Chapter 53: Return victorious
Roger Dickens’ sudden request came so unexpectedly that I lost the ability to speak for a moment.
His words, calm and spoken with such a serious expression on his face, as if he were discussing something completely normal, echoed in my mind, causing sincere bewilderment.
After all, how could such an important and symbolic gesture be made by some woman he barely knew? It was just nonsense.
In other words, it seemed to me that Roger had clearly overheated in the carriage on the way here. Otherwise, I simply couldn’t understand how something like that could have even crossed his mind!
"Ahem, Sir Roger," despite the fact that I was clearly flustered at that moment, I tried to respond as neutrally as possible, "I think you’ve clearly made this request to the wrong person..."
"I understand your surprise," Roger said calmly, "but the truth is, I really don’t have any other female acquaintances to talk to except you.All my friends have already received a similar symbol. So I don’t want to be the only one left out."
So what? Am I supposed to feel sorry for him after those words?
I frowned.
"Sir Roger, if you are truly well-informed about this tradition, then you must also know that such a gesture cannot be made by a mere acquaintance. Since when can I do something like that?"
Nevertheless, Roger seriously objected to me:
"Lady Weinstein, it’s just a gesture. I don’t mean anything more by it. So you don’t need to worry about it."
"Even if you think so, what about the others? Haven’t you thought about what people will say when they find out?"
"Lady Weinstein, I promise I won’t reveal your identity to anyone."
In the end, all I could do was take a deep breath.
No matter what arguments I used to dissuade Roger from this strange idea, the guy seemed to have already found a justification for everything. So it seemed to me that I couldn’t just change his mind. In that case, it seemed that all I could do was politely refuse.
Either way, it was clearly a gesture I wasn’t ready to make. It was too much responsibility for me. Besides, in the future, Angela would have to tie Roger’s scarf herself, and I wasn’t going to interfere and do it for her.
However, just as I was about to tell him I refused...
(Okay, I agree.)
(I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.)
As luck would have it, at the most crucial moment, that stupid system window popped up again, leaving me no chance to back out. In the end, it was already obvious what choice the game had forced me to make.
"Okay, I agree."
I felt very tired after saying those words. After all, I was just tired of getting upset about it.
"Really?" Roger asked excitedly.
"Yes... If you ask me so nicely, I can’t refuse you. I hope it really brings you luck."
When I said these words with a forced smile on my face, all I could do was curse this damn game and all the developers involved in it. No, really. What kind of manipulation of human feelings and decisions is this? It was a real scam!
However, all these angry thoughts were only in my mind at that moment. Meanwhile, my face continued to wear the same unnatural smile that I was forced to make due to the game’s influence.
Nevertheless, Roger, as it seemed to me, did not notice this strange semblance of a smile on my face at all, and as a result, he was genuinely touched by my words.
"I... I am so grateful that you accepted my offer," he said warmly. "I promise that if you leave me your handkerchief, I will not disappoint you and will do everything possible to ensure the victory of our empire."
Ha... Well, I already know that victory will be on our side anyway. After all, this damn game was set in this damn empire. Oh well.
"Sir Roger, I will wholeheartedly root for your victory."
"Yes... Thank you."
At that moment, Roger picked up and handed me his sword, which he had apparently prepared in advance and brought here. Oh, why do I have to deal with this headache?
In the end, I had to tie my ill-fated scarf to Roger’s sword.
Which, by the way, also suddenly appeared in the front pocket of my clothes. Although I didn’t remember taking it with me at all... Don’t tell me the game arranged that too?
Well, I took another deep breath and did it anyway. Now my scarf was neatly tied to the hilt of Roger’s sword, and I could only hope that no one would find out that I had actually done it. In any case, Roger didn’t seem like the type to blab about such things.
After Roger took his sword back and looked at the scarf, he thanked me again, looking embarrassed. Well, I hoped that was really the end of it.
However, at that moment, I accidentally noticed Roger’s strange gaze, which was directed somewhere behind me. Following his gaze and turning around, I noticed that Ruby had been standing nearby all this time, watching us. Oh, how long has she been here?
"Ruby!"
Of course, when I saw my niece, I immediately went over to her.
"Ruby, what are you doing here?" I was a little surprised to see Ruby here at this time of day.
However, the strange expression on the girl’s face, which had been there before, changed in a matter of seconds, and she said:
"Auntie, you promised you’d play with me this afternoon. That’s why I was waiting for you!"
Oh, so Ruby had been waiting for me all this time? If so, I felt a little guilty for making her wait so long. But in the end, it really wasn’t my fault. It was all because of that damn game!
"Okay, then we can go right now," I smiled. "Um, Ruby, maybe you’d like to say goodbye to Uncle Roger too?"
"Uncle Roger?" she asked.
"Yes. He’s leaving very soon and won’t be visiting us for quite some time. So if you want to say goodbye to him, you can do that."
In fact, Ruby and Roger weren’t particularly close, which was to be expected, since she was the main villain of the game and he was her love interest.
Nevertheless, over the past three years, we had crossed paths quite often, and Ruby also sometimes saw Roger when he came to visit us. So even if they weren’t close, they still knew each other. So I thought Ruby might want to say goodbye to him too.
However, Ruby reacted to my words a little strangely. Soon she smiled and shook her head.
"No, if Auntie has already said goodbye to him, that will be enough."
"Oh... Are you sure?"
"Yes. So, Auntie, let’s go play!"
Ruby was already pulling me by the hand, and I couldn’t resist her. In the end, I smiled and agreed.
"Okay, let’s go."
Finally, after shouting something like a farewell to Roger, Ruby and I left. At that moment, I couldn’t see the expression on Roger’s face as he watched us leave.
***
When Roger Dickens returned to his carriage, his servant asked him:
"Sir, are you back already?"
"Yes, we can go."
After Roger gave his cold order, it was hard to imagine that just a moment ago this man could have had such a gentle expression on his face. However, after the carriage set off and some time had passed, the previous rather gentle and unusual expression reappeared on his face.
This was because at that moment, Roger glanced at Lady Weinstein’s handkerchief, which she had previously tied to his sword. Looking at it now, the young man experienced inexplicable and rather exciting feelings.
In fact, he had been experiencing this strange feeling ever since his first encounter with this woman. Their chance meeting in the middle of the street turned out to be truly fateful. And right now, Roger realized this more than ever.
Nevertheless, one circumstance still cast a shadow over it.
It was Lady Weinstein’s niece, who was just as unsettling to him. Just as he had begun to experience these strange but pleasant feelings when he met Grace, he also experienced inexplicable emotions towards her niece. But these emotions could hardly be called positive. Rather, it was the opposite.
In the end, after unconsciously thinking deeply about it, Roger finally decided to shake these dark thoughts out of his head. After all, first and foremost, he had to focus on the upcoming war, the first in his life, in which he was about to participate.
Roger gripped the sword in his hand more tightly, and his gaze became deep and filled with conflicting emotions again.
"Lady Weinstein, have no doubt. Thanks to the luck you have bestowed upon me, I will surely win this war!"
Right now, Roger was filled with anticipation and was already looking forward to the moment when he could return to Grace with victory.