Ch.82Daily Life in the Holy Kingdom (4)

Usually, asking someone to pin a badge on you is considered a confession, but that’s not always the case.

Perhaps Ju-an really meant it as admiration. But that possibility is extremely slim.

If I refused to pin the badge, Ju-an said he would pin it himself.

I could just let this slide if it weren’t for the conversation I heard yesterday.

Ju-an clearly said he had someone he truly loved. Yet he asked me, not that orange-haired person, for this favor.

And Ju-an said if I refused, he wouldn’t ask anyone else. Despite having someone he loves.

All these circumstances point to one answer, too clear to dismiss as a misunderstanding.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Is there some meaning behind me pinning the badge?”

“Usually, if someone asks out of admiration, pinning it means you fully support them. If it’s a confession, pinning it means you accept.”

“So if I pin Ju-an’s badge, what happens?”

“You’re accepting his confession in front of everyone.”

My mind isn’t working properly. I honestly don’t know what to think.

While I was staring blankly into space, someone approached and handed me something.

“Here’s the badge. When they call for you later, you’ll go and pin it on the Hero.”

After the person left, Agath looked at the badge and spoke in an amused voice.

“It’s pink?”

“Do the colors have meaning too?”

“Blue is for admiration, pink is for confession.”

“What?”

“You’re definitely receiving a proper confession.”

My suspicion turned into certainty. This is definitely a confession. There’s no way out now.

While I was confused, Agath started chattering excitedly.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Obviously I have to refuse!”

I’m mentally a man to begin with. And after defeating the Demon King, I’ll be physically male again too.

Just thinking about dating a man is horrifying.

How could I accept Ju-an’s confession when he’s a boy? Especially when we’ve been friends for over ten years.

So of course I’ll refuse. But because of our history together, I still want to remain best friends.

“Look at this for a second.”

Suddenly Agath pulled out a hand mirror with a huge grin. In the mirror was a girl.

A girl with a bright red face, looking flustered but genuinely happy.

“You’re playing tricks with that mirror, right?”

“Just admit you want to get ravished by that boy.”

“Stop saying such disgusting things! I absolutely don’t want that!”

“Your words say one thing, but your body is honest.”

Agath held the mirror in front of my face, leaving me speechless.

This can’t be right… I’m mentally a man, so I shouldn’t be attracted to men at all…

No, let’s think about this differently. What if—though this would never happen—what if I did date Ju-an?

The thought alone is horrifying.

“Lite? Why are you suddenly giggling to yourself? Are you that happy about the confession?”

“…”

“So you’re going to accept the confession, right?”

“…No.”

Even if I did like Ju-an—which I absolutely don’t—it could never work out.

I’m going to wish to return to being a man anyway, so dating in this situation would be awkward.

“Then what are you going to do with the badge?”

“I should just return it.”

“Alright. Go return it then.”

Good. I’ll just say something came up and return it. I’ll act like I didn’t know anything and say I have an urgent matter.

“Why aren’t you going? If you don’t know where he is, I can tell you.”

“…I’ll handle it myself, so please be quiet.”

“Think hard about it. Oh, I have a gift for you.”

Agath handed me something that looked like a vitamin from her pocket.

“Make sure to use protection. Fighting the Demon King with a baby inside would be problematic.”

“I told you I don’t want that!”

“I can’t believe I’m finally seeing Lite become a proper female. You’ll probably be terrible in bed.”

As always, Agath said whatever she wanted and left the waiting room. Now I was alone.

I should quickly return this badge to Ju-an, making up an excuse about Agath causing trouble again.

We could never be together anyway. Even if we could, it’s too soon.

Let’s just think of this as Agath talking nonsense as usual. Forget everything and go back to normal.

I tried to get up to return the badge, but somehow my body wouldn’t listen.

If I don’t hurry, this will get out of control. What if the time comes for me to pin the badge?

Would I have to reject him in front of everyone? That would make things awkward for both of us.

So I need to get up now. Please, get up, you stupid body!

While I was wasting time, someone came to me and said:

“Miss Lite? You need to leave now.”

“Can we postpone this a little longer?”

“No, we must go now.”

