Be My Heroine 46
THE REPRESENTATIVE’S ONE WEEK (4)
The food was amazing.
It was a well-done steak, marinated with wine and a variety of spices. The meal was accompanied with asparagus, a mix of colorful veggies, and a refreshing raspberry juice.
As for dessert, it was bread pudding. It was simple and tasty while not being overly sweet. As Beth did not enjoy sweet food.
The fine dining scene was developing slowly. Though it’s only been two years since she became a representative of Claire, things seemed to be changing rapidly.
It will be six more years until the plot in the original novel begins. Maybe this world’s rapid progress is trying to match the novel’s setting in the future. Expressionlessly, Beth considered turning the page.
“Mmm ugh…”
“Stop….”
As usual, a bunch of distressed employees consumed a pile of richly decadent food. They were overwhelmed and began to turn pale.
Meanwhile, Beth and Kedrick ate a simple meal. Still, Beth did not feel it was enough. So, once she ordered everything on the menu, she ordered more food from nearby restaurants and forced the employees to eat.
Now the employees had stopped eating their own meals in anticipation of Beth force-feeding them. It really was torture. But because it was all so delicious, it was a wonderful type of torture.
Suavely, Kedrick filled a cup of tea with the unique scent and took out a basket of slightly sweet cookies for Beth.
[She finally realized she was fated to die and fell into anguish.]
Is this gonna have a sad ending?
Beth wondered. So, she flipped through the book until she reached the end.
“What are you doing?”
“The story seemed a bit gloomy. I’m checking whether it is a sad ending or not.”
“But if you know the ending beforehand, it won’t be as interesting.
Isn’t it better to read till the end than to just read the sad ending?”
What he said made sense. Beth nodded her head. Kedrick instinctively took the seat next to Beth and grabbed a book Beth hadn’t read yet.
“It’s meaningful because of how the plot develops over the course of the story. A sad ending…. is also like that. Don’t you think? Inside of the book’s world a happily ever after only happens after the two protagonists meet.”
“It’s romantic.”
“Why else do you think I’m so popular with everyone?
Kedrick laughed after telling a tactless joke. Beth just stared at him with her usual blank face.
“Whether it’s sadness or happiness, it happens because of the process, so just read it to the end for once.”
“It may also be a waste of time.”
“It could also end up being your favorite book.”
“You seem very optimistic.”
“That’s only because Beth is pessimistic.”
The only person Beth could possibly bestow tremendous praise upon, might only be Claire. With such conviction, Kedrick could only chuckle. Beth was someone who was even hard on herself.
“Can you lend me this book?”
Kedrick asked, showing the book he just grabbed to Beth. There was no reason to refuse, so she nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Of the six books, three went to Beth and three went to Kedrick. It didn’t matter, because she was going to be busy reading the next day and she will not be leaving her room. Beth couldn’t leave her room. Or rather, she didn’t want to leave. Having such a busy work life, Beth never realized her love of reading. She loved reading any printed media. Even in her previous life, her favorite pastime was reading Fantasy-Romance novels.
Yes, Beth enjoyed reading, but when the genre was romance, she loved reading even more.
This was the hobby she truly enjoyed. The hobby she had forgotten about.
Now looking back, I had already considered reading more when I first went to the bookshop before.
She remembered the first time she visited the bookstore to teach Claire the alphabet. That was when she first met Kedrick.
At first, she thought he was just a handsome swindler, or something like that…However, if she were asked what her impression of him was now…a handsome…man?
“…..?”
When she thought about Kedrick, her eyebrows twitched. Something felt off, but what was it?
She had no idea. Whether she was doubtful or uncertain about him… it wasn’t just one or two things to be suspicious about.
She couldn’t point out what it was though.
So, when she asked James to look into Kedrick, all he could dig up was that he was so handsome it could be considered strange. He was an outstanding swordman, but that was expected. And he could use a bit of magic to reinforce his physical strength. Besides this, there was nothing that stood out…
In short, other than that, he was just ordinary man. One can never know what is inside another person’s heart. Wasn’t there a saying that even if one could know ten underwater passageways, the heart of a man still could not be understood?
“Um?”
Once again Beth felt that her thoughts drifted to a strange direction.
With less awkwardness, she rolled back and forth in bed a few times then stopped. She grabbed the opened book and began reading it again.
After finishing the first two books of a series, the sun had already risen. The third volume was the last book in the series. Once that book was finished, there would be nothing left for her to read. Nothing to read meant nothing to do. When she considered how there was nothing left to do, she felt a sense of helplessness.
The reality, though, was that she could just sleep. Sleep had always been at the bottom of her priorities.
Kedrick, that guy, why is he taking so long to finish the other books?
Beth grumbled which was a rare sight. However, it was actually Beth who read too fast. In the end, she couldn’t hold off and opened the last book.
