chapter_0173

“When I sent you away, I promised to tell you next time, didn’t I? I want to tell you about what I said I’d tell you.”

“Ah… that’s right. I didn’t really think about it. You always seemed to have something you were hiding. Not just from me, but from others as well. I just figured it was the same this time.”

“Yes.”

I nodded in agreement.

“There were, there are, and there will be. And there probably always will be. Do you resent me for it?”

Leona, with a bitter smile, shook her head.

“No, not at all. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. That’s the end of it. I won’t resent you for keeping secrets. Everyone has a secret or two they want to hide, right? Including me.”

“Really? You have secrets too?”

“Of course. If we get closer, I’ll tell you. What… if you’re really curious, you can try to get closer to me? It shouldn’t take long for you.”

Leona, embarrassed by her own words, twisted her body awkwardly. After a while, the slightly flushed cheeks returned to their normal color, and she met my gaze again.

A bashful smile appeared on her face, replacing the bitter one.

“So, how much are you going to tell me?”

“It depends on how much you can trust me.”

“Everything.”

The answer came without hesitation. There was no hesitation in her gaze or her words.

“You trusted me first. You helped me regain my composure, you helped me embrace my role as a Hero, and you helped me awaken the true power of the Holy Sword. Mira, you’ve done so much for me. Why wouldn’t I trust you? If you told me to make a cake out of mud, I would. So, go ahead and tell me anything.”

“What if what I say is the opposite of what Aria would say? Would you still trust me over Aria?”

“……”

Leona looked surprised. Her lips moved a few times, and her voice, now lacking confidence, was hesitant.

“Why are you suddenly saying that? It’s making me anxious.”

“I heard something from the Goddess. She told me not to trust a certain woman, but I never found out who it was.”

“……Do you suspect Aria? That can’t be it.”

Leona seemed to have immediately grasped the intent of my words. Her voice was now somber, almost depressed.

It was only natural for her to feel that way. Aria was her childhood friend, someone she had been closer to than anyone else, and now she was caught in the middle, having to consider the possibility that her friend could be that woman.

“No, I’m not suspecting her. I don’t want to suspect either of you. There could be someone else we don’t know about. But the reason the Goddess told me not to trust ‘that woman’ is probably because she’s close to me, and if it’s necessary, Aria would be the top priority.”

“Why? Just because you have a different view of fate?”

Images of Aria’s unusual behavior flashed through my mind. Her appearance right next to me, despite my senses being clouded, her momentary, bizarre smile, and the way she confidently told me that our meeting was fate with a voice that almost felt insane.

None of these actions fit the Aria I knew from this world or the Aria April from Laura’s romance novel.

“Remember when I said I didn’t believe in fate?”

“Of course I remember. Aria believed in it, and so did you, in a way. Do you mean because of that?”

“It’s not just because of that.”

Leona, who had been almost begging, stopped talking. Her expression remained grim.

“……What is it, then?”

I leaned back on the sofa. Silence filled the room. This was the first time I was sharing a secret with someone from this world, not one of the four who shared my world, so I needed to prepare myself mentally.

If I went any further, there would be no turning back. It meant that Leona would become someone I had to trust, not just someone I could trust. She would reach a level that even my parents and Beatrice hadn’t yet—a level where I could truly open up to her.

“I’m… from a very distant place.”

And the choice I made was to follow my instincts.

“How distant?”

“So distant that you and everyone else can’t even imagine it. Maybe you’ll think the world you live in is completely different from mine.”

“But you’re a member of the Crate family—”

“It’s about my past. Not the Crate family, but my past.”

It was the first time Leona had heard about my past, and she was fully focused, all her senses alert, her previous somber expression gone.

“That’s why I think it’s strange that Aria considers our meeting as fate. I absolutely can’t believe in it. Even if it’s a vague and dreamy concept like fate, I can’t accept it. It shouldn’t even be brought up.”

“But… we did end up meeting, so you could consider it fate, couldn’t you? It shouldn’t be, and it shouldn’t be, but we did meet.”

“How do you know I haven’t said anything about it? Aria is a character in Laura’s novel, after all.”

Aria was undeniably a character in Laura’s novel, but she was also a person I had come to know in this world. It wasn’t a completely unfounded claim, but it was hard to accept it without hesitation.

My view of the people in this world was different from accepting such a claim at face value.

“……”

Leona, deep in thought, sat quietly for a while before cautiously asking a question.

“I’m a little hesitant to say this, but why are you telling me all this? We’ve only known each other for half a year. Well, of course, I’ve gotten really close to you in that time! But anyway… isn’t this something you should be telling that maid? Or Beatrice?”

“Because there will come a time when you’ll have to make a choice.”

Beatrice, Nika, and the Chairman were all one step removed from Aria. Especially Beatrice, who didn’t even appear in the original novel, had no connection to me at all if it weren’t for me.

