338. DEAR SISTER

Valentine was walking inside the hallway.

Today was the first day Liliath attended school. She managed to sneak in between shared moments of a few minutes with her. 

Valentine stood in front of her room, she hesitated.

Nevertheless, slowly, she pushed the door open.

It was dark.

She turned on the lights.

It was empty.

Had she been expecting someone?

She closed the door and checked every inch of the place. No objects have shifted since this morning. Nobody had come in here.. yet.

“It’s only a matter of time,” Valentine said, gritting her teeth.

She didn’t know who to believe.

The story of both sides didn’t tally at all.
Torture, experimentation, starvation, imprisonment.

Peace, revolution, determination, camaraderie.

Polar opposites.

“I’m I denying the possibility?”

Which possibility was she denying? The possibility of Javiel not being the person she thought he was or.. the possibility that Liliath was somehow misled?

The latter couldn’t be possible, which meant there was only the former.

But Valentine couldn’t accept it.
All those things Javiel had done for her.. was it really just a facade?

“I don’t understand myself..”

“Nobody does.”

Valentine raised her head, nose inches away from his. 

“Hikh?!” she staggered.

“It seems she returned..” he muttered.
“Y-Your Highness..”

“You addressed me as Javiel-san before this, didn't you?”

“Y-Yes..”

“You heard it, didn't you? Her story.”
“...”

“Answer me.”
The demon stared down at her. She found it hard to move, her limbs felt as heavy as lead.
“Will you not? Or will I have to force it out of you?”
“I-I was wrong to have..”

“Hm?” 

“You demon..”
“I see.. then I have no choice.”
He reached out his hands, Valentine faltered. She squirted her eyes– the moment never came. His hands came into contact with an invisible barrier.

“”Huh?””

“Hm..”
“Are you sure this isn’t him?”
“I’m sure.”

“L-Liliath?”
“You two..”
Before the demon could finish his sentence, he fell sideways onto the bed.

===

“Is he.. dead?”
Valentine asked. Her face was ghastly pale, hands gripping onto the bed sheets to the point where it began to crumple.

Luckily Liliath told me about wanting to talk to Valentine-sama, if not, I think I would’ve come a tad too late.

“Nope. I just put him to sleep. By the way, that’s not Javiel. He’s another demon lord disguised as him.”

The illusion shattered. Behind the disguise was a familiar guy which I recognized from the old vision I had with Bleu. Ruff. 

He was the person who most probably helped Javiel escaped from slavery. I’m surprised he had [Impersonate (S)] and [Illusion (S)] skills.

“There, there..” Liliath embraced Valentine-sama.

“L-Liliath-chan..”

This is convenient, somewhat. I didn’t think that we’d get to meet one of Javiel’s accomplice here. But since we have, I guess doing some interrogation may be a good idea. We need to make sure he stays in his sleep.
And just so we’re clear, he’s also someone who has completed a Kiss of Blood just like me. So I don’t intend to kill him. I’d like to get along if possible. 

First things first.
“Alright, let’s begin by hearing what you have to say, sister-in-law.”

===

“My sister is what?!”

Valentine exclaimed.

“Your Highness, we will do everything in our power to find her. The castle is under lockdown and a search party has already been arranged by His Majesty,” The butler replied, bowing in respect. Not showing in his expression, he too was wary in heart.

Valentine trembled.

She felt the urge to head over to the prison where Liliath laid. She wanted to confirm for herself Liliath’s disappearance.

There had to be some clues.

But.

What good would it do? 

If His Majesty Akihito had already begun a nationwide search, it would’ve meant that investigations had come up empty.

So what else could Valentine do?

Having just returned from Lionheart academy when she received news of Lilaith’s disappearance, per His Majesty's odres, Valetnien was to retire to her room.

Even if she wanted to head out to find Liliath, adding another missing princess would only cause more problems to the search.

Did she escape knowing that her life was as good as over?

No.. Impossible. Valentine had already promised to bring her out.

Then the only other possibility was that she had been kidnapped.

