Vol 5: Chapter 14 : Understanding
The Holy Knight's Peaceful and Twisted Life
Understanding
After making a date promise, Aleph leaves Chris's room.
Aria came out as if following suit.
The two of them were alone in the hallway. They were silent for a while, but then Aleph spoke up.
"Aria, you saved me earlier. Thanks to you, Chris and I... If all goes well, we might be able to renew our promise to marry each other once again."
"N-no! I don't think so. It just worked out because Chris and Aleph love each other."
When Aleph thanked her, Aria, feeling embarrassed, replied with an exaggerated wave of her hand.
Seeing Aria like that, Aleph apologizes, something he had never done before.
"Also, I would like to apologize for the words I said at the entrance to the inn. I made such terrible judgments, calling you a slut, without knowing your circumstances. I'm sorry."
"Ah, Aleph... I don't really care about that!"
That was a lie. The truth was, she had been dwelling on that matter ever since.
Aria felt incredibly happy when he apologized for that.
"...I do acknowledge that. I heard that you risked your life to protect Chris in the Demon City. Chris also told me that you risked your own life to protect her when the madman came at the bar and from Karma."
"Ah, ahaha... well, I guess you could say I protected her."
Chris had been trying to raise Aria's stock and give her credit for everything that happened to Aleph. It was certainly true about the bar, but for Karma, she had been charmed and tried to fawn over him, only to end up as a threat for her.
Aria was worried that Aleph would dislike her if she told the truth, so she thanked Chris and decided to keep quiet. In fact, if she tried to correct him, she might actually be killed.
"Honestly, when Chris first asked you out, I thought you'd die right away."
"…………"
"But your resolve was genuine. If you weren't there, I might have lost Chris and gone mad right now."
"I... don't know that much."
"That's why I've decided that it's about time I truly forgave you. Back then, I only used words and hate you, deep down."
"...I see. No, that makes sense. There's no way you would forgive me that easily."
After hearing Aleph's true feelings, Aria realized that he had not forgiven her, but she was not particularly surprised. She wondered where she could find someone who would forgive her so easily for what she had done.
"Aleph, will you forgive me...?"
"Yeah, I forgive you---"
Aria's face lit up for a moment when she heard those words.
"I want to say that, but... it's impossible."
The next words were not what she wanted.
As expected, Aria has not been forgiven.
"Ah..."
"Even when I try to forgive you, thoughts of you still cross my mind. You who were violent towards me and laughed at me! You who straddled Hayato, shaking your hips and moaning as if to show off to me! You who yelled abuse at me and looked down on me! And then――I can't forget the look on your face as you pushed me down with a big smile on your face."
"Uh... Ah... Aleph, I..."
"I know. It was all brainwashing, right? I know. Otherwise, I would have killed you a long time ago."
Even though Aleph said he understood, his voice was cold enough to make her blood run cold. It was as if even though his reason wanted to forgive Aria, everything else about him rejected her.
“Now, Chris is the only one for me. If I marry Chris, be happy with Chris, and have children with Chris… If I become very happy, perhaps I will be able to forgive you…?”
When Aria first met Aleph, she was glad to see that he was doing well. However, she was wrong. She soon realized that Aleph had been broken for a long time.
He was abused, betrayed, denied his existence, and nearly killed by three childhood friends. There was no way he could survive. And what's more, it was Chris who saved him.
Even Chris wasn't really worried about Aleph, she was just pretending to be worried in order to treat him as just a powerful pawn. In reality, no one in the hero's party was on Aleph's side.
Even in his current party, the only one who could be called an ally was Aria, who had regained her senses. ...But even that was too late. Everything was too late.
With the holy sword in his hands, Aleph's mind as well as his physical abilities were strengthened.
However, if his mind was already broken before he even got hold of the holy sword, then it would be pointless.
According to Chris, Aleph had pushed himself too hard during his performance in the battle with the fire dragon, which was his highlight, and at that moment... he broke. You could even say that it was Chris who dealt the final blow to Aleph.
A pathetic hero. A total buffoon.
He is not even aware of this and continues to devote his wholehearted love to Chris.
The reason he gets irritated when he sees Aria may be because somewhere in his heart, there is still a part of Aleph that cares for Aria.
It was only after Aria joined the party that he began to remember the violent Aria of that time. The more he cares about her, the more his hatred grows.
Now that Aria knows Aleph's situation, there's nothing she can do.
All that's left now is to pray to Chris.
"Chris... Please. Help Aleph."
Even after Aleph returned to his room, Aria just stood there in the hallway.
Meanwhile, Chris was...
(What should I do to make a lover move?)
She was seriously thinking about getting through the date.
Chris has a bad habit of trying to get through anything by becoming someone else.
(It's gonna be joke going on a date in a saint's outfit, so I ended up saying we should wear our own clothes... but what should I wear?)
If the hero and saint were to be seen hanging out in town, Chris's legend would quickly turn into a love legend. To avoid that, she decided to have them go on a date in casual clothes.
However, since leaving the village, she had only been wearing her best pure white outfit, and now she couldn't remember what she normally wore.
(Should I go shopping...? No, it would be bad for a saint to go to a clothing store. But I don't have anything else to wear... ah, this is such a pain.)
In the end, Chris found it too much hassle to go by herself, so she asked Aria and Reno to buy her some clothes.
Chris was wondering what to do about things like clothing size, but for some reason Reno knew everything, starting with her chest size, so it was easy for her.
And then, one night passed.
Chris has perfected her lover mode and is ready to go!
I've been feeling a bit tired lately, so I might continue on the weekend.
Author's Note
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