Ch.228227. Time Limit (3)

# 227. Time Limit (3)

I really missed her.

Albert, not knowing what to do at this reunion after so long.

She spoke to him.

“You came really late…? I’ve been waiting here for a while…”

***

She said she had waited.

She clearly said she had waited.

I felt the same way.

I had been waiting for her too.

I was hoping she would rely on me, just like we promised back then.

But I didn’t have the courage to express it.

‘It was all my fault anyway.’

But now, I had gained a little… courage.

The clear traces of tears and her eyes that looked like they might overflow at any moment gave me courage.

However… she didn’t give me time to express it.

“Sob… Do you know how long I’ve been waiting? Do you know how sad I’ve been?”

She burst into tears as she stood before me.

I embraced her gently.

Only then did she release all the emotions that had been building up, and I held her tightly.

“Sob… sob… I tried… so hard!”

In truth, she had tried just as hard as I had.

She was the biggest reason I could fight so hard, and if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here now.

She had supported me to the best of her ability until her magic was completely drained.

“I’m sorry.”

Recognizing this fact, an apology spontaneously escaped my lips.

But when she heard those words, she suddenly raised her voice.

Moreover, what she said was something I never expected.

“Why are you apologizing…?! Why you?! You didn’t do anything wrong! Nothing at all!”

It felt like someone was hammering my heart.

Her words had that much impact.

I asked her with a slightly trembling voice.

“Don’t you… hate me?”

She buried her face in my chest.

“Of course I hate you… I do! But what can I do… it’s not your fault… you did your best, didn’t you?”

She asked that question while looking into my eyes again.

Her bloodshot eyes and the tears flowing from them—I wiped those tears away.

“I suppose so.”

“Then don’t apologize… okay?”

“Okay.”

She continued to be like that afterward.

She kept leaning on me and depending on me.

Even though I was such a shaky wall, she was leaning on it.

I stroked the head of this admirable woman.

Then she began to cry even more sorrowfully than before.

She must have had a lot bottled up.

“Sob…! Sob…! Albert… how did you endure it back then…?”

“Back then?”

She seemed to be talking about when she had passed away.

If it was then, certainly…

“I just locked myself in my room and cried until I felt somewhat better…”

“I’ll do that too…”

“…?”

She frowned when she saw my expression.

“What?! Can’t I do that?!”

“That’s not it…”

“Then stay with me… until I feel somewhat better.”

“Alright, but how long are we going to stay like this?”

“I don’t know…! Don’t ask…”

Today, at least, I felt I should comply with any request without complaint.

Just for today, I wanted to do that.

And as the atmosphere eased a bit, we could naturally start a conversation.

“I was like that at first too. It really felt like the world was collapsing, like it was all a dream.”

As I started talking, she looked at me with swollen eyes.

Listening attentively to my words in that state, she was truly… lovable.

“But the world is real, and time flows on… And if you were to see me grieving over your death, what do you think you would feel?”

“I’d want you… to get over it quickly, I guess?”

The moment those words left her lips, she seemed to realize something.

I reinforced that realization.

“Perhaps Her Majesty the Empress feels the same way? Of course, we don’t know for sure.”

“I think you’re right…”

“Then let’s just be like this until today. Though if you recover too quickly, she might feel disappointed.”

And I believe that feeling a certain amount of grief is a form of respect for the deceased.

Though it becomes a problem if it gets too severe…

“Okay… but promise me…”

“Promise?”

She was trying to put on a serious expression.

But it wasn’t working out as she intended.

“From now on, don’t say sorry to me on your own. I’ll be the one to judge whether you did something wrong or not!”

“Alright…”

“And don’t try to sleep in separate rooms. I don’t want to sleep alone…”

The face that had looked so pitiful until just a moment ago now looked adorably cute.

Seeing that expression, I couldn’t help but smile.

It felt like it had been a really long time.

“Alright, I won’t.”

“Really…?”

“Yes, of course.”

Only after hearing that confirmation did she release me.

Then she pulled me back to the bed.

‘I’m sleepy…’

Sitting on that soft bed, I just wanted to lie down and sleep.

Of course, she showed no signs of doing so and continued to talk to me with bright, alert eyes.

“This is the first time I’ve cried like this in front of someone, you know?”

