Episode 15 – Festival, Confession

*

The Flavis city festival was held.

The festival, which had been prepared because of Jennifer’s visit, ironically took place on the day Jennifer left the city.

Lily was sitting on the large bed in the luxurious hospital room with a blank expression.

Her gaze was directed at her mother.

Lily’s mother, Lara, was humming and watering the potted plants by the hospital window.

It seemed like the first time Lily had ever seen her mother humming like that or enjoying the warmth of the sunlight by the window while watering the plants.

Lara, as Lily knew her, had a witty tongue, but conversely, her actions were always listless.

It was because of the guilt that had led her to live in a forest untouched by people and made her wake up every night drenched in sweat from nightmares.

After that guilt had boiled in her head once, the deep-seated depression that seeped out spread to every corner of Lara’s body, and Lara would pull her hood down until it covered her eyes and lie in bed all day.

When she went hunting or had to move, she always took the shortest route, and if she happened to catch sight of the Demon King’s castle, Lara would grab her bow and hunt down monsters until her whole body was covered in blood.

When she returned so messed up that the fruit-scented cabin was covered in the smell of blood, Lily would always silently wash Lara’s clothes to get the blood out.

Lily found it much harder to see her mother like that than to live in the forest, and she would often sob quietly while doing the laundry.

But now, Lara was acting like a character in a romance novel that teenage girls would read.

Humming, suddenly taking care of plants, and even lifting her pinky finger while holding the watering can.

Lily was so unfamiliar with that kind of mother that she couldn’t adapt at all.

Even in the memories of both parents that Lily had read, she had never seen her like that before.

She had never even been that energetic when she was with her ex-husband, Robin.

Lily chuckled and spoke.

,Mom-“

,Lily? What’s wrong, is something bothering you?”

,Yeah, it’s so uncomfortable because Mom has become weird.”

,What about me?”

,You’re acting like a 15-year-old girl in love. Even though you’re 155 years old.”

,Oh, does it look like that?”

Lara blushed and smiled shyly.

Lily thought her shy mother looked cute.

,Do you like it that much? Going on dates.”

,Oh, how did you know?”

,Uh… I can just tell.”

Lily couldn’t bring herself to say that she had been watching Lara’s date proposal scene.

She had a feeling that if she said that, her mother would be as embarrassed as a girl her age.

Although her cute appearance was better than her previous listless appearance. But still, she is Lily’s mother.

The daughter, who had been watching her mother act like a teenage girl since earlier, felt that the damage to her mind was gradually accumulating.

,I wish Lily could have come with me,”

,No, don’t worry about me and go have fun.”

Lily’s body was fine now, but her body, which had been lying down for several days, still needed time to recover and adjust.

In particular, she couldn’t suddenly fill her stomach, which had been empty for several days, with spicy food, so she needed to rest and eat porridge until today.

Lara, who felt uneasy about going out to play leaving her daughter behind, approached Lily and patted her head and held her hand.

Lily, feeling the warmth of her mother’s touch, stared at Lara’s clothes sitting on the bed and asked.

,By the way, Mom.”

,What?”

,Are you going out like that?”

*

The shopping street is in the middle of a festival.

As it was a festival held after many twists and turns, the people of the city were enjoying the festival more boisterously.

I was waiting for Lara in the square in front of the fountain, where stalls selling various foods were lined up.

When people recognized Baron Salvie and waved, I waved back to them.

I must have grown fond of this city without realizing it.

I was sad that I had to leave tomorrow.

As Flavis was a center of many trades where many stories and ideologies gathered, I, who had hidden my identity, could be easily accepted.

I wanted to come back to this city when everything was over.

Hoping that the emptiness that would come after finishing my revenge would be bearable in Flavis, I looked at the smiling merchants and tourists.

,I’m sorry Ed, am I a bit late?”

,…Huh? You?”

Lara appeared quite late than the agreed time.

I looked at her and was at a loss for words.

It was because Lara appeared in a completely different appearance than usual.

Lara and Lily usually wear outfits that boldly reveal the elastic, bronze skin unique to desert elves.

Both the mother and daughter, who boasted healthy figures, were very attractive, so rumors and lewd jokes about Baron Salvie’s maids poured out every day in Flavis’ bars.

Thanks to that, Lara worked very hard to hide that she was an archer in the hero party.

But today, Lara’s outfit was different from usual.

Her black bobbed hair, tied up in a half-bun, looks fresher than usual.

She must have put something on her skin, as it had a subtle glow that made her feel softer overall.

A black dress that ends above the knees, tied once at the waist with gold thread, subtly but naturally showing off her dizzying waistline,

The cool sleeveless straps that completely reveal her shoulders were so thin that virtually all of her chest was exposed.

,It took me a while to choose clothes.”

,Wow…”

,Why? Is it pretty?”

,I feel like it’s worth going on a date with you,”

Lara laughs, heehee.

Perhaps because she is different from usual, that appearance looks very cute.

Lara and I walked together through the streets and melted into the festive atmosphere.

