Dalia came to her senses in surprise.
“Why, why is he?”
“……I’m not sure. You’re the main character here, so he’s probably coming to greet you.”
‘I guess so?’
Dalia blankly stared at Lewayne Blueport that was walking to her. He will probably greet Dalia and immediately go to Adrisha.
He stopped in front of Dalia.
His eyes, which she saw up close, felt somehow blank and unfocused.
The blue eyes stared into the air for a moment, then looked at Dalia again. He spoke in a hoarse voice.
“…… Nice to meet you, Miss Dalia Pesteros. My mother wants me to greet you.”
“Ah, yes……. Nice to meet you.”
“Miss Dalia Pesteros is already……18 years old. I really wanted to meet you.”
He said so without a single expression, in a stiff tone like a machine.
Dalia was thrown into confusion.
‘Was Lewayne originally a character like this?’
Saying this to someone he had never seen before? Besides, she didn’t think it was like this blank and blurry feeling?
“This is my gift. Since it’s your birthday. The gift from my mother was left separately to the servant.”
In addition, Lewayne tore open the pouch next to the sword at his waist and handed it to Dalia.
Dalia was in shock.
Impolite aside, she can’t believe that he, who is always formal and elegant, would do something like this.
When she glanced at Cedric, he didn’t even look surprised. Rather, he looked at Lewayne pathetically with an expression of wanting to see what else he would do.
‘The image of Lewayne that I know…….’
“Please open it.”
“Ah, yes.”
Dalia opened the pouch.
And she squinted for a moment in the brilliant golden light. It seems to have been properly illuminated by the chandelier.
Dalia took out the object from the pouch and checked it. A square plate presumed to be pure gold……Dozens of the same things were in the pouch.
“……This is?”
“It is the gold coins from the old Principality of Ishtar.”
There was a gentle stir among the people.
The Principality of Ishtar was a country that collapsed two centuries ago, and its high-quality culture is still unrivaled. The principality’s relics were priceless among collectors.
‘Dozens of gold coins from such a country…….’
Dalia stared blankly into the pouch.
People’s eyes were already on her.
“This time, I found it inside the sunken ship that the Kraken was holding. I cleaned it well to give it to you.”
“Th, thank you.”
Dalia looked at Lewayne in surprise. And she asked in a voice that gradually grew smaller.
“But why……this to me……?”
It almost sounded like mosquitoes at the end.
But Lewayne managed to understand everything. He still looked at Dalia with hazy eyes.
“Because…….Miss Dalia is my……”
“Lewayne?”
Then, Hikan appeared from behind Dalia’s shoulder.
He looked a little bewildered when he saw the inside of the pouch Dalia was holding.
“Why are you giving this to Dalia?”
“……Ah, Hikan.”
Lewayne looked back at Hikan with dull eyes. Judging from the way they spoke, they seemed to be quite friendly.
Dalia looked at the two alternately with rabbit eyes.
‘Did they know each other?’
No, it can’t be!
The two were completely different from each other in the original work.
Mad villain soaked in madness and a knight walking on the right path. It would be strange if the two knew each other.
Dalia looked at Hikan with an expression seeking for explanation.
Hikan said nonchalantly.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce you. Dalia, this is Lewayne. When I was young and went to a local estate, we met by chance. Now that I think about it, I don’t know why he was there.”
Hikan glanced at Lewayne and said.
Lewayne shrugged instead, as if he didn’t have the energy to answer. Instead, he spoke slowly.
“You were over there earlier.”
“Oh, my partner and someone got into a fight. It’s all right now.”
‘What? Adrisha?’
Dalia looked back in a hurry.
Adrisha had already left the balcony and was reporting something to the person presumed to be an imperial knight.
Then, seeing Dalia, she smiled brightly as if she was glad to see her.
‘……Hmm?’
Dalia tilted her head in confusion. And her eyes met with Lewayne, who was still looking straight at her.
He held out his hand to Dalia.
It wasn’t until a while later that Dalia understood that it meant that he wanted to kiss the back of her hand.
She awkwardly held out her hand, and he kissed it briefly.
Now that she looked at it, he was a man with an alluring atmosphere because of his long eyelashes. He was looking at Dalia’s hand for a long time even though his lips were no longer kissing it.
