34 . Lewis’ Confession (4)

I observed Lionel’s expression .

He seemed to have grasped Lewis’ real intention, too, and wisely chose his words .

“No… There’s no need to thank me . It’s not a big deal .  Besides, I haven’t even spoken to Father about this . I’m troubled by this grat.i.tude of yours, which I don’t deserve . ”

Lewis appeared to be touched by Lionel’s words .

“Aah… Lionel-sama, what an earnest person you are! I, Lewis, on behalf of my Master, thank you from the bottom of my heart . ”

Lewis bowed his head yet again, inciting Lionel’s bafflement .

“Mr . Lewis, I’m very troubled, so please raise your head…”

“It’s ‘Lewis’ . ”

“Huh?”

When Lewis slowly lifted his face, in place of his previous intimidating expression—was gentleness .

“You can refer to me as ‘Lewis’, Lionel-sama . ” He chuckled .

—!!

Said smile startled my heart .  …what a friendly smile .  What was the need of him showing that to Lionel? What the h.e.l.l was this guy planning?

Lionel’s words got jammed again .

“—”

—ah .

That appearance of his …I recall it .

Indeed … this is déjà vu, isn’t it?

This conversation was similar to the one I had with Lionel before—as if it was a reenactment .  Our statures differ, though…

Perhaps, Lionel too, realized the same thing . After muttering something, he lifted his face—a warm light swayed in his eyes .

He opened his mouth .

“Be it Amelia or Lewis, both of you sure are special…—Lewis, I promise you this; I’ll not speak a word to anyone about this matter . ” Lionel smiled and continued .

“However, if there’s anything you need from me—as long as it’s within my power, I’ll help you . So, be sure to let me know, alright?”

Towards such words, Lewis widened his eyes, as if surprised—he muttered .

“Thank you very much for your consideration, Lionel-sama . Whenever there’s something, I’ll be sure to depend on you . ”

Lewis smiled at Lionel—this time, it reached his eyes . Making him appear both beautiful—and evil .

My suspicion of him couldn’t help but strengthen .

The brightness of early summer shone through the window . In one hour from now, the city’s bell would toll to announce the daytime .

“…who would’ve thought that you’d lose your voice…?”

Lewis sighed, gazing at something outside .

Lionel went out saying he had something to do . He also didn’t forget to remind me that I was supposed to be resting today .

Hence, Lewis and I returned to the room which I previously slept in .

“For once, let me confirm this—it isn’t a charade, right?” Lewis asked me, while staring outside the window . His tone was completely different from when Lionel was still present—all the gentleness, crumbled .

Well, it can’t be helped, can’t it?

After all, Lewis knew of my nature—and my ‘unique’ memories…

I took a pen .

“Why would I lie about such a thing? Besides, it doesn’t really matter whether or not I can speak, does it?”

Towards my words, Lewis frowned in suspicion .

“Oh, but I know that doing so will bring forth some advantages—which might as well be your reason for doing it . ” He sat in a chair across the round table . Lewis glared at me and said;

“Any other problems besides the inability to speak? Anything physical?”

I shook my head . I still had some headaches, but I was recovering . In short, nothing to worry about .

“Is that so? Well, you really should be happy just for staying alive . ”

—what is this guy unsatisfied about?

—moreover…

“Are you really glad that I’m alive?”

In my mind, somehow—somewhere, this question kept nagging .

“—huh, well, of course . What’s so strange about it?”

Lewis leaned on the chair, both of his legs crossed . Those black pupils of his bore into my face .

“—”

His lackl.u.s.ter att.i.tude kept distracting me…

…well, of course . In front of your Master’s fiancé, this is how you behave?

I stole a glance at Lewis .

—then, Lewis burst in laughter . “Don’t look at me like that! Is your impression of me that bad?”

…how brash .

“I see . In front of William, too, you behave like this . He must’ve had it rough . ”

“Haha! Do tell me if I’m giving you a hard time, okay? Well, right now, I’m certainly having a good time . ”

“…”

Lewis stared out the window again .

“To be honest, I’m surprised that I’m able to be alone with you in such a short amount of time… Other than that, what else do you expect me to say? —‘I’m glad you fell into the river’?” He laughed at me, and continued .

“Yesterday, I’m sure Arthur-sama had told you plenty of things about me—so, anything you want to ask me?”

“…”

“Please, ask me anything . As long as I know the answer, I’ll respond properly . ”

“…”

I stared at Lewis’ profile . He didn’t seem to be lying—but I wouldn’t trust him, anyway .

—well, it’s not like I have any other choices…

I lifted my pen again .

While Lewis watched me write, the window stayed open . The warm breeze brushed my cheeks, and at the same time—a white owl flew straight towards us .

Said owl then perched on Lewis’ left arm .

“Good boy…” Lewis gently said that to the owl, while stroking its wings with the back of his right hand .

—owl…

When I stared at the owl, Lewis noticed my gaze and turned towards me .

“This owl? He’s my minion—his name is Benet . The one who informed me of your whereabouts was Benet . ”

Lewis then stuck a small, crumpled paper to Benet’ foot .

“To William-sama . ”

At Lewis’ words, Benet flew out of the window .

I was honestly impressed by the scene unfolding in front of me—a well-trained owl that could fly in the daytime…

At the same time, I was convinced . In this era, n.o.body would had thought about sending a letter via an owl . Nowadays, there was no big war—it was peaceful .

—hence, an owl post was wholly unneeded . Yet, Lewis trained one, and even named it .

In other words, it could be that he had a long time of memories, too…

When he saw my current expression, he sat back on the chair and smiled .

“It seems that you do have questions —well, write them down, then . ”

I presented him the notebook—there were five questions inside .

“Let’s see—question one: ‘who are you?’ ; question two: ‘how much do you know about me?’; question three: ‘why were you looking for me?’ ; question four: ‘what is Arthur’s power?’ ; and lastly—question five: ‘did you do anything to William?’”

Lewis was surprised at the fifth question . “Why would I do something to William-sama—?” His face looked genuinely concerned .

To be honest, I wrote the fifth question on a whim . I wondered if I could take Lewis’ reaction as a lead—however,

“Intuition . ”

When I added that to the notebook, he laughed boisterously .

“Hahaha—!! Well, well, time is aplenty, so let me start by answering the first question—”

Then, he told me a tale of which I couldn’t confirm whether was truth or lie .