"Good morning…."
I couldn't help but reply to Richard's awkward greeting in this way.
It wasn't simply because I had ill feelings toward Richard.
Of course, it was true that I was glad I wouldn't have to see Richard for the next year, but that was just because he was the main lead in
As a reader of the original work, objectively evaluating the character Richard Erthuwen in the novel, he was not merely a good man, but a guy with no angular character enough to think it was okay to be friends.
In other words, he was a Hogu*.
Richard generally complied with the requests of those he was friendly with. This applied not only to the protagonist Elena but literally to all the characters who could be called 'friends' with Richard Erthuwen.
Because of this, there was an episode where a magic tool that Richard had lent to an acquaintance became the cause of a certain anomaly and Elena solved it.
After everything was over, the person in charge of the Mage Tower revealed that the magic tool was an artifact that was strictly managed even in the Tower of Twilight and that Richard transferred it without any formalities under the authority of the tower master.
Looking at this alone, this might seem like the action of a character that causes trouble, but Richard could also be seen as a double-edged friend who lends an unlimited number of magical tools and fulfills numerous requests without any conditions, including what Elena needed.
It could be argued that Richard's actions were due to his romantic interest in Elena, but considering the incident mentioned above, it was hard to deny that he had a tendency to be a pushover.
That was why Richard was one of the people whom I thought it was okay to be friends with at the academy when I thought about breaking off my engagement with Elena.
Well, since I ended up getting engaged to Elena, now he was just one of the targets to be wary of.
Unlike yesterday, just seeing Richard's face didn't make me unhappy. The fact that Elena wasn't here right now might be a big deal, but because of the morning's training, my mind was clear and I was under the firm control of emotions.
That meant I could talk to Richard like I would with anyone else, but unfortunately, we couldn't speak to each other after exchanging greetings a few moments ago.
Richard didn't look as good as he did when I first saw him, perhaps due to the pain of disappointment.
The neat appearance he had yesterday had disappeared overnight, with his hair sticking out in all directions as if he hadn't slept properly, dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were red and congested.
However, the awkwardness between us wasn't simply due to Richard's miserable appearance.
The first time I saw Richard, he looked like a madman.
At least, he didn't look like a sane person as he ran with a bizarre face that didn't know if he was crying or laughing while humming an exciting melody.
Richard himself was aware of how it must have looked to others, so he was unable to speak out so easily. But I didn't dare speak to him either because I didn't want to embarrass him in front of others.
If it were yesterday, I wouldn't have cared about what Richard did or said. But now, my mind was controlled by reason rather than emotion, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had caused Richard to look like this.
I didn't feel any more sympathy for him, but for some reason, Richard's current appearance reminded me of myself after I left the girl I used to draw with. So I couldn't treat him harshly either.
I would have preferred if he had just ignored me and walked by when our eyes met, rather than talking to me for no reason.
Now, I was stuck in an unwanted staring contest and conversation.
Fortunately, Richard opened his mouth before my sweat had dried up. When it was hard to put on, Richard looked at the sword placed in front of me and said, trying to hide his trembling voice.
"Ah, you've been training since morning. It looks like you train like that normally."
"Since my family is like that. Come to think of it, weren't you coming out of the Mage Tower as well? You're truly passionate about learning."
"Hahaha. It's not like that."
Richard's face began to brighten up as I casually mentioned the incident earlier, which I thought would be uncomfortable. As he began to speak more freely, it seemed that he was no longer uncomfortable with me.
I guess I do have a good knack for getting along with people.
Still, he was the fiancé of the one he liked, but Richard seemed to have no hesitation in treating me more than I thought. I don't know if I've completely cleared my mind or if I'm trying to do that.
Still, Richard seemed to be more comfortable with me than I had expected, considering that I was Elena's fiancée. I didn't know if he had completely sorted out his feelings or was just trying hard to do so.
Well, whatever his intention, it was definitely easier for me to interact with him than before.
By the time the awkwardness between each other completely disappeared, we had to end the conversation. Because Ken was coming towards us from far away to take me to breakfast.
It seemed that more time has passed than I had expected. I was sweating, so if I didn't hurry now, I might not arrive on time.
When Richard saw Ken approaching me, he apologized and said
"Oops, I think I was holding onto you too long."
