episode_0056

‘······Ugh, ugh. Ah, ugh.’

Meaningless sounds that couldn’t become words spilled from her lips, and her consciousness remained hazy without clearing up.

It felt like swimming in sticky tar every time she woke up from fainting.

To wake up from the murky consciousness, she had to struggle relentlessly until her mind returned.

“Ugh, ugh. How did I manage to lose consciousness this time…?”

Having already faced her third fainting spell, Mei Luina was somewhat accustomed to the sensation of regaining consciousness while still being mentally present.

She knew that the quickest way to clear this foggy state of mind was to recall the events just before fainting, but her head, still groggy from not fully waking up, forced herself to remember what happened before she fainted.

‘······Uhh ♥’

Continuing to forcibly roll her head as if shrouded in mist, the first thing that came to mind was Stae’s voice.

“St-Stae said he’ll only address me by my name from now on…”

More accurately, it was Stae’s voice addressing her by name while speaking informally.

Stae, who always looked after Mei Luina with a caring voice and touch in every moment.

However, Mei Luina felt discontent with Stae’s care and affection.

She believed that the line drawn between herself and others, such as Dain Adamas, who comfortably used informal speech, or Mir Ryuin, who unhesitatingly smacked her buttocks, was only directed at her.

While the other two could do things that anyone would consider intimate, she was merely patted on the head or spun around.

As this was clearly discriminatory treatment, Mei Luina disliked Stae’s kindness, affection, and consideration towards her.

“He slapped me on the chest without a word, out of the blue… But the kind treatment that seemed to draw the line disappeared completely as soon as Stae used a treatment method not solely for Mei Luina, and that was when she could finally face him, who didn’t care for her.”

‘P-Please, please speak informally… Eek♥’

For the saintess, Meiruina, the kindness, affection, and consideration of others were natural things. Originally, she was someone who regarded those who did not care for themselves as dear, without even considering the subject. However, Stay’s feigned consideration completely changed Meiruina’s values. Confronted with him calling her by her name and speaking informally while completely lacking consideration, she felt a shock as if lightning had struck her entire body.

“He called me just ‘Mei’ like he’s really close to me, without even adding ‘Saint’…♥”

Meiruina, who allowed only using full names when addressing others, was so enraged when the mere F-rank Stay dared to call her name so casually. Even Dain Adamas and Mir Ryuinma, who could be considered her equals, spoke informally, but when addressing her, they used her full name. How dare Stay commit such rudeness.

Meiruina, who decided in her mind that she needed to maintain her dignity, opened her mouth to express her anger towards Stay.

“Normally, I should have been angry right away… Ugh, how can I not get angry at all, what am I supposed to do.”

Contrary to her thoughts, her heart rejoiced at Stay’s inconsiderate treatment, swiftly dissipating her anger.

“A-Also…♥ Hah♥ He, he went to great lengths to provide treatment exclusively for me, a treatment that neither Dain Adamas nor Mir Ryuin can receive…♥”

By this point, Meiruina’s mind had almost cleared up. However, she hadn’t fully awakened yet, and her completely unawakened brain vividly recalled what had happened during the treatment meant exclusively for her.

“I, I mean, you called me a perverted guy and… ugh ♥ Not only that, you even went as far as calling me a perverted freak… a pervert! Even saying things like that… ♥ This, this is just too much no matter how I think about it ♥ I did ask you not to stop me from saying dirty things, but still, there should be a limit, you know!”

If Mei Luina had been completely awakened, her sense of shame would have filtered out some of the dirty words she heard from Stay due to her mental defense mechanism.

However, her mind had not completely recovered from the aftermath of her fainting, and it was only when she vividly recalled what Stay had said to her that she fully regained consciousness.

The first thing Mei Luina resolved to do after fully awakening from the aftermath of her fainting was one thing: “I have to apologize! Even though I allowed dirty talk and dirty deeds and informal speech and being called by my name! Still, there should be a limit for people! After hearing you say that I crossed a line a bit with this incident, I will apologize!”

It was about apologizing to Stay for the incident just before she fainted.

In fact, after receiving an apology, her true intention was to receive an apology ‘by embracing him tightly’ and whispering his name in a warm voice, saying, “Until you prove your innocence and my guilt, it seems difficult for me to accept that apology.”

“Being embraced by Stay… ♥ Being affectionately whispered to as Mei… ♥ Hehehe ♥”

For Mei Luina, who had always taken for granted surviving in the Vatican, where trickery abounded, and hitting a wall with others, the experience of being called by her name by someone else for the first time was so sweet.

She had never expected it to be this good, so the shock doubled, and she wickedly smiled, waiting for the timing to apologize to Stay.

“······.”

However, after one minute, two minutes, three minutes passed, Mei Lina’s smile disappeared as she felt no sign of any response.

‘·····Huh? S-Stay? W-What, what’s going on? W-Where did you go······?’

Her voice, which had been half-melted in happy imagination just a moment ago, now froze stiff and trembled, and the loneliness and despair that she had momentarily forgotten during the three days of waiting alone began to creep up on her mind, thanks to hearing Stay’s voice through the speaker.

‘Why, why aren’t you here? W-Where did you go? S-Stay? Stay!’

It had barely been five minutes since she hadn’t heard Stay’s voice, including the time it took to wake up from the faint aftermath, but Mei Lina was more desperate than usual.

Since he had never disappeared without saying a word, and always bid farewell until the next treatment day, Stay, whom she had never experienced vanishing before, felt so unfamiliar and frightening to Mei Lina.

‘Ugh, St-Stay… Stay……’

A saint, an S-rank awakened individual, ranked 3rd in the world hero ranking······.

There were countless other titles praising her fame, but the only person who burst into tears for not hearing Stay’s voice for just five minutes was Mei Lina.

Mei Lina, a plant-human patient who was nothing but a nobody, unable to do anything alone.

If she could be with Stay, if she could at least hear his voice, the fear of helplessness, loneliness, and despair that she could forget as long as she was with him turned her into an ordinary human, Mei Lina.

‘Uhhhhh······. W-Where did you gooooo·······. Please don’t leave me alone······. I-I’m lonely. I hate being lonely.’

In uncontrollable terror arising from the fact that the only one she could share her current self with had vanished without warning, Mei Lina cried like a child who had lost her parents.

‘Right now, right now, I-I can’t be without S-Stay······.’

Ung-

The sensation of always eagerly anticipating and connecting with a soul, so heartwarming. Just moments ago, the tearful Meiluina, now comforted by the connection of hearts with another, quietly spoke into the darkness, her tears stopping instantly.

“Sob. Mr. Stay?”

Only a single second passed as she waited for a response to her call into the void. That one second felt longer to Meiluina than any other she had experienced, and she trembled with anxiety, swallowing dryly, fearing what might happen if there was no answer.

“What’s wrong, Meiluina? Why are you crying now? Did you have a nightmare or something?”

As Stay’s voice, which she had been desperately waiting for during those despairing five minutes without him, reached her ears, Meiluina, forgetting even her firm and sinister plan to demand an apology, spoke in a tone that was far too cheerful.

“I don’t like being called ‘Meiluina’ by Mr. Stay! Please call me Mei!”

Although Stay was momentarily taken aback by her response, realizing it was not the right answer to his question, he could sense the poignant longing in her voice.

······Is she feeling separation anxiety from me right now?