Translator: Krrizis

Editors: Nahct & Wafflez

「Cecil-kun」

Having made the mistake of carelessly falling asleep and being watched over lovingly (?) by His Highness as well as receiving the lukewarm gazes of the knights, I returned to the room that I shared with Cecil-kun.

There, I found Cecil-kun seated at the desk, running through some papers with his brush. Without entering Cecil-kun’s side, I called out to him. I didn’t know if Cecil-kun had noticed that I’d returned since he didn’t give a response and simply remained silent, wrestling with his work

It was obvious even to the naked eye that he hated me. 

In response to this method of rejection, ignoring my existence, I hardened my face and stood on the boundary line. Yet, Cecil-kun continued to ignore me, which felt a little like I was being snubbed. 

「Cecil-kun」

Again, he didn’t respond when I called out to him. So, after making up my mind, I called him out on it. 

「I know that Cecil-kun considers me an eye-sore. I also know that you hate me」

Frankly, I felt that he was being unreasonable, disliking me to such an extent. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that he finds my mere existence unpleasant.

The movement of the brush, which Cecil-kun was using — as he continued to ignore me — stopped. So he had heard me even though he didn’t respond back. 

「However, please properly talk to me when we’re working. I know you find me sickening, but I can’t accept that you despise and ignore me when you don’t even know my character」

Caldina-san was on Cecil-kun’s side and not mine ….. Or rather, she probably knows about Cecil-kun’s past and was, therefore, his ally. Cecil-kun being Cecil-kun, finds me detestable. That won’t change.

The fact that I’d unconsciously hurt him was implicitly pointed out to me by Caldina-san. Vaguely, I understood the reason. To him, I was an intolerable woman. 

After thinking and worrying about this, I came to a conclusion ….. I will confront him directly. It’s not like I’m being timid. My excuse is that my emotional stability is due to my body and soul not being in harmony. 

If he knows me well enough and still dislikes me, then I’m resigned to the result. It would be useless to even struggle at that point.

However, Cecil-kun doesn’t know anything about me. And even if he does, it’s just a surface level understanding. And arbitrarily hating, resenting, and treating me like an enemy — that felt unreasonable. It was too one-sided. I could not agree with it.

If I’m to be hated, then he should at least know everything about me. If he still hates me after that, then I’ll be fine with it. However, I refuse to be hated when we haven’t even discussed or come to a mutual understanding with one another.

Slowly, Cecil-kun looked languidly in my direction. Faced his usual gaze, I stared directly at him. 

「You don’t know anything about me, please don’t hate me when you arbitrarily decided to do so on your own」

「….. You don’t know anything about me either」

「I don’t despise you. We’re both at fault for not getting acquainted with each other. If we hate each other without even making the effort to understand one another, then we’ll never be able to come to an agreement」

Truthfully, I rarely disliked people. With the exception of two people, that is. 

「If I’ve hurt you, then I apologise. However, I won’t ever say I hate someone when I don’t understand anything about them. Even if this is just my willfulness, I dislike being judged by my appearance. I don’t know how or to what extent you despise me, but at the very least, please tell me the reason for it」

a.s.serting myself in a firm manner, Cecil-kun made an obvious grimace and clicked his tongue. Even being shown that particular childishness, I firmly stared at him without changing my att.i.tude.

The look I received from Cecil-kun was bone chilling; when I watched him intently as he looked away before ….. *Bang*, Cecil-kun knocked the desk and stood up. *Splash* Even as the ink bottle broke and the contents spilled out, Cecil-kun paid it no heed and glowered at me. 

His mouth opened slightly. Then, biting on his lips vexingly, he pushed me aside from where I stood next to the boundary line and exited the room. Falling on my rear, I was also immature and let out a sigh.

「….. It would be good if it was just like a kids squabble」

I can say with certainty that Cecil-kun has a very mature way of thinking. Though his form of outbursts are childlike, overall, he was maturely considerate. I wonder if he has never felt inferior about his abilities compared to adults? ….. Hence why, he probably hates me. 

It’ll be good if he could properly talk to me tomorrow — I muttered to myself, burying my face into my knees. 

「Liz-chan, what did you do to Cecil-kun?」

The next day as I walked into the laboratory, Caldina-san called out to me in an anxious voice. Ah, when I woke up this morning, Cecil-kun seems to have properly returned to the room and was also awake. He even greeted me good morning, albeit still in an unreasonably bad mood, which was made apparent by the clicking of his tongue — it wasn’t cute. 

「Yesterday, I indirectly picked a fight with him」

「…… Hold on–」

「He can dislike me after he knows everything about me」 

Because I knew Caldina-san would stick up for Cecil-kun, I went ahead and said it. 

「However, when I requested him to tell me what he disliked about me, he left. I can fix it if it’s within my capabilities」

「It’s often said to the person himself. Ah well, Cecil-kun isn’t the sort to just frankly speak his true feelings, ya know~? 」

「I suppose. But it’s unreasonable to not even say the reason to me and hate me. How unpleasant. If all of this is just because of my abilities, then that repugnance leaves me with mixed feelings」

Being resented just because a person has abilities would make the world an incredibly difficult place to live in. This seems common no matter where in the world one is. Well, I wouldn’t know much about it, but I have been involved in an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt and kidnapping before. However, Father has been silencing these through various means.

It’s not like I’d wished to be born with these powers. I use them because I have it and there are people who find that disagreeable. Why am I being blamed for not concealing it? Despite understanding it this far, it worries me a little.

「Until we can amicably come to terms with each other, I will keep at it. I want to get along with him」

「Haha~ In that case, good luck, Liz-chan~」

Upon hearing that I wanted to get along with him, Caldina-san grinned and laughed, giving her support. Although Caldina-san was Cecil-kun’s ally, it seems that becoming a friend was alright by her. She must be worried about Cecil-kun being all alone. 

Yosh, steeling myself to give it my best shot, I lightly fist pumped. Seeing that, Caldina-san grabbed and buried me within her arms as she rubbed her cheeks against mine. The fact that she seemed rather lonely was a completely different matter.