I Start with a Bad Hand!

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’ll eat.”

Agnes, with soot smeared on her face, asked as she bit into a sausage. I handed her a handkerchief I had kept in my pocket.

Today’s hike was conducted without Irene. Agnes and I had something to ‘secretly’ collect from the mountain, and Irene’s interest in the management of Baron Degoph’s territory was another reason.

“They paved the ground with magic stones?”

“Yes. Once they pile up, they’re nearly impossible to handle… It was a long-term project for my parents.”

The small tour of Heylem’s town showed no snow on the ground.

‘That’s fortunate. We’ll be wandering around the mountain looking for that thing. It would be difficult to explain if someone asked what we’re looking for.’

After hours of searching, we miraculously found a small bloom of ‘it.’ I hadn’t anticipated Klaus joining us, but with his help, we achieved our goal and lit a campfire, grilling sausages, cheese, and bread.

Despite the hardship and fatigue, my appetite was gone, and I didn’t even want to touch the sausages we had so eagerly prepared. Even by the warm fire, I felt my nerves fraying.

I hadn’t slept a wink all night.

“Is something wrong?”

Klaus asked, concern etched on his face. He too had soot on his face, but I didn’t bother handing him a handkerchief. The sight was endearing.

“I guess I was too excited that you all came, and I couldn’t sleep.”

“Seriously? You lost sleep over that?”

Agnes mumbled, scooping a spoonful of sauce from a jar. The silver spoon glinted in the sunlight. Silver…

‘Hah…’

“…Greetings to the young lord of Elexion.”

I couldn’t hide my reluctance. Seated with a proper demeanor, Evan received the greeting with a mere nod. Cedric, beside him, didn’t even nod, just acknowledged with a glance. Seeing them drained my energy.

‘With Baron and Baroness Degoph here, I don’t need to stay.’

“…It’s late, so I’ll head up first. Please enjoy your stay.”

At that moment, I felt Cedric’s gaze linger on me. His eyes stayed on my ankles for an uncomfortably long time before he clicked his tongue and looked away.

“I thought your appearance was shabby only at the academy, but it seems no different in your own territory.”

The baron should pay more attention to his heir. With that, Cedric sipped his tea. His words caused everyone except Cedric to visibly stiffen. The hall fell silent, so quiet you could hear the wind outside.

‘…What?’

What nonsense is this?

Most bewildering of all was me. Why was he commenting on my appearance…? I halted as I started up the stairs, turning back to glare at him.

The baron, trying to smooth things over, gave a soft laugh.

“We apologize for not taking better care of Dietrich. Please, young lord, don’t be concerned—”

“Concerned?”

Now a blatant sneer.

“Do you think I am concerned for Lady Degoph?”

At those words, I turned fully around at the landing.

“Why does the young lord care about my appearance?”

“Years go by, and your manners don’t improve either.”

Cedric’s words, spoken without even turning around, were enough to twist my insides. The only reason I didn’t respond was because of the baron. He gave me a quick look, not one of anger or criticism, but one that seemed to say, “Don’t worry, go on up,” trying to reassure me. Despite being the one insulted, he was trying to comfort me. Grinding my teeth, I had no choice but to retreat to my room.

‘I should’ve left him to freeze outside.’

Even lying in bed, my mind was entirely on the events in the hall. Why were they here in Heylem? Why, at this hour, were they sitting and having tea? The more I thought about it, the less I could sleep. My irritation kept flaring up.

‘Who comes all this way just to criticize?’

I spent the night seething with anger, unable to sleep. As soon as dawn broke, I left my room. The first thing I saw was the butler transporting breakfast on a cart.

‘Who eats in their room?’

Thinking Agnes might have requested it due to discomfort, I approached the butler with a smile and asked,

“Who’s having breakfast in their room? Is someone uncomfortable eating in the dining room?”

The butler, looking uncomfortable, lowered his voice,

“The young lord prefers not to be seen here…”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity. The butler, hiding his embarrassment, continued pushing the cart.

‘So, he’s staying for breakfast too?’

Offering breakfast to someone who had almost frozen in the snow wasn’t against my principles. It would have been unkind not to. But some people were so detestable that even the sight of them eating a few pieces of bread or sipping soup was intolerable.

The faces of the Baron and Baroness Degoph, whom I saw in the morning, were free of worry or concern. But that didn’t mean they were unaffected by Cedric’s remark about my appearance. Watching the cart disappear, I muttered to myself,

‘That brat…’

Even though I had never considered myself influenced by Confucian values, the behaviors of these nobles often brought such thoughts to mind unexpectedly.

After that, Cedric didn’t show his face around the castle, but while I was out in the territory for some fresh air, I kept catching glimpses of two figures in robes.

‘What… why are they still hanging around here?’

Even on the path leading to the base of the mountain, the two were standing, deep in conversation. Were they planning to stay in Heylem again today? With my appetite gone, I handed the sausage Klaus had given me back onto the grill.

“…You were right.”

“Huh? About what?”

Agnes, chewing on cheese that squeaked with every bite, stuck a piece of bread onto a skewer.

“I was looking forward to a break from academy people, but seeing them here isn’t pleasant.”

“Who? Besides Logan, who else?”

Klaus, who had been quietly warming his hands by the fire, frowned at her question.

