Chapter 13 …
Azel was curious about the woman’s condition.
Was she all right now? What on earth had she seen yesterday? Was she in any pain anywhere? He wanted to ask all of that.
But it was an impulse unbecoming of him.
“That’s enough. You don’t need to explain anything. Get some rest.”
In the end, the countless questions never made it past his lips.
It wasn’t only because such behavior didn’t suit him. He was afraid that those questions might cause the woman before him even more pain.
Afraid? Me?
The thought slipped out unconsciously, and though there was no one to hear it, he wanted to refute it out loud.
It’s nothing but pity.
Yes, it was nothing more than pity for a human afflicted by black magic.
No—actually, I’m not even certain yet that this woman is connected to black magic at all.
Like someone trying to avert their eyes from an obvious truth, Azel continued to make excuses to himself.
All the while, he failed to realize that even this, too, was unlike him.
Meanwhile, unaware of what was going on in Azel’s mind, the woman added in a trembling voice,
“Thank you… for not asking me anything.”
“…You don’t have to say it. I won’t ask in the future either.”
That was all Azel could say.
The woman could not speak, and Azel could not remember.
And yet, the woman looked at him with wavering eyes, as if she were deeply moved.
There’s no need to know. The time limit is only a month, anyway.
His only goal was to put an end to this tiresome regression.
Who the woman was, what kind of relationship she had with him—none of that mattered in the slightest.
Yes. It was strange to be curious about such things in the first place.
Ignoring the ache that had begun to throb in his chest again, Azel tried once more to leave this place.
Yes. It doesn’t matter.
But contrary to his resolve—
“Azel.”
His feet stubbornly refused to move.
“You asked me yesterday, didn’t you? What I was to you.”
And that momentary hesitation—
brought Azel the worst possible outcome.
Why would you—!
The woman spoke the taboo aloud.
“Stop—”
“I don’t know either. What I was to you, Azel. What I meant to you. I don’t know.”
What followed was something Azel had never anticipated.
“But I do know what you were to me.”
Unable to endure it, he turned his back—only to immediately meet her eyes.
I thought she’d be crying.
She was smiling.
Even as she spoke the taboo that had caused her so much pain.
Even though she must have been afraid.
Even though it must have been difficult.
She looked at Azel with a face full of joy and tenderness, smiling more brightly than anything.
“Regret.”
In that instant, his heart seemed to drop to his feet.
“You were my regret.”
At that, Azel knew instinctively.
He would no longer be able to avert his eyes from this woman.
And he would never be able to forget that smile of hers.
*
At the moment, I was deeply moved by Azel’s attitude.
You kind bastard!
After finishing my conversation with Gaspata at dawn the previous day,
I had waited restlessly for Azel to wake up.
To be honest, looking back at my behavior from yesterday while in my right mind, it was nothing short of the worst.
I really made a complete fool of myself.
So much so that, even after agonizing over it all night, I couldn’t come up with a single excuse.
Clinging to him, crying, screaming… I was basically insane.
Even though it had all happened because I mistook Gaspata for a ghost, there was no way I could explain that to Azel.
So I’d practically given up, convinced everything was ruined—
Is he an actual angel or what?
The angel before me had magnanimously declared that he would let it all slide.
I swear I’ll be good from now on. Thank you, you punk! You’re the best, Azel Beots!
It would’ve been strange not to be moved.
“Even if I can’t talk about what happened yesterday, this much I can say. Thank you, Azel.”
After revealing the secret—born of my emotion—that Azel had actually been my regret, my heart felt much lighter.
He looked startled by my sudden bout of TMI, but well—what did it matter?
Having shed one of my worries, I was simply happy.
*
Meanwhile, a pair of eyes was watching the two men and women, whose moods were in stark contrast.
Gaspata, the owner of that gaze, trembled sweetly, having forgotten even the terror of the previous dawn.
The reason was clear.
This is love, after all!
Before his eyes was love itself.
