Don’t Remember Me

~ 4.
41 ~

Translator: Lioness

“Um…”

Flitta muttered something softly, probably talking in her sleep, and rubbed her cheek against Ros’s arm.
Rosé looked down at Flitta and gently stroked her head, then raised her head at the gaze she suddenly felt.

“…!”

Haven, who was sitting across from her, met his eyes.
She hastily turned her head away.
Since when has she been looking at her? Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat.

“Looks like we’ll be there soon.”

“…  Yes? Right, yes.”

At that moment, Haven’s low voice was heard.
Rosé hurriedly responded to his words and looked outside through the small window of the carriage.
As Haven said, there were a lot of carriages and people in the procession, probably because arriving near the city.
And in the distance, the walls of the city also seemed to catch a glimpse.

‘… Didn’t he say Middlepion?’

Rosé remembered the name of the place they were going to arrive and muttered to herself.
It was a name she had never heard of before.
She wondered if there was any place she was not familiar to, who lived in a small village on the border before coming to the capital.

“Are you okay now?”

Haven’s voice was heard again in Rosé’s ears as she thought about this and that and looked at the scenery outside.
She turned her gaze to him.

“Didn’t you get motion sickness the whole time?”

“Ah… Yes, I am fine now.”

Rosé blinked, wanting to say something, but after hearing Haven’s additional words, she hurriedly replied and lowered her head.
Her face grew hot, as if she had been asked an embarrassing question, while her fingertips became cold with tension.

She tried to calm her mind.
She couldn’t afford to let the man across her know her reaction.

After all, it was nothing more than a trivial question.
A question that could be asked without much thought to an employee who was not feeling well after going through a bumpy forest road.

“well… I don’t think so.”

But despite Rose’s efforts to appear nonchalant, Haven stared at her with blue eyes and slapped the wall of the coachman’s stall a couple of times.
The carriage came to a halt with a whinny, followed by Pedwin, who was escorting him.

Did you call, Your Highness?

“We will take a break here for a while.”

 

If they go further, they would have arrived at Middlepoin but Pedwin did not ask any questions and just obeyed.

“Your… Highness.”

Everything was done in an instant.
Rosé was taken aback by the carriage stopped by Haven’s words and did not know what to do.
Feeling her presence, Flitta woke up rubbing her eyes with a gasp.

“… Did we arrive already?”

Flitta asked her in a sleepy voice with a shake or Rosé’s arm.
Rosé finally calmed down at that moment and answered the child with a pat.

“No, Princess.
We have to go a little further.”

“But why…”

Perhaps Flitta had been awake a little longer, she rubbed her eyes once again and she rose from Rosé’s arms.
Flitta’s pale green eyes turned to the window of her carriage.

“We will take a brief break and go again afterward.”

At that moment, Haven opened his mouth.
Flitta heard her father’s voice and turned her head to look at him.
She then blinked her eyes, then nodded her head, and in a low voice, she replied.

“Yes…”

She wanted to ask why they took a break but couldn’t ask.
She meekly accepted his decision and with that, Rosé furrowed her brows.

She thought the relationship between Haven and Flitta had gotten closer, but it didn’t seem like that yet.

‘There was a time when they were awkward, but they probably didn’t become close because of one meal together and spending not much time together.’

 

She hoped the two of you can get closer through this trip.
The moment she muttered to herself, harboring such a wish, Haven opened his mouth to Rosé.

“Would you like to get off?”

“… Pardon?”

“When you get motion sickness, it’s best to go out to get some fresh air.
Same goes to you, Flitta.”

“I want to get off too!”

Before Flitta could finish Haven’s words, she shouted first.
Then, as if surprised by herself, she rolled her eyes.
Haven looked at her blankly, then smiled and nodded his head.

“Alright.
Let’s get off, too.”

Haven opened the carriage door with the horse.
Then Pedwin, who was outside, approached quickly.
But Haven held up his hand to stop him.

“All right, Pedwin.
You should rest, too.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Pedwin was about to approach, paused at his words, and then turned away.
And Haven lightly got off the wagon and held out his hand behind him.
Rosé was about to get off the carriage with Flitta, but widened her eyes when she saw his outstretched hand.

“…?”

“Take my hand.
It must have rained, so the ground is wet.”

Rosé blinked at Haven’s words and carefully looked under the wagon.
She then confirmed that the ground is actually wet.