“…Logan? Logan Usher is here?”

“Yeah. He wasn’t even invited but still came. Apparently, he used to come often before entering the academy.”

Agnes replied quickly to Klaus, who seemed to have forgotten about formalities.

Klaus didn’t make any remarks, possibly because it was just the three of us and such trivialities didn’t matter.

“…What an inconsiderate guy.”

With soot smeared on his face, Klaus muttered with no real threat in his voice. I handed him a piece of bread that Agnes had skewered.

“It’s fine. Um… Before he came to the academy, I mean, long before, until I had an accident that injured my leg, I quite liked him.”

It didn’t work out, though. As I paused, the crackling of the campfire filled the silence, the atmosphere turning somber. The sound of Agnes chewing on cheese slowed to a measured tempo.

“Why did you like him?”

Agnes asked, managing to ask the question after swallowing the cheese she had been carefully chewing.

“Because he comforted me when I was crying.”

Logan Usher: I want to cherish you forever.

Logan Usher: So don’t cry. (Kisses)

I recalled Logan’s hollow promises and added briefly. Agnes, still munching on her cheese, asked curiously.

“So, would you still like someone who comforts you now?”

“No, I won’t fall for those scam artists anymore.”

“…Are you saying everyone who comforts someone crying is a scam artist now?”

“I believe anyone who tries to comfort someone they barely know has an ulterior motive.”

Agnes scoffed at my cynical response. After that, we sat in silence for a while, until Agnes, quietly chewing on her bread, spoke up again.

“But it’s normal to feel that way at that age.”

“What?”

Even though she was the same age as me, Agnes spoke with a tone of understanding. It was a bit funny, and I laughed as I looked back at her. Agnes continued, heating the skewer with bread over the fire.

“Back then, you were about fourteen or fifteen, right? It’s normal to fall for someone like Logan at that age. Right?”

Agnes suddenly sought Klaus’s agreement. Klaus, caught off guard, nodded, though he looked like he didn’t fully agree.

The time we spent lightly enjoying snacks turned into a session of sharing embarrassing life experiences, almost as if to make my confession seem like nothing.

‘Should I appreciate this or not?’

“I even had a crush on a somewhat famous pirate back then. The wanted poster made him look so cool. Now I realize he was just a walking corpse, but at the time… I told my relatives that my dream was to become a pirate’s wife, and my grandmother cried…”

Listening to Agnes’s story, I couldn’t tell if the warmth in my chest was from gratitude for the friendship or from the embarrassing tales raising my body temperature. Agnes continued to talk, oblivious to my thoughts.

The story ended with Agnes explaining how she saw the real-life pirate being hanged, which put her off completely. She said it made her heart cold, but all I got from the story was a confirmation that this world wasn’t great for a teenager’s emotional well-being.

The atmosphere grew more solemn after Agnes’s story. Breaking the silence, Klaus spoke up.

“I don’t have any stories about liking someone, but… I do have an embarrassing incident.”

Hearing this from Klaus, who seemed to have lived a straight and unblemished life since birth, made Agnes and me exchange glances. Klaus hesitated a bit but then seemed to decide to go ahead and tell us.

“When I was very young, I secretly drank some wine. It was just some sweet fruit wine, but I drank until my belly was all swollen. When my sister found me, I couldn’t even hold my belly and was just lying there.”

“That’s kind of cute.”

Agnes, the former aspiring pirate’s wife, grumbled. Klaus’s face grew serious.

“But we had a puppy in our family at the time. It really liked me. It would always come to me first, wherever I was. That puppy had followed my sister that day…”

And so continued a story that, if recorded, would likely have a detrimental impact on Klaus’s character and dignity. Initially, Agnes listened with interest, but soon she began uttering “Oh my god…” and eventually let out a high-pitched scream.

I managed to hold on until Klaus described the moment he tried to clean up the mess. At that point, I dropped the poker I was holding.

Why… why is he saying this? Why is he talking about such things?

“That’s enough, Klaus…”

“Yes, what you’ve shared so far is more than enough…”

Despite our attempts to stop him, Klaus, now red up to his neck, steadfastly continued his tale. The reason this uncomfortable situation persisted was clear: Klaus seemed to feel it was his duty to share something equally embarrassing after hearing our stories.

“…So my sister scolded me terribly. My parents did too. I never drank again.”

Clap… clap…

Agnes, with a dazed expression, started clapping for Klaus. I, too, found myself clapping in a trance-like state. It was the least we could do for Klaus after such a monumental confession. However, a thought crept into my mind.

‘So, liking Logan is as embarrassing as declaring a desire to be a pirate’s wife or Klaus’s… incident.’

The previously solemn atmosphere now turned awkward. Trying to shift the focus, I began to cover the campfire with snow to put it out.

“Let’s head back. The locals say there might be a blizzard by evening.”

Agnes looked at me with wide eyes.

“The snowstorm from last night wasn’t it?”

“That was just snow. When a blizzard hits, no one can leave or enter this territory. No one.”

I looked up at the sky, which was now beginning to cloud over. Yes, no one would be able to leave.

“Ahhh…, ahhhhhh!”

And that evening ended with a blood-curdling scream.

From the flowerbed below the room where Irene was staying.