Ch.292Side Story: The Meeting

“Harvest? What kind of harvest?”

“The kind that lets me start over with a clean slate. Without any lingering attachments. That’s the harvest.”

Leona answered in a voice that seemed somewhat complicated, or perhaps relieved.

“Start over from the beginning?”

“Yes. Aria and I are meeting for the first time today. Neither Aria nor I have ever seen each other’s faces before. We’ve just met and barely introduced ourselves. What happens next depends on… no, it depends on Aria. Whether to continue or end it here.”

As she spoke, Leona glanced at Aria, who had her head bowed low, then got up from the bed. Her movements showed no trace of hesitation anymore.

“I’ll be going now, Mira. I need some time to sort out my thoughts. And time to wait. Is that okay?”

“Ah, yes. Of course it’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“Good. See you later, Mira. And the person I’m meeting for the first time over there too.”

Leona looked at Aria one last time before quietly closing the door and disappearing. Aria, who had kept her head bowed until then, slowly raised her upper body only after the door closed.

Her eyes were still red.

“What did you do?”

“…Leona asked me something. She asked if what I said was true—when she asked if I considered her a friend and I answered ‘as if’—whether that was my honest truth. She wanted to know if it was genuinely how I felt, or just a lie I told to push her away.”

I remember. After hearing that mockery, Leona completely gave up hope and truly tried to kill Aria. Until then, she must have thought that at least their childhood friendship would remain unchanged.

“So what did you tell her?”

“I said it was my honest feeling. Back then.”

Tears welled up in Aria’s eyes again. I couldn’t tell what kind of tears they were.

“Why didn’t you lie and say it wasn’t true? She might have understood if you had.”

I was testing her a bit. Aria shook her head at my words.

“I don’t want to lie anymore. Not to Leona, not to you or anyone else. Back then, I was being honest. I truly believed that everything except you, Mira, was worthless.”

“…”

She has changed. I quietly adjusted my internal assessment of Aria upward.

As she said herself, Aria was truly sincere back then. She genuinely believed that this world was nothing special, that everything here was worthless, mere fakes.

Someone who had been trapped in a frozen world for over a thousand years couldn’t possibly consider relationships in a fictional world to be real. Leona understood that much.

If she had lied and said it wasn’t her true feeling, that would have disappointed Leona even more. But she answered honestly, and that’s probably why Leona gave her a second chance.

“You made the right choice.”

“…Thank you.”

Her delicate fingers gripped the blanket tightly. She seemed unsure of how to continue the conversation.

“What will you do now?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure. What should I do now? Do I still have something left to do?”

“That’s a question I can’t answer for you.”

What Aria will do in this world is something she needs to figure out for herself. I could suggest something, but that wouldn’t be the path Leona wants.

“You need to find out for yourself. Maybe this has become the world you’ve always wanted.”

“The world I wanted…?”

“Yes. Why did you try to create a new world? Because you were tired of the predetermined, tired of a world where you knew everything. But this place isn’t like that anymore. We’ve changed, other people have changed, the demon race has changed. If you want, you could explore a completely new world.”

The world Aria knew and this current world can be considered entirely different places.

The original characters have taken completely different paths, the Empire wasn’t devastated, the new concept of Gates emerged, and humans and demons ended their long war with a peace treaty.

“Do what you want to do, Aria. You can do that now.”

“…”

Aria sat blankly on the bed. Then she buried her face in her knees and quietly sobbed.

“This is the second time we meet. Good to see you, Mira Crate.”

“You don’t look happy at all, Dad. Lighten up. If you scare Mira, she won’t talk to you.”

As Priscilla immediately snapped back, Duke Agnes, who had been wearing a demonic expression like he’d crawled up from hell, forcibly relaxed his face and smiled.

Since it was a forced smile, it didn’t have much effect. His lips twitched as he looked at me, and his teeth gritted and stopped repeatedly. With those canines bared at me, those were definitely teeth.

I stayed quiet. If I awkwardly took sides here, I’d only invite greater anger, whether I sided with Priscilla or defended the Duke.

“What are you doing, dear! How embarrassing!”

The Duchess slapped his back beside him, scolding him for behaving this way in front of their daughter, but it had no effect. I wondered if he disliked me that much.

‘Well, he would dislike me…’

My reputation had spread throughout the Empire. What I did at my birthday banquet, who came to celebrate, and who I was with—all of it.

And if that “who” included the Imperial Princess, even more so. No matter how prestigious one of the Empire’s three ducal families might be, they could never match the authority of the Imperial Princess.

Recently, rumors had been spreading that the Emperor was preparing something different regarding the succession, but in any case, she was still the likely next Emperor. Knowing this fact probably made his reaction even sharper.

“Let’s greet each other like men.”

A thick, bear-like hand extended toward me. It was the same hand that had been crushed last time.

“Of course.”

