GDTEA Chapter 107

Do You Dislike It? 

Sharti couldn’t lift her face throughout the entire breakfast.

With her head bowed, Sharti diligently scooped up the warm soup, then squeezed her eyes shut as memories from last night came flooding back.

‘I only had one sip of alcohol!’

She never imagined it would make her act so strange.

Because it was just one sip of alcohol, her memories from last night were crystal clear. She was utterly embarrassed by how she had grabbed Ren’s face, saying there were multiple Rens, giggling foolishly.

“Is your stomach bothering you?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. The soup is delicious…”

Sharti glanced at Ren, then unnecessarily stirred her soup with her spoon.

Ren’s attitude was matter-of-fact.

He showed no sign of being concerned about last night.

Perhaps because Tein was there, he didn’t mention ‘alcohol’ either.

‘I am Tein’s guardian and then got drunk and fell asleep…’

How could she face Vireta and Virena?

As soon as Sharti emptied her bowl, she put down her spoon with a determined expression and made a resolution.

‘From now on, I will never even look at alcohol.’

Taking yesterday’s incident as a lesson, she needed to keep her wits about her from now on.

“Are you done with everything you needed to do here?”

“Yeah. After we finish eating, I’m going to look for a carriage right away.”

Thanks to the Mondia gang, she’d been introduced to a pretty decent herb shop and earned enough travel expenses.

Unable to hide her pride, her lips curled into a smile, and Ren chuckled.

“Well, that herb shop owner might somehow find out which inn we’re staying at and come looking for us. He kept sparkling his eyes at you, Sha, as if he’d discovered a treasure.”

“It, it wasn’t that much.”

“Those guys yesterday and that herb shop owner too—they all recognize your skills and rate you highly, Sha. Isn’t it about time you acknowledged it?”

Ren, who had been cutting meat onto her side plate, wore an indifferent expression.

Sharti awkwardly avoided his gaze and fed the meat Ren had given her to Tein.

Tein, who received the meat like a baby bird, immediately offered his portion of meat to Sharti.

“Teacher is excellent.”

Sharti smiled softly at the cute pressure, as if telling her to eat this and acknowledge it.

Under the passionate gazes of the two males, Sharti shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“They weren’t objectively evaluating my skills. I don’t want to become arrogant over flattering words.”

The general store, the Mondia gang, and the herb shop owners all had a tendency to inflate their praise to win Sharti’s favor.

Having realized early on that she was a frog in a well, Sharti found it difficult to shake off her passive self-esteem.

“Are you willing to be evaluated?”

Ren also put his portion of meat onto Sharti’s side plate.

“If there’s an opportunity…”

Sharti trailed off, leaving an uncertain future open.

Not noticing the momentary eye contact between Ren and Tein.

What came to Sharti, who had eaten her fill since morning in preparation for the long journey, was the Mondia gang.

Although only a day had passed since they took the antidote, their complexion looked better than yesterday.

“We finally got a good night’s sleep!”

Saying they’d slept soundly for more than four hours for the first time in a while, Sharti had to receive their thanks again following yesterday.

“We heard you might be leaving today, so we looked around for a carriage heading east.”

“What?”

“You gave us that expensive antidote recipe for free, so we had to do at least this much.”

Since Sharti had sold the recipe at the herb shop they introduced, they could accurately gauge the value of the antidote recipe they received.

The medicines sold on the market were similarly priced, supposedly made directly by an Academy professor.

For a medicine too expensive for lower-class people to use, Sharti had given them the entire recipe—of course it was worth that much.

“Useful.”

“Amazing!”

As Ren and Tein each added a comment, Sharti also nodded awkwardly.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, we can leave early.”

“We made sure the price wouldn’t be burdensome either. Haha.”

The Mondia gang confidently guided Sharti.

Tein held hands with the Mondia gang members and followed behind Ren.

At that moment, one of the gang members handed Ren a heavy pouch.

“That sword was really expensive, brother. Thanks to it, we got more than expected. Check it.”

“Good work.”

“No need for a service fee.”

When Ren offered one of the coins from the pouch full of money, the other person waved his hand as if he had no regrets.

“But brother, are you sure it’s okay to sell that sword? The blacksmith said he’d never seen such a fine sword in his life.”

“…”

Ren looked at Sharti walking ahead.

Last night, when Sharti and Tein went to get books to read, Ren had asked the Mondia gang to dispose of a sword.

It was his sword that Sharti had mentioned before, the one she said was buried in the ground.

To be precise, it was the sword that had belonged to ‘him’ before he lost his memory.

“It’s a sword I don’t need.”

So he could give it away to others without hesitation.

What he needed now was money to use during their travels, rather than a sword for cutting people.

“If you don’t need it, then what about this?”

Ren looked at the sword the other person offered.

Unlike the sword Sharti had buried in the ground, it was a very cheap-looking, ordinary sword you could commonly see. Not to mention the tacky scabbard.

Ren received the lightweight sword and strapped it to his waist.

“I need a sword to wear as a threat, so something like this is better.”

After all, the combination of a child and a woman attracted a lot of trouble in various ways, so even with a large man like Ren attached, they were often disregarded.

At least with a sword strapped on, they’d be less involved in troublesome situations.

“Why, violence isn’t good?”

Repeating Tein’s words and giggling, Ren looked at the other person expressionlessly.

At the contemptuous gaze full of disdain, the other person immediately clasped his hands meekly.

“Well, yeah. Sha was quite startled because of you, brother. Of course, there are many women who like rugged-looking men like you, but Sha’s taste is different.”

“…”

“Someone with such a kind heart like Sha doesn’t suit guys like you or us.”

