Chapter 232: Secret Meeting (3)

Chapter 232: Secret Meeting
(3)

I
gazed at the woman sitting next to the bed.

Golden
hair with green eyes, an appearance more fitting to be called a girl
rather than a beauty.

Lowering
my gaze slightly, I could see the girl’s delicate body.

While
her figure didn’t exude the rich, mature feminine scent typical of a
well-ripened female, it was a cute and dainty body type that would
likely be in high demand among certain adults with specific
preferences.

Though
modest, her breasts made their own statement, and her hips clearly
showed she was a female of breeding age.

As
I absentmindedly stared at her body, which was light enough to be
picked up with one hand and made one want to play mischievous
pranks…

“Hic.”

Her
body shook with the hiccup.

Celsia
immediately moved her arms to cover her mouth but the hiccups
wouldn’t easily stop. The stimulus had been too strong.

‘He’s…looking
at me so intensely…’

He
was staring at her body, which had become small, with no trace
remaining of her formerly superior physique.

Though
he kept trying to look elsewhere as if avoiding her gaze, those black
eyes would occasionally scan Celsia’s body greedily as if about to
swallow her whole.

Celsia’s
heart raced madly at his gaze, which was different from when she saw
him in the banquet hall.

“Hic…Wh-why…hic…suddenly…hic…”

“Are
you alright?”

“Ah,
uh, hic, hic…”

When
Balkan came closer across the bed and patted her back, the hiccups
got even worse.

Celsia
felt the firm, long palm patting her back.

‘His
hand is…so big…’

It
was much bigger even compared to her own hands from the past.

Now
that she had transformed into a girl’s body with no proper physical
abilities, there was no comparison.

With
arms much thicker and stronger than her former self, he could easily
restrain and bind the current Celsia with just one hand.

Celsia
swallowed hard and mumbled with a trembling voice.

“You’re…too…close…”

“Ah.”

Balkan
belatedly remembered her timid nature.

No,
it might be a bit wrong to call it her nature.

As
could be guessed from what he heard from Zirnier and from others’
reactions, Celsia’s original personality and physique weren’t like
this.

[◆
Blessing of the Incompetent Magician]

The
Blessing of Sloth proudly displayed in Celsia’s status window was the
cause of all the changes.

Having
become an incompetent child, even her mind had become utterly
incompetent.

When
Balkan moved to the edge of the bed, Celsia’s hiccups subsided a
little.

After
glancing at Balkan nervously while moving her lips for a moment,
Celsia looked around.

This
room was the problem.

Though
it was just one of many lodgings, just being in the space where he
had spent a night and breathed brought an overwhelming tension.

“Could
we…talk outside…?”

“Of
course. Knight…um, Princess.”

“…You
can call me whatever you want. Whatever you prefer.”

“Then.
Yes. Lady Knight.”

Celsia
felt a bashful emotion rising at the title he used.

It
was as if he was telling her he wouldn’t forget who she was back
then.

“But
where are we going?”

“There’s
a place I always go when I want to think alone…would that be okay?”

“You
probably know the palace better than I do, Lady Knight, so I’ll trust
you and follow.”

“Uh,
okay…”

Celsia
left the room with Balkan, who wore a mask, trying hard to hide her
growing embarrassment.

“Oh,
we behold the Light of the Kingdom!!! And…black-haired muscular
man…? Gasp…! G-greetings to the Knight of Light as well!”

We
encountered some knights doing night patrol, and every one of them
saluted while using peculiar titles.

It
wasn’t just them either.

The
hairdresser who fixed my hair and the tailor who made my clothes
before meeting the queen had used such titles too.

Surely
those who had witnessed me saving Celsia from Gott had given me grand
nicknames, and those had spread as rumors.

Since
I had used the Blessing of Radiance and worn armor made of magical
power, calling me the Knight of Light wasn’t exactly wrong.

“That
title sounds really embarrassing.”

“Re-really…?
I, I think it’s nice… Knight of Light… heehee… Ah. I-it’s not
like I like it because it matches my title perfectly…”

Celsia
chuckled at seeing me scratching my cheek with an awkward expression.

