The Reincarnated Count's Daughter Is the Strongest as She Is Loved by the Spirits, Though She Is Only Wishing for Regular Romance!

It ended too easily.  

It was so anticlimactic that it felt even scarier.  

The wind swept up the sand, leaving no trace of footprints.

"Hey! Camille, didn’t you want to defeat the Third Prince?"

If there’s nothing left here, it means Camille didn’t do anything, right? He was holding me the whole time.

"It’s fine. I don’t have to take care of it myself. More importantly, if Dia gets scared, who knows what Chris will say to me later?"

Guh! Please stop saying things that make my heart skip a beat.  

Camille, have you always looked at me with such gentle eyes when you smiled?  

What have I been seeing all this time? How did I not notice before?

"Ojou, are you alright?"  

"…The Spirit Kings… they’re amazing, aren’t they?"

Brad and Gemma suddenly appeared beside me, startling me. When I looked up, Suou was standing behind them.

"Suou, you came too?"  

"Of course. I won’t let Ruri take all the glory."  

"Hmph. You should’ve just stayed at home."

So precious. After experiencing such a spine-chilling ordeal, just having them standing beside me is enough to soothe me.  

Brad and Gemma must have seen everything, unlike me, but as expected of a former adventurer and ex-soldier. Their faces were only slightly pale.  

Keith and Farce were safe too, and they gathered around us soon after.

"Moana, what’s wrong?"  

Unlike the humans, who seemed relieved now that the operation was over, Moana hung her head, staring blankly at the sand. Makani, who was shorter than Moana, peered at her face with concern.

"Nothing changes, does it?"

Her muttered words were so quiet that they were almost lost in the wind.

"Even after defeating them, I still feel lonely… still sad. I thought I’d feel a bit better, but nothing’s changed. Would it have been better if I had tortured them more before killing them?"  

"Hey, what are you saying, Spirit King?"  

"But…"  

"It can’t be helped this time because we’re partly to blame, but you’ve gotten too involved with humans. That’s why you feel like this."

I see… One of the reasons they’re not supposed to interfere with humans is the difference in lifespan.  

Even if you get close, the other party will die in less than a hundred years.  

But still, that’s so depressing!

"What are you saying? It’s obvious."

I put my hands on my hips, standing in front of Moana and looking up at her.

"Everyone feels that way. On the contrary, if you said, ‘I’m no longer sad or lonely now that I’ve defeated the culprits,’ that would be unfair to the Second Prince… to Zol-sama."  

"Unfair?"  

"When the Wise King died, everyone was sad, and you all shut yourselves away, right? Even now, when talking about him brings up memories, it doesn’t change the sadness, does it?"  

"Huh? Does that mean I’ll always be sad?"

For a Spirit King who has never experienced the death of someone close, loss must be tough.  

Amber must have suffered greatly from the loss when the Spirit Forest was destroyed.

"For humans, sadness gradually fades over time. But there are moments when you suddenly want to see them again, or you feel sad again. In such cases, it might be better to cry it all out."  

"I see. So, should I cry?"

Makani tilted his head and asked, and Moana let out a small gasp, looking around.  

She was the center of attention. Everyone here was watching her.  

Ruri looked worried, while Suou was grinning.  

Yeah, it’s tough to cry on command here.

"Moana, it’s nice that you’re mourning for my brother, but I’d like you to worry about the living brother too."

Camille stepped firmly on the sand and approached Moana.

"We brothers and Luftanen can finally move forward now. I want the Spirit Kings to watch over us. Besides, today is the day of the Crown Prince’s wedding, right?"  

"Oh."

Moana’s expression finally brightened.

"That’s right. Radek is getting married. I want to… go… see that?"  

Why are you looking at me like that?

"It’s the Crown Prince’s wedding. I don’t think it would be too much interference for the Spirit Kings to attend."  

"That’s right. Also, wouldn’t it be good to report that everything went well?"

Camille could handle the reporting, but the Spirit Kings also attended the Crown Prince’s coming-of-age ceremony. No one would tell them not to attend the wedding.

"I think it’s fine. But if you don’t hurry, you’ll miss it. Camille, you should go too."  

"That’s true, but what about you, Dia?"  

"Ruri will take me back to the guesthouse."  

"Why not just return to Berisario?"  

"We need to fetch Dia’s butler, right?"  

"But Amber is over there."

Don’t decide without me, Ruri and Suou.  

Especially you, Suou, I hope you informed Jade before coming here. If you didn’t, Jade, left behind, will be furious.

"Surely, Dia’s parents would also want to see that she’s safe, right? You’re still heading to South Island, aren’t you? You’re not leaving yet, right?"

