Living Up to Your Expectations - Chapter 34

“W-wait, where are you going!”

The voice belonged to Lady Beth, who remained firmly holding onto the large Akrum stone.

Since she couldn’t move her hands, she seemed to be trying to at least follow the situation with her eyes alone. She frantically turned her head, tracking the spirits with her gaze.

But the spirits would fade away the moment they moved away from her.

The spirits could only manifest their “forms” within a very limited range around someone touching the “Akrum stone.”

The spirits disappeared from view as they moved away from Lady Beth. But they hadn’t completely vanished, they still existed.

Which meant, at that speed, were they currently colliding with my body? It didn’t hurt, though.

When I glanced at His Highness Lucius standing beside me—oh my, hehe.

Perhaps having noticed the flow of spirits, his mouth was slightly agape, his eyes wide open. Gone was his usual intelligence and composed smile – the expression he wore as he looked at me was that of a surprised boy.

This was the first time I’d seen such an unguarded expression on his face.

I nearly chuckled right then and there, just at that moment.

“Wait!”

A piercing voice echoed through the air.

Lady Beth cried out while stretching one hand into the air. At the end of her gaze was a single small spirit floating gently.

Lady Beth’s hand touched the spirit’s foot. The next instant, the spirit’s movement stopped completely.

…I see.

So while touching the Akrum stone, one can also “interfere” with spirits. This is a very interesting discovery.

However, her hand was wrapped in desperation and obsession, clearly conveying her frantic desire to forcibly hold the spirit back.

Her fingertips trembled slightly, like the final resistance of someone about to lose something precious.

“W-what…!? Let me go!”

The voice belonged to the spirit.

It was as light as the clear ringing of a bell, as refreshing as wind chimes swaying in a breeze, but within the tone, there was a faint mix of anger and confusion.

The small spirit desperately shook its body and struggled, trying to break free, but Lady Beth’s hand firmly refused to release its foot.

“Where are you going? If you don’t stay right here with me, I’ll be in trouble!”

Her hand tightly gripped the spirit’s foot, and her clinging voice betrayed uncontrollable anxiety and obsession.

But within that grasp, the spirit turned its face away with a huff and said:

“Stop it! Let me go! I want to go to that girl!”

Lady Beth’s eyes wavered for an instant. But she asked back with a voice mixed with irritation and confusion.

“…That girl? Who do you mean?”

A small finger stretched out straight. I stared intently at where it pointed.

—Oh my, oh my.

The finger was undoubtedly pointing at me.

“I want to go to the Princess!”

Lady Beth’s shoulders trembled as if she’d gasped for air.

If I heard correctly, yes, she called me Princess.

As she stood frozen in place, speechless, another spirit beside her began tapping Lady Beth’s hand with a light, fluttering sound like tiny wingbeats.

“Release Noru!”

The spirit’s voice was high and clear, like wind rustling transparent glass, but within its resonance lay definite anger.

“Hey, what’s this ‘Princess’ about? I’m the Spirit Princess!”

Lady Beth’s voice resembled a scream, trembling with anguish. The air grew tense with her desperate insistence on her own legitimacy.

That’s when it happened.

“You? Who said such a thing?”

The spirit’s quiet yet sharp question, keen as an ice blade, cut deeply into Lady Beth’s heart.

“The Spirit Ministry people! Because spirits were around me, and they asked if I had any candy!”

The moment Lady Beth desperately refuted, the spirit chuckled.

“Hmm, you happened to have candy, didn’t you? Isn’t that just spirits happening to be nearby and happening to be drawn to your candy?”

The words were so nonchalant they were instead cruel.

“J-just happened…?”

The strength drained from Lady Beth’s spirit-gripping hand.

In that momentary opening, the captured spirit Noru, slipped smoothly out from between her fingers. It danced lightly into the air like the wind.

“Noru, let’s go!”

“Okay!”

The two spirits laughed happily as they danced through the air, heading straight toward me before vanishing.

Lady Beth stood speechless, her mouth slightly open, staring blankly at the space where the spirits had disappeared.

Her face was heavily shadowed by an indescribable look of defeat.