During
her time confined to her room, Celsia hadn’t just stayed idle.

Since
she couldn’t move her body as she wished, she read books to
accumulate knowledge, and occasionally read erotic novels for
relaxation.

‘The
Light of the Kingdom and the Knight of Light…’

It
was almost as if he had become her retainer, standing by her side.

And
in such books, scenes often occurred where a knight, unable to resist
their lord’s temptation, would eventually pounce on them…ugh.

Celsia
hurried her steps while shaking her head vigorously as if to deny her
rising fantasies.

Eventually,
they arrived at a forest bathed in moonlight.

“Wow…”

Balkan
gaped blankly at the scene before him.

While
trees surrounded the area, not a single tree blocked the sky in this
spot.

The
moonlight floating proudly in the blackened sky beautifully
illuminated the surroundings as if looking down only upon this place.

It
was a sense of liberation incomparable to viewing the moon through an
open window at night.

Though
I had often gasped in wonder while looking up at the starry skies of
the Labyrinth City, this scenery was on a different level entirely.

“H-how
is it? My secret place…”

“…It’s
beautiful… truly…”

“R-really…?
Heehee. Th-that’s good…”

As
if her words about coming here often weren’t a lie, Celsia sat down
on the well-maintained weeds and patted the spot beside her with her
palm.

Balkan
was about to sit down a bit far away, remembering what happened in
the room, but.

“Y-you
can. Come a little closer.”

At
Celsia’s words, mustered with courage, I sat right next to her.

“Eep…”

Celsia
trembled as she felt his firm, muscle-packed thigh pressing against
her soft one.

“To-too,
too close…”

“Ah,
then is this distance okay?”

“Y-yes…this
much is okay…”

Balkan
and Celsia, now separated by just enough space for a fist to fit
between them, looked up at the sky again.

As
a peculiar silence settled…

“…How
did you figure it out?”

Celsia
carefully brought up the main topic.

“Back
then, when we first met…there should have been no way to deduce
that the armor I was controlling… was me…”

She
was right.

If
it weren’t for the status window, or if I hadn’t seen the Second
Princess’ armor with my own eyes in Zirnier’s garden annex, until
meeting Celsia directly, I wouldn’t have noticed at all that she was
the armor knight.

Instead
of answering, Balkan raised one hand and opened his mouth in an
exaggerated manner, as if singing:

“I
deeply thank all of you who have gathered here today to celebrate my
birth.”

“……!”

“It
wouldn’t be proper to keep you just holding your glasses. To the
Kingdom of Arlonia!”

Celsia’s
ears turned red at his behavior, as if imitating someone’s voice.

He
was repeating the words she had spoken.

Hearing
her own speech from someone else’s mouth was more embarrassing than
she’d expected, and having him of all people repeat it was even more
embarrassing.

Seeing
Celsia’s reaction, Balkan smiled slightly and spoke while tapping his
throat.

“How
could I forget the voice I heard when I thought I was about to die?”

“…Ugh…”

“Even
at the academy graduation ceremony, I was sure from your voice, but
with your height being different and you constantly pretending not to
know me, how could I have known?”

Celsia
felt a strange joy at his words but lowered her head as if ashamed.

“Ho-honestly.
I didn’t expect to meet again… I was surprised to suddenly meet
you… and, and also…”

“And?”

“…I
thought… you would be disappointed…”

“…Disappointed?”

At
Balkan’s question, Celsia looked down at her hands.

“If
you found out that the person who helped you wearing that huge
armor…was actually just a gloomy person who controlled the armor
like playing with dolls from their room…surely, you would hate
me…”

“……”

Balkan
stared blankly at Celsia, at a loss for words.

“What
the hell…ahem.”

The
thought escaped his mouth before he could stop it, having been too
surprised.

“Uh,
uhm…?”

A
confused-looking Celsia looked up blankly at Balkan but it was too
late to take back the words that had already been spoken.

In
the end, he decided to spill rather than contain them.

“…Hah.
Lady Knight. Are you in your right mind?”

“Uh,
uh…?”