The brow of Ren, who had been ignoring and walking, furrowed deeply.

He glared at the other person with a terrifying face.

Being treated and lumped together with these gang members was beyond unpleasant—it was humiliating. Moreover, they were certain and assertive that they didn’t suit each other, which made his irritation surge.

“N-no, what I mean is, it’s not that you don’t suit her, brother, but there’s someone who suits her better, that’s what I mean.”

“What kind of guy suits Sha?”

Besides me?

The other person, not catching Ren’s unspoken words, rolled his eyes and answered vaguely.

“Well, someone of high status.”

“…”

“If a noble with money and power falls for someone as kind and good-hearted as Sha, imagine how much good they’d do to win her favor. Then people like us wouldn’t be screwed, right?”

“…Ha.”

Ren let out a cold laugh, dumbfounded.

Though he was spouting hopeful-sounding words, wasn’t he ultimately expecting a lot from Sharti?

Clicking his tongue, Ren decided to just ignore it.

After all, they were a gang he’d never see again after parting ways today.

But the more he mulled it over, the hotter his head became. A noble?

“Really? We can really go to the eastern shopping district in this carriage for this price?”

Sharti’s excited voice could be heard as she checked the carriage and negotiated with the coachman.

Tein had already climbed into the carriage and was constantly clapping his hands.

“Ren!”

Sharti waved her hand happily, calling him.

Ren raised the corners of his mouth following her smile, as clear as the weather, and muttered in a voice low enough for the other person to hear.

“Wake up from your dream.”

Leaving the flustered man behind, Ren walked toward Sharti.

The closer he got to Sharti, the more his chest churned with blazing jealousy.

“Ren, it’s bigger and much sturdier than any carriage we’ve ridden before. During the ride…”

Chu-.

“…!”

Sharti, who had frozen at Ren’s sudden action, stopped breathing at the soft sensation that touched her forehead and fell away.

Looking at her widened crimson eyes, Ren slowly smiled with satisfaction. The pitch-black jealousy that had been burning vanished in an instant.

Ren gestured to the dazed coachman.

“Can we depart now?”

“Oh, yes. Yes!”

At the embarrassing scene, the coachman hurriedly climbed onto the driver’s seat.

Ren ignored the dumbfounded Mondia gang and lifted Sharti up.

“R-Ren! We haven’t packed all our luggage yet…!”

Sharti, who had been lifted into the carriage by Ren, came to her senses belatedly and cried out.

Regardless, Ren closed the carriage door from outside.

“You heard, so move.”

As Ren gave the order with a calm face, the Mondia gang nodded inadvertently and scattered.

Then only the man who had been spouting nonsense to Ren remained, looking hesitant as he asked.

“Bro-brother, by any chance… do you… like Sha…?”

“If you noticed, you should know I’m putting up with this to win Sha’s favor.”

“U-understood!”

When Ren raised his clenched fist, the man hurriedly left to do his work, avoiding potential violence.

“Hmm.”

Ren, leaning against the carriage with his arms crossed, thought.

That ordering people around seemed to suit him quite well.

And inside the carriage, Tein, who had been staring at Sharti whose face was burning hot, tilted his head.

“Teacher.”

“Hmm? Huk, Tein! Th-that was, you see…!”

Sharti covered Tein’s eyes belatedly and then uncovered them, greatly flustered.

Thinking it was an awkward situation for a child to see, Sharti was about to calmly explain the meaning of the kiss when—

“Ren likes Teacher.”

“Wh-what?”

“But why does Ren always kiss the forehead?”

Tein looked at Sharti with innocent eyes and spoke clearly.

“In books, people who love each other kiss on the lips.”

“…!”

Tein, who had seen the protagonists kissing on the lips in fairy tale illustrations, wrinkled his nose.

At Tein’s disconcertingly innocent question, Sharti couldn’t even register the word ‘always’ and only trembled her lips.

“Ah!”

At that moment, Tein let out a small exclamation.

Tein’s eyes sparkled as if he’d figured out the reason.

“Do you have to ask before kissing on the lips?”

“…”

“Or does Teacher dislike lip kisses?”

It was an innocent question asked with bright, twinkling eyes.

In the end, an honest admission flowed from Sharti’s mouth.

“…No. Teacher likes it too.”

But this is a secret from Ren…

As Sharti added in a crawling voice, Tein raised his index finger, pressed it firmly to his lips, and nodded.

“I’m very good at keeping secrets!”

Sharti squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in her hands.

But Tein’s questions continued during the journey east.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Tein’s target wasn’t Sharti.

“Do you like forehead kisses, Ren?”

“It’s not my favorite.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“Because the forehead is the safest right now.”

Since they weren’t dating yet, the cheek or lips would be too much.

Tein, who couldn’t know this, kept tilting his head.

“…”

Sharti quietly glared at Ren at his shameless answer.

Ren pretended not to see and stroked the head of Tein sitting beside him.

“From next time, close your eyes.”

“Why should I do that?”

“Because I think your teacher might start disliking kisses otherwise.”

“…”

Sharti quietly sank in silence.

****

Inside the Emperor’s office in the Great Empire of Neweiton.

The Emperor pressed his forehead against the document in front of him.

[Body of presumed Leodelt Gwendhill found dead from fall.

Will be handed over once verification process by the House of Gwendhill direct lineage is completed.]

“Darhan Bridend…”

He was a man whose ambition to bring down the House of Gwendhill was at least impressive.

The Emperor swallowed a groan and looked at the sky, which was particularly clear today.

All that remained now was the official announcement once the Emperor’s permission was given.