked towards a guard standing next to the doors and asked,

“Did...Something happened last night?”

My memories from last night were completely blank.

While it seemed like no incident had occurred, I was worried that some of the Original’s drunken habitats had resurfaced.

Things like causing a ruckus, or perhaps calling for a maid and assaulting her.

“My Lord?”

“I just want to know if there was some sort of disturbance last night.”

“Nothing of the sort, My Lord.”

“Good.”

Phew-.

With a relieved sigh, I asked another question.

“Speaking of which...Who brought that blanket?”

“Knight Rachel, My Lord.”

“...Is that so?”

So it had been Rachel.

Perhaps the stern teacher worried for his health.

Her stoic facade hid a gentle heart.

Or...She simply wished to preserve her student’s health so she could beat him behind the guise of ‘training’.

Regardless,

If he hadn’t been covered by the blanket, he might have indeed caught a cold.

So, Elden wished to express his gratitude for his Teacher’s care as he moved on.

But first, he needed something to soothe his stomach.

As he walked, he recalled a particular dish from his Monster Cuisine Guide.

A dish that was supposedly excellent for hangovers - the Minotaur Blood Stew.

However, there was neither the chef nor the ingredients to make such a dish at the moment.

So for now, anything non-alcoholic would have to do.

As I arrived at the Annex’s kitchens,

“Ah?”

There, in the kitchens, stood Rachel stirring a teacup with a spoon.

From her nightgown, the Female Knight also seemed to have just awakened.

But I hesitated to greet her.

Because I didn’t know what had transpired the previous night.

Perhaps my drunken hands may have touched something improper, or this mouth had blurted hurtful words.

Luckily,

“Ah, My Lord, you’re up early.”

Rachel greeted me with her usual tone.

So, it was likely that nothing happened.

With a relieved sigh, I entered the kitchen.

Still, I felt a need to clear my lingering doubts.

“Nothing...Strange happened last night, right?”

Standing beside her, I casually asked such a question while picking a glass of water.

For some reason, I felt a burning sensation inside me.

I wished to quickly extinguish it with a glass of cold water, but something was handed to me.

It was the teacup Rachel had been stirring.

Instead of answering me, she poured water into a newly retrieved cup and spoke of the drink she handed to me.

“My father used to make this when he drank too much.”

“Huh?”

“Honey water. Basically, it’s a bit of Acacia Honey mixed with water and a bit of lemon juice. It should help with your hangover.”

The unexpected appearance of honey water almost made me blurt out something silly like, ‘Is your Father a fellow transmigrator as well?’ 1

Honey water is a simple yet effective method of alleviating a hangover.

It seems Rachel’s father had created an elixir capable of curing hangovers.

“...Thank you.”

I couldn’t help but be somewhat astonished by this situation as I lifted the teacup.

Never, not even in my wildest dreams, I could have imagined I would receive honey water from Rachel, the stern Knight. Honestly, I could expect this from Rendler, but never from her.

As I thought, perhaps something did happen last night.

Rachel had never shown any sort of kindness towards Elden, contenting herself to simply fulfill her duties as his escort and nothing more.

Gulp-.

I took a sip of the honey water.

The sweetness of the honey combined with the freshness of the lemon created an excellent flavor, seeming to relieve not just the hangover but also the tiredness.

“...How is it?”

Rachel asked cautiously.

Looking at her face, I gave it a thumbs up.

“It feels like the hangover is clearing up with just one sip?”

Only then did a slight smile bloom on her stoic face.

It was the first time I had seen her smile.

Even when I looked through Elden’s memories, there had never been a time when Rachel smiled.

Of course, the smile was a discreet little thing.

But there have been times I even wondered if this woman had forgotten how to smile, but it’s good to see that I was wrong.

Rachel then picked her own teacup and looked at me before saying,

“Your wound has healed nicely.”

“Ah?”

“Then, I’ll go prepare myself for the day.”

That was the end of the conversation.

Rachel left the room with the steaming teacup in her hands.

I absentmindedly watched her back, then turned my head to look at my cheek reflected in the cupboard mirror.

Just as she said, the wound healed without a trace of a scar.

As if it had never happened.

Hmm.

‘So maybe that’s why she was being so stingy with it?’

After gently probing the area where there had been a wound, I drank the honey water.

Perhaps it was because someone else had made it, but truly, it was deliciously sweet.

**

“My Lady, have you never thought about marriage?”

It was early in the morning.

While she was having breakfast and reading a book, Ariel’s maid questioned her as she poured a cup of tea.

Distracted from her book, Ariel looked quizzically at the maid.

It was the first time she had heard such a question.

“Ah?”

“I was just curious, My Lady. But please don’t say you’re married to your books.”

“Hmm.”

Ariel took a sip of her tea and sighed.

Marriage.

She hadn’t really thought about it.

Not to mention, she had never been in love. How could she think of marriage?

For Ariel, who could easily be said to have lived her life buried in novels, marriage was an irrelevant matter.

“I haven’t thought about it.”

“Why not?”

“Just haven’t.”

“...My Lady, if you keep on being like this you might end up all alone. They say a woman who has interacted with men knows how to choose them well. Therefore, you should meet someone before it’s too late.”

“Those who read a lot of books also know how to choose them well.”

“......”

The maid was irritated that their conversation with her lady ended up talking about books - As it always had - Sat in a chair opposite Ariel.

She then stared at Ariel with a dissatisfied expression.

