I Start with a Bad Hand!

‘Am I wrong?’

Does she really expect us to go to such a dangerous place without being sure if what we’re looking for is even there? There’s a limit to recklessness.

I tried not to think about Agnes while chewing on the end of my pen. Ironically, ever since that huge fight, Agnes often pretended not to know me. But she didn’t completely avoid me either. At some point, Agnes started sticking with Icarus instead of me.

It wasn’t the fact that the two of them were together that bothered me, but rather their behavior. ‘Coincidentally,’ the two of them would stand off-kilter on paths I frequently took, waiting for me. The moment our eyes met, they would start whispering to each other.

‘What the…’

They blatantly conveyed that they were plotting something, not even trying to hide it. In fact, it seemed they wanted me to notice. It was a bit amusing for a day or two, but after a week, I felt the need to address it.

“Stop humoring her.”

“…What are you talking about?”

Icarus was sitting slantwise, reading a book. When he lowered the book that had been covering his face, an innocent expression was revealed. How irritating…

“Stop whispering every time I pass by. You two don’t even talk about anything important.”

“That’s not true. We’re planning something pretty impressive.”

“I can hear everything you’re whispering.”

“That’s… also not true.”

Icarus had taken the place of Agnes in my daily life. Whatever was keeping her busy, she rushed off somewhere after class and meals. As a result, I hadn’t even had a chance to talk to her. Irene seemed busier than ever with the end of the term approaching. My already sparse social circle had completely scattered, leaving no one by my side. Hence, Icarus had somehow ended up filling that spot.

“Fine. If I say I’m not doing it, what can you do about it?”

“Really? She’s planning to make you join the Ducal House any day now. She’s been working hard to find a way.”

I tried to ignore his light provocation and focus on my assignment. It might have worked if not for what Icarus said next.

“She’s already met Yuri, a maid from the Ducal House.”

“…Yuri? Agnes met Yuri? How did she even know,”

Yuri was the only friend Dietrich had been close to when she was in the Ducal House. After being accused of being a jewel thief in the student council room, I hadn’t been able to meet her properly because I was wary of Cedric.

Icarus mimicked zipping his lips shut in response to my expectant gaze, indicating he wouldn’t say anything.

“What? Tell me.”

“Your friend is trying really hard. I don’t want to throw cold water on her efforts. Besides, she trusted me with this, so I can’t just spill it.”

“Stop messing around. Hurry up. What if she gets involved in something really strange?”

Once again, Icarus sealed his lips and just smiled. Even as I jabbed him in the side repeatedly, he only groaned but didn’t open his mouth. Stubborn guy…

“Let’s trade. I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine.”

“…What?”

“By the way, she said she’d never tell you. She figured the conversation would be predictable anyway.”

Looking at Icarus with a smirk that seemed to say, “What are you going to do?” I sighed deeply.

“Fine, but I get to ask first.”

“Swear on the ground you won’t run away after I answer.”

“Swear on… the ground?”

No matter how many times I hear this swearing method, I never get used to it. Mimicking his gesture, I raised my palm towards the ground. Satisfied, he nodded for me to proceed with my question.

“How does Agnes know Yuri? The incident in the student council room happened before she and I got close.”

“There were quite a few people in the student council room then. Someone must have tipped her off. As for who… I don’t know.”

Something about the source of that information felt suspiciously close. Squinting at Icarus, he averted his gaze and smiled, then finally closed his book entirely.

“Name. I want to know your real name.”

“What name?”

“Your real name.”

“…Why are you curious about that?”

“Is that your next question?”

This guy… He was grinning like he was having the time of his life.

“Jaehee.”

“Jaehi?”

“Hee. H-e-e.”

“Jaehwi.”

“Ja… Never mind.”

I didn’t expect him to pronounce it correctly when I asked for my name, but considering even some Koreans struggle with the ‘eui’ sound, it was understandable. Watching him try to say “Hee,” “Hoo,” “Hwi,” and “He,” I pondered my next question.

“Do you know what she talked about with Yuri?”

“Your fluffy-haired friend’s plan is to get into the Ducal House and retrieve the targeted item, right? So, probably…”

His voice trailed off, but I could guess his meaning.

‘Is Agnes crazy?’

Was she really trying to enter the Ducal House by recruiting a maid there? The idea itself could have been dismissed as a joke, but the moment she tried to put it into action, the humor vanished from my face.

Reading my thoughts, Icarus asked a more sobering question.

“What happens if you go back?”

“…Like a body without its soul’s owner, just… nothing.”

“…Really?”

After a brief silence, I asked again.

“Did Yuri agree to help with that?”

“That I don’t know. But the two of them have gotten pretty close.”

Fluffy-haired, indeed. For someone with her personality, it’s surprising she got along well with anyone. Ignoring his muttering, I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. This world already doesn’t have many people who are favorable to Dietrich, and now even those few are risking their necks.

“Why do you want to go back?”

Icarus kept throwing direct pitches at me. Unlike the off-speed pitches he’d been tossing before, this felt different. Ironically, I was the batter who took those direct pitches head-on.

“My real family and friends are there… My real life was there.”

“Was there?”

“…Is there, I said.”

“You said ‘was there.'”

“You misheard.”

After a brief standoff, I gave up first and asked the next question.

“Tell me her plan. As much as you know.”

“I can’t.”

“What? Why?”

“We swore on the ground. Not just the two of us.”

She made him swear on the ground not to tell me anything. Hearing that, I unconsciously leaned back from the intense posture I had taken without realizing it.

‘So Agnes knew Icarus might tell me about the previous conversations. She did it on purpose.’

I should have realized it when she started hanging around, blatantly scheming. I wish it were just a bluff, but considering her track record, Agnes might actually go to any lengths to retrieve that doll, even if it’s not certain whether it’s there or not.

‘Why did she suddenly become so obsessed with that?’

Icarus, who was cradling his head, tapped the desk lightly. As I stared at his fingers, wondering what his next question would be, he smirked briefly before erasing the smile.

“If you became the princess here, would you still want to go back?”

I lowered my hands from my head and looked at him. His questions weren’t difficult, but they were ones I didn’t want to answer. Under normal circumstances, I would never respond to such forced questions and answers.

“…My situation here has nothing to do with my desire to go back. My priority is Dietrich. I think about what’s best for her. And… wait a minute. You didn’t answer my question.”

“No, I did. I gave you other information instead.”

“What information? Oh, you mean the oath of the earth?”

Icarus nodded annoyingly, spinning a book on his finger. Watching his little trick, I asked my final question.

“I won’t force you to tell me Agnes’s plan since you’ve already sworn an oath. But, regardless of her plan, ‘in your opinion,’ if she really decided to go through with it, when do you think it would be?”

“While I have no intention of breaking my vow and revealing secrets, I can say this: if I were her, I’d wait for a time when there are a lot of people and things are chaotic. For example…”

He suddenly stopped speaking. For example? Even though I frowned and asked, he just smiled with that dimpled grin of his.

“I told you. When there are a lot of people and it’s chaotic.”

“You’re so devious.”

“Devious? We agreed to exchange one question for one answer.”

“Your shoulders are broad, but your heart is narrow…”

“That one really stings.”

After grumbling a few more times, he asked me his final question. He didn’t know it would be his last, but still. This time, it was a very simple question.

“How did you know I like you?”