Vol 5: Chapter 13: A New Disaster

The Holy Knight's Peaceful and Twisted Life

A New Disaster

The three of them gather in Chris's room, where the situation is tense.

"Let's calm down first," Chris said, bringing out a chair, but Aleph didn't sit down. Instead, he stood facing Chris with his arms crossed and stared at her. His emerald eyes were deep and cloudy, and jealousy and anger were seeping out from within.

Just being stared at was enough to wear down her mind, and while she was being attacked by the eyes, Chris vowed to try her best to explain the situation in a way that would avoid any misunderstandings.

Aria still hadn't recovered from what he'd said earlier, and although she was sitting in her chair, she kept her head down and didn't move an inch. At this rate, it would be impossible for her to help Chris.

"Aleph, let me start by saying that this kiss mark on my neck did not occur under the circumstances you think it did."

"Huh? What do you mean by the circumstances I think it did, Chris?"

"So, that's what I'm saying! I'm not hiding anything from you like that."

"So, you want me to believe you based on that? I'd like to believe you too, Chris, if I could. But no matter how you look at it, it's evidence of infidelity. Chris, tell me honestly. How far did you get with that guy?"

"You say you want to believe, but you don't believe a single bit!" Chris grumbled in her mind, but her face was as tough as Orichalcum, so it didn't show at all.

Chris immediately understood that the only way to clear up the misunderstanding was to simply tell the truth to this man, and acted quickly. Chris is a pretty clever man, or rather woman, when it comes to personal danger.

"I didn't do anything. This mark was given to me when I was fighting with the Holy Knight Nathel, who was trying to attack Nee-san! I was really scared..."

As she said this, tears welled up in Chris' eyes, almost to the point of spilling. Of course, it was her specialty, manipulating her tear ducts, but to an outsider it probably just looked like she was remembering the fear of the attack.

"What...? What do you mean, you were attacked?!"

The mad hero Aleph finally realizes the seriousness of the situation. He had been acting distrustful earlier, but after just one word from Chris, he now trusts her, showing how easy it is for him to fool.

However, this time, everything Chris said was true.

"Nee-san seemed a bit strange this morning, so I went out. When I got to town, I saw the Holy Knight and Nee-san heading off somewhere, so I got worried and followed them."

"Chris is right. I, and Nathel, well...yeah."

Although she agreed with what Chris said, Aria was vague about what she was saying.

She couldn't bring herself to say that she went with Nathel to be held by him, even if it was to ease her throbbing. If she did say so, it would seem like she was confirming what Aleph had said earlier.

"...So?"

"When I got there, the Holy Knight was closing in on Nee-san. Luckily I was able to intervene just in time to save her, but the two of us were no match for him, so Nee-san escaped first."

In truth, she wanted to say that she had gone to get Aria to call for help, but since Aria hadn't come to Aleph yet, she couldn't say anything stupid.

If Aria had let slip something like "I got lost and couldn't get to the inn," she thought it would not be strange for him to kill Aria. She knew that it would be bad for a murder to occur in her own room.

"I was waiting for an opportunity to escape by myself, but I let my guard down and the Holy Knight pushed me down--"

"Pushed down...? Chris, you can't be...raped?"

"No! Please listen to my story to the end!"

"Oh, yeah... I get it."

Chris was already cursing the fatally troublesome hero. In her mind, she had already told Aleph to die thirty times. But on the surface, she never showed it.

"He tried to kiss me on the lips, so I twisted my head to avoid it, but that's when this got on me."

"So... did you manage to escape in the end?"

"Yes, I hit him with Intense Light when he was off guard , and while he was still blinded I managed to escape safely."

"I see... That's good. Chris, I'm sorry for doubting you."

After hearing the whole story, Aleph muttered a relieved sigh and apologized slightly.

However, this is where Chris's true aim begins.

(Okay, now that we've cleared up the misunderstanding, let's break off the engagement.)

Chris grins to herself, hiding from view, reveling in her perfect plan. She's as arrogant as ever.

"So Chris, where is this Holy Knight?"

Aleph immediately wanted to go and kill the Holy Knight who had treated Chris like this, but was stopped by Chris' words.

"Aleph. First of all, there's something I want to tell you."

"What? Wouldn't it be better to kill the Holy Knight first?"

"No. It's an important matter."

"Okay, what's wrong?"

Chris closed hee eyes for a while, but then she opened them as if she had made up her mind and declared.

Even when saying something important, it's all an act.

"My marriage to Aleph, please pretend it never happened."

"Huh?"

For a while, Aleph couldn't understand what he was being told.

Chris, who had promised to marry him, broke her promise.

This is a serious declaration of betrayal.

"...Why?"

That was the only word he could finally utter.

The shock was so great that he seemed to have forgotten how to yell.

"Aleph and I have been traveling together for a year."

"Yeah, Chris and I get on really well."

"But wasn't that more like a partner than a lover? Even if you could trust me as a partner, you couldn't trust me as a lover, which is why you became suspicious like this time?"

"Th-That's not true...."

Aleph couldn't say that.

It's true that he had spent a lot of time with Chris, but it had been more as a saint and a hero than as lovers. Having that pointed out left him speechless.

Furthermore, he realized that Chris was indirectly blaming him. "Why didn't you believe in me, even though you loved me?" Aleph felt that he was being blamed.

"Even if we were to get married, perhaps it would have been better if we had done a little more of what couples do. We..."

Chris begins speaking in a tone like a woman about to break up.

She is already in high spirits. It feels as though her heart has grown wings and is about to take flight.

There was a man's joy in being freed from troublesome things.

But then this unnecessary statement comes out.

"...There's still time. Just do what lovers do."

Aria has been resurrected from the dead.

And then she takes action, struggling to somehow pull the two of them back together as they drift apart.

A woman who only does unnecessary things has come to the rescue with the best of her skills.

"Eh? Nee-san, wait a minute..."

"Something lovers do? What do you mean, Aria?"

Aria's words of hope made Aleph, who had been on the verge of collapsing, start moving again.

The man's determination to not part with Chris at all costs sensed hope.

"It's a date. You two should go on a date. If you don't know each other better yet, why not get to know each other now...?"

("We were about to break up, what is this ugly bitch talking about?") Chris was furious.

At the same time, she intuitively felt that this unpleasant situation had to be changed.

"That's not what I meant, Nee-san. I..."

"It's true, we haven't done anything like a typical couple. I'm sure Chris was annoyed when I suddenly asked her to marry me without even trying to deepen our relationship..."

"Aleph, it's okay! I know very well that Chris and Aleph love each other."

"You two, listen to me!"

"Aria... so you thought about us that much. And Chris, you also thought about me..."

Chris wish they'd just listen to her already, but because she usually act so innocent, she can't yell at them, so they don't listen to what Chris has to say.

And then, when she realized it――――

"Well then, Chris. Our date tomorrow... I'm looking forward to it."

"Eh...? Ah, y-yes...?"

She ended up going on a date or something.