“I
was wondering why you were avoiding me. Do you know what I thought
first when I found out the princess was actually the knight? Why did
she pretend not to know me at that graduation ceremony? She said she
didn’t want anything in return, but could it be that she really
didn’t intend to receive any gratitude after helping so one-sidedly?
This is really amazing. Incredible. I want to become like that
someday too. But no matter how I think about it, I need to repay the
life debt. That’s what I was thinking, you know?”

“Uh,
um, uhm…”

“But
what? Disappointment? Playing with dolls in a room? Hatred? Come on.
Lady Knight. May I ask just one thing?”

“Uh,
uhh…yes…”

“When
you saved me, did you save me with such a light heart, as if playing
with dolls in a room?”

Celsia’s
expression hardened at the words that settled heavily in her heart.

That
day, did she really save him with such a light heart?

Even
before getting this curse-like blessing, Celsia had entered the
labyrinth countless times on her own feet to experience numerous
explorations.

In
that labyrinth reeking of blood, she had slept, fought monsters,
accepted companions, and bid them farewell countless times.

Even
if she continued exploring by controlling armor, her mindset towards
labyrinth exploration hadn’t changed from then until now.

Saving
him then was an act done entirely by Celsia’s will, and she had taken
steps directly to help him.

Celsia
shook her head at Balkan’s question and answered in an unwavering
voice.

“That’s
absolutely not true.”

Balkan
smiled with satisfaction at that answer.

“Then
I also couldn’t possibly be disappointed in the knight who saved me
with such sincerity.”

And
he carefully continued.

“So,
Lady Knight, please stop hating yourself like this.”

“……”

Celsia
couldn’t easily respond to those words because her current appearance
and personality stemmed from the blessing.

Balkan,
having roughly guessed this, instead of speaking further, took
something from his chest and handed it to her.

“…What’s
this?”

“It’s
an orb. Perhaps, an orb that could remove that blessing of yours.”

“……!”

Instead
of asking how he knew about her blessing, Celsia listened to his
story.

Balkan
briefly explained how he obtained the orb.

The
Demon of Sloth he met at the grand fountain and the fact that sloth’s
power was imbued in Celsia’s blessing.

Celsia
had vaguely known this as well.

However,
even in the Labyrinth City full of all sorts of mysteries, she hadn’t
found a way to completely remove a blessing imbued with demonic
power.

But
the orb before her eyes was the only object that had the possibility
of solving this.

“…Should
someone like me use something like this…?”

“You’re
the only one who can use it.”

Celsia
smiled softly while looking at him grinning.

“…This
is too much… as repayment for saving a life…”

“Then
let’s settle our relationship now.”

“…Se-settle?
You mean… settling our relationship…?”

As
her head felt dizzy as if struck by a hammer at the sudden farewell
words, Balkan extended his other hand.

“Now
there’s no debt between us. We’re equals. No, since there’s a
difference in status… hmm… companions?”

“…Heehee.”

Celsia
felt a laugh escape without her realizing.

She
couldn’t help but laugh seeing him seriously considering the status
difference, and she unconsciously let out a sigh of relief at the
fact that their relationship wouldn’t end but continue.

“…If
we’re forming a new relationship, we should know each other’s names.”

Celsia
said this while firmly grasping his extended hand.

“Second
Princess of the Kingdom of Arlonia. Celsia de Arlonia.”

Balkan
also grinned while feeling the warmth of her hand grasping his.

“Balkan.
I’m an explorer.”

“…Balkan…Balkan…”

Celsia
rolled his name around in her mouth several times with a trembling
voice, engraving it in her mind.

Though
unfamiliar…it was a good name.

“…Looking
forward to our future together. Balkan.”

“Yes.
Lady Celsia.”

“You
don’t need to add ‘Lady’.”

“Then.
I look forward to it too. Celsia.”

Celsia
smiled brightly and grasped the orb Balkan held out.

“Thank
you too.”

-Flash.

The
orb that touched Celsia’s hand began to emit a dazzling light.

At
the same time, changes began to occur in her body.

When
the intense light that had covered the forest finally disappeared.

“…Huh…?”

“…Hueh…?”

Before
Balkan’s eyes stood a naked woman….With a body that had changed
quite a bit.