episode_0056

“Huh… ?”

Tirisia’s face hardens for a moment.

I looked up at her from my lying position on the floor, and removed the hand that was stroking her flushed cheek.

“What did you just… say…?”

She couldn’t understand what she was hearing, so her whole body froze and she just opened her mouth.

“I told you to be truly happy, Tirisia.”

I spoke calmly and gently so that she could understand what I was saying.

Finally, I should say.

Or, in the end, should I say this?

This moment has finally come.

What I’ve been waiting for,

At the same time, I didn’t want to face it,

As a friend, I wanted to stay by her side and watch over her until the end.

The destination of the path she chose herself.

The ending of Tirissia Brewery.

I finally confirmed it at this very moment.

I took in her appearance with both eyes,

Listen to her voice with both ears,

Smell her scent,

Feeling her warmth on my skin,

Through the sincerity conveyed through the body,

I felt like I heard the answer to a question I had been asking for a long time from her.

ruler,

Now is the time to raise the curtain.

To put an end to our relationship,

To conclude the love that Tirisia Bruard shared with Erto,

I recalled to my heart the words I had held back from telling her for so long.

Something I’ve never revealed in front of her, something I’ve kept hidden all this time.

My former lover of Tirisia Bruard and a commoner, Erto,

Really, truly sincere.

“―Do you know why I decided to remain friends with you? Tirisia.”

This was the moment to reveal it.

“Erto… ?”

Tirisia was still sitting on my waist, still in shock.

The jade eyes looking down at me vertically from above were filled with bewilderment, shock, and despair.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Upper… Lower… ”

Tirissia repeated the word with a halting consciousness.

“I hope it’s not my fault if you ever have a miserable failure with that guy.”

“… Real… … Loss.”

Her speech gradually slows down.

“Even if you can’t be happy after leaving me and going to Kelg Durakal, it should be your own responsibility.”

“… ”

As my true feelings began to spill out one by one, Tirisia closed her mouth and just looked down at me, unable to even react.

“You should date that guy peacefully without any interference, so that you won’t be able to blame others for the failures you experience one day.”

“… ”

“Your failure had to be entirely your failure.”

“… ”

“So I put myself down. In order not to hurt your feelings, I didn’t blame or criticize you for cheating, and I made you feel comfortable.”

“… ”

“I’ve done everything for you so far. I’ve listened to what you wanted, and I’ve never blamed you for your choices for a single moment. I’ve never thrown dirt on your path.”

“… ”

“Did you really think that I still liked and cared for you and that we remained friends? That couldn’t be true. I didn’t want you to blame me for any failures you might experience.”

“… ”

“I sacrificed everything for you. I hid your shortcomings from others, made lunch boxes for you as usual, kept you company, and satisfied your heart. Just like I always have.”

“… ”

“If you wanted me to drop out like that, I could have done that too. I was sad that I lost the affection I had for my childhood friend, but I didn’t resist.”

“… ”

“So, I am not guilty at all. Your failure is solely your fault due to the path you chose. It is your fault. I did not raise a finger.”

“… ”

“Now, do you understand why I stayed friends with you?”

In response to that question, Tyrisia moved her creaking lips and asked me the question back.

With moist aura and earnest hope in her jade-colored eyes.

“Erto… Now… You don’t love me… ?”

I gave her a soft smile,

“Love?”

From that day when dusk had set in, I thought about the huge hole that was still piercing in my heart.

“Tirisia, listen carefully to what I say.”

“Erto… ”

“From that day, when I saw you in that man’s arms, until now, I have never felt love for you for even a single moment.”

“Ah… ”

“What you showed me broke something inside me. It felt like my whole chest was empty… I felt like I lost a huge part of my soul.”

“Ahh… ”

“But when I saw your face again, I realized. It was love for you. The feeling that always filled my heart when I looked at you. That was the one that shattered and shattered. And that feeling will never come back. Just like I still feel nothing when I look at you.”

“Ahhh… ”

Her beautiful face was distorted into an ugly grimace, and a heart-wrenching moan escaped her lips.

I didn’t care about that kind of expression and continued saying what I had to say.

This place is where my heart and Tirisia were connected in the past, but it is also the place where everything will end.

“Still, there was one thing I had high hopes for from you.”

“Huh… ?”

Tirisia paused, her eyes looking as if she was expecting some sort of positive story.

But the story that came out of my mouth was the part that disappointed her the most.

“If it was the Tirisia I knew, I thought there must be a reason.”

“Huh… ?”

“You are wiser and more powerful than me, so I hoped that there would be some unavoidable circumstances for you to betray me and hug another man.”

“, Erto.”

“I thought there must be some great reason why my beloved Tirisia would never do something like that, something that someone like me could never imagine.”

“That’s… ”

“If you knew that the purpose of your actions was justified, I would feel better. Even if you left me, I could at least bless your future.”

“… ”

“That’s why I wanted to stay by your side as a friend and wait until you found out the reason. It would be a difficult journey, but I wanted to endure it and find out.”

“… ”

“Apart from my intention of not wanting to hurt you, that was what I was expecting from you.”

“I, I… ”

Tirissia tried to say something.

But I cut her off.

“But that never happened.”

“Ah… ”

“You have only disappointed me to the end. The kind and pure judgment of Tirisia that I was looking for was nowhere to be found. You just loved that man, and you were obsessed with lust, and you betrayed me.”

“No… No… ”

“I’m really disappointed in you, Tirisia. Look at you now. Is this the result of the love you chose? You’re asking me to come back and have sex with you?”

“No way… !”