“Everything’s a first with you…”

“It’s true… who else would I cry in front of…?”

That was true.

Her personality, position, and the circumstances of each situation had made her that way.

But I was glad that she seemed to have broken through that a bit this time.

It was also proof that she hadn’t frozen up despite the Empress’s passing.

“From now on, cry a little. If you want to cry, cry. If you want to curse, curse. If you want to get angry, get angry.”

“At you?”

“That’s a bit much… I’m just saying express yourself, don’t hold it in.”

If there was any difference between the her of then and the her of now, it would be just this.

That she didn’t hold back.

That seemed to be the only difference.

“If you weren’t here, I’d probably still be like that.”

“I was there back then too.”

“Were we not that close back then…?”

As we continued to talk, the gloom in my heart and the tightness in my chest began to dissolve.

And I was glad that she seemed to feel the same way.

I was happy that she was gradually returning to her normal self.

“We weren’t close like this.”

“Like this?”

I looked at her as she tilted her head in confusion.

Then, after a very long time, I grabbed her shoulders and laid her down on the bed.

She deliberately avoided my gaze.

“Today… is quite dangerous…?”

***

At that time.

Riel was helping Amelia by detecting enemy forces from a suitable position.

Beside Riel were two unfamiliar faces.

Even in that busy situation, Riel didn’t stop talking.

“So what happened?”

“How would I know… don’t ask… it’s annoying.”

“Seeing how sulky you are, it must have gone well. I thought so.”

Lilith looked at Riel and Lu, lamenting her own situation.

“Why don’t I have a lover? Am I that unattractive…?”

“Well, I don’t think that’s it. You’re a succubus after all, in a way.”

“In a way?!”

“Yes, in a way.”

Lilith raised her voice in anger at Lu’s comment.

Riel made a suggestion to Lilith, who was getting worked up over something trivial.

“Would you like me to introduce you to someone?”

“Introduce?”

“Yes, age doesn’t matter, right?”

“It does…”

“If age matters, you won’t be able to meet anyone. They need to be quite old.”

“Ahahahaha!!”

Lu burst into laughter at Riel’s words.

Lilith glared at Lu.

“They are quite old… indeed.”

“You’re old too!”

“I don’t discriminate based on age.”

“That’s not necessarily a good thing…”

“It is a good thing. You’re a succubus.”

Riel interrupted their conversation and continued in her usual indifferent voice.

“If you insist, get Albert to introduce you. He’ll treat you well.”

“I don’t need that. He only cares about that girl anyway.”

“By the way… when will they come again? From the looks of it, it won’t take long…”

In reality, they hadn’t fully retreated but were keeping a certain distance, hiding and waiting for an opportunity.

It wouldn’t be strange if they attacked again at any moment.

“They’ll probably come soon.”

“Will we be okay then?”

“What do you mean?”

“The young lady aside, His Majesty is in that state, and Mr. Andres too… will we be okay?”

Andres aside, the Emperor needs to regain his strength.

Even though his injuries are severe, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a significant military force.

Moreover, since there won’t be a one-on-one battle between those two in the next fight, his value was even more certain in the current situation.

“Those two will figure it out themselves, don’t you think?”

“You’re quite pessimistic.”

“It’s not like I can do anything about it.”

“That’s true. Right now, you’re a special case that even the citizens don’t know about.”

Riel turned her gaze toward the hill where there was still no movement.

“I hope it starts as late as possible, at least around the time His Majesty returns.”

“That’s a big dream…”

“It would be difficult, wouldn’t it?”

“If it were me, I’d probably be like that for about a year.”

There was some exaggeration, but depending on the person, the aftereffects could really last that long.

Right now, they could only pray that the Emperor wasn’t that severely affected.

All they could do was hope for the Emperor’s return and for him to overcome this.

“I’m sure he’ll overcome it well. At least, the Emperor I knew would.”

Riel believed it.

She believed that the Emperor she knew, and still knows, would definitely shake it off and protect the country.

But Lilith had some doubts about that belief.

Still, hoping for the Emperor to rise again, she agreed with those words.

“I hope so, please…”

First, the Emperor needed to return to his normal state before anything could be done.

Right now, there was no one to lead this large number of people.