In Love With the Strongest Man
Translator: Shizukuku
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Arc 3: True Identity
Chapter 10 “Is something strange?”
“Shuka-san.”
“——!”
With a snap, my consciousness cleared as if a bubble had burst in front of my eyes. I looked around in bewilderment, unable to comprehend what was happening. It was as if I had suddenly awoken from a dream.
“The dining room…?”
I was sitting at a table in the mansion’s dining room. The view outside the window was bright, seemingly morning, but dark clouds were beginning to fill the sky.
Ideal sat across from me. On the table were bread, salad, cheese, and bacon. In front of me was a fried egg and goat’s milk, while Ideal had a half-boiled egg and probably milk.
“…Huh…?”
I had a strange sense of déjà vu. The breakfast wasn’t anything unusual, but something was sticking in my mind.
“Are you still half-asleep, Shuka-san? Or is the alcohol lingering?”
“Huh… uh… yeah, maybe. Hey, where’s Akane?”
The sense of fatigue in my head certainly resembled the haziness of being half-asleep. Moreover, last night was the first time I drank alcohol, so maybe it had a lingering effect.
“He didn’t come out this morning. He should be in his room.”
“Huh, but…”
I found it strange. Because Akane was just supposed to be heading to the dining room with me a little while ago.
“Shuka-san.”
“Hmm… Akane went back to his room, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Ideal smiled at my words.
—At that moment, his red eyes seemed to gleam mysteriously.
Surprised, I looked again, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Was I mistaken?
Well, people say cats are fickle, so it was probably nothing to worry about. As for Akane, I’d go check on him later.
“Shuka-san, how are you planning to spend your day?”
“Well, I thought I’d go out into the town for a bit.”
“I see. Sightseeing? Or maybe shopping?”
“Huh…?”
“You don’t have anything else to do in town, do you?”
I couldn’t answer Ideal’s question.
Sightseeing or shopping. Certainly those were the typical reasons to go into town— but wasn’t there something else, something different?
“Oh yes, this is Shuka-san’s wallet, isn’t it?”
When Ideal signaled, a maid shuffled in and held out a silver tray. On it was a familiar cloth bag.
“Oh, yeah. That’s mine.”
The dirty little bag, that wasn’t worthy of a silver tray, was my wallet.
“I’m glad. It seems it got mixed up with the laundry.”
“Is that so? Thanks.”
I felt like an idiot for losing my wallet. Inside of it was my entire life savings that I had accumulated little by little over the past twenty years.
I found myself opening my wallet to check its contents. It wasn’t that I doubted the servants. However, I was driven by the urge to make sure.
—There should be something important inside.
“Huh…?”
“Is something strange?”
“N-no, it’s nothing.”
All the coins in the wallet were similar-looking copper coins. Dingy, tarnished coins. Of course they were. Nothing I had sold at the stall was worth more than these coppers.
The number of coins must be correct. And yet— I felt strongly that something was missing.
“…It’s starting to rain.”
“Ah— so it is.”
Ideal was looking outside. Following suit, as I looked towards the window, I saw droplets beginning to fall, making the garden plants wet.
“Hey, Shuka-san. How about postponing your outing until tomorrow and spending today together?”
“Yeah… that sounds good too.”
Somehow, I just couldn’t clear my head today. On days like this, when I wasn’t in good shape, it was probably better to stay indoors than to go outside.
“Then let’s be alone together for the rest of the day.”
“Huh…?! Saying that in the morning… anyway, there’s no need to go that far until tomorrow evening, I think.”
I had sex with Ideal to suppress the curse. The last time we performed the act, which should be effective for three days, was the evening before yesterday so the effect should still be in place until tomorrow evening.
“Yeah. But, I want to… is that not okay?”
“Well, not in the morning.”
“How about after lunch? Would that be okay then?”
“Uh… yeah…”
Since Ideal was having sex with me for my sake, I felt like I shouldn’t refuse. When I gave my consent, the black-haired man smiled happily.
“Then we’ll have lunch in my room, okay?”
“Alright.”
Ideal was smiling so much that I was able to nod my head without any hesitation.
He accepted me, curse and all, without any disdain. This place was incredibly comfortable.
It was tempting to lean into his kindness and comfort. Moreover, his words from last night lingered in my mind.
“Think about it. Consider living with me like this.”
…That might not be a bad idea.
There’s nothing else I particularly wanted to do or had to do. If that was the case, if Ideal allowed it, maybe I could stay here and rely on him.
With Ideal, all the time—?
For some reason, I felt strangely embarrassed when I tried to imagine that. My heart started beating louder than usual in my ears.
“Shuka-san, what’s wrong? Your face is red…”
“It’s nothing… Thanks for the meal. I’m going back to my room for a bit.”
“Sure. I’ll wait for you in my room later.”
“Okay. I’ll come by around noon.”
I wondered why. My face was hot and I couldn’t look properly at Ideal, who was concerned about me. Finishing breakfast more quickly than usual, I stood up from the table.
“Ah, I’m gonna go check on Akane.”
“…okay.”
A lonely voice chased after my quickly retreating figure as I left the dining room. For some reason, my heart throbbed painfully at that.
Feeling like I would go crazy if I didn’t, I clutched my chest and headed to my assigned room.
Wait his memories were erased?