"No. It was a good time for me too."
Considering that I had a conversation with the next master of Tower of Twilight, rather than a candidate for the male lead in the original work, it was a valuable time.
I said a brief goodbye to Richard and turned to where Ken was. We parted without any further words.
As I walked towards my room to change clothes, I thought back on my conversation with Richard.
Our conversation was about our respective families, the Krause, and the Erthuwens.
There wasn't much else to talk about, besides Elena, as we had only just met. But he never brought up the topic of her during our conversation. He seemed to deliberately avoid talking about her.
After all, it wasn't a suitable topic to bring up in front of me, her fiancée.
I couldn't believe that Richard had completely let go of his feelings for Elena.
If he could let go of his long-held affection for her in such a short time, could he really have loved her?
Nevertheless, I felt a bit disappointed that he didn't talk about her.
It was a difficult subject for Richard, but maybe I had wanted him to talk about her during our conversation.
I would have surely been jealous in the past and disliked hearing about it from someone else, but I wonder what had changed in my feelings.
I quietly laughed as I recalled the words she said to me last night in the garden.
***
"Damian Kraus."
Richard muttered the name of the man disappearing before his eyes.
Kraus's name was well known to Richard as he had heard it a lot since childhood.
Since he was one of the main characters in heroic stories well-known on the continent, most people who were born and raised in the empire probably know about him.
The legend of the hero who defeated the evil dragon ignited the hearts of many young boys. Although Richard was a child who enjoyed reading books, he never really had the desire to become a knight like the hero in the epic. Nevertheless, the epic was one of the storybooks he had read many times as a child.
However, now the name Kraus was not just a name attached to a hero in an epic for Richard.
When his eyes met Damian for the first time, Richard was full of desire to shoot a magic missile at his head right away.
The reason he had run out of the house vanished, and he began to feel ashamed of himself for what he had just done.
He didn't want to show such an unsavory side of himself to anyone, especially not to someone who was engaged to Elena. If Damian had mentioned Richard's behavior, Richard's spirit would have collapsed.
Richard wanted to leave immediately, but it was too late. If he left now, he didn't know what Damian would think of him, and he didn't want his actions to affect Elena. Fortunately, Damian did not mention Richard's behavior and accepted his words smoothly.
That alone made Richard feel like the sun rising over Damian's head was like a halo, signifying a saint.
"He didn't seem like a bad person."
Although Richard was still young, he had enough insight to distinguish between good and evil.
Therefore, this was not because he didn't expose his flaws.
The conversation with Damian was not long, but it was not short either.
Although they had only met for less than a day, it felt like he had known him for a long time. The atmosphere was different from when they met at the banquet hall yesterday, but talking to him still felt strangely comforting.
As he watched Damian leave with his butler, Richard suddenly looked at his own arm.
"Is he a little taller than me? My arm…hmm…"
Richard compared his forearm to Damian's forearm in his memory. It was not that Richard's body was weak. The higher the rank, the higher the mana made the wizard's body in the best state.
In particular, Richard's body, which had reached the 5th rank, was not inferior to that of a strong man who had trained for a long time. But even so, compared to Damian, the heir to one of the leading military families in the empire, his body seemed lacking somewhere.
It was strange to compare the bodies of Richard, who always read books standing in the library, and Damian, who continued to train like today, but even though he knew this fact, Richard could not erase the deep feeling of defeat in his heart.
"I should have chosen a sword instead of magic."
Richard shook his head with a self-pitying expression.
Had he not yet been able to let go of his attachment?
Surely, there must be some deeper reason for her choosing Damien over him. Something essential that he himself couldn't sense.
But that didn't necessarily make him feel bad.
Jealousy…
He was jealous, but he couldn't help it. It was because he hadn't completely abandoned his lingering feelings yet.
Even so, Richard himself didn't know what effect his conversation with Damian had had, but at least he seemed to feel more at ease than having been meaninglessly reading a book all morning.
With his mind finally released, Richard sat still in his seat. He had stayed up all night, not even sleeping, and even ran around like a madman, so his body was tired. He no longer had the strength to keep his drooping eyelids open. Eventually, Richard released the thin thread of consciousness he had been holding onto.
Both his jealousy and attachment were buried in his subconscious.
A faint smile appeared on Richard's face as he closed his eyes.