How To Live As A Writer In A Fantasy World

fragment.

It seemed like her past was more complicated than I thought.
I heard that people who laugh a lot often have many hidden wounds within themselves.
Perhaps Adelia was the same.
I watched her smile brightly, and then quietly asked her a question.

“By the way, where is your hometown? My sister told me you come from a faraway place.”

“Oh…there is such a place.
It’s a village without a name, so it’s hard to describe.
It was also lucky for me to get into the academy in the first place.”

Adelia replied, putting her hair behind her ear.
Her gaze shifted to the right, and I could tell she was lying.
Her beauty alone was enough to prove that she wasn’t an ordinary person, and it was clear that she had some connection to nobility.

I glanced at her as she lied and spoke in a calm voice.

“That’s too bad.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a shame that you can’t enjoy festivals with your family because of the distance.”

“Family…”

Adelia murmured meaningfully and chuckled, then softly answered with a hint of nostalgia in her husky voice.
The huskiness of her voice added to the poignancy of the moment.

“Right.
As you said, this kind of festival should be enjoyed with family.”

“… …”

“It would be so much fun.
Chatting with your siblings, enjoying delicious food with your parents…”

Adelia’s voice was different from her usual firm tone, and even her usually husky voice sounded softer, conveying a subtlety that could even sense the sadness that had been suppressed in her heart.

Could it be that she had lost her family in the past? Otherwise, it would be impossible to make such a facial expression.

As someone who had also lost their family in a past life, I knew what kind of expression that person would make.
Just like Adelia, looking up at the sky and reminiscing about the past.

It was a time when it was just an everyday occurrence, but looking back, it was a happier time than any other.
The family who were stronger allies than anyone else.

While Adelia was lost in her memories, I waited for her to wake up while pretending not to notice.
I didn’t want to force her to recall memories.

“Um…”

But why is she suddenly looking at me? Adelia, who was looking up at the sky with a nostalgic gaze, seemed to have come out of her reverie and shifted her gaze to me.

As Adelia, who stared at me with her sky-blue eyes, pierced me with her gaze, I wondered about her intentions when she grinned and finally spoke in a low voice.

“It would be so nice to have a little brother like you.
I think I would find you cute every day.”

“You’re starting to talk like my older sister…”

“Ay, don’t be so defensive.
Didn’t I say I would treat my younger sibling well? And if I had a cute younger sibling like you, I would just want to spoil them? I think I know why Nicole cherishes you so much.”

“Oh please, stop it.
I have a girlfriend, you know.”

“But not right now, just let me touch you a little.
Hm?”

“No, you can’t.”

I firmly rejected Adelia, who was clinging to me like a pervert.
Adelia, however, seemed a bit disappointed at my resolute rejection, probably because she was sincere about wanting a younger sibling like me.

“Ugh, are you really doing this between us? That’s too much.”

“What do you mean by ‘between us’?”

“Between a friend’s younger sibling and their friend?”

“That’s what other people say.”

“Don’t you think that’s too shameless?”

“I guess that’s not something you should say, considering you threw the first punch when we first met.”

“…I’m really sorry about that.”

Adelia and I chatted while looking around the exhibition, occasionally buying street food.
Of course, I paid for everything.

Adelia had originally intended to pay for it instead of me, but as a nobleman’s son, I wanted to refuse at least that.

Due to this, Adelia tried to subtly touch my cheeks and express her gratitude, but when I became unresponsive, she withdrew with disappointment. 

“By the way, when will your girlfriend and the demon princess come back?” 

“I don’t know.
They said it would take some time… Huh?

It happened while I was walking around, casually eating chicken skewers.
I noticed a crowd of people gathered in one particular area, arousing my curiosity.
Adelia seemed to have a similar reaction and gazed in the same direction, muttering with a puzzled voice. 

“Is there any spectacle?”

“It’s highly likely.
Shall we go and see?” 

“Let’s do that.
I was getting bored anyway.
Haam.”

Adelia quickly finished the remaining meat on her skewer and tossed it backwards without looking, perfectly landing it in a nearby trash can. 

I briefly made a strange expression at her skilled technique of throwing the skewer without looking, but then shifted my footsteps towards the crowd.
As I got closer, I could hear their conversations clearly. 

“The royals from the Ters Kingdom have come?” 

“Yes.
Two of them, the Crown Prince and Princess.” 

“Wow.
It’s quite an event for our empire to have Ters Kingdom’s royals visiting.”

