Chapter 62

After Felix acknowledged that I was fully recovered and I regained my freedom, the first thing I did was check the mail that had piled up.

This one is an invitation to a tea party from Helen Zaranz. It’s already passed. I should at least send a reply saying I was indisposed.¹

This one is a confirmation of Leonis’s study schedule… He must have finished the transcriptions. He might be upset because the studies were postponed without any word for a while. That must be why he sent three more letters with impatient, urging content. It would be better to visit the mansion tomorrow first thing rather than just replying. If I wait any longer, he might misunderstand and think something terrible happened to me.

Of course, being sick was a type of disaster in its own right, but the problem was that it could easily be taken more seriously than it actually was. I wouldn’t be surprised if my stepbrother dragged the mansion staff here and forced our front door open.

That wasn’t an exaggeration. This wasn’t because Leonis felt any deep familial love for me, but because Anne was genuinely worried—and he was fully capable of acting on that concern.

Next were the letters from Anne. They contained inquiries about my well-being and requests to accompany her to parties. This was also a problem that could be solved by showing my face at the mansion tomorrow instead of sending a reply. I stacked Anne’s letters on top of the ones Leonis had sent.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yeah. I’ll be back.”

I stood up from the table. Felix followed me out to the front gate to see me off, grumbling slightly.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t go far for a while? You said our roles had swapped.”

“Something came up. Besides, I already stayed in the background for a while on the excuse of nursing you.”

“What kind of excuse is that? You really went through a lot of trouble. But to have to go back to work immediately instead of resting even a little… This can’t be happening. Protest that you need a vacation.”

“This was pretty much like a vacation. I was happy because I was with you.”

“Tch… You’re good with words. But no matter what you say, my opinion that you need to rest at least a little bit hasn’t changed.”

“I’ll make up for it by earning more money. Cut me some slack.”

Felix kissed my cheek, acting charming. Even so, I didn’t want to let him go, so I grabbed his sleeves and lingered by the gate.

“What if a battle breaks out while you’re fatigued? What if your concentration slips? What good is money in a situation like that? You can’t buy an extra life.”

I was worried about Felix. Money can certainly help you achieve many things. But to me, no matter how much money there was, it held no value comparable to Felix’s life. I desperately wanted him to realize that.

“Shall I just commission your mercenary group myself? I’ll hire you as my personal escort. How about that?”

“Sounds good. Once this current commission is finished, please do that. Let’s travel together under that excuse.”

I was speaking seriously, but Felix just laughed lightly, as if he took it as a joke.

“Why can’t it be now? What is this commission even about that you have to go through all this?”

Was it really so important that he had to break his original plans? Most requests to change schedules ultimately meant having to overexert oneself. That was true for mercenary work, and it was true for any line of work in the world.

If it was simply about money, I wanted him to stop, please. Even if being a mercenary felt like trading lives for money, at least he had me. I wanted him to realize for himself that his life was not something to be thrown away recklessly.

Even if to others it was just a life traded for money, to me, Felix was a life I would trade any treasure in the world to save. Couldn’t he just quit being a mercenary while he was at it? How was I supposed to persuade him?

“Hmm? Felix. I’m worried about you.”

Perhaps because my earnest tone conveyed at least some of my sincerity, Felix slowly stopped smiling and scratched his head.

“You see, the thing is… actually…”

And the circumstances Felix reluctantly revealed left me completely dumbfounded.

“So, you’re saying you were blackmailed by the Saint?”

“Blackmailed, you say? It felt more like she was offering me a way to survive, in her own way…”

“It’s blackmail! You! If I weren’t involved, would you have obediently accepted such a scam-like proposal?”

“Hmm… probably?”

“Don’t lie to me! You of all people, you must never lie to me!”

Felix recoiled at my harsh reprimand.

“S-sorry.”

“Ultimately, she’s using my identity and safety as a hostage to work you like a servant! I really hate that fox-like woman!”