Tyrisia put her hand on my chest and leaned down to bring her face closer to mine.

“Erto… I… !”

“Now that I’ve confirmed all the endings, I have no business with you, Tirisia.”

“Ah… Aaaah!”

Bang, bang,

Tyrisia pounded her chest with her palm and looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

I gave her some final words to end this situation.

“If you come at me now, I won’t resist. I don’t want to destroy the house. If you want to rape me, do as you please. But when I’m done, I won’t see your face again. I’ll hate you for the rest of my life and think of you as a dirty whore. If that’s okay, then satisfy your lust to your heart’s content and leave.”

“… !”

Tirisia, who was speechless for a moment with a hardened face,

Swish―

I slowly got up from my body and walked leisurely towards the door.

“… ”

Click.

Her hand went up to the doorknob.

But even after several seconds, it didn’t catch it and turn it around.

The blank look on his face from behind gave the impression that he was seriously contemplating something.

After struggling for a long time and not being able to open the door, Tirisia finally closed her eyes tightly and said something.

“I am cursed with charm.”

I sat up and looked at Tirisia’s face looking back at me.

She had an expression on her face that showed that she was determined to put aside all her pride and self-respect and clear up the misunderstanding with me, even if it meant making some lame excuse.

“It may be hard to believe, but I was tricked by Kelg Durakal and was cursed to love him. Erto!”

As she bowed her head and cried out as if complaining of injustice, I readily nodded and agreed with her words.

“I know.”

Her head snapped up, and her round, emerald eyes looked at me.

“… What?”

“I heard from Heidiera. You were controlled emotionally by a cursed tool from the East. She said that the reason Heidiera was sent here in the first place was because of something related to that.”

“Do you believe my story?”

“I know it’s true even if you don’t have to prove it. If there was a curse like that, it would be understandable that you suddenly fell in love with another man.”

“Then… did you just say those words knowing that I was being manipulated… ?”

“Yeah.”

I stood up and met Tirisia’s gaze.

Tyrisia, who became shorter than me while I wasn’t looking.

She asked as if she didn’t understand English.

“If you know everything… why… ”

“It’s definitely true that you fell in love with him unfairly. You were forced to have your feelings amplified, and you ended up truly loving a man you wouldn’t have been interested in originally.”

“Ugh, yeah… That’s right! That was a trap!”

A color came to Tirissia’s face as she tried to come up with an excuse.

I nodded and understood her grievance.

but,

That alone wasn’t enough.

“But, Tirisia.”

“Yeah… ”

I started to chastise her, trying to remind her of the most important part.

“You loved me too.”

“Uh… ”

“I know that I truly fell in love with Durakal because of his charm.”

“… ”

“Then, me? I wasn’t serious?”

“That, that’s it.”

“You said that charm doesn’t completely dominate the target. It just makes them love you more than anyone else. So, Tirissia, you had a choice.”

“Erto… I… ”

Fear filled her emerald eyes, and Tirisia hesitated and took a step back.

Thump.

Her back was blocked by the door.

“No… No… I… ”

Tirisia shook her head and muttered as if denying reality.

But now we had to look straight ahead at everything in front of us.

“Even if you loved that man more than me, if your love for me was true, you shouldn’t have done something like that, Tirisia. You shouldn’t have torn my heart apart like that.”

“Ahh… No… No… !”

Tyrissia repeated the same words, holding her head.

“In the end, you were the one who chose Durakal between the two people you loved. Tirisia.”

“Haa… Haa… !”

Her breathing becomes ragged as if she is in a panic.

I didn’t care.

“I understand that you went along with such evil deeds because you are the type of person who gives your all to the person you love. You are always such a good kid who sincerely cares for others. But you can’t turn back what has already happened.”

“Ah… Ah… ”

She now forgot even what she was saying and covered her face with both hands.

“Even if you were forced to love him because of his charm, and even if I give you a hundred concessions and say you are not guilty at all, look at where we are now. Think about what you did to me. How can we go back to the way we were before?”

“… ”

“Our love was shattered long ago and can never be recovered. Meeting again was never an option from the beginning, Tirisia.”

“… ”

“The only path left for us is to forget each other and truly part ways. There can be no more than that, and I will not tolerate it.”

“I see… ”

――

A heavy silence fell on the room.

Tirisia dropped both hands from her face and slowly turned around.

Click—

This time, without hesitation, the hand turned the doorknob and opened the door.

I told her the last thing I wanted to say before she disappeared.

“Hello, Tirisia. I truly loved you.”

Tirisia looked back, unable to meet my eyes, and said goodbye with large tears falling from her eyes.

“… I’m so sorry… Seriously, about everything.”

Empty-

The door closed, and there was the sound of footsteps moving down the hallway and into the front door.

“Sigh.”

After the sound of the front door opening and closing was over, I let out the breath I had been holding.

It’s over.

This marks the end of my relationship with her.

I think it was the worst possible scenario imaginable,

Either way, it was something that had to come to an end someday.

My love for her had faded since that day under the sunset, but I couldn’t help but feel bitter that our long-standing relationship had come to an end in this way.

Still, I have no regrets.

I truly hoped that Tirisia would be happy,

Her story is ultimately one of doomed failure.

There was no other possibility I could have imagined.

As a result, she came back to me, but it was already too late.

The only way for a burned forest to return to its original state is for new seeds to grow.

No matter how much you gather the black ashes, they can never become a tree.

“… Ah.”

Come to think of it, I went wearing the same clothes.

Tirisia’s one-piece is in the washing machine at our house.

I scratched the back of my head and clicked my tongue lightly.

Well, I guess that doesn’t matter.