My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me

***

Lelia was stunned at the sudden words.

She barely came to her senses and asked, “Well, what do you mean? So suddenly?”

Getting married to Kalix?

Then, Uncle Karius, who had been weeping all this time, wiped his eyes and said,

“I told my father. Said that you seem to like Kalix.”

“…”

“If that’s true, I was wondering if it would be better to marry Kalix. Of course, your opinion is the most important thing.”

Lelia was stunned, and she didn’t say anything. Kalix… He said that to her uncle? If Kalix was in front of her, she would have ripped his hair out right away.

“Yeah, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but even a young man named Griffith made things strange…”

“What about Griffith?” Lelia asked in surprise at the sudden appearance of his name.

Aunt Atias was surprised as well.

“Don’t you know yet?”

“What do you mean?”

It was Uncle Carius who gave her the answer.

“After you disappeared from the Imperial Palace, Griffith and Romeo were very fussy about looking for you. Then suddenly Griffith disappeared.”

“…”

“Then suddenly we heard some strange news. It was rumored that the saint Griffith recognized was you, Lelia.”

Lelia recalled conversations she had heard near the neutral zone. She paused for a moment when Griffith’s name came up, and now the saint seemed to be herself.

“Anyway, upon hearing the news, he said he was taking you to the temple right now and acting like you are doing well. It’s ridiculous how successful he was at it.” Uncle Carius replied with an angry expression even though he had been crying.

This was the issue in a nutshell. There are a lot of people here and there who are aiming for Lelia like beasts, so she’d rather get married sooner rather than later, and make an excuse to stay in the Superion territory. Therefore, the best marriage partner was Kalix.

Oscar and Griffith were eliminated early on, and Romeo was part of the imperial family, so there were a lot of uneasy things. If she gets married to the royal family, she might need to move there. From the point of view of her family, although he is an imperial prince, they thought that Kalix, who was living alone without any connections after severing ties with the imperial family, would be appropriate. He’ll let Lelia live comfortably in the Superion territory.

“Lelia, of course, this grandfather has no intention of forcing anything on you. However…”

“…”

“As a father who has lost his daughter once, I am afraid to send my granddaughter away.”

Lelia could not answer easily. Her grandfather patted Lelia on the shoulder, telling her to think slowly. After that, everyone left and she sat there alone. Her mind was complicated. The reason why her mother isn’t waking up, the great things Griffith has done, and Oscar who looked so sick. Everything was mixing together as she ruffled her hair. Lelia managed to get up and move on to her next step.

Whatever happens to her once she leaves, she has to go back to Oscar as she had asked Romeo earlier. Is he okay and not sick? Was he ill or injured? Just seeing him with her own two eyes seemed to make her heart more comfortable. She couldn’t afford it. Her worries about her mother were not enough for her to feel at ease. Lelia went to Romeo to get things done quickly.

“Romeo, lend me that as I had asked.”

“… Your complexion is pale… Have you eaten?”

Lelia shook her head. She didn’t even feel hungry. Romeo clicked his tongue and led her to have a meal first. After half-forcing her to eat, Lelia demanded the scroll again in her impatient voice.

“Hmm…”

Romeo stared at Lelia and narrowed his eyes.

“Is the real Oscar really that sick?”

“Yeah, he looked like he was going to die at any moment…”

“Kalix didn’t say anything like that.”

“Kalix didn’t seem to see him. He was carrying mother.”

“AHA…”

“Romeo, come on. Please, please… If something goes wrong with Oscar…”

“If?”

“… What?” Lelia replied with her puzzled expression.

Romeo blinked his eyes a couple of times. Then he asked, as if he were asking a carefree question, “What would you do if something goes wrong?”

“Well, what…”

Lelia was perplexed. Doesn’t even Romeo think of Oscar as a friend anymore? Because he kidnapped her? However… How could that be? She returned safely, and she had no resentment against Oscar for having been kidnapped. But when her friend, Romeo, spoke like that, she felt sad for nothing.

“Oscar… he’s our friend. Of course it can’t go wrong.”

Romeo frowned for a moment at her answer.

“Lelia, maybe you…”

“…”

“Do you love Oscar? Did that happen?”

Romeo’s expression looked a little angry. His questions sounded like how could that be? Lelia wrinkled her brow. He said love. The word was so direct and unfamiliar that something tickled in her stomach. And… She had never thought of it like that.

