The Latest Game Is Too Amazing

Chapter 47.5 - Tea Party (5)

Alexia opens and closes her mouth a few times as she stares at Roseline, but Roseline just gives her a mischievous smile. Although Alexias mind has gone blank, her face is bright red.

Bullseye, huh. Hm? Did you think I hadnt noticed? Roseline says, laughing with an expression which is unbecoming of a princess. Alexia nods.

Yes, that is what I thought. Irene, did you also notice?!

I noticed a long time ago. After all, as soon as you learned that Chaos was coming to this tea party, you said you wanted to learn the proper way to make tea and spent half of the day practicing yesterday. It would be unthinkable to put in that much effort for a person you didnt care for, she says, taking the opportunity to express her complaints to her master after spending half a day as her practice partner continuously drinking tea to the point that just looking at tea makes her feel an urge to vomit.

Alexias despair deepens. The servant then mercilessly presents her master with even more despair.

By the way, Havoc and the others who were here have also noticed.

Well, if you act that way towards Chaos in front of everyone, theyd have to be quite oblivious not to notice.

Oh dear, Alexia groans with tears in her eyes and her face in her hands, as if her soul is about to leave her body from sheer embarrassment.

Relax. Chaos is definitely oblivious.

I have mixed feelings about that, Alexia says, lifting her head slightly.

Its embarrassing for other people to know her true feelings, so shes glad that the target of her affections hasnt noticed them. Even so, she cant really be happy about it if he didnt notice even when she was so obvious about it that even those around them noticed. It almost makes her wonder if he doesnt care about her.

Im sure you know this, but you have a thorny path ahead of you.

Chaos, a foreign commoner, and Alexia, a noble, are incompatible. Unlike before, she is called a saint and he is called a hero, but even now, this relationship hasnt changed much.

Even if Chaos became a Commune noble, its doubtful that the Weichsel Empire will let their saint, Alexia, go. And even if Chaos became a Weichsel noble, a new noble wouldnt have the pedigree to marry a girl from a distinguished noble family.

To begin with, he himself has insisted that he doesnt want to be a noble, so the two of them getting married is just a pipe dream.

At one point, I had nearly given up due to our difference in status.

 She despaired when her father confronted her with the reality that shes not in a position to be able to freely fall in love. She wept, thinking that she would never see her teacher again. She joined this war thinking that, even if she couldnt be by his side, she could at least bring peace to the country that he had traveled to.

Then, they reunited.

And then, she realized. No, it would be more accurate to say that she remembered.

Even so, I still love him, Alexia says, smiling with a troubled expression. Even though she had closed her heart so that she would never love anyone ever again, the moment he embraced her, she couldnt stop her emotions from overflowing.

If she could reason with her emotions that easily, she wouldnt be swayed by these emotions which she can neither suppress nor do anything about. Just as Roseline says, having feelings for him will be a thorny path, and the chances that there will be any reward at the end of it are low.

But even so

Its much less painful than when she was in despair. If anything, she even feels euphoria.

So, I cannot give up.

Even if the distance between them is large, if she takes one step at a time, no matter how slow, shell reach him someday. She has much more hope than back then, when she had given up on everything and closed herself off. Just thinking about it makes Alexia happy.

I see, so thats how it is. It seems that my meddling was unnecessary, Roseline says, touched by Alexias declaration of love for Chaos, her face turning slightly red.

No, even I think I was pretty clumsy.

They both smile bitterly.

Itll be difficult, wont it? I dont even know how he feels about me. Perhaps he doesnt think about me at all, Alexia says, expressing worries common to a girl in love.

I can assure you that thats not the case, Roseline says, immediately denying her concerns. When we received the report of Weichsels invasion, your name came up. When he heard, Chaos was so distraught that I didnt see him again for some time. It must have taken him a while to get back on his feet.

He- he did?

In other words, thats just how important you are to him. Thats good news for you.

Alexias cheeks turn red.

But thinking about it in a different way, it also shows how sensitive he is and how easily his heart breaks.

Chaos could never become ruthless. The fact that he was unable to abandon Roseline and Alexia is what led to him intervening in a war between foreign countries.

Roseline is worried that if he continues on like this and tries to shoulder all the burden himself, itll eventually cause his own ruin.

Hes not the brave hero everyone says he is. Hes not some perfect hero.

Now that his achievements have become far too outstanding, the image of Chaos the hero has taken on a life of its own and eclipsed his true self, and it will surely affect him. But at this point, its impossible to undo it.

If you love him and wish to walk alongside him, please, support him.

