Chapter 85
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Chapter 85
He made it obvious that he remembered. He observed her reaction carefully. How would she respond now?
"Elgiosa? Wasn't that place missing? And the owner of Elgiosa at that..."
Echinacea Loaz did not accept it. Did she want to forget the memories of the past? Or perhaps she simply didn't trust him.
What if he told her that he knew she was the Demonic Sword Owner? He—who had died because of her—if he said such a thing, she would be seized with terror. It would be like excavating the very fact she most wanted to hide, her deepest trauma.
Even if Yurien de Harden Kirie told her he loved her, she wouldn't believe him. She wouldn't understand why he didn't resent her. She would ask how he could possibly love her. Then he would have no choice but to answer.
Because you fell into the abyss because of me, I cannot resent you. I made you into a demon.
Fifteen years of suffering. She had lost so much. Even if everything were returned, the pain endured in reclaiming it had been far too long. The scars that remained on her had yet to heal.
'If she learns that all those nightmares happened because I took an interest in her, could she bear it? What would she do? Would she want to kill me?'
Yurien de Harden Kirie felt the familiar pain of being torn by a blade and offered a bitter smile. He could not speak. She might want to forget everything, and he could not dig it up and wound her anew. Even now, wasn't she pretending not to know?
The choice had to be hers. All he could do was wait. Yet he would not simply wait and do nothing. He had resolved to make an effort.
So he brought up the subject of the sword.
"Is it simply tedious that you dislike maintaining a sword?"
Yurien de Harden Kirie knew why she carried a cheap sword. He asked while knowing. He touched the wound. He opened his eyes of truth and looked at her.
"When I hold a sword, my feelings often... become unpleasant. I wanted to minimize the time I spent holding one."
Her soul reflected in his eyes of truth was distorted. Something like black marks bloomed and coiled above her burning soul. The flames writhed in agony. Yurien de Harden Kirie watched the pitch-black malice that strangled its own neck instead of spilling outward.
It was malice directed at herself. Echinacea Loaz now despised herself so terribly that she wanted to die. It was because he had touched the wound. Watching it, he wanted to take back his words.
While he regretted it, she subdued the malice directed at herself. The flames flickered and burned away the black things that strangled her neck. Echinacea Loaz spoke with a faint smile. It was an awkward laugh.
"The biggest reason is that maintaining a sword is tedious, though."
Yurien de Harden Kirie closed his eyes of truth. She disliked the sword far more than he had thought. Just talking about the sword made her strangle her own neck like that.
"After all, do you... dislike swords?"
The sword he had prepared was one that required no maintenance. He had certainly thought it would be helpful to her. But if she disliked the sword itself, it might be better not to give it. Giving a sword as a gift to someone who hates swords.
Echinacea Loaz answered after a moment of silence.
"There are times when it's enjoyable."
"When?"
"During sparring... there are times when it feels like I'm having a conversation through the sword. Those times are enjoyable."
There were times when it was enjoyable? He had never anticipated that. She wielded the sword solely for her purpose, and she never held it except when necessary. The her he had observed only drew the sword to face enemies.
Yet she said that during sparring, it felt like having a conversation through the sword. Just as he had initially suspected, it seemed she disliked not the sword itself but the nightmares it evoked. Since he had secretly hoped she would come to like the sword, relief spread through him. At the same time, he felt a bitter envy toward whoever had given her that feeling.
"I wish that someday I could have a conversation with you through the sword."
Yurien de Harden Kirie realized only when he saw Echinacea Loaz stiffen that he had spoken an unconscious desire. It was a mistake. Whenever he was before her, his words seemed to slip out. He quickly apologized.
"I'm not pressing you. I'm sorry."
"No, that's not it."
"In any case, then..."
It's a sword I made for you. If you don't hate swords, could you accept it? In his mind, he was speaking naturally and calmly, but in reality, he couldn't form his words properly.
"If... if you... if the reason you use that sword is... that kind of reason..."
Embarrassed at stammering like a fool, he cleared his throat and closed his mouth. He had been speaking well until just moments ago, so he couldn't understand why he was like this now.
Echinacea Loaz was looking at him with confusion. Unable to understand his own state, Yurien de Harden Kirie finally grasped why he was like this when he saw her. This was the moment he was about to give, for the first time, a gift made solely for her to the woman he loved. Moreover, that gift was something he had created without even realizing his feelings for her.