We had a good time eating food such as meat skewers and cotton candy from the stalls.

After wandering around for a while, Lara was already holding my arm.

Every time I tried to point it out, she would change the subject as if she was embarrassed, but she would never let go of my arm.

Come to think of it, there was one thing I wanted to ask her.

,Oh, right, Lara, there’s something I’m curious about.”

,What is it?”

,Is there a statue of me in the capital?”

,Oh, yeah, there is. Didn’t I tell you?”

,How can you tell me such an important thing now? I would have been embarrassed if I had gone to the capital without knowing and saw it.”

,You’ll be embarrassed even if you know – it’s huge,”

,Why did Robin bother spending money to build a statue of me? There’s no way that bastard did it out of guilt for killing me.”

,It’s obvious. He did it to make Mela happy.”

I stopped abruptly when I heard those words.

Lara looked at me in embarrassment, as if she realized she had made a mistake.

,Mela…?”

,…Yeah, when Mela was crying in her room every day, Robin suggested building a statue of you to cheer Mela up.”

,Ah… ha…”

,Mela agreed to that and poured most of the prize money she received into making your statue. That’s why it was built so big.”

,…”

,Mela only started smiling after your statue was finished. That was about two and a half years after you died, and after half a year, she overcame it a lot and married Robin, who had been taking care of her…”

,Stop.”

Ah, I thought it was strange.

Daniel had called Edward a hero.

Those words kept bothering me.

There was no reason for Robin, who betrayed and killed me, to praise my death as a heroic one, but I was being treated as a saint who made a noble sacrifice in the Empire.

But, that was all

It was a trick to comfort Mela and take her.

I burst out laughing.

Robin, you terrible son of a bitch.

You killed me, used me to open Mela’s heart, and made love to Mela with the hand that killed me.

You dared to use that dirty mouth to seduce Mela, spouting nonsense that Ed sacrificed himself for us, so don’t be sad anymore.

Mela’s orange hair, her snow-white skin.

I had never even touched her lips, carefully cherishing her so lovely,

Her first time, which I dared not aim for because it would harm her divine power.

Her flushed voice, which I had never heard,

,This fucking…”

I had never seen it, so I couldn’t even know what expression Mela had when her bodies overlapped.

Only Robin’s despicable face covering Mela comes to mind.

Even the undead body felt nauseous.

I pushed Lara’s arm away, broke away from the crowd, and quickly moved to a deserted alley.

Lara was following me, asking if I was okay.

But I didn’t have the luxury to answer Lara.

,Uweaek,”

,Ed… are you okay…?”

Damn it.

Yeah, I thought it didn’t matter if I praised a dead guy a little.

Because the corpse could neither be rewarded nor share love, and even the corpse was in a place that could not be approached,

…I was relieved because the dead person would never come back.

But I came back. I was resurrected.

Why the hell was I resurrected?

Exposed to the Demon King’s magic? Did Mela’s loving divine power protect me?

That’s just the cause of my resurrection.

What I’m curious about is the meaning behind my resurrection.

What meaning did the goddess put in my fate, and what kind of miraculous coincidence did she resurrect me with?

My love has already worn out and aged, and my enemy has already enjoyed the golden age of his life.

Now, after 20 years have passed.

Did the goddess finally feel sorry for me?

No,

Robin was a son of a bitch, but he was truly a hero.

Perhaps, the goddess knew that I could not beat Robin no matter what I did, so she may have waited until he got old.

Isn’t it to punish the hero who deceived Mela, the goddess’s beloved first daughter, and betrayed and killed an innocent colleague, even now?

Because the goddess must have known.

Ed, who opened his eyes, would definitely take revenge.

Even if it was late, even if Robin was already dead, he would find and kill each and every one of his descendants,

Humans cannot fully understand the will of God, but I clearly felt God’s presence next to Mela.

I understood the goddess’s will as I vomited.

My resurrection, revenge is allowed by the goddess,

I decided to believe that.

According to what I heard from Lara before, Mela had two children with Robin as well.

I held my hands together and prayed.

,Please. Please. I hope they are like Rose. Please, Goddess, please, I hope Mela’s children are sons of bitches.”

That way, I can tear them apart and kill them with peace of mind.

*

Lara was looking at Ed worriedly.

Silly Lara.

What are you going to do by bringing up Mela’s story?

Silly Ed.

Are you still so attached to Mela?

‘Do you like Mela, who is not even by your side, so much more than me, who is begging for your love right in front of you?’

Actually, it was natural. It’s been 20 years for us who are alive, but for Ed’s perception, it’s only been a few months.

Even the undead, who is not bothered by the poison that almost killed Lily, is suffering so much that he is vomiting.

Lara’s heart felt like it was tearing when she heard Ed’s prayer that Mela’s children would be bad people.

Ed had changed, but he still couldn’t become a villain.

Of course, he had already killed two of the hero’s children, but that was because Rose had almost killed Lily.

Ed, who still hesitates to look at Lily’s eyes because she has blue eyes like Robin, ironically became angry for her sake.

