CHAPTER TWENTY
"Alright. Both of you, a carriage will transport you to the estate tomorrow." the duke said, and Zal was still staring at me. Buzz off, dude! Please! You're going to make a hole in my head, and then I'll be bald and missing a chunk of my head! I can't deal with that! As the duke got up to leave, I suddenly blanched. No! I forgot the most important part! To always leave a good impression!
"Wait!" I said, and they both turned. Then I put on my best business smile, which was polished from fake-smiling at the editors all day, and I said, "Thank you! Have a good day." They both nodded and left. As soon as they did, I put a hand over my chest and breathed a sigh of relief. Breaking into a posture no noble-to-be should ever have, I collapsed onto the sofa. Haaaaa. I thought my heart would stop beating, but luckily I was able to bribe the duke with gossip.
Levi was staring at me now. Noo! Please! Not you too! Have some value of the heroine's head! Do you know how many fans would grieve if there was a big hole in this beautiful complexion?! "What is it, Levi? I don't think my head can cope with any more staring today." I sighed, and Levi looked at me even harder. "Is it true?"
"What?" I said, and Levi looked away. "...The story. Is it true?" Oh, that. Well, I guess it was true at some point, considering someone made it a show, but not for me. "Nah. Not for me anyway. Just some gloriously spicy gossip. It's the plot of a play - in the end, Levi avenges his father by killing the daughter and claiming all her riches as well as his father's. Nice, right?" I said, flipping over on my stomach. Levi was thoroughly unconvinced, but he nodded.
"I have a few more questions. When I overheard… was I originally supposed to die? or not meet you?" Levi asked, and I froze. Uhm, yes, you were, but, like, 8-ish years from now, and you did meet me - but far off in the future - or, two years from now, to be exact. I buried my face in the sofa. Maybe I could just pretend to be asleep until the storm passed. "You can't tell me, can you?" Levi asked, and I shook my head. "I mean, I can, but you either won't believe me or blame me for everything wrong in your life," I said. My voice sounded like a whining toddler, and it even cracked a few times. Youch. I usually don't do this kind of stuff, but I felt like such a terrible person the entire day today. "...Did you mean to ruin my life?" Levi gently asked, sitting down beside me, and I furiously shook my head. "Of course not - I really didnt-" But I got interrupted. "Then that's all there is to it. I won't blame you. I promise." Levi said.
I looked up. My head was out of the pillow now. Levi gently brushed back a strand of my hair. "Even if you did somehow ruin my life, you're making up for it now." I suddenly jolted up. "That's right! Im making up for it now! You have to prove your worth as a swordmaster, Levi!" I said, grabbing his hands. "h-huh?" Levi said, surprised, and I beamed. "You want to be a swordmaster, right?!"
"...Can I?" Levi asked, and I winked. "Of course. you're the son of a fallen knight, after all. Anyway, just tell the duke that, and then we can become powerful together and save the world or something."