Without even realizing it, he had envisioned a white form similar to his own sword, Rangiosa, and had amethysts set while thinking of her eyes, even inscribing the name Amethyst. Then he had harbored the foolish thought that since the sword was the most appropriate gift for a Lord to give to a Squire, it would appear free of ulterior motive.
Now that he realized it, there was no way it was free of ulterior motive—the very material could be called ulterior motive made manifest. To think he had been about to give her something like this without hesitation. Yurien de Harden Kirie felt ashamed of his past self for the first time in his life. Yet since he had already broached the subject, he couldn't back out now.
He finally rose from his seat and retrieved the leather bundle he had brought. Inside was the sword he had conceived while imagining it standing alongside the Holy Sword. He had spent all this time imagining her holding it. He had selected and inscribed magic into it, hoping it would be of use to her. It was truly an object so embarrassingly filled with his heart.
He pushed it toward Echinacea with trembling hands.
"It is yours."
"This is...."
"You need not maintain it. No special care required. It has enchantments."
The cost of inscribing those enchantments alone exceeded a Knight Instructor's annual salary. I hadn't even calculated the total expense of the blade itself. Had it been my own possession, I would have deemed it extravagant, but watching her draw it forth, it seemed woefully insufficient.
'I should have invested more effort....'
Compared to her, it was far too meager a gift. Yurien de Harden Kirie studied her anxiously. The longer her silence stretched as she examined the sword, the drier my mouth became. She traced her fingers across the letters engraved on the fuller and asked.
"Amethyst is the sword's name, correct?"
"Yes. ...Does it please you?"
Echinacea Loaz did not answer immediately.
Perhaps it displeased her. I seemed to have rushed its creation. Or could she sense the feelings woven into the blade and find it uncomfortable? Yurien de Harden Kirie panicked and spoke in disjointed rambling.
"There is an enchantment to prevent foreign matter from remaining on the blade's surface. Another to maintain the edge's strength. You need only recharge it with mana once every half year. You can request mages to handle the recharge, or alternatively...."
If one could manipulate mana, recharging was possible. Echinacea herself could manage it, but since she concealed her Master rank, that would not be an option.
So I hoped she would bring it to me and ask me to recharge it. Changtian was a place where rare Master-rank Knights wandered about, yet among all those Masters, I wished she would ask none other than me to perform the recharge. I desperately wished for that.
Yurien de Harden Kirie avoided her gaze and quietly revealed his desire.
"...I could recharge it for you."
The moment the words left my lips, embarrassment flooded through me. What if she disliked the sword? What was I doing? Yurien de Harden Kirie sat helpless, only clenching his fists beneath the table.
Echinacea Loaz, who had been watching him quietly, laughed. It was not a radiant smile but rather a small, gentle one—yet it was the first genuine smile she had ever shown him. She smiled at him and spoke.
"Thank you, Lord. It is truly beautiful. I will use it well."
She laughed.
For a moment, everything around her blurred except for her. Only she remained vivid and clear. I had hoped she would smile at me, but nothing I had imagined came close to what I felt now.
What could I say? Simply put, I was happy. Joyful. Every meaning contained in those words filled my being and overflowed. It overflowed into a smile. Yurien de Harden Kirie smiled back at her.
"I am glad it pleases you."
"...Did you deliberately tailor it to me?"
"I did. Does that burden you?"
Had my hidden intentions shown? He was startled, as if stepping on his own feet. Fortunately, she shook her head.
"No, it is just... it does not feel like a ready-made item, so I asked."
"When I appointed you as my Squire, I commissioned its creation. It was only completed recently, so I was waiting for the right moment to present it to you...."
Ah, how careless. I trailed off quickly, but it was too late. Half suspended between reality and heaven, unnecessary words had spilled forth. Why did my words always fail me before her?
No, truthfully, I knew. Before Echinacea Loaz, Yurien de Harden Kirie would likely never be composed again.
Her expression shifted oddly.
"You were waiting for the right moment to give it to me?"
"...."
"You could have simply called for me at any time."
"It was because you...."
"Or given it at the appointment ceremony. There were plenty of opportunities."
Echinacea Loaz regarded him with suspicion. Yurien de Harden Kirie felt oddly wronged. Every time she looked at him, she seemed uncomfortable, and thinking he needed to steel his resolve, he had refrained from meeting her, yet she said there were plenty of opportunities.
"You seemed to dislike me."
"Me? Dislike you, Lord?"
"I know now that is no longer the case. Last time, you called me beauti...."
"Wait, wait, wait. You don't need to say anything more. Please, I'm begging you—don't."
Her face flushed the same crimson as before as she hastily cut off his words.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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