At This Point, It’s Already Impossible to Say It Out Loud

What that terrifying tomato-ketchup pastry brought with it was a kind of horrifying, piercing magical damage.

Ellie had originally thought, “It smells a bit strange, but if I just taste a little, it should be fine, right?”

And so, holding onto that bit of wishful thinking, Ellie took a big bite.

What should tomato ketchup taste like?

Actually, it wasn’t hard to imagine.

Ellie had eaten tomatoes before.

In her nutritional meals, cherry tomatoes were a regular part of salads.

They had a crisp bite, and the sweet-and-sour juice tasted quite nice.

Because Ellie had eaten such an ordinary thing before, it was possible for her to accidentally overlook the impact that this kind of processed food could bring.

That sweet-and-sour sensation was something Ellie hadn’t quite anticipated.

With a single bite, the intensely stimulating flavor of the ketchup completely overwhelmed her sense of taste, making it feel as though even her breathing was filled with that sour sweetness.

Her brows instantly knitted together from the sharp sourness.

But in order to maintain her image, she chose to swallow all the messy stuff in her mouth directly, so she wouldn’t make strange faces from the sourness and let the maid in front of her look at her with an odd expression.

She even tried her best to stuff the remaining half of the flatbread into her mouth in one go.

After all, this was something Firth had given her, a gesture of goodwill from an old employee.

A single flatbread wasn’t very big anyway—about the size of a palm.

Clench your teeth and it’ll be over, right?

But when she swallowed all the ketchup in her mouth, she realized she had underestimated it.

It was a sourness strong enough to burn her stomach.

Eating it slowly, bit by bit, might have been fine.

But gulping it all down at once made her stomach, already in poor condition from a bland diet, cramp painfully.

Under the intense stimulation, some of the ketchup even refluxed back up her throat.

At first, she failed to hold back just a drop or two.

Later, she outright spat out a large mouthful, frightening the little maid sitting opposite her so badly that her face turned pale as she hurried over to check on Ellie.

Ellie, however, could only wave her hand and cough.

Her throat had been tortured twice by the ketchup, leaving her unable to speak.

After vomiting, her head hurt badly as well.

In her heart, she couldn’t help but wonder whether her body was simply too fragile, or whether the destructive power of this ketchup was just too great.

What was Firth thinking?

Did he usually eat snacks like this?

Liking stimulating food was one thing, but did it really have to be like this?

Why hadn’t he used this stuff in her previous world to poison that knight-commander to death?

Ellie was busy coughing when the carriage came to a stop.

The little maid jumped down and ran off at full speed.

Ellie thought her vomiting must have looked too awful and scared her, so she let her go.

She wasn’t the type to rely on others for everything.

If she felt unwell, she would recover slowly on her own.

So she didn’t pay much attention to anyone else.

She only felt that her weak constitution was truly troublesome.

After eating too much bland food, suddenly encountering something strong-flavored made her stomach unable to handle it.

Though… this couldn’t really be considered ordinary heavy seasoning.

Ellie wiped the ketchup from her mouth and leaned against the carriage window, feeling somewhat annoyed.

She even started thinking about how she should get out later.

Being seen covered in sauce wouldn’t be good.

Had that maid run off to find a change of clothes for her?

But unexpectedly, the one who returned wasn’t the little maid.

It was her imperial brother, Solor.

And he was also rushing over at full speed…?

Perhaps because she was used to fighting him in her previous world, Ellie’s first reaction was actually to wonder whether he had rushed over as soon as he heard the news just to mock her.

But the next moment, Solor directly climbed into her carriage and, without the slightest disgust, pulled her—covered in filth—into his arms.

—What part of the story was this again?

When she was suddenly held like that, Ellie, who had been resting with her eyes closed and frowning from irritation, was startled.

Her throat hadn’t recovered yet, making it difficult for her to speak.

She had been moistening her throat, thinking about how to explain, when she heard Solor saying something that sounded very much like “please don’t die.”

The moment Ellie heard that, her spirits lifted instantly.

What?

He’s begging me not to die?

Wow.

He’s begging me not to die! 😃

Really?

Am I actually important to him?

I must be important—there’s no way I’m not important in his heart!

Then why not just die right here?

Let him keep begging me like this, begging until I stop breathing and stop responding.

If I die in his arms while he still has feelings for me, he should remember it for a very long time, right?

I’d definitely leave a deep impression in his heart, wouldn’t I?

Ellie almost wished she really had been poisoned to death by the ketchup.

Or maybe she could bite down hard and bite off her own tongue?

But in the end, she still couldn’t hold back.

She couldn’t stop herself from opening her eyes to look at Solor.

She wanted to see her brother’s expression right now.

That look of sorrow for her.

If there were tears, that would be even better.

Even if they didn’t fall—just trembling in his eyes would be enough.

Or even without tears was fine…

I know you don’t like crying.

I know you don’t like letting me see your weak side.

In front of me, in front of your “enemy,” you always wear a cold expression.

But please, just this once.

Show me a sad expression.

Just this once—

“…Ellie?”

Unable to restrain her expectation of grief, Ellie opened her eyes.

She focused her gaze and saw Solor looking down at her.

See?

His eyes are red.

Even when he suffered the greatest injustices, he had never shown such an expression.

In Ellie’s memory, Solor was always composed.

He was like that even as a child.

As an outstanding heir, he could always maintain a calm expression.

During their struggles, he might sometimes reveal a fierce side.

But he had never shown weakness like this.

What the heck…

So you can look like this…

Say that you need me.

Come on, beg me.

If you just showed a little weakness, everything would get better.

Why did we have to fight each other to this point?

I never wanted to take away your authority.

I only wanted to shoulder those dangers for you.

Let me stand in front of you.

Let you need me more…

Is that really so bad?

When I’m alive, please smile for me.

When I die, please shed tears for me.

This is how things should have been between us…

My brother.

I am so—

“—Ellie!”

Just as she instinctively wanted to close her eyes again, Solor’s voice rang out by her ear.

“Don’t close your eyes…

Talk to me, anything is fine.

Look at me…

Please.”

His voice was trembling to the point of being hard to hear.

But his heavy breathing, born of panic, was crystal clear.

Oh my…

Big brother, look at how delicious you are.

Thank you very much for the treat.

But at this point, the fact that she had merely eaten too much ketchup and thrown up…

Seemed a little impossible to say out loud anymore…

Ahhh.

I really want to die right here.