Lara felt sorry for Ed.

If he was a little more bad and only thought about himself, he would have killed Lily and Mela’s children in an instant, and Robin’s family would have suffered a complete disaster.

Ed, who tries not to cross the line even with his boiling desire for revenge, was still the man she loved even after becoming an undead.

Lara hugged Ed from behind.

,…Lara?”

,Ed.”

,…”

Ed was quietly hugged by Lara.

Lara buried her face in Ed’s back and hugged him even tighter, saying.

,Ed, can’t it be me?”

,…What do you mean?”

,I like you, Ed”

*

I turned around and looked at Lara.

The tears filling her eyes sparkled and flowed down in clumps.

I feel like I’ve been seeing Lara’s tears a lot lately, which I had never seen before I died.

Lara hugged me from the front again and said.

,I like you, Ed. I liked you,”

,…Liar.”

,I’m serious. You were only looking at Mela, so you didn’t know.”

I’m embarrassed.

As she said, I didn’t notice it at all before I died, and I didn’t know it even after I came back to life.

I only thought maybe after Lara asked me out on a date,

Before I could find anything to say, Lara continued to speak.

,Yeah, I know, I married Robin, slept with him, and had children. But you know how much I regret that.”

,La…”

,I gave up because you were only looking at Mela, but if it was going to be like this, I don’t want to give up now. Ed”

,…”

,Please, can you look at me?”

I closed my mouth.

It wasn’t because I couldn’t choose what to say, but because her desperate feelings came to me so strongly.

I looked back on her past actions.

Indeed, she had been showing it off so much that I might have looked like an idiot from the side.

I’m not a clueless person, but I couldn’t see Lara properly because I was focusing all my attention on Mela when I was alive and on revenge now.

I grabbed her shoulders.

Lara looked at me with hopeful eyes.

I slowly answered her.

,No.”

Lara stepped back from me with a shocked expression.

I looked straight at Lara and said.

,I’m sorry, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

,…Why?”

Lara’s pupils shook.

Several thoughts seem to be flashing through her head.

Then, when she reached a certain thought, she lowered her head, slowly hugged her arms, as if her body exposed in her sleeveless shirt had become cold, and quietly asked me.

,Robin… Do you hate me because I was tainted by Robin?”

,…I haven’t really thought about it that way, but now that I hear it, I hate it quite a bit.”

Lara became quiet for a moment, then smiled helplessly and said.

,…What’s the difference?”

,What?”

,Me and Mela… What’s so different?”

,Lara, you’re now.”

,Mela too, with Robin!”

,Lara!”

I shouted and stopped her from speaking.

If she said those words to the end, our relationship would no longer be irreversible.

Lara was also surprised by what she had said and covered her mouth.

,No, I don’t think like that…”

,…Hoo, it’s okay. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that either.”

I slowly approached Lara.

Lara slowly stepped back to avoid me, but I first strode up to her and grabbed her hand.

Lara tried to shake off my hand.

,Let go, please.”

,I don’t want to let go of this, because I feel like you’ll disappear.”

,Ed, it’s bad to be kind after rejecting me.”

,If you don’t like it, shake it off, you’re much stronger than me.”

,Ugh, Ed…”

I held Lara’s wrist tightly.

,Lara. I’m not rejecting you because I hate you.”

,Ha, really, men all say the same thing, are you leaving room for something?”

,No, there’s no room for anything. We will never be lovers.”

Lara lowered her head at my firm tone.

I slowly continued to speak.

,You asked what’s different between Mela and you. Actually, there’s no difference.”

,…What does that mean?”

,Even if Mela had said the same thing to me instead of you, I would have said no.”

,…Why?”

,…Well.”

I hesitated for a long time whether to say this or not.

Lara quickly read my expression and nodded as if to just say it.

I opened my mouth quietly.

,Just seeing you is enough to hurt me. And Mela would be the same.”

Lara’s expression twisted in shock.

She looked even more shocked than when her confession had just been rejected.

Lara’s expression quickly crumbled.

Without even wiping away the tears that were now flowing uncontrollably, Lara clung to me.

,Ah… Ed,”

,How can I love you when it’s painful every time I see you?”

,I… I’ll try, I’ll heal your wounds,”

,It’s impossible. Absolutely.”

Lara was holding me, and I was holding her shoulders, and we stood like that for a long time.

Even as time passed, Lara couldn’t hide her complicated expression, but it seemed like she understood my feelings.

Rather, she expressed her gratitude to me for treating her the same way despite everything.

Although I had rejected her confession, Lara was still a precious person to me.

Not wanting to have an awkward relationship with her like this, I took off my mask and smiled slightly, saying.

,Besides, you know I don’t have a pulse, right?”

,That’s right, because you’re undead.”

,So I can’t send blood to my body.”

,Ed? What does that mean?”

I said with a playful face.

,I can’t get an erection.”

After getting hit in the back of the head and running away,

At her request, I held her hand and returned to Lily’s hospital room.

That’s how the date ended that day.

.