DED 39

Chapter 39

After finishing dinner, Bartholomew didn’t come to see Lucy for a while.

Lucy felt a strange emptiness.

“Well, I guess he doesn’t need to come every day.”

Because Bartholomew had visited so often before, the times he wasn’t around felt hollow.

Even as she thought that, Lucy couldn’t help but worry about him.

It was because of his strangely changed aura.

Bartholomew had always been calm, but when she met him after some time, he seemed even more subdued, almost dark.

Lucy wanted to know what was troubling him, but Bartholomew didn’t open up to her.

It wasn’t right to force someone to reveal their innermost thoughts.

Especially if they were a friend.

She had to know how to wait until he spoke first.

“Come to think of it, Bartholomew has always been like that.”

Lucy recalled her first meeting with him.

He was an incredibly handsome man, but exuded a gloomy atmosphere.

A man with a sense of caution that made him hard to approach.

“But lately, I feel he’s changed a lot.”

The expressionless Bartholomew sometimes laughed at Lucy’s jokes, and sometimes his face softened while petting Cerberus.

Watching his changes from the side often gave her a sense of satisfaction.

“I thought we finally became friends.”

Being friends didn’t mean she had to share everything, but Lucy felt a wall had formed again, like when they first met.

Thinking that way, she felt a twinge of disappointment.

When would he fully open his heart to her, she wondered.

As she continued her melancholy thoughts, Lucy paused.

“Why do I feel that Bartholomew has to open his heart to me?”

She recalled her initial feelings when approaching Bartholomew.

He was someone who allowed her to act and speak freely, regardless of stats.

At first, it felt like getting a cheat key in the game, and she thought she needed him.

She had also wanted to uncover the secret of him taking the place of the original male lead, Alexander.

For all of this, she needed to become close to Bartholomew.

But as she spent more time with him, her initial reasons and goals gradually faded.

She built up her stats so she could clear the game even without Bartholomew.

Instead of conversations aimed at uncovering his secrets, they shared trivial everyday life.

And gradually, she enjoyed watching Bartholomew change.

Because of her, of all people.

Perhaps that was why she wanted to see his new side even more.

And she believed that this desire came not from using him, but from genuinely wanting to be his friend.

“Right. That’s why I feel disappointed.”

Lucy defined her feelings like that.

The disappointment came from friendship.

If he wanted to keep his distance, she shouldn’t force him.

Thinking that, Lucy got off the carriage.

Today was the day she was supposed to meet Alexander.

“I guess that’s why I’ve been thinking about Bartholomew more today.”

She couldn’t separate thoughts of Alexander and Bartholomew.

She needed to find out what kind of relationship the two had, and what secrets they held.

Alexander was a variable in this game.

He wasn’t in the place he was supposed to be, and appeared at a time he shouldn’t have.

Lucy was very curious about Alexander.

“I’ve created the opportunity to meet him, now I have to seize the chance to learn about him.”

Determined internally, Lucy stopped by a bookstore before heading to the meeting place.

She had arrived early again, this time to look for a special book.

To increase Alexander’s favorability, she needed a special book to get closer to him.

The first bookstore didn’t have anything suitable.

But at the second one, she found an appropriate book and could head to the café in time.

This time, Alexander had arrived first.

He was wearing his hood again.

But Lucy, now used to his appearance, immediately recognized him.

If anything, the hood made him seem even more suspicious.

“Good afternoon.”

Lucy greeted him as she sat across from him.

Only then did Alexander remove his hood.

“Glad to see you again.”

“Likewise.”

Alexander, with a faint smile, looked at the book in Lucy’s hands.

His eyebrows raised.

“That’s quite curious.”

“What is?”

“You always seem to have the books I want to read.”

Though Lucy had deliberately bought it for him, she shrugged.

“It seems we really have the same taste in books.”

She said this to turn the contrived coincidence into a meaningful connection.

“What book did you bring?”

Lucy glanced at the book Alexander had brought.

It was an ordinary book, not glowing with purple light.

Alexander held it up.

“Last time, you were curious about Cerberus, weren’t you? This book describes the power of darkness.”

The power of darkness.

Lucy’s eyes sparkled.

Seeing her so eager to receive it, Alexander smiled.

The system window notified her again that Alexander’s favorability had changed, though the window was full of errors.

“I don’t feel like his favorability has dropped.”

It seemed her passionate interest in the book had piqued Alexander’s curiosity.

“It’s a very rare book.”

“Would you like to exchange it for the rare book I brought?”

Lucy asked, slightly puzzled by his hesitation.

“This book isn’t available in bookstores. There’s only one copy in the empire.”

Hearing that, Lucy wanted the book even more.

Her instinct told her it would play an important role in progressing the game and reaching the ending.

“So I can’t just lend it to you.”

“What do you want then?”

Lucy asked directly.

“It’s simple. Just have a meal with me.”

“A meal?”

“What do you think it means to have tea and a meal together at a café?”

Lucy’s eyes widened.

What could it mean?

A relationship of eating and drinking tea.

She tilted her head.

“Does that mean we’re friends now?”

At Lucy’s answer, Alexander raised his eyebrows.

Then he let out a small laugh.

“I see. A friendship it is, then.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes.

Alexander was teasing her, but she couldn’t tell how.

“While we drink tea and eat, you should be able to finish reading this book.”

Instead of taking the book, Alexander demanded she read it there.

“Fine, give me the book quickly.”

Lucy handed him the book she bought, receiving in return the empire’s only copy.

She focused on the book, occasionally casting glances at Alexander to ask questions.

“Do you always spend your time reading alone?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you have any siblings or friends to spend time with?”

“No.”

Alexander said firmly.

Lucy realized his answer matched Bartholomew’s.

“To be honest,”

Lucy felt the need to probe further.

“I’m curious about you. The feeling of a nobleman isn’t hidden, yet you spend time like a loafer, which doesn’t feel like a family heir at all.”

She looked up at Alexander.

“You’ve seen correctly. I am a lazy nobleman.”

“May I ask your family name?”

“Being lazy is one thing, but I cannot tarnish my family name.”

Alexander didn’t seem willing to answer.

A lazy nobleman.

Alexander, who would later inherit the Faraday family.

Did he not know he would become the heir?

“No, rather than that…”

It seemed likely he was lying.

As Lucy’s suspicion of him grew…

“Cough, cough!”

Alexander suddenly coughed.

Lucy was startled and checked his complexion.

“Are you alright?”

He covered his mouth with a handkerchief, turned his head, and coughed several more times.

Then he removed the handkerchief and tucked it back into his clothes.

Lucy saw clearly.

Bright red blood on the handkerchief.

“Alexander is sick too?”

In the game, he had been healthy.

Only now did Lucy realize his complexion was somewhat pale.

“I apologize for this, but I must leave first today.”

Alexander stood up.

He took the book from Lucy and hurriedly left.

Watching his back as he put his hood back on and walked away, Lucy thought:

Bartholomew is sick, and Alexander is sick.

What exactly is the relationship between these two?

Lucy couldn’t find an answer.