As I rolled up my sleeves and marched toward the gate, fuming, Felix immediately grabbed me.

“Wait, wait! What are you trying to do?”

“What do you mean, what? I’m not going to let this slide!”

“And what are you going to do if you don’t let it slide! She’s the Saint! Are you going to storm the Temple just like that?”

“I am! She’s just a mere human after all!”

“Iel!”

Felix shouted fiercely, as if to snap me out of it. At that moment, the fog of rage in my head cleared, and I froze. Only then did I realize I had been swept away by an impulse without even knowing it.

Silence flowed between us for a moment. Felix let go of the arm he had been holding tightly and apologized.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you? But still, you shouldn’t do anything reckless.”

He proceeded to list the most obvious reasons—that the Temple was a massive organization and I couldn’t just recklessly collide with it—and spoke to me in a gentle, persuasive tone. It must have meant I had acted quite irrationally.

“…”

The impulse had dissipated as quickly as it had arrived, as it always did, but seeing the lingering anger in my chest, I knew this was a synergy created by my own true heart combining with the remnants of the power I possessed. Even without the fragment’s active thoughts or will, its violent temperament occasionally mixed with my own emotions and exploded—that was exactly what had just happened.

“Iel. Are you okay?”

“…”

“I’m sorry… I’m not scolding you. I just…”

“No. It’s me who should be sorry. I got emotional for a moment.”

The unresolved anger tried to boil up from the back of my throat. It seemed the pain was showing on my face, as Felix looked worried and guilty.

“I’m sorry.”

“If you mean it would have been better not to tell me, then don’t apologize. I hate being kept in the dark even more.”

I told him not to leave me in a miserable position, prancing around happily without knowing why he was struggling. Felix answered reluctantly.

“Yeah…”

“No. It was my behavior that made you regret being honest with me. I was the one acting unreliably. I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine. I’m just worried about you.”

“Felix.”

“Yeah?”

I lifted my head to look at his face. Felix wiped the moisture pooled in my eyes with a tender touch.

“I’m so frustrated.”

“Yeah… I bet you are.”

“But for now, I’ll endure it. I’ll find a way somehow, so you just hold on for a little longer, too.”

“Yeah? What kind of way?”

“Obviously, a way for you to escape from that vixen of a Saint’s grasp.”

Ashamed that I had shed tears without meaning to, I crossed my arms and tried to act tough belatedly.

“Ha! Serving the Temple, what a joke. Anyway, if you can just escape from being the target of her barrier formation, that means she can’t force you anymore, right? Am I right? There’s no other logic she can use to make you work for her immediately, is there?”

“For now, no. But if she really intends to force me, she’ll have any number of excuses to bring up. For example, something related to heresy.”

“I’ll find a way to deal with that, too.”

“How?”

Since he had truthfully revealed the situation, Felix stared at me intently, as if telling me to be honest, too.

“If the Temple is turning a blind eye while knowing my identity, there’s only one reason. They think I’m useful for solving the chaos and problems they face realistically. Like the rifts, or other anomalies.”

“So?”

“Conversely, if they judge that I’m useless, they’d want to capture and kill me immediately, so for now, I plan to show them my utility.”

“Are you saying you’re going to let yourself be worked by the Temple too?”

Felix frowned, asking if one person (himself) wasn’t enough. I told him not to worry.

“Of course, I shouldn’t just let them work me without thinking. I must avoid being discarded once they’ve used me up. So, I’m going to build a structure they absolutely cannot survive without.”

“How?”

“Let’s talk about the details after you get back. Regardless, you shouldn’t just let yourself be used, either! At the very least, try to remember in detail what they ordered you to do and what the process was, and tell me. It might help with what’s to come.”

“Alright.”

I burrowed into Felix’s embrace and hugged his body tightly.

“Just wait a little longer. I will definitely save you from that pit of evil!”

Felix let out a slight huff of disbelief at those words, but I was dead serious.