I ended up in an impossible situation. Isn’t there any good solution?

…What if I just pretend I didn’t know?

That’s it. I’ll pin the badge and then later explain that I didn’t know what it meant.

I’ll feel terrible for Ju-an, but it’s better than rejecting him publicly.

If—though this would never happen—if I actually did like Ju-an, I could just accept it.

With these flimsy thoughts, I followed the person in front of me.

***

The newly appointed Hero, Ju-an, was waiting on the platform for someone to arrive. But that someone was already more than 10 minutes late.

‘Lite has seemed down yesterday and today. Was I too forceful?’

He wished he had been more careful. While waiting for Lite, someone rushed over with news.

“It seems Miss Lite has been kidnapped!”

“What?”

“The surveillance cameras caught someone knocking her unconscious and teleporting her away with a scroll!”

If she were nearby, they could find her. But if not, it would be difficult.

“You couldn’t protect one person during such an important event?”

Ju-an spoke irritably, thinking rejection would have been better than this.

The person responded through gritted teeth:

“…There were traitors among us.”

“And you couldn’t spot them because…”

“They’ve been working here for decades. Such high-ranking people…”

These were people they had always trusted, who turned out to be traitors from the beginning. The person was likely feeling as angry as Ju-an, if not more.

Realizing further argument would only inflame emotions, Ju-an tried to think rationally.

“What should I do now?”

“People are gathering over there. Please go there first.”

Ju-an ran to where the person pointed. Almost everyone he knew was already there.

“Is there any way to find Lite? Can we use magic or divine power?”

“We can track the flow of mana.”

As soon as Leo said they could find Lite, Ju-an desperately continued:

“Then please find her right—”

“But it would take at least a few days. Even interpreting the teleportation magic circle to track the location would take at least two weeks.”

There was no hope with magic. Perhaps divine power could help? Ju-an looked desperately at Rebecca.

“…Divine power can’t do that either.”

“So there’s really no way to find her?”

“Please wait a little. I’m sure we’ll find a way.”

Rebecca spoke with confidence, but it wasn’t much comfort.

In the gloomy atmosphere, Leo suddenly showed great agitation.

“Leo? What’s wrong?”

“…There’s another me.”

When Agath looked at Leo in confusion, he continued anxiously:

“There’s definitely another me in this world, but it’s not me.”

“Please explain so we can understand…”

“Someone in this world is using the same ability as me!”

Leo shouted, drawing everyone’s attention.

“This ability should only be usable by me, but someone else is using it now.”

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t know, but I can definitely feel someone using the same ability as me.”

As the situation became more confusing, Ha-eun suddenly joined the conversation.

“I heard that senior’s new ability lets him copy others’ supernatural powers.”

“Wait, wait a minute.”

Leo took a deep breath and said quietly:

“Divine Transformation.”

Blood-red wings appeared behind Leo’s back. Then, without doing anything else, he suddenly approached Ju-an and handed him several scrolls.

“Open these.”

After Ju-an unfolded all the scrolls, he heard Leo’s voice in his head:

-Head straight south from here. Lite should be there.

“How do you know—”

-Maintaining this state puts a huge strain on my body, so hurry up and go.

“But how can I trust—”

-This isn’t about me, it’s about Lite!

Thinking that Lite was in danger, Ju-an rushed outside.

-Good, now turn about 30 degrees to the left.

Following Leo’s guidance in his head.

‘Please… please be safe.’

As soon as Ju-an ran out, Leo asked Rebecca:

“So this will really make things happen according to fate?”

“Yes. Soon the mastermind will appear here as destined.”

Leo asked Rebecca, still looking anxious:

“You know what happens if this gamble fails, right?”

“But if it succeeds, we can minimize casualties.”

When Rebecca answered desperately, Leo sighed deeply and said:

“In the worst-case scenario, we could lose both the mastermind and the reincarnator. Are you okay with that?”

“We can’t just let the people here die.”

After thinking for a moment, Leo sighed heavily again. Looking at Rebecca’s earnest eyes, he said:

“Then at least make sure you protect the people here.”

“…Thank you, and I will definitely succeed.”

Rebecca answered with determination, while Leo still looked unconvinced.