Don't Support the Guide - Chapter 23

“N-No, it seems she didn’t come.”

Everyone was taken aback by Adrian’s noticeably dejected expression. It was the first time Adrian had ever revealed such obvious emotion.

“…Hey, there must have been a reason! Actually, our Adrian isn’t an easy person to meet, right? Maybe she was so surprised to find out who her benefactor was that she couldn’t come?”

“Lady Melonie is right. I would be too.”

“But I’m curious, Adrian. If that child comes to find you, will you meet her?”

Melonie glared at Linton. He must have felt her gaze, but Linton didn’t care and smiled.

“It would be best if she didn’t come, but I can’t just send someone away who made the effort to come.”

“Really? You’re more lenient than I thought. Then, what if that child tries to repay your kindness?”

“Repay it how?”

Adrian raised her head. Linton was smiling sweetly like honey.

“For example… like the children of other benefactors, what if that child is lucky enough to manifest as a Guide?”

At the same time, Adrian’s face twisted.

“So, she’s going to give me a Guiding or something?”

“She probably just wants to express his gratitude.”

“I don’t want it.”

Her sincerity was overflowing. Adrian shook her head.

“I didn’t buy that child with money. I sponsored her. A thank you is enough.”

Coming to give a Guiding as a sign of gratitude. Just thinking about it was awful.

She knew very well that Esper benefactors had been forming relationships with their sponsored Guides in this way for a long time. It was called a sign of gratitude, but in this relationship where it was clear who was in the superior position, a simple thank you was out of the question.

Adrian didn’t want to jump into that dirty world. She didn’t want to extend her peaceful life with such a vile method.

“…As expected of Adrian. The light of justice born from the Lesadian Empire.”

Linton’s voice, full of satisfaction, fell. Adrian brushed it off lightly as usual and reached for her wine glass.

***

“Stop for a moment.”

When she knocked on the wall, the carriage slowly slowed down. Adrian jumped out of the carriage without an escort. There was still a shop with its lights on in the dark street.

“Wait here, I’m just going to buy something.”

“Oh my, Miss. You should have asked me to do it.”

“I want to choose it myself.”

Adrian gave the flattered coachman a slight smile and headed to the shop.

A small bell rang as she opened the door. It was a general store that sold various items. The owner was nowhere to be seen. Adrian gathered the folds of her voluminous dress as much as possible and looked around. Soon, she found what she was looking for. Stationery.

Among them, she saw stationery with a green background and gold trim. Adrian reached for it. At that moment, a familiar Guiding energy approached. The moment Adrian raised her head, two people grabbed the green stationery at the same time.

“Lieutenant Samuel.”

“…Adria— I mean, Commander?”

Samuel had the dumbest expression she had ever seen. His eyes blinked, and his gaze naturally went to Adrian’s dress. He couldn’t take his eyes off her attire, which was unimaginable in the military.

Adrian was holding the hem of her uncomfortable dress tightly. She suddenly felt embarrassed by the fact that she looked nothing like an elegant lady.

But if she let go of the hem now, it would only get crumpled and show an even more unsightly appearance, so she hesitated and chose to stay still.

“…Did you come from a party?”

“Yes.”

“There’s another reason why your nickname is light, Commander.”

“Huh?”

Samuel’s gaze slowly rose. When their eyes met, Adrian felt a strange feeling as if her stomach had dropped.

Samuel’s face was flushed pink. His twitching lips looked somehow happy. It was as if a ticklish scent was coming from every aspect of Samuel she was facing.

“You look like you’re out of a dream.”

“What kind of dream is that?”

“A very good dream. Happy, beautiful, and wonderful.”

“……”

“But unattainable.”

Samuel lowered his gaze. Adrian unknowingly grabbed Samuel’s hand. Samuel looked surprised.

Adrian brought Samuel’s hand to her shoulder.

“I’m attained, right now?”

“……Ah.”

Samuel’s face turned bright red in an instant. Adrian, flustered by his overly intense reaction, tried to let go of his hand. But Samuel grabbed her hand.

“Just a moment.”

“……”

“If I have it for a little longer, it will really feel like reality.”

His voice was quite urgent. His expression was the same.

For some reason, Adrian was pleased with his reaction. It was cute how he acted as if he couldn’t do without her.

She had seen many people who were eager to look up to Adrian or praise her. Such a barrage of compliments was awkward and she had never felt any joy from it.

