The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 285 Mercenary Owen (13) - What's sweet to the mouth is bitter in the future (E/N: Some idiom I guess) "...Ah." "O...phe...lia..." "...Ophelia!" "Eh? Yes! Ugh!!" Ophelia, who startled awake at someone calling her name, groaned from the terrible pain in her knee that had hit the desk. She crouched and gasped for breath, but only briefly. When she carefully raised her head, she saw a woman looking down at her with a face mixing bewilderment and concern. Pink hair and eyes reminiscent of a single flower. A dress mixing red and black. While admiring that most noble and dignified appearance in the world, Ophelia turned pale as she recalled what disgraceful behavior she had just displayed and bowed her head. "So-so-so-sor-sorry!!" Ophelia felt like she was going insane with shame and self-reproach. No, of all people, to show such disgraceful dozing off in front of Lady Kuella!! "Sigh, it's fine. You've had quite a lot of work lately, so it's not strange that fatigue has built up. More importantly, is your leg okay? There was quite a loud sound." "I'm fine! There's no problem at all!!" Even if it had been a fracture rather than a simple bruise, Ophelia would have given the same answer. Just the fact that beloved Lady Kuella was worrying about her made dopamine surge so much that she forgot the pain. Lady Kuella's suggestion to go home and rest was merciful beyond measure, revealing her magnanimity, but Ophelia could not forgive herself for acting spoiled in response. When she declined with several grateful bows, Lady Kuella returned to her seat and continued her paperwork, and Ophelia also looked around to assess the situation. In the splendid and elegant office that reflected its owner's dignity, only the presence of Kuella and Ophelia existed. This was the result of obtaining the position of Kuella's direct personal secretary. 'It truly was a difficult time.' There were far too many people vying for the position as the great Lady Kuella's right hand, and the required qualifications were extremely high. Ophelia too would surely have failed to overcome the trials without desperate effort and luck following her, hmm? '...Specifically, what trials did I overcome?' She felt her memory was somehow slightly hazy, but dismissing it as being due to not fully shaking off drowsiness, Ophelia brushed away her stray thoughts. Having already made the mistake of dozing off once, she couldn't waste time spacing out again. Separate from carefully reviewing the documents on the desk, Ophelia did not forget her other role. Confirming that Kuella's teacup was empty, she quickly summoned spirits and gave them commands. Water with pure qualities suitable for tea, created by a water spirit, was placed in the teapot, a fire spirit heated it, and a wind spirit prevented the tea set from being damaged while properly mixing the tea leaves. When the teacup was filled with the special spirit tea, Kuella gracefully smiled and expressed her gratitude. "Thank you, Ophelia. Having such an excellent talent like you by my side is great fortune for me." "You give me too much credit!" The corners of Ophelia's mouth twitched upward. The joy of having one's abilities recognized by someone she revered was truly indescribable. After the day's work was finished. As Ophelia tried to return home, several bureaucrats glanced at her as they passed by. Recognizing the looks of envy and jealousy in their eyes, Ophelia felt even more pleased with herself. Why would she dislike it? Those reactions were proof of how valuable what she had obtained truly was. Just as she was about to exit through the front gate of the government building, a gatekeeper employee stopped her. "Lady Ophelia. A letter has arrived for you." "A letter?" Taking the letter from the gatekeeper, Ophelia checked the envelope's seal and snorted. A hydrangea dropping water droplets from its petals. It was the crest used by the Hydrain Family. Without even using a letter opener and casually taking out the contents, she found various miscellaneous words written in quite an earnest style. Stripping away the formalities and summarizing, it could be interpreted as 'You seem to be doing well these days, so please help us.' "Since I completely ignored the ones sent to my house, now they've apparently sent one directly to my workplace." How must it feel for those who cursed the Empire daily to ask for help from their daughter who works in Kuella's territory, which is close to the core of that very Empire? Feeling secretly gratified, Ophelia summoned a fire spirit and burned the letter on the spot. "From now on, if letters with the same seal arrive, it's fine to ignore or discard them all. They're just begging letters." "Understood." After leaving a light greeting with the gatekeeper, Ophelia walked leisurely down the street. The cityscape was far more developed, cleaner, and more vibrant than her hometown. Feeling proud that she was contributing to creating and maintaining such a city, she walked for some time. She entered an estate that was neither large enough to feel ostentatious nor small enough to seem shabby, perfectly matching Ophelia's taste. The spirits tending the garden greeted her with delighted giggles, and the fragrant