Volume 1, Chapter 21: Selfish People
Volume 1, Chapter 21: Selfish People
「Your room was quite far to reach to be honest. I had to climb it like this. I didn’t want to look like Romeo in the first place.」
Caria Burdnick looked astounded when she saw me here. My words of sarcasm took her by surprise. It was as if I came in deliberately from a theatrical display. I looked at her eyes, and she couldn’t believe what she saw. Maybe she doubted her own eyes, because, after all, how could Lugis himself appear out of nowhere from her window?
「Hey you, how did you get here…No, that’s not it. Why are you here? 」
It was obvious that Caria Burdnick looked a bit upset. Her silver eyes were widely open. She was shaking her fingers as she slowly opened the whole window.
「You know, isn’t the role of Romeo to come gallantly and save the imprisoned Princess? Well, but in this case, it’s the rescue of an imprisoned Knight.」
I took the leaves out of my body when I came inside her room. She gave me her hand to come inside more easily. I felt that her hand was shaking. Weird, because she was known to have no fear of even beastly creatures. However, Caria Burdnick shook her head slowly. She had a puzzled expression on her face.
「You’re wrong. I’m not a prisoner here. I’m just here because I want to. 」
That was definitely a lie, with mixed feelings. Should I say a “genuine lie”? She involuntarily turned her gaze away from my eyes when she spoke those words. It was as if Caria Burdnick was giving repentance to God for her misdeeds.
Ah, liar. What an absolute liar. How could she say that when she took my hand? She was probably confused. Of course, a part of her would want to keep holding my hand and leave. However, there was also a part of her that wouldn’t want to betray her father. If she left with me, she would break the vow she made to her family. Not only that. Caria Burdnick’s pride, ethics and life morale would be stained permanently. She won’t be able to wipe that no matter what she’ll do.
「Besides, I don’t want a shabby man like you to help me. Go back. I don’t care, just go anywhere else but here.」
「…Oh well, what a selfish person you are. 」
—
Caria’s perspective.
—
Lugis responded with a deep sigh. I felt truly frustrated with him. It was as if his badly mannered attitude resembled a grumpy cat.
I didn’t like this situation. The breeze that came inside my room through my window swung my silver hair slightly. I became thoughtful. Yes, I knew that I didn’t like this man from the very beginning. I met several selfish people before. But this man took his selfishness to another new level of annoyance. I hated when other people butt in my life. How idiotic is this man to assume he could save me? How dare he came here to take me without my permission? Ah, what a selfish man.
「I wonder who the selfish one is, Lugis. Don’t you remember your selfish actions in the fort? You put me in a very bad position back then. 」
Caria Burdnick’s words were like thorns. She just spilled angrily, unfaithfully and rotten words from her mouth.
「I expected no less from a person like you, Caria Burdnick. But you did save my life back then without my permission. You left the Knights as you pleased. And you came to this place as if nothing happened. Ah, you truly are a selfish woman. 」
On that moment, an irritably Caria Burdick shook her silver hair and gripped my hand furiously with her thin fingers. She was going to speak back at me, but she endured her frustration as she swallowed dry her throat.
Even though her words were rotten, I never thought she would have this type of hands. I didn’t think that there would be Knights with hands like these. I mean, of course, there would a training mark on every Knight’s hands, but her hands felt different. I never seen a human with such “boneless” hands. I thought she would have robust hands with obvious wounds. Rather, I felt a slight sense of strangeness when I touched her skin. They were not masculine hands because of training. I felt uncomfortable. Holding hands with her made me feel weird. Yet, it was the first time I had touched such hands. Actually, it was the first time to hold hands.
Ah, but…I never felt this excitement just to hold hands with someone.
Caria Burdnick realized that she held my hands tight. I noticed that her white cheeks gradually became slightly scarlet. “Who cares? Yes, I don’t care about this”. I repeated these words countless of times on my head as if I was talking to a mirrored image of myself.
「…Yes, I decided to this on my own without your permission. So what? I warn you that your mansion will be robbed in this process. So, who cares about the promise you made with Barberridge Burdnick. I don’t simply care because, after all, just as your father described, I’m just a sinner who disrespected all of your family. 」
It was the first time that I addressed Caria Burdnick in a disrespectful way. She tried to let go of her hand, but I pulled her arms. Our eyes were extremely close to each other’s. It was like a faint whispering spell that made her speechless for a short moment.
「I…I see…Hmm. You sure do as you please, don’t you? You’re the one who’s selfish. But, robbing my household is a bit extreme. What the hell are you thinking about? 」
「Yeah, I guess I live a life of a selfish person huh. Okay, enough of this…Life awaits outside of here. Will you follow me to a royal carriage, my Princess? Ah no, shall I say Lady Knight?」
I was just having fun teasing her. However, Caria Burdnick’s cheeks loosened unexpectedly. She looked quite serious.
「Don’t you dare treat me like a Princess or a Lady Knight. It’s Caria. Just call me Caria…Lugis, are you implying that I’ll become your comrade once we get out of here? 」
Well, robbing her family was a bit excessive I confess. But, I didn’t have a choice. I needed back-ups, and those dark-ish people only agreed to come with me if they had something to gain from this rescue mission. I knew that Caria Burdnick was infuriated with me. She narrowed her eyes as she waited for my answer.
「…Yeah, of course. 」
—
Caria’s perspective.
I felt a loss of words coming from him. Maybe he was puzzled by my question. But, Lugis ended up answering me as if he had a hard time opening his lips.