“Well then, Princess…”

Rosé tried to bring Flitta into Haven’s arms.
It is all right for her.
There was nothing wrong with stepping in the mud.
If her shoes get muddy,  she just have to wipe them off clean…

“Ah! You, Your Highness!”

But something unexpected happened.
Haven held Flitta in one arm and held Rosé’s hand with the other.

“This ha, hand.”

“Don’t step directly underneath, step on the front of it.
Because the ground there is a bit wet.”

“You, there, Your Highness.
Your hand….”

Rosé didn’t hear anything Haven was saying to her.
It was because all of her body’s senses were focused on her hand.
To be more precise, it was her left hand held by Haven.

“What’s wrong?”

Haven looked at Rosé couldn’t get out of the wagon and was stiffened, stuttering her words.
She wriggled to free her hand, which was still gripped by him.

“I-I can get off alone.
Please don’t hold my hand.”

“Was it offensive?”

Haven was flustered in embarrassment while looked looking at her and asked abruptly.
At that rather sudden question, Rosé looked at him without knowing what to do.

“I asked if my behavior was offensive.
I was just trying to hold your hand because the ground was muddy…”

Haven made a puzzled expression, then frowned.
Then he let go of her hand and added in a firm voice.

“I did not extend my hand in any other way.
I swear on my honor.”

“Ah…”

Rosé’s face was stained with bewilderment.
She realized that Haven had misunderstood her action.
And the fact that he was embarrassed and was trying to explain to her in his own way.

Feeling embarrassed that he had suddenly turned him into an unscrupulous man who harassed women, Rosé was speechless for a moment, then belatedly shook her head.

“I also did not misunderstand Your Highness in such a bad way.
It was… was just embarrassing to reach out to me.”

If Haven in her memory had outstretched his hand to her, she would of course have grabbed his hand.
But he wasn’t the man she remember.

He is Haven Guinters.

Not Haven, a jovial wanderer settled in a small border town.

He wasn’t the sweet, and has lovely laughter.

… He wasn’t the man she loved and loved her more than she was.

Grand Duke of this country, Gentuirs.

A noble existence that she dares not even surpass.

The warmth that hugged her was still vivid in her memory, but it was not this man, Haven, who was no longer by her side.
Even with how closer he was to her, she was not his man anymore.

So he shouldn’t be greedy any longer.
He had already been greedy enough, and I didn’t know if it would remain as a lingering attachment to me.
It was just like a very small trace, like dust, it was supposed to stay like that and then leave.

Rosé smiled wryly without knowing it, but she heard his voice again.

“I’m glad you didn’t take it in a bad way.
Is it okay if I hold your hand then?”

“Ye… yes?”

Rosé inadvertently nodded her head while chasing yearning in her past memories.
But soon, seeing the man’s hand thrust in front of her, she was stunned, widening her eyes.
Haven waited for her this time with a soft smile.

“…I….”

Rosé felt her mouth dry.
Then, suddenly, she turned her head to look at her.
Flitta looked at her and Haven alternately with curious eyes, as if she had run away from sleep before she knew it, and smiled briskly.

It was a pure, innocent laugh.

She doesn’t know about complicated circumstances.

The kid just seemed like everything was fun.
She was also in the arms of her father.
The fact that she and he were squabbling over whether to hold his hand or not.

Looking at that bright smile, she somehow thought that her appearance was funny.
Maybe he had a similar thought, and she smiled at him with a glance.

“Then… Excuse me, Your Highness.”

Rosé hesitated, then reached out to him with an awkward expression.
And she lightly laid her fingertips on Haven’s hand.
At that moment, Haven seemed to flinch, then grabbed her hand tightly.

“The ground is wet and slippery, so be careful.”

“… Yes.”

Rosé bit her mouth shut, then barely opened it to answer.
But she had to close her lips again immediately.

Otherwise, she felt like crying.
It was because of a past memory.
It was the warmth that hugged her the other day.

She closed her eyes tightly as she got off the carriage, and when she opened them, the corners of her eyes were instantly stained red.

She was saddened by the fact that he was no longer the man in her memory, but his body temperature was still vivid in her memory.

(TN: Throughout this chapter, I feel, sweet, wholesome, sad, sweet, sad, sweet then crying… HUHUHU!)