He’d been hiding in a corner at the woman’s threat—and yet, what a sight he had witnessed.
That Azel! Our Azel! He’s flirting!
For a long time, Gaspata had watched over Azel.
At some point, Azel had severed all human relationships, and to Gaspata, he was like a sore thumb—painful to look at.
Azel was always cold even to the subordinates by his side, and it constantly worried him.
But now, that Azel was trying to change.
Even if the other party was a terrifying and suspicious human woman, that hardly mattered anymore.
She said “regret”! She said you were her regret!
If that wasn’t love, then what on earth was?
By now, Gaspata was plastered against the wall, half sobbing.
Their love was just too beautiful.
Aaaah! I want to keep watching!
In the spirit realm, scenes this entertaining were impossible to come by.
So for Gaspata, who greatly admired other people’s love, what was unfolding before him was overwhelmingly stimulating.
But as a spirit, he still had duties he absolutely had to fulfill. He couldn’t keep watching them any longer.
In the end, Gaspata prepared to leave, tears welling in his eyes.
Still, before I go, I should repay them for showing me such a lovely love.
Before departing for the spirit realm, Gaspata’s hand moved suspiciously.
A faint cluster of light burst from his fingertips, floating gently on the wind.
It drifted and drifted, until it finally reached above the woman’s head.
The woman didn’t notice, and Azel lacked the ability to sense a spirit’s power.
Without either human realizing it, the light seeped into the woman.
I hope this power will be of some help.
With a satisfied smile, the spirit vanished as silently as he had appeared.
*
“Have you woken up, miss?”
When I absentmindedly opened the door and stepped out, I was greeted by an unfamiliar sight for the first time since coming here.
A maid with short green hair stood expressionlessly in front of the door.
“…Mary?”
Blink.
When I called her name without thinking, she blinked in response.
“Greetings. I am Mary, and I will be attending to you from now on.”
She lifted the hem of her skirt slightly and offered an elegant bow.
Why did she suddenly show up?
…Mary.
More precisely, Rinoa Marigold.
Just like Seymour, she appears in the story as Azel’s loyal subordinate—a representative fighter of the villain faction.
In other words, someone who could never be an ordinary maid.
I mean, why would a former holy knight who betrayed the temple and fled end up working as a maid here?
And yet, Mary—fully dressed in a proper maid uniform—continued to block my path.
“Uh, um… nice to meet you.”
“Yes. I look forward to serving you.”
But that wasn’t the only baffling thing.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a guest. Shall we do a thorough cleaning?”
“We clean every day already. What do you mean, a ‘thorough cleaning’ all of a sudden? You’re just telling us to do what we always do.”
“Shut up and move your hands.”
“The guest is awake, so we should hurry and prepare the meal. I’ll head to the kitchen.”
“How’s the state of the garden? Has anyone checked it?”
“Oh! I’ll go right away!”
The mansion, which had been as quiet as a haunted house, was suddenly bustling.
So many people were moving energetically through every corner of the estate that it made me wonder where they’d all been hiding.
They even greeted me warmly whenever they spotted me.
“Good morning, miss.”
“Yes, good morning.”
“Good morning!”
“…Yes. Did you sleep well?”
I couldn’t understand what on earth was going on.
“Um, Mary.”
“Yes?”
“Did something happen…?”
“The master instructed us to receive the guest.”
By “the master,” she meant Azel.
But suddenly calling me a guest?
I’ve already been here for nine days—why now?
I couldn’t understand why Azel, who had fled the room yesterday morning with a cold expression, had suddenly given such an order.
Well, it doesn’t seem like a bad situation, at least…
While I was trying to guess at Azel’s intentions, we arrived at the entrance to the dining room.
Thanks to that, my thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
“Please go in. The master is waiting for you.”
Because I’d just heard something even more shocking.
“Who’s waiting?”
“The master is waiting for you, miss.”
Azel had clearly lost his mind.