“It’s a beautiful ring.”
“Oh.”
She was wondering what he was looking at, and it was the ring that the Emperor gave Dalia. He looked at it very seriously, and said, pursing his lips.
“Miss Dalia Pesteros, I……”
At that time, an attendant hurriedly ran to him.
“Your Excellency the Duke, His Majesty is calling for you.”
“……Ah.”
Lewayne blinked slowly in response.
He nodded insincerely to others, then turned and strode away.
Dalia stared blankly at his back.
‘He’s so different from what I expected?’
Did Dalia hurt her head without her knowledge?
Hikan muttered quietly after Lewayne had completely left.
“He’s still talking to himself.”
“What?”
“As soon as he first saw me, he asked how I was, that Lewayne.”
Hikan sighed as Dalia remained dumbfounded.
“That’s why I wasn’t happy for him to come to the capital. That’s right, I have something to ask you now. Dalia, did the previous Duchess of Blueport ever introduce you two when you were young?”
“…….”
But Dalia had no such memory. There’s no way she wouldn’t know if she met him.
After getting the answer from Dalia’s expression, Hikan’s expression became more complicated.
“How does brother know him? Le……Duke Blueport?”
* * *
Hikan gave a brief account of how they met.
It was during the time when he was in the midst of wandering around after being driven out to the local estate. The time when he burned his hatred towards the whole world.
At that time, Lewayne, who should have been at the Blueport Dukedom, unexpectedly came to the local estate where Hikan was for a vacation.
He forcibly took Hikan, who was stuck in the corner of the room, out to bask in the sun. He persevered despite being beaten several times by him.
And then, sitting in the field, young Lewayne looked at Hikan and said…….
“How’s your sister?”
“What are you talking about? Do you mean Dalia Pesteros?”
“Oh…… that’s her name…….”
Lewayne repeated, ‘Dalia’, ‘Dalia’ with a dazed expression.
“It’s a pretty name. Dalia is my favorite flower.”
“…….”
“That must be why her name is Dalia.”
“Your bullshit is very creative.”
Hikan glanced at her and dropped the subject.
‘Both dogs and cows are all looking at my sister.’
He thought so inside, but he had a pride not to spit it out loud.
Besides, blabbering about Dalia is his favorite flower and so on, isn’t that excessive bullshitting?
However, Lewayne’s expression was so serious that it was hard to believe that he was a young boy. He hung out with Hikan for a few days, then left, telling him not to hate his sister too much.
He wanted to ask about what he knew, but he had already left.
Looking back, wouldn’t it be because he had that memory that he still had humanity?
Hikan recalled his past memories like that.
* * *
Hearing the story, Dalia thought.
‘……I don’t know any more.’
Lewayne’s identity was increasingly chaotic.
In the first place, there was no Dalia in the original work. But how does Lewayne speak as if he knows her well?
“Lewayne has always been weird. The previous Duchess of Blueport must have had a hard time because he committed all kinds of eccentricities.”
Cedric added an explanation from the side.
Dalia’s mind became complicated.
As far as she knows, the main characters all move according to the original work.
But it was different with Lewayne. As if he is a completely different person from the original work…….
“Dalia.”
Cedric quietly called her.
Only then Dalia looked at him in surprise. Both Hikan and Cedric looked at her with great concern.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind. Is it because the gift is burdensome?”
“Yes, you better get some rest.”
Dalia nodded. Then she sat on a random chair against the wall and started sipping on the apple juice Cedric gave her.
Hikan was called somewhere again and disappeared.
“……Dalia.”
Cedric called, standing beside her with his arms crossed.
When Dalia raised her head, he secretly lowered himself and whispered.
“Are you concerned about Lewayne?”
“…….”
Dalia nodded slightly. Then Cedric looked sullen.
“More than me?”
Translator Note: What is that sour smell? Did I smell jealousy?? ･ω･) huehuehue
++I started to read ‘Regressor Instruction Manual’ & ‘The Greatest Estate Developer’…and I must say…how did I not know this before?? The art? The humor? I really recommend this!! I read the manhwa and now I’m reading the novel…
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