But Leona was different. She was both by Aria’s side and by mine. So eventually, she would have to make a choice.

The decision would be entirely hers.

“……Ugh.”

Leona’s face turned into a frown as she lowered her head. The thought of having to choose between Aria and me was too much for her.

“Don’t take it so seriously. I already said I don’t want to suspect Aria. I hope I’m wrong too. The evidence is too flimsy. All I have is my instincts, and without me, you wouldn’t even be able to bring up the word ‘suspicious.’ That’s why I’m telling you all this, Leona. You’re the only one I can.”

“I know. But… even just thinking about it…”

Leona’s head snapped up as if she had a good idea.

“Then why don’t we ask the Goddess who that woman is? She must know, right?”

“……I was about to tell you about that.”

I leaned back on the sofa. This was going to be even more shocking than what I had just said. Leona was already tense, anticipating something big.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“The Goddess is dead.”

Leona’s body stiffened. Her head moved like a rusty doll, and her lips trembled as she spoke.

“Wh, what…? The Goddess is dead…?”

“It’s just as I said. Remember when the divine power disappeared and the Holy Sword went out? That happened because the Goddess died. Her last words were a warning not to trust that woman, and that’s why I didn’t find out who it was.”

“That can’t be… It can’t be true… The Holy Sword is still here, isn’t it? Look! It’s back to normal now! The saint has regained her power too! So, she must have died and then resurrected, right?!”

I wish it had been that simple. But unfortunately, it wasn’t. The reason the priests could use their divine power was because of my Holy Lance. If the Goddess had truly resurrected, she would have contacted me by now.

‘I was aiming to ease the confusion, not restore the divine power, so I didn’t expect the Holy Sword to recover as well.’

“I understand. It’s confusing and questionable. I feel the same way. I don’t know who killed the Goddess or what’s going on right now.”

“Then—”

“So, I’m going to find out now.”

.

.

.

Leona left the Crown Prince’s room, staggering from the series of shocking revelations.

‘Do I really have to choose between Mira and Aria?’

It was a terrifying thought. She’d rather cry.

Both of them were equally precious to her. Aria went without saying, and Mira had completed Leona’s transformation into Leona Brynhild, the Hero.

Especially Mira, who was precious to her in a different way. The thought of having to choose between the two was more daunting than fighting the Demon King.

“What are you thinking about so seriously, Leona?”

“Hihyahyaaaaaaak?!”

Leona, wiping her misty eyes with the back of her hand, jumped back at the familiar voice from the side.

She turned to the side, her heart pounding. Aria stood there, arms outstretched, frozen in place. Her expression was one of surprise.

“Aria? What are you doing here? I thought you were in the library.”

“I was, but you were taking too long, so I went looking for you. I asked where you were, and they said you were with Mira, so I came here. But it seems like you’re still in the Crown Prince’s room and your conversation isn’t over, so I waited.”

“Oh, did you hear anything?”

“Hear what?”

Aria looked at her with innocent eyes. Her cuteness was on a whole different level from other girls. Leona calmed her racing heart.

“……It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Aria, with a beaming smile, stood next to Leona and turned to look back.

“Is Mira still in the room?”

“Uh, yeah? Ah, yes. Yes, she has some things to think about.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. It would’ve been nice to go back together.”

Leona, feeling a little disappointed, tasted the air as she tried to calm her racing mind.

Looking back, it was a strange situation.

Aria, who had always disliked being around men, let alone talking to them, had not only approached Mira first but had also been uncharacteristically friendly to him.

The first time she approached Mira, it was under the pretext of finding out who the valedictorian was, and she had justified her overly friendly behavior by saying it was fate. But Mira had found that strange…

“By the way, Leona, I saw something interesting in the library.”

“Something interesting? What is it?”

Aria, walking down the hallway, turned to Leona with sparkling eyes.

“The divine power in the Holy Sword doesn’t just stay still, it constantly circulates with its source. So, if you follow that circulation, you can find the source of the divine power. There were a lot of rare books in the library in the Imperial Palace.”

“Circulation?”

Leona frowned. It was the first time she had heard of such a concept in relation to the Holy Sword.

“Aria, can you explain a little more—”

“Are you here, Hero?”

A Royal Guard ran towards them, interrupting their conversation. Leona swallowed the words she had been about to say, and Aria took a step back.

“What’s the matter?”

“The Succubus Queen staying in the Imperial Palace has brought new news.”

“New news?”

“Yes. A voice has been echoing in the heads of all the demons, saying that if anyone wants to become the new Demon Sword’s master, they must kill a human and prove their power.”

As she heard the news, the golden-eyed Leona’s gaze fixed on Mira, who was walking towards them with a stiff expression.