* * *
After greeting Claire the next morning, Kedrick went down to the kitchen. He found out Beth hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. There had been instances where Beth would skip breakfast. Normally, she would always let the butler know beforehand, but she didn’t today.
Does that mean…
…she is still in her room?
Glancing at the book tucked in the crook of his arm, he came to that conclusion. It looked like he had read overnight. Not because the book became more interesting but because it was a borrowed book. So, it would be better to return it sooner rather than later. Which is why he rushed to finish the book.
There wasn’t a description on the book, so how did she find stories that all had happy endings?
Beth’s ability to select a good book was amazing. The writing style was not tacky and the story itself was pretty good. Personally, he would never pick a romance novel to read, but if it was like this novel, then he would welcome it. Looks like he also found a new hobby.
.
Kedrick ended up delivering the food prepared for Beth to her room.
He also had an errand to complete assigned by Claire, so he needed to meet with Beth today. But honestly, even if there wasn’t any errand, he would have bumped into her eventually. Nevertheless, Kedrick thought this way.
“Beth?”
He knocked but there was no reply.
He stood there for some time, stretching his neck, before he tried knocking again. Still, there was no sign of being let in. So Kedrick entered on his own.
“……”
“……”
“….That.”
Taken aback with the scene in front, with a puff, Kedrick laughed out loud.
In the middle of the bed, Beth laid face down, fast asleep. Her hand held on to a page, as if she were going to turn it over. All while wearing her pajamas.
Thinking back to her normal everyday look, she would be well dressed and would sit up straight even while she read. But this appearance… Facing such an spectacle was completely beyond his expectation. He laughed with as little sound as possible and placed the tray on the table.
“What is this?”
Papers were arranged in an orderly manner along with a quill pen and an ink bottle. There were traces of something written.
Kedrick thought the written words were rather unusual and considered taking a peek. But he had already entered her room without her permission, so looking at something that could be personal…He gave up on the notion.
“Mmm….”
In a disheveled manner, the person who had slept all this time silently, began to stir.
Beth mumbled about how she was exhausted and looked like she was going to wake up. Rubbing her face, she raised her upper body up.
“…..”
“You awake?”
She turned to the side and saw that handsome Kedrick was in her room with his usual expression. Her face contorted.
“Was it because I read the novel before I fell asleep…?
“I am telling you this, in case you’re not sure, this is not a dream.”
“….I know.”
Beth mumbled while she fiercely rubbed her face with both hands.
“Before I fell asleep, I was reading about a man who would sneak into the heroine’s bedroom at night. That passage just came to mind.”
“Is secretly coming to the room at night, romantic? Isn’t that trespassing?”
“There is something called… The Suspension Bridge Effect. …. When people are psychologically nervous, they will misinterpret this conditional change for their emotions….”
“……”
Kedrick thought for a moment.
“So it’s like that.”
Whenever Beth was drowsy she would babble some strange things.
“Beth, wake up.”
Instinctively, Kedrick reached out both hands to the half-awake Beth to help her sit up safely on the sofa.
“…why does sleep… feel like dying…”
“The issue isn’t because you slept, but because you didn’t sleep properly. Your priorities are all mixed up.”
Still holding up Beth, who was still babbling with heavy-lidded eyes, Kedrick pushed the tray in front of her. He then grabbed the spoon. The breakfast was lukewarm onion soup along with burnt bread.
Such a scene was rare for Kedrick to witness. No, rather than say it was rare to see her in such a state, it was Beth who just revealed a different side of her. Kedrick suspected he had yet seen enough.
Kedrick sat next to Beth and watched as she supported her chin on her hands.
“Do you like pink? Or do you like white?”
“Black…”
“Is that so.”
Though her answer wasn’t from the choices given, Kedrick just nodded along.
He made a vow that no one, in the mansion or anyone else, should ever witness Beth in such a state.
“Then what is with these papers?”
Hearing Kedrick’s question, Beth turned the paper over.
“…my hobby.”
He almost asked ‘Can I ask what this hobby is?’ but he held it in. Because when she flipped the paper over, it meant that she did not want to talk about it.
Also, he could guess what she was doing, so he didn’t ask. Instead, he asked a different question.
“Then which novel was the most interesting?”
Towards Kedrick’s third question, she mulled it over and responded.
“The book I had read when I was with you yesterday. It was more interesting than I had expected. Though it was not a perfect happy ending.”
The ending was left open-ended. Beth had enjoyed it so she nodded happily.
“What you said before was right, Kedrick.”
“Thank you for taking my words into consideration. It seems my opinion was right this time around.
Kedrick laughed while he raised his chin and asked his last question.
“So, are you awake now?”
This time, Beth thought a bit before she replied.
“Yes, thanks to you.”
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