With a wry smile at the obvious intention, I took his hand. Immediately, a powerful handshake came back at me with full force. Blood vessels bulged on the back of my hand, my fingers turned pale white, and my arm muscles expanded fully.

Our clasped hands trembled. Duke Agnes gritted his teeth when he saw my calm expression.

“Kugh… your skills have… improved a lot…”

It was too far beyond simply “improved skills,” but I didn’t bother to contradict him and just nodded appropriately.

“What are you doing, dear! Aren’t you ashamed in front of your daughter?!”

The Duchess slapped the Duke’s back so hard it made audible sounds. The fact that she showed no sign of pain after hitting that enormous frame meant she was no ordinary person either. I suppose that’s what makes them a good match.

“Grrrgh… just you wait…”

“Just go already. How embarrassing.”

The strength contest disguised as a handshake ended with Duke Agnes’s defeat.

The Duke, after getting his back thoroughly slapped by his wife, was pushed back to the mansion while clutching one hand. His retreating figure looked particularly pitiful. Priscilla was watching with a satisfied look.

“I’m sorry about my husband. He’s just very protective of our daughter.”

The Duchess spoke with a smile once only the three of us remained.

“It’s fine. I came prepared.”

“Prepared means… is it what I think?”

“Yes. I—”

“That’s enough. Stop right there.”

A long index finger gently blocked my lips. It was a completely unexpected response. Both Priscilla and I opened our eyes wide in surprise.

Priscilla had been anxious about getting scolded by her mother too. Neither that gentle smile nor the finger stopping me mid-sentence was expected.

“I’m fine with it.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Of course. Oh, are you planning to discriminate against my daughter? If so, then I’m not fine with it.”

“Absolutely not.”

“If not, then we’re good.”

The Duchess—no, Priscilla’s mother—smiled warmly.

“When Priscilla was young, she seemed like a child with a closed heart. For as long as I can remember, from very early on. No matter how I tried to open her heart, it was useless. But from the moment she met a certain person, she changed completely. And in a very positive way. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s…”

“I didn’t ask for an answer, so just listen quietly. I’m not finished.”

Her finger blocked my lips again. I obediently closed my mouth. The Duchess nodded with satisfaction and continued.

“I don’t think the person who changed our daughter like that is a bad person. I don’t think it was something forced either. I don’t know how you persuaded her, but I’m sure my daughter agreed to it. And I’m sure you came here with serious determination, not lightly. I think I know what you want to say without having to hear it.”

Finally, the Duchess gently took my hand and stroked the back of it, saying, “Please take good care of my daughter.” Unlike Duke Agnes, it was a gesture that truly conveyed her entrusting her daughter to me.

“I’ll go back now. I’ll persuade him properly.”

“Will you be alright?”

“Of course. He understands everything in his heart. He’s just not good at expressing it.”

Her kind eyes turned to the side. Priscilla stood frozen in place.

“You seem happy, Priscilla.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Good. If you say so, I won’t interfere. But…”

The Duchess approached her daughter and whispered something quietly. Hearing those words, Priscilla was so surprised that her hair stood on end, and she looked back and forth between her mother and me in a fluster.

“Hehe, understand?”

The Duchess patted Priscilla’s shoulder a few times and returned to the mansion. Priscilla remained standing there with a flushed face, staring blankly until her mother’s figure disappeared beyond the main gate.

“What did she say?”

“…”

Priscilla kept her lips tightly sealed despite my question. For Priscilla, who would believe me if I said ice was hot, to keep quiet—I wondered what on earth her mother had said.

The mystery was solved not long after. That very night, Priscilla asked if we could skip the contraceptive magic.

“Not right now. I’m sorry.”

“Okay…”

She went to sleep looking somewhat dejected after my refusal. I slept in until just before noon, then came out while Priscilla was still rolling around saying she wanted to sleep more.

“You’ve finally taken the first step. Congratulations.”

Elysiere greeted me with a smile as I entered the third audience room, sipping her tea. She patted the seat beside her, so I went and sat down.

“Where is everyone?”

“Laura returned to the Imperial Palace, and Rosaria temporarily left saying she had duties as a saint. Nika is in the demon realm, Erestica is at the academy. Leona hasn’t returned yet. Is that satisfactory?”

“More than enough.”

Clank. Elysiere put down the teacup she was holding.

“It went well. You didn’t even have to talk about Priscilla.”

“Of course I didn’t need to. I was with her until just now.”

“Was it because of yesterday’s conversation?”

“…What conversation?”

“The one where she said she wants to be first in at least one thing, and asked if you could skip the contraceptive magic.”

“…”

I’m not sure what expression I made when I heard that, but it must have been quite strange. Elysiere let out a light “pfft” laugh.

“Don’t worry. I don’t mind such things. In fact, I secretly hope to be the last in line.”

“…Why?”

Elysiere grinned and took my hands, guiding one to her throat and the other to her lower abdomen. My right hand gently gripped her neck, and my left pressed firmly against her lower belly.

“Have you already forgotten what we did during our first experience?”