Thus, autumn came.

Eight hundred years ago, there apparently was an expression that went, “the autumn of hearty appetite,” and Cecily for some reason was on an eat-until-you-drop date with someone whose name I can’t speak, but… watching that didn’t seem all that good for me either.

One day, just as I was thinking that it was unusual for Cecily to go to the library, she called out to an unexpected person.

“That book… it’s quite interesting, isn’t it?”
“Have you… also read this book before?”
“Yes.”

He was a student who was always reading books in the library, a loner from the class next door.  His grades were top class… although there was a rumor that said he was the kind of person who did nothing other than read books in the library due to his plain appearance and dull conversation. And in regard to his inheritance, he was the second son of a baron.  Apparently, no female students talked to him with the intention of marriage prospects, either.

To think Nora would casually talk to a student like this too.  As expected of— While I was astonished, weight suddenly returned… to my body.

Eh?  Ehhh?

Even if I panicked, there was one truth.

“Do your best with the rest~.”

Her, Nora!?  Why did you suddenly return my body to me!?

“Eh, ah…”
“What, was that a lie?”
“Ah, no…”

To begin with, about half a year had passed since control of my body had been returned to me.

Moving my hands and feet was unsettling, and my hands and legs had become so pretty that I was unintentionally fascinated by them… The male student before me, however, wasn’t going to wait.  So, I moved my mouth in a fluster.

“I especially like the poem in the middle which is one of his earlier works and even though its wording has been changed a bit it still lets you get a glimpse to the sort of life the writer lived, or something like that… yeah.”

I talked way too fast ~ ~!!

Ah~, what kind of overly enthusiastic thing am I even saying!?

This author’s early works were already out of print, to the point that only those who knew, knew.  Or rather, are there even people who know about them?  As for me, I only secretly kept a collection of poems that were going to be thrown away when I was little!

I really wanted to and go back into my mind.  Nora, please.  Hurry and switch with me…!!

As I closed my eyes in fear, both my hands were grabbed for some reason.

“Yes, yes, that’s exactly it!  It’s like the author’s view regarding life and death, or rather this bitter, ‘I’m done with women,’ desperation that was so grittily masculine and…”
“Ah, that’s…”

He’s… deligh… ted…?

While I blinked my eyes in surprise, he quickly released my hands.

Then, while he scratched his head,

“No, sorry for doing that all of a sudden.  It’s just I haven’t really met anyone whose tastes in reading matched mine until now… I ended up getting excited.”
“Um, it’s… alright…”

If anything, I’m sorry for letting you touch such filthy hands… when I looked down at my own hands while having such a thought—

They aren’t rough or worn at all.  They were somewhat soft… and smooth.

That’s right, Nora has been taking great care of them all this time.  As I held these precious hands against my chest, Nora spoke up from within my heart as if to give me a gentle nudge.

“Come on, come on, just confess already.”
“Isn’t that too fast in a variety of ways…?”
“It’s not like that.  Youth passes by in an instant, after all.”

Even so… I haven’t even introduced myself to this gentleman yet.

My cheeks unintentionally relaxed as I remembered that the man was still in front of me.

“Ah… sorry for smiling.  That’s…”

There was another person in the library, but just a dozing library committee member.  No one was watching.  No one was listening.  In that case… this in’t nearly as embarrassing as Cecily’s usual behavior.

Fine, whatever!

This is going to be the most shameful moment of my life.  With that thought in mind, I bowed my head.

“Would… you talk with me again!?”

Well, I’ll probably be turned down anyway.  It’s fine.  I’m used to being treated like an idiot.

I can just blame everything on Nora.  If it were Nora, she’d laugh it all off anyway.  Actually, this is Nora’s fault for rushing me in such a weird way.

While I was completely dropping the responsibility on her like that, I heard a quiet chuckling from above my head.

“It’s an honor.  For a plain man like me to be so directly invited by a lady is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.”

As I slowly raised my head, he, with a slightly reddening face, spoke with a soft voice.

“If it’s fine with you, could we meet here again next week?  That library committee member is always asleep, so there won’t be any trouble if we talk for a bit.”

What’s that?  That’s information I didn’t know at all…  Is it something that’s supposed to be a secret?

When I laughed without thinking, wrinkles also formed at the corners of his eyes.

“Once more, I am Roland Elgar.  I humbly ask for your good favor from here on.”

The last autumn of youth is about to end.

The wind has grown cold, but my heart is warm, like after a cup of hot chocolate.

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