Chapter 38……………………………………………
Tenderly
“Are you feeling any better?”
Aria, sitting on the edge of the bed, looked at Lowell carefully as she spoke.
“Huh? Ah… yes.”
Lowell, who had been trying hard not to avert her eyes, startled and barely managed to answer.
“……”
Even after a long moment passed, Lowell still couldn’t bring herself to properly meet Aria’s gaze. She wanted to continue the conversation with something like ‘Are you alright, my lady?’—but for some reason, her mouth wouldn’t open.
“We have something to talk about, don’t we?”
In the end, it was Aria who broke the silence. She placed her hand gently over Lowell’s right hand and lifted her head, meeting her eyes.
And in Aria’s eyes was something they absolutely needed to face.
“Lowell. You said it yourself… that the time you spent with me brought you happiness. But when you said that… it sounded like you meant you’ve been repeating time with me…”
Her voice trembled slightly as she tightened her grip.
“…Is that true?”
“……”
Lowell couldn’t answer right away.
But because of that hesitation…
Aria understood immediately what the silence meant.
“So it’s true.”
Aria’s gaze fell weakly to the floor.
“Why… why didn’t I realize? If I’d just thought about it a little, I could have known. The things you said to me… the way you acted…”
“All of it… you were considerate of me because you already knew everything. So why didn’t I see it?”
“My lady…”
“And I, without even knowing…”
Her words broke off. Her shaking voice was soaked with emotion.
“I…”
Lowell instinctively tried to comfort her. Putting Aria’s feelings first—as both her mistress and her friend—was a habit she’d had for so long.
But the comfort never came out.
Because Aria suddenly pulled Lowell into an embrace, speaking in a muffled voice.
“It must have been so hard for you, Lowell.”
“Because of me… you must have suffered so much. You couldn’t even tell me because you were always thinking about me.”
“And you kept struggling alone…”
Aria’s tears fell onto Lowell’s shoulder.
A damp, trembling hug.
And perhaps it was the unfamiliar warmth of that embrace…
That made Lowell’s own vision blur with sudden tears.
That made her emotions swell until it was hard to breathe.
“My lady…”
Tears slipped past her eyelids.
Lowell felt as though all the tears she had held back through seven regressions were finally pouring down her cheeks all at once.
“Pfft.”
“Don’t laugh! My lady, you look ridiculous too!”
Aria tried to hold back her laughter as she stared at Lowell’s swollen eyelids.
Though in truth, Aria’s own eyes were just as puffy.
After laughing together for a long while, the two finally calmed down enough to speak properly.
“You know… Lowell. This time, I really intended to disappear.”
“Just existing was too painful. I wanted to vanish completely.”
“I thought that was the only way to escape regression.”
“My lady…”
“But funny enough… during the demon invasion, and even this time…”
“When I actually faced it, I was scared.”
“It wasn’t my first time experiencing death, but thinking about complete erasure…”
“Maybe that frightened me more.”
Aria gave a weak laugh.
“Maybe that’s why I hesitated.”
“Waiting for someone to stop this… to save me.”
She met Lowell’s eyes and smiled softly.
“But now I understand.”
“That I was able to hesitate at all… because of you.”
“That time protected me.”
“In the end… all the effort you made for me is what kept me alive.”
“……”
“Thank you, Lowell.”
“For keeping me from disappearing.”
“For staying by my side all this time.”
Aria squeezed Lowell’s hand.
And something about the trembling sincerity in her voice made tears well up in Lowell’s eyes again.
But this time…
She didn’t cry.
Instead, she squeezed Aria’s hand back and looked into her eyes more deeply.
“My lady… then promise me.”
“That you won’t give up anymore.”
“That you’ll survive with me.”
Lowell spoke seriously, studying Aria’s face.
“Yes.”
“I will.”
“I want to live now.”
“With someone who’s worked so hard for me… how could I possibly give up?”
Aria’s eyes shone with tenderness.
“Ah, but… my lady. I couldn’t destroy the regression magic circle.”
“I injured the caster, but the attack spell I used vanished completely…”
“I know,” Aria nodded.
“I saw the spell form in the air… and disappear.”
She frowned slightly.
“But Lowell… since when were you able to use that much mana?”
“I’ve only ever seen destruction spells from afar…”
Aria suddenly widened her eyes.
“Ah, that’s…”
Lowell realized then—
Aria didn’t know about Leon and Lowell’s contract.
She didn’t know that their marriage condition involved Leon teaching her magic in exchange for mana.
“…Lord Leon taught me.”
“When I told him I wanted to know, he searched it out and explained it to me.”
“He’s… surprisingly kind.”
Lowell tried her best to sound natural.
“Hm. I see.”
“I thought so, somehow.”
“…Yes?”
“To be honest, I’ve been suspicious of your husband this whole time.”
“But now… I don’t think I need to be.”
Aria smiled, but Lowell didn’t understand why.
“Lowell!”
Aria had seen it clearly last night on the cliff—
The expression on Leon’s face as he held Lowell.
And the emotions it revealed.
“Anyway, Lowell. Let’s do it together this time.”
“Destroying the regression circle… we’ll do it together.”
“Don’t suffer alone anymore.”
Aria held Lowell’s hand tightly.
“Yes.”
Lowell could feel it clearly.
In their shared gaze was powerful trust and bond.
* * *
“…He won’t ask difficult questions, will he?”
The next day, walking down the hallway, Lowell asked Leon in a tiny voice.
“I’ll only ask the basics.”
Leon replied without turning around.
“Ah… yes…”
Lowell felt awkward at his indifferent tone.
And she remembered why she was here.
‘Testing my mana… even though he already saw it worked against demons. What more does he need?’
Then—
Leon stepped closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“Come quickly.”
Startled, Lowell reflexively looked around.
And at that moment, she noticed the curious gazes that had been clinging to her quickly retreating.
So that’s why there were so many people… they came to watch.
The knights looked stiff and uncomfortable.
Lowell thought briefly.
She hadn’t done anything wrong.
So she should have been able to walk proudly.
But now that she was aware of the stares…
Her body wouldn’t relax.
So she lifted her head and looked up at the person holding her.
“……?”
Their eyes met.
Leon leaned closer—
And Lowell remembered what Aria had said.
“Lowell, don’t be so anxious. Trust your husband.”
“I’m completely sure he’ll protect you in the middle of all those questions.”
“Let’s go, Lord Leon.”
A strange confidence rose inside Lowell.
Creak.
The meeting room doors opened.
Lowell stepped inside.
“I heard you called for me.”
There was a quiet determination in her voice.
* * *
Crash!
A richly patterned teacup struck the wall and shattered loudly.
“Say that again.”
“M-master, please calm yourself… Rather than this, perhaps you should flee the territory—”
“Shut up!”
Sion cut the servant off sharply.
“You expect me to believe that maid became a war hero?”
“A commoner used mana, and everyone just accepts it?”
“They’re even praising her as a hero?”
“She was seen attacking demons, confirming it wasn’t the same kind of mana…”
“And when she was healed using the holy knight’s divine power, there was no conflict…”
“Hah! Then what about Aria?”
“You’re not going to tell me my sister is alive too, are you?”
Sion’s eyes flashed horrifyingly.
“T-that… Lady Aria is also safe.”
“And… there’s even talk of honoring her alongside the maid as war heroes…”
The rest didn’t even register.
Sion already understood.
He didn’t need to hear more.
“…No.”
Everything was unfolding completely differently from his plan.