Roseline also wants to help Chaos, the one who saved her, but there are limits to what she can do in their current positions. Therefore, having even one more person who understands Chaos is vital. Even if Alexia is a noble from another country, since she knows Chaos well and admires him, Roseline hopes that shell be able to support him.

Rest assured, Your Highness. I will always be on Teachers side.

Thats reassuring to hear, Roseline says, letting out a sigh of relief at Alexias honest answer.

Youre quite concerned about Teacher, arent you, Your Highness?

Ever since I left Clermont, hes always been helping me. If it werent for him, I probably wouldnt be here right now. So I want to do all I can.

To tell you the truth, I was worried. You and Teacher were, um, quite close. To the point that I was jealous, as disrespectful as that may be. I envied you, Your Highness.

For a moment, Roseline is dumbfounded by Alexias words. Then, she bursts into laughter.

I see, so thats how you felt! Its true that hes the only man Im close to whos around my age. I suppose its only natural that you would be worried.

Then, as if shes just thought of something, a mischievous smile appears on Roselines face.

Theres nothing for you to worry about. Chaos and I couldnt have that sort of relationship. It would require even stricter conditions than you, Lady Alexia. But if I had to say, I would be more wary of Cornelia and Emilia. As far as I can tell, theyre only friends and neither of them seem to have any romantic feelings towards him, but mishaps can happen if you arent careful, Roseline says, teasing Alexia. Watching in amusement as Alexia becomes flustered, Roseline is the very image of a girl having fun with girls talk.

Jealous, huh? But I

Just as Alexia feared, Chaoss position in Commune is precarious. What Roseline revealed was only a part of it.

Granting Chaos a title isnt only because the nobles want to strengthen their own factions by having him join their faction. The Allied Commune doesnt exactly have friendly relations with the Weichsel Empire. Even if Weichsel has offered to help wipe out the vampires, they cant completely let their guards down against a country that has already pointed its blade towards them once.

If the two countries go to war again, Alexias existence will become a huge threat. With her skills which were strong enough to infiltrate all the way to where Princess Roseline was and defeat the guards without killing them all on her own, she made a strong impression on the soldiers who were guarding the palace. Even if shes called a saint, shes a noble of the Weichsel Empire. Theres no telling when shell turn hostile towards them once more.

Since Roseline had a real conversation with her, shes confident that Alexia wont turn hostile, but Roseline can only say that because shes spoken to Alexia directly, so that only applies to her personally.

If Alexia did turn hostile, Commune wouldnt have the military strength to oppose her. However, there is a single person in Commune who has fought her off. It was Chaos, a foreigner. His existence is their trump card against the Weichsel Empire.

Then, the situation suddenly changed when Viktor tried to recruit Chaos. It became known to those around him that his stay in Commune would only be temporary and that he may leave Commune any day now.

Because of this, some nobles are plotting to keep Chaos in Commune by any means necessary and definitively claim him as their own, like collaring a wild beast.

Roseline was irritated, but their actions arent wrong from the perspective of the countrys best interest. And here are some points she can agree with them on.

Roseline doesnt trust the Weichsel Empire. Or rather, she doesnt trust the emperor, Viktor. She doesnt have any definitive grounds for this, as its only based on her intuition.

The initial apology and returning the territory to improve relations between their countries does make it appear as if Viktor is sincere in his diplomacy with Commune. However, she cant shake the thought that hes plotting something behind the scenes.

She cant let her guard down. Therefore, she cant let Chaos go. At least, until she knows exactly what the Weichsel Empire is up to.

Roseline knows she has to correct this situation.

It is inadvisable to rely entirely on a single person who is not one of her citizens. Although they dont stand out among the many who consider him to be a hero, there are bound to be those who shun him and consider him dangerous. The more influence he gains in Commune, the more he will be seen as dangerous.

If that happens, she hopes shell be able to settle things peacefully, but on the off chance that some influential hard-liners who looked down on Chaos ended up hurting him, she would be devastated. That could actually make Alexia their enemy.

Alexias influence is unimaginably large. If things go poorly, then it would be an all-out war with the Weichsel Empire whos backing her. Then, the tragedy would repeat itself.

What would be ideal to Roseline is to gradually break free from their reliance on Chaos, get the country back on its feet, and eventually free him from this country.

She couldnt possibly tell them that.

Roseline has become depressed at having to take advantage of her friend, caught between her country and their friendship.

Compared to her, Alexia is pure. Can she even think of anyone more honest than that? To Roseline, Alexias purity seemed dazzlingly bright.

Im the one whos jealous of you, Alexia, Roseline mutters to herself as she drinks her cold tea.