grass scent brought peace to her mind and body. Opening the front door and entering the house, Ophelia sighed when she saw a man lying on the living room sofa, snoring away. "I told you to wash properly and sleep in your room when you sleep! What are you doing not even changing your clothes?!" "Ugh..." When she angrily slapped his shoulder with her palm, Owen, who had been sprawled out, groggily sat up. "That's too much. A person just finished difficult work and was barely getting some rest." "Who said not to rest? I'm saying to do what you need to do and then rest." "Even in the army, officers who talk like that are usually the most difficult ones." Owen continued grumbling, but eventually couldn't overcome Ophelia's nagging and moved to wash himself. While he washed, Ophelia also briefly cleaned herself and then focused on cooking, and before long, the two faced each other at the dining table. Owen took a spoonful of the stew she made and let out an exclamation of "Mmm." Ophelia chuckled softly. "How is it that you always react the same way whenever you eat hot soup?" "Just being hot won't do. It has to be hot and delicious to get this reaction. It's only because it's your cooking that I react like this. Nothing else would work." As if proving that his praise about the taste wasn't empty words, Owen heartily devoured all the dishes on the table. From the cook's perspective, it was a very pleasant sight to see. "Have you gotten used to the guard work?" "It's peaceful compared to mercenary work. Not as rigid or suffocating as I expected." "See? You did well to follow my advice, didn't you?" "Yeah, yeah. I'm living well thanks to my wise wife." "There you go again, speaking in that sarcastic way." "I'm just stating facts as facts. Is there a problem with that?" "Whatever, just eat your food." Saying that while pushing dishes toward Owen, Ophelia's expression was quite bright. "What about you? How does it feel to work under Lady Kuella as you wished?" "Pure happiness. There couldn't possibly exist a more excellent Feudal Lord than her in this world." "Hmm. Is that so?" "She's never lacking, kind to her subordinates, yet strict with enemies, and skilled in all fields—the word 'perfect' exists for her." "My goodness." The more Ophelia talked about Lady Kuella, the more Owen showed a strangely displeased expression. Then he grabbed Ophelia's wrist as she was about to start cleaning up and pulled her strongly toward him. "Eek!" Suddenly finding herself in Owen's embrace, Ophelia looked up at his face. "Why, why are you doing this?" "I can't stand you always going 'Lady Kuella, Lady Kuella' like that. I need to remind you who your husband is." At his eyes full of jealousy, completely different from his usual cheeky atmosphere, Ophelia unconsciously gulped. Her face naturally flushed, and something thrilling crawled up her spine. They say that in love, the one who falls first loses. Then how much more certain proof of victory is love that borders on obsession? "Don't even think about sleeping tonight." As Owen's face slowly approached, Ophelia squeezed her eyes shut— ＃∃♭♭♯⇔〒∀◯♭!!!! She opened her eyes at someone's anguished cry in spirit language that even felt pitiful. *** "Oh, you've finally come to your senses." Tap, tap. At the sensation of light tapping on her cheek, Ophelia blinked dazedly. Normally she would have squawked at Owen's rude behavior, but right now she didn't have the presence of mind for that. Toward her confusion about what situation this was, Owen, who was quite disheveled and covered with wounds all over his body, gestured with his chin behind him. Looking in that direction, she could see a large butterfly with blue wings sprawled on the ground. "That thing was the culprit." Owen's explanation was as follows. The 'Dream Spirit' sprawled over there was the very culprit behind the phenomenon of 'falling asleep means death' that had spread throughout this area. Being a creature that didn't hesitate to use its power against civilians, it attacked Owen and Ophelia without hesitation even after the stakes disappeared and the rampage phenomenon ended, and particularly noticing Ophelia's high spirit contractor aptitude, it tried to make her its host. "I also dozed off briefly but woke up right away, but it seems like the type that shows dreams using the unconscious desires its target harbors, then strips away the will to wake up and traps them. Well, I've beaten it up and neutralized it now, so don't worry. ...Are you listening? Hey? Hey!" Owen muttered "Should I beat up that spirit some more?" but Ophelia couldn't respond. She just thought blankly. Unconscious desires? That dream? Working under Lady Kuella? That could be. Satisfying resentment and vengeance toward her family? That could be. Yes, all of that could be. But. "Just being hot won't do. It has to be hot and delicious to get this reaction. It's only because it's your cooking that I react like this. Nothing else would work." "Yeah, yeah. I'm living well thanks to my wise wife." "I can't stand you always going 'Lady Kuella, Lady Kuella' like that. I need to remind you who your husband is." "Don't even think about sleeping tonight." So, that was, my, unconscious, eh? "─Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!"