“...What’s wrong?”

“Aren’t you wasting it?”

“Wasting what?”

“Your prime! This is the time for you to display your beauty and fall in love with a handsome man, My Lady.”

“...Love? Uh, I don’t know about that.”

Ariel grimaced as if she had seen something unspeakable.

Though she had once been curious about love and read romance novels, she found the expenditure of emotions and the time it took to flip even one more page utterly incomprehensible and never finished one.

“...You’ve never been interested in anyone, My Lady?”

Upon being asked by the maid, Ariel nodded emphatically as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Yes.”

“Sigh...”

The maid sighed.

It was unbelievable, incomprehensible even, that her lady, possessing such stunning beauty and a gentle heart, had never once been in love.

Had the maid been blessed with Her Lady’s beauty, she was confident in charming every man that caught her eye.

“Why are you so focused on this? What about you? Have you ever been in...love?”

“Of course. You wouldn’t believe how many love stories bloom among the servants.”

“Really? Do servants date each other? I’ve never seen it?”

“...That’s because you’re always buried in your novels, My Lady.”

“Ahaha-. I see.”

“My Lady, can’t you give this a bit of thought? It’s such a waste of your beauty.”

“Beauty? What beauty. There are so many prettier than me. You’ve never seen the Third Northern Duchess. If you had, you’d realize how common I look.”

“......”

Not even a sigh came out.

Such a level of frustration was unprecedented.

This won’t do.

Fearing that her beloved lady might end up a lonely elderly woman, the maid, with a determined face, asked.

“My Lady?”

“Hm?”

“What’s the most enjoyable book you’ve ever read?”

“Um... there are so many, it’s hard to choose.”

Ariel Elrond muttered book titles while unfolding each of her ten fingers, one by one.

Then, one title struck her.

The novel that kept her awake for nights on end, where turning each page was excruciatingly precious, the novel that left her heart so full she could barely describe it after reading the epilogue, the novel that made her feel happier than anyone else in the world while she was reading it.

“Legacy of the Hero Elpherion ?”

“You were very happy reading it, weren’t you?”

Ariel smiled at the mere thought and nodded. Then the maid spread her ten fingers in front of her.

“When you fall in love, you’ll be ten times happier.”

That comparison, perfectly suited to a bookworm’s perspective, made Ariel look astonished.

“...Ten times?”

Could it be ten times happier than those moments of ecstatic bliss?

“Surely that’s an exaggeration.”

“It’s true! You’ve never tried it. When you’re in love, your world fills up with that person, and every moment of waiting to meet them is agonizing. And when you do meet, the excitement is so intense, that it feels like you could die happily. That feeling is truly irreplaceable by anything in the world.”

“...It’s that intense?”

“Absolutely!”

Hmm.

Happy enough to die?

Thoughts filled only with the loved person?

If it’s that happy, well, it might be nice...

“What do you think? Have you finally started to see it now?”

The maid asked with a hopeful expression as if seeing her lady finally grasping the concept.

Of course, that hope quickly cooled down.

“...But then I wouldn’t be able to read books.”

“Sigh.”

A sigh that wouldn’t be surprising if it tore down the world poured out early in the morning.

**

...Who starts the morning talking about love?

After breakfast, Ariel made her way to the Library with her escort.

She was aware that as the Grand Ducal Betrothal came to its conclusion, the topic of ‘love’ had gained a lot of traction.

That must be why.

Occasionally, she was urged to look at men instead of books.

Regardless,

Could it really be 10 times better?

She had been so content with her novels that she thought she could live a joyful life on a deserted island if she only had them, but how could she possibly be ten times happier than that?

Nonsense.

It must be an exaggeration made in an attempt to convince her.

Having dismissed the idea, Ariel arrived at the library ten minutes before opening and looked around.

She hoped that Elden would come early......

There was also a lingering regret that in these past days they hadn’t been able to talk at length about books because he often arrived late, prioritizing training over reading.

Ariel felt slightly neglected, though she acknowledged she was being a little selfish.

Will he be late again today?

Sigh-

Although his tardiness was a foregone conclusion, Ariel still hoped that he would come early today...So, as she scanned her surroundings, she only spotted the cleaning staff moving through the morning fog.

Haaa-.

Disappointed, Ariel set her gaze on the Library’s entrance, one minute before opening.

Then, the moment the Library’s doors opened,

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Tap, Tap-.

Someone tapped her shoulder from behind.

Huh?

Startled by the sudden touch, Ariel quickly turned around, her eyes widening in surprise.

A small miracle had occurred.

“Hmm, I thought about coming early and waiting for you today, but you’re never late, are you, Ariel?”

“W-What?! Elden!”

Ariel’s eyes widened, filled with joy. Her furrowed brows smoothed over, and her plump red lips broke into a beaming smile, as she struggled to contain the overflowing happiness that she had yet to fully comprehend.

Ariel bounced on her feet, feeling inexplicably energetic now.

Then, a pungent stench of alcohol reached her nose.

“Ah? Did you drink last night?”

“Well, I had some drinks with Rachel here as well as my butler, Rendler.”

“Really?”

Ariel looked at Knight Rachel, who stood diagonally behind Elden.

It was the same spot she used to have in their Academy days.

“......I can drink too.”

Then,

Ariel pouted as a strange feeling she had yet to understand bubbled within her heart.

1. This is because on Korea, there's a 'hangover drink', that when translated to english it literally means 'Honey Water'