But why did Samuel Nora feel different?

Whenever she met his green eyes that were only looking at her, she even felt a strange fluttering in her heart. Every word Samuel uttered was piled up in a corner of Adrian’s heart.

That’s why she couldn’t easily turn down any request he made.

“Okay, then. But is it okay if we just hold hands? I need to pay for this.”

Adrian slightly showed the stationery she was holding.

“…May I ask who you’re going to send it to?”

It was a design that showed she had chosen it with care. It was a product that was luxurious and sophisticated even from a distance, so it stood out.

Adrian didn’t notice Samuel, who had become slightly gloomy, and picked up another stationery of the same kind.

“This? My sponsored child.”

“Yes?”

“There’s a girl I’ve been sponsoring. I’m going to send it to her.”

Adrian headed to the cashier. Samuel’s eyes shook, unable to find his bearings. Adrian’s sponsored child was right next to her.

But sending a letter, and still a girl. He couldn’t understand what that meant at all.

“She’s just over twenty years old, so I’m wondering how she’s doing. If she hasn’t settled down yet, I’m thinking of continuing the sponsorship a little longer.”

“……You really don’t know anything about her?”

“I don’t. It’s been a long time since I’ve received a letter.”

“Have you ever seen her in person?”

“In person? I’ve never even seen a picture.”

Adrian chuckled and placed two pieces of stationery on the counter. After paying, she handed one to Samuel.

“This is for the Lieutenant.”

Samuel, who seemed to have lost his mind, finally came to his senses when he saw the stationery.

“You were going to buy it too, Lieutenant, here.”

“I, I can buy it myself.”

“I’ve heard that when a superior buys something for you, you shouldn’t say anything other than thank you.”

“……”

“I heard it from another superior.”

Adrian smiled and handed the stationery to Samuel, patted him on the chest, and then turned around as she left the store.

“Are you going back to the dorm? Should I give you a ride in the carriage?”

“……It’s, it’s okay.”

“You don’t have to feel pressured.”

“It’s not that… I have an appointment.”

“Ah, I see.”

Adrian awkwardly stepped back, afraid that if she insisted further, it would sound like coercion.

Samuel was only half-conscious until Adrian disappeared in the carriage. He was confused. On the day of their first bond, Adrian clearly seemed to know Samuel. But she doesn’t know that he’s the child she’s been sponsoring.

Then who was she mistaking him for?

‘…Another Guide?’

Adrian was in critical condition that day and needed a Guide. She might have ordered someone to call a Guide. At that time, Samuel happened to enter, and Adrian mistook him and received his Guiding…….

Samuel quietly covered his mouth. Suddenly, he felt as if the ground beneath his feet was crumbling. No wonder, he was wondering why he could stand so easily by the side of his idol. It turns out that it was possible because he had taken someone else’s place.

What if the Commander finds out?

He couldn’t, he couldn’t imagine her reaction. Samuel still didn’t know Adrian very well.

Her aspect as a benefactor was only a part of her. All he knew was the great image he had seen through rumors and newspapers, and the secret time they spent in the office.

That was far from enough to properly understand a person.

But for some reason, he felt like he shouldn’t reveal the truth. It was a kind of instinct that he couldn’t say that he was Sammy Nora at that moment.

Samuel stood on the empty night street for a long time.

***

Adrian didn’t like leaving work.

It was even more so after coming to the capital. The Brillante family’s townhouse was not comfortable. Her mother, who worked in the capital, also returned to the same house in the evening.

Adrian rolled her pen in her dim office. A green stationery was placed on the desk. She was seriously considering what to say to the twenty-year-old girl.

They weren’t close, but she didn’t want to be awkward. Adrian tried to choose the kindest words possible.

‘…Should I talk like Samuel?’

He is kind, funny, innocent, and provocative. If she imitated the way he spoke, she could reduce some of the awkwardness.

Adrian, who unknowingly had a smile on her face, began to move her pen.

At that moment, the office door suddenly burst open.

“I knew you’d be here!”

“…Dr. Alex, what is the meaning of this?”

Alex, who burst into the room without knocking, was in a state of extreme excitement. With disheveled hair and eyes full of joy, he grabbed Adrian’s wrist tightly. Adrian, who had become uncomfortable, was about to throw him away.

“The compatibility results are out!”