Camille’s excited statement made me reflexively lean back.  

Can we skip the close-ups for now? My heart is quite worn out.

"Yeah, so I’m heading back to the guesthouse."  

"I’ll tell everyone that."  

"O-okay."

After Camille, Moana, and Makani teleported away, it became so quiet that it was as if nothing had happened in the first place.  

The sand on the beach seemed to be slowly carried back into the sea by the gentle waves.

"Feeling this melancholic is so unlike me. I just remembered I’m hungry."

When I turned around to face Brad and Gemma, who were standing behind me, they were surprisingly nodding in agreement rather than looking exasperated.

"Seriously. We haven’t eaten anything since morning."  

"Ojou-sama, you walk too fast. A young lady shouldn’t be slipping through crowds so easily and walking briskly like that."

Huh? Is that bad?  

When moving through a crowd, you should start with your shoulder, you know. The trick is to turn sideways.

"I never want to do this kind of work again. If a cute girl like Dia-sama is walking alone, there will be bad guys trying to kidnap her. Anyone would think she’s a rich young lady and could fetch a ransom."  

"Exactly. Even knowing Ojou would be okay, we were still on edge."

Kidnap me? That’s ambitious.  

But I didn’t realize I was worrying them so much. I should avoid dangerous situations.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Since there was a ball after the ceremony, it would probably be tomorrow when I’d see my parents.  

As soon as I returned to the guesthouse, I informed Rex and Nelly, who had been waiting, that the mission was successfully completed.  

I must have been quite tense, because Nelly was almost in tears with joy.

Although it was a bit early, I asked for dinner to be prepared since I was hungry, and feeling quite tired, I said I would rest for a while and headed to my room.  

Leaning against the door after closing it, I let out a big sigh. I was so glad it all ended safely, with no one getting hurt.  

There were probably still many issues Luftanen would need to handle, but those were no longer my concern. All that remained was a sightseeing trip to the South Island.

Finally alone, I felt the tension release as I slowly made my way to the bed and flopped face-down onto it.  

Today had been a day of emotional highs and lows that left me exhausted.  

… No lows, actually. Just highs.

Combining the age from my previous life, I’m already an old woman, and here I am getting flustered over a thirteen-year-old boy. That’s weird, right?  

But Dia is eleven.  

I often find myself comparing everything to my previous life, using it as a standard for my judgments, swinging between acting like an over-excited child who doesn’t know fear and being overly cautious, treating my friends like children.  

Maybe I need to be more conscious of the fact that I’ve died once and been born as a different person.  

If not, I might be stuck forever dealing with the difference between my mind and body’s age.

If I think about a man who matches my inner age, he’d be from my father’s generation, right?  

That kind of marriage exists, sure. Especially in noble society.  

But even in this world, where lifespans aren’t particularly long, marrying someone older means being left alone longer when he passes away.  

Ugh. I don’t want that.  

I spoke boldly to Moana, but being left behind is painful.  

So, the age that matches Dia would be someone around Camille’s age.  

If I can get butterflies for a boy that age, isn’t that good?

He’s still in his boyhood, but he’ll surely grow and change into a man.  

Some people are attracted to that in-between age.  

How about me?  

I’m not particularly smart; I just haven’t been acting like a child because of my memories.  

Will I be able to

 keep up with everyone’s growth?  

Can I become a charming woman?

"Dia, are you feeling unwell?"  

"Your legs are flailing."  

"Do you need healing? Purification?"  

"Dia, are you hurt somewhere?"

I raised my head to find myself surrounded by the spirit beasts.  

They saw me flailing around on my stomach. Embarrassing.

"I’m fine. Just thinking."

I get that Camille has his own calculations.  

There’s value in having the Fairy Princess for both his country and himself.  

He even said, “If you’re going to another country, make it ours.”

And me? I’m full of calculations, too.  

Camille is the only one who fits all the conditions.  

Camille understands my position, I can still do business with the company, and it’s easy to return to Berisario.  

Plus, he’s the first one who knows about my past life and still treats me like a girl, even flirts with me.  

Douglas and Jude are friends of my brothers, and Henry is Ethel’s younger brother and my classmate.  

I have many male friends, but none have ever taken that step.

… Or have they?  

Today was the first time I was aware of Camille as the opposite sex, and today was the first time I realized he’d ever looked at me with such a sweet expression.  

I’m starting to doubt what I’ve been seeing all this time.

------------------------

**Author Notes:**

Next time, the third chapter will come to an end.

Thank you for reading.  

I appreciate all your typo reports.  

If you found it even slightly interesting, I’d be grateful if you could give it a rating below.  

------------------------