 From what I could deduce from their conversation, it seemed that the royal family from the Ters Kingdom had come to visit.

I was curious about what they looked like, so I craned my neck to get a better look at their faces, but there were too many people around to make it difficult to see.
Eventually, I gave up, thinking that I would have to see them if the opportunity arose. 

However, I realized belatedly that Adelia’s reaction was not normal.

“Those guys… came here…?”

“Adelia noona?”

Did she experience some kind of shock? Adelia’s complexion rapidly turned pale, and her sky-blue pupils began to shake aimlessly.
Even when I called her name and shook her arm, Adelia remained rooted to the spot.

“Noona.”

“… …”

“Noona, snap out of it.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

Eventually, I forcibly brought her back to reality by pulling her cheek.
Adelia was startled by the pinch and blinked her sky-blue eyes a few times.
Then, with a vacant expression on her face, she looked at me before exhaling deeply and smiling widely.
It was a forced smile that felt very awkward and fake.

“Uh, sorry.
I spaced out for a second.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Not at all.
I’m suddenly feeling dead tired.”

It is clear that there was a problem as they spoke nonsense.
I thought of the Ters royal family, who were probably beyond the crowd gathered around.
Perhaps Adelia is related to them.
It is highly likely because she showed a reaction like she lost her soul as soon as she heard that royalty from Ters Kingdom came to visit.

‘There seems to be more complex circumstances than I thought.’

Escaping from here quickly would be good for me and especially for Adelia.
I held Adelia’s hand, who was still confused.
I felt Adelia flinch as I held her hand.

“… Cutie?”

“Let’s go somewhere else.
It would be difficult to squeeze in here with so many people.”

“Um… Can I stay here for a while?”

“Why?”

“I want to check something out.
It’s my personal matter, so you go alone.”

Adelia asked me with a trembling voice.
And she still had a pale complexion, trembling pupils, and started to sweat on her cheeks.

Adelia is already showing symptoms of anxiety attack.
If this goes on, we don’t know what might happen to her.
People cannot remain sane when they are in extreme anxiety.

For her sake, and because I could get tangled up in unnecessary complications, I firmly refused. 

“No, we can’t.
Do you know how noona is doing right now? Whatever is going on with them, it’s better for you to stay calm.” 

“No, absolutely not.
It’s a very personal matter, so keep your hands off.
It will be just for a moment, just to check okay?”

Adelia grew anxious and started to hit my hand, but I didn’t budge and pulled her closer.
Perhaps because her anxiety was getting worse, she couldn’t put up much of a fight.
I couldn’t just ignore her because she was Nicole’s precious friend, even if I would have ignored her if she were a stranger.

“Take a deep breath and try to calm down first.
I can feel your heart rate fluctuating just from holding your hand.” 

“Is it that bad?” 

“Why don’t you try placing your hand on your chest and thinking for a moment?”

Adelia followed my suggestion and put her hand on her chest.
Then, a little belatedly, she realized her own condition and took a deep breath before exhaling slowly.
At that moment, I tried to let go of Adelia’s hand. 

“Adelia Unni?” 

A lively and somewhat husky voice entered my ears.
Both Adelia and I turned our heads in the direction of the voice.
The first thing that caught my eye was her sky-blue eyes, unlike the deep blue of Marie and Rina, but a light shade of aquamarine.

Next to the girl were a man and a woman.
They all had unique characteristics with sky-blue hair and eyes that emitted charm.
As their hair was a contrasting red color to mine, they seemed even more mysterious.

“Adelia Unni!”

A doll-like cute girl with twinkling eyes shouted Adelia’s name loudly, causing a momentary pause in the situation.
Adelia trembled and stepped back in surprise.

Just as the girl was about to approach Adelia, someone grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.
The owner of the hand was a woman who stood beside them, dressed in a uniform that could be worn by a knight rather than a dress.
She had tied her hair in a ponytail, and her mature charm was subtly spread.

“You can’t do that.”

“Huh? Hiliya Unni?”

The girl looked at her questioningly as the woman in uniform spoke in a concise and gruff tone.

Although the girl was puzzled, the gaze of the woman named Hiliya was fixed solely in one place, and it was definitely not a friendly look.
It was, in fact, at the level of contempt.

I slowly turned my head towards the direction of her gaze.

“… …”

Adelia’s sky-blue eyes, just like those of the people in front of her, shook aimlessly.

thump – thump – thump

Even though I was holding her hand, I could clearly feel her heart beating wildly.