Easy Forgiveness

Pai had only just surfaced from sleep, and an apology that made no sense whatsoever left her dumbfounded.

“What on earth is he saying… Ah, that slipped out.”

Wondering if she might be dreaming, she rubbed her eyes, then reached out and pinched the handsome man’s cheek.

“Does that hurt?”

“I deserve to hurt. Please, a harsher punishment.”

“…”

So it hurt, at any rate. The instant she concluded that this was no dream, the memory of the moments before she fainted came rushing back.

“Huh—”

— Thud!

She came off the bed, all but tumbling out of it.

Keith was down on both knees, as though he were in a prayer chapel. She dropped into the same posture beside him, clapped both hands to the man’s cheeks, and looked him over this way and that.

“Are you all right?! Does anything hurt? A-and your heart? Do you know who I am? My name! Say my name.”

“…Patrisiya Agneras.”

Pai’s hands slid limply away.

“This can’t be… it’s amnesia!”

She made to get up at once to call for a maid, but Keith gave her thin sleeve a light tug.

“Pai Deluosa. That is your name. There is nothing at all wrong with me. I am perfectly fine.”

“Ah.”

“The mage explained it to me. How you saved me.”

A sharp intelligence moved in the eyes of the man who had been talking nonsense. Still dubious, and wary besides, Pai folded her arms and glared at him.

If he knew she had performed a drawing-in, then he had also worked out that she had only been playing at being an ordinary maid.

I didn’t want him to find out like this…

She could not have hidden it forever in any case. And it had been the only way to save Keith. She was busy consoling herself when Keith put his question.

“Why did you do it?”

Reproach ran under the question, and it flustered her so badly that her mouth only opened and shut. Keith pressed on.

“One misstep and you could have died. Even left as I was, I would not have died.”

What an outrageous thing to say.

So you’re saying it wouldn’t have mattered if you’d turned into a demon?

Anger surged up in her, and she shot back.

“That’s right. You wouldn’t have ‘died,’ no! But… Huh—”

“So you did know, after all, that I would not die.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed.

An ordinary person exposed to that much demonic energy dies of it.

Admitting she had known he would not die amounted to confessing that she knew the secret he kept buried, too.

With her lies laid bare one after another, Pai sank into gloom. She understood why he had prodded at her feelings to sound her out. She would have done the same herself.

People don’t usually tell only one lie…

Even so, she could not help feeling needlessly hurt. She dropped her head and curled her hands into fists, and Keith went on.

“How long have you known. That there is… demon blood mixed in me. Was it Mr. Hamel who told you?”

It was not true, and besides, she could not drag Hamel into it and damage the trust between those two. She waved her hands at once.

“I knew because of the sleepwalking. The night I stayed beside you until morning. You talked in your sleep.”

The evidence was thin, but she had no choice but to stretch it and push it through.

“The moment I heard you talking in your sleep, the oracle from seven years ago came to mind. Black blood can also mean half-demon, so… that felt like the more natural reading.”

“I see.”

Had he been convinced? Keith’s mouth was pressed into a flat line, his expression troubled.

“Even knowing that I would not die, you performed a drawing-in…”

“Left alone you would have gone mad. You might have tried to kill me, too. But if I staked my life and saved you, there was a chance we would both live. I took a gamble.”

“…”

“And I happen to be fairly lucky.”

Pai swallowed a breath and studied Keith. They knelt close enough for their knees to touch, so when she said ‘gone mad’ she caught all of it: the twitch at the corner of his eye, the bob of his throat as he swallowed a sigh. She could read a room, besides. Feeling the taut tension go slack, she decided to ride the momentum and give up at least part of the truth.

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I hid the fact that I can use aura because I was afraid I’d be turned down at the interview for being too good a fighter. That I was out of money and needed work, that part was true.”

None of it was a bald-faced lie. A castle does not take on someone with real fighting strength lightly, if only for the sake of safety and security.

“After that I never found the right moment to say it. I didn’t mean to keep it hidden forever. I know that once I’d lied, it’s hard to trust me. The judgment is Mr. Keith’s to make, and late as it is, all I can do now is tell the truth…”

“I understand.”

“What?”

“I accept Miss Pai’s apology.”

“Ah… th-thank you.”

A thing like that could have got her thrown out of the castle. She was glad of this easy forgiveness, and privately curious about it all the same.

As though he had read her mind, Keith spoke up, matter-of-fact.

“I first met Enri seven years ago. Before I ever joined the Black Hawk. Back then that fellow swindled me not once but twice.”

“Ah.”

“The first time left me penniless, and the second nearly cost me my life. He must have felt some remorse, because he introduced me to Kalada. After that, well, as Miss Pai knows, we went about stuck together like needle and thread.”

“…”

“Honestly, lies do not move me much. There was a great deal to doubt, and even so, it was I who decided to trust you. It is right that I bear this one myself.”

“…You don’t think I betrayed you?”

“Betrayed?”

For the first time since the long conversation had begun, Keith broke into a quiet laugh.

“Does Miss Pai save the life of a person she means to betray? And put her own life up as collateral for it?”

“That’s… no.”

It felt like being made to look naive, and she grew needlessly embarrassed. While she fidgeted with her fingers, Keith cleared his throat and spoke again.

“If anything, the one who ought to be asking forgiveness is me.”

The man’s face, which had brightened considerably only a moment before, was going ashen again. He adjusted his kneeling posture, straightened his back, and looked Pai squarely in the face.

“Because I took Miss Pai’s chastity.”

“Who did?”

“I did.”

“So — my chastity?”

“Yes.”

“…”

She had not, of course, forgotten the kiss. The demonization had already been under way by then, so if anything was surprising, it was that he remembered it at all.

I was going to let it slide quietly, but that’s not going to work.

Still, calling a mere kiss her chastity was going a bit far, wasn’t it?

“I’m fine. It was only the one kiss.”

“…”

Oh, wait. Now that she thought about it, that would have been his first kiss. They had not even properly used their tongues, but the same act could carry a different weight and a different meaning for each of them.

Then doesn’t that mean I’m the one who took his chastity?

Just as she too was starting to take it seriously, Keith cut in sharply.

“Is a kiss with me only that much, to Miss Pai?”

“Th-that’s not what I meant.”

“Even if we let the kiss pass, what about what came after?”

“What came after?”

“…I am speaking of the joining of our flesh.”

Pai sensed that something was going wrong. He had thoroughly misunderstood why their bare bodies had been tangled together, when the whole point had been to draw the demonic energy out.

“That is certainly a situation worth misunderstanding, I’ll grant you.”

“I will take responsibility for Miss Pai.”

“For a drawing-in, skin against skin is more efficient.”

“I will marry you.”

“Shu— be quiet and listen to me. Please!”

“…”

She pressed her throbbing temple and explained in the calmest tone she could manage.

“We just took our clothes off and held each other, that’s all. If I… touched this and that in the process, I’m sorry. But nothing more than that happened. I swear it. So—”

“…”

“And truly, nothing whatsoever happened between us.”

“…”

“And there’s no need for Mr. Keith to take responsibility for me.”

“Ah.”

And why did he look disappointed?