Of course, she likes Oscar. He was only a friend in her heart, but now she honestly doesn’t know. The medicinal effects had long since disappeared. She was clear about that. Still, looking at Oscar, there were times when something swelled up inside her. The tips of her skin rose and her throat tickled. Wouldn’t it be appropriate to express her feelings as a little bit beyond liking, and say that she is curious about her rationality? Since an unfamiliar feeling seemed to have just sprouted. Rationally, she thought that, but it was her heart that had barely acknowledged it.

“It’s not like that… But Oscar…”

“…Yes, I know. You two were special.”

“I’m worried. I’m afraid he will be in pain and alone like he was when he was young…”

Lelia murmured nervously, and Romeo nodded his head, as if he understood after being persuaded. Then he pulled out paper from his jacket and held it out. It was the magic scroll that Kalix used.

Romeo took a deep breath and slowly explained how to use it. After listening to his long explanation, Lelia returned to her room. There were two scrolls clasped in her hands. The other one was just in case she needed to come back. But she had no intention of taking advantage of it. She folded one of the sheets neatly into her sleeves.

If she finds Oscar, and knows that he’s okay… She was going to convince him. She will tell him to come with her. She was still afraid to admit it, but she planned to come back together after confessing. So, she held back on the other scroll. After they come back together through the rift created by Oscar, their relationship will be different from before. Finally, she remembered a conversation she had with Oscar. Oscar’s voice pierced her chest.

“…Go, I will send you away as you want.”

“Oscar, how could you…?”

“Go, get lost.”

It was a cold voice, but when she thought about it again, it was a plea.

Don’t leave me.

I want you to be by my side for the rest of my life, just as you promised when I was young.

It was obviously a plea. She didn’t understand his sincerity at that moment. Only now has that plea been heard.

“Anyway, you hate me. With those eyes…”

When she remembered his terrifying voice, bitterness and coldness caused her heart to ache. She said no, and yet she never imagined he would be so misunderstood. When she comes back here holding Oscar’s hand, she thought she would then have corrected the misunderstanding so that she would never again have such a misunderstanding. She was going to give him a tender hug, talk to him warmly, and say she would protect him like she did when she was a child. She won’t shy away from looking into those eyes, and she will tell him that his eyes were really beautiful.

Recalling how Romeo had told her how to use the scroll, she was about to tear up one of the scrolls. Thud! The door suddenly swung open with a sound.

“Kalix?”

It was Kalix who suddenly opened the door and entered. Kalix wrinkled his eyebrows and walked in as if angry. Then he took the scroll from Lelia’s hand.

“Kalix, what are you doing…?”

“What are you going to do with this?”

“…”

“Are you going back to Oscar? Are you crazy?”

“Kalix, I’ll explain.”

“You want to go back to that madman? To a guy who doesn’t mind saying he never thought of me as a friend?”

“… Kalix.”

Lelia took a deep breath. Now was not the time for her to be like this. Kalix, who was interrupting her in an urgent situation, was frustrated. Kalix looked at her expression for a moment and then clenched his fist. She could feel the force in his jaw, which was tightly constricted by him.

“Didn’t you have a desire to marry me?”

“… That…”

“Is it my mistake? Nonsense. How is that a mistake?”

Kalix grabbed Lelia’s shoulder with his large hands. As he got closer, a sense of intimidation came over her. His eyes brightening like a beast, Kalix leaned his head in and pushed his face closer. It was a completely different look than usual. Just before hunting, his eyes gleamed like a beast. It seemed as if his reasoning was not working.

“How could that be an illusion? You even did that to me.”

“…”

Lelia’s expression wrinkled with fear, and her eyes tightly closed. Kalix continued grabbing her by the shoulder for a moment and trembled, then lowered his hands. Then he mumbled a little sorry. When Lelia barely took a breath, Kalix spoke in a calmer voice, different from before.

“He never thought of me as a friend, but I did. I think of all of you as friends, even at the cost of my life.”

“…”

“So, I will give up.”

As always, Kalix’s words were difficult to understand. She explained to him several times clearly, but… Kalix was more stubborn than anyone else. That’s why it was really difficult to unravel his misunderstandings. It was like turning the world upside down. But this moment was even more difficult. This moment she has no idea what he was talking about.

She was still thinking about what to say when Kalix kindly added an explanation.

“Go and get that b*****d.”

“…”

“Can you marry me and marry him too?”

“…What is that?”

Lelia blinked her eyes. It was the strangest thing she had ever heard in her life. Kalix laughed at the bewildered woman and spoke.

“Strange? Even when I misunderstood that you were a man, I thought I was going to get married to you, but what did I know?”

“…”

“Hey, what’s wrong? Marrying two men, or two men marrying one woman. Isn’t all of it strange, too?”

“…”

“I don’t care, so let’s do it. Okay?”

***