How To End a Crush

ke off my bandages before the start of the next semester.”

Noah continued standing there in silence.
His eyes trembled slightly, laced with some complicated emotions.

I squeezed the bedsheet in my hand in the strangely suffocating atmosphere and only then did Noah turn away.

“… Get some rest.”

I wondered if it was my imagination that Noah’s face looked dark as I caught a glimpse of it through the gap of the closing door.

***

I was banned from going out for a week.

That didn’t matter, but the problem was that today was the last day of the week, and the day the market opened in town.

“Dad, pleeaase… Please?”

“I said no already.”

Processing his paperwork, my dad gave his absolute refusal.

Even though he always said I was the prettiest in the whole world, I still hated him for not letting me go.

“You don’t even have anyone to go with.”

“Why not?! There’s Rita!”

Catching my eyes, Rita shook her head slowly.
“I’ve already made plans to go with Lina…”

Are you really going to do this to me?

Dad continued speaking with a stern face.
“It’ll be crowded there, so you can’t go alone without a bodyguard.”

“Blegh.”

As I pouted my lips, a thought suddenly occurred to me, and I leaned on my dad’s desk with sparkling eyes.

“Then what about Noah? Can I go with him?”

Noah was an outsider, and he didn’t know there was a market.
I could take this opportunity to relieve the uncomfortable atmosphere between us and introduce the fief to him.

“It would be great to go with Sir Linus and Sir Aiden, too, right?”

It wouldn’t be awkward, so that would be really great.

I gathered my hands together, appealing to my dad’s good side.

“…”

Dipping his pen into ink, Dad let out a sigh.

“… Do as you will, then.”

“Really? Yay!”

“Don’t spend too much money.”

I stopped clapping my hands in glee, but then I started to tilt my head to the side.

That’s weird.
Did Dad find Noah likable? Or no, maybe it was Linus he so approved.

Humming a tune, I left my father’s office.

***

Noah seemed to like my father’s study, seeing how he spent most of his time there.

Knowing this, Dad also allowed him to use the study.

“Noah.”

As he was not in his room again today, I came looking for him in the study.

Setting the tea and cookies at a nearby table, I smiled.

“Have this before you finish.”

Noah, who’d been reading in his seat, looked rather taken aback.

“Thank you.
There wasn’t any need for you to bring those.”

It was something a maid usually did, after all.
But you see, I had something I needed to ask him today.

“Are you available right now?”

Seeing his face full of questions, I let my eyes wander as I explained diligently, “The thing is, there’s a market opening in town.
Oh, it’s nothing special, just selling stuff like food and knick-knacks.”

“I see.”

“Mm, but, what I mean is….”

I was only going to ask one thing, so why was I so nervous about it?

After faking a cough a couple of times, I opened my mouth.
“By any chance… Would you like to go with me?”

After I’d been bandaged up, I hadn’t had many chances to chat with Noah.
That was only because we hadn’t had any reason to meet each other recently, but during that time, it felt like we’d gotten more awkward with each other.
If we played together today, wouldn’t we be able to solve that?