But how exactly did it happen? Valentine had no grasp on any information regarding the incident. 

Anxiety and worry weighed her wary heart. She slept praying that Liliath would come back safe and sound.

Just as she was falling into slumber, it was then she received knocks on the door.

And was apprehended.

===

The search party continued, still, no traces of Liliath had been found through the night. Nothing but a clue: eyewitness testimony of Liliath making her way out of the castle grounds with Valentine.

Even some of the maids attested to having seen it happen.
“Tell me the truth, Valentine! Where did you bring Liliath?!”

“I hadn’t done anything!”

Valentine had been brought into His Majesty's room to be questioned.

He slammed his fist against the desk, cracks ran across the surface. Valentine winced in fear.

His Majesty lowered his head, his entire body trembling.

“I’m sorry.”
“Father.. I..”
“I’ll expand the scope of the search, put her under house arrest.”
Valentine wanted to explain how she wasn't the culprit but, seeing how her father was behaving, she knew explaining would do no good. There was no way she could object to judgment passed down through emotional distress.

===

“Mother. What should we do?”
House arrest didn’t matter to Valentine.

She escaped from her room and made her way to the inner courtyard– to where her mother, Marilyn resided.
“You said what?”

“Y-You weren’t informed..”?
“Liliath-chan she.. was kidnapped?!”
News had been kept hidden from Marilyn.
Frenzied, she sought after his Majesty and– a huge conflict blew up.

“Valentine-chan is Liliath’s elder sister! How could she possibly do something to harm Liliath-chan!”

“It is because Valentine-san is her sister, that’s why she’s the most suspicious!” His Majesty yelled.

“Stop trying to cover for your daughter’s sin. Just because you have blood relations, doesn’t mean you understand their hearts,” Georgia the Second hissed.

“My daughter. Tell your father please, where did you send Liliath? There were no other leads,” His Majesty pleaded Valentine once more. It had been days since he had any proper sleep, dark circles could be seen under his eyes.

“I-I don’t know.. it wasn’t me..”
How could she be the one to kidnap Liliath? She was at school at the time.

“Stop it dear, you’ve already checked through Lionheart records and found that Valentine-san couldn’t be the person,” Georgia said.

“There’s no other clue.. what would happen if she gets into the wrong hands.”

“As I’ve mentioned before. We should’ve killed her when we had the chance!”

“How dare you say such blasphemous words!”

Valentine recalled the entire conflict play out in her mind.

Doping ink to the tip of the pen, filling out forms and dishing out signatures, stamping and recording.. Valentine sought solace in the midst of these repetitive, mundane work.

“You don’t look too well. Princess Valentine, how about taking a break?”

Valentine raised her head.

“Even Calbert has left for the day. What’s wrong?”

Valentine shook her head.

“Nothing, Your Highness.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing to me. Come, tell me,” Javiel took a seat beside her.

The entire floor which would usually be bustling with the sounds of paperwork was now empty. So empty, some would call it eerie.

Valentine continued clearing the papers on her desk. 

Work was never complete.

“You should learn to delegate if it’s too much to handle. Otherwise, you should’ve just taken less.”

“I can handle it, Your Highness.” She was trembling in her heart. “Thank you for your concern,”

She got ready to leave. Standing up, she staggered. She would’ve fallen and knocked on the table if not for Javiel’s attentiveness.

“Thank you. I’m fine, let me go,” Valentine shook off Javiel’s arm.
“Tell me. Where do you stay?”
“The palace.”
“Out of bounds. I see.. though I may not be able to escort you all the way to your room, I can at least bring you to the gates,” Javiel looked towards the window, the night sky, “It’s not safe for a woman to walk out on the streets all alone.” 

“I can defend myself. You need not to concern yourself with me.”

Valentine walked away.

She got to the exit, and stepped foot outside. The cold autumn breeze caused her bangs to flutter. Everytime she closed her eyes, her ears would catch the sounds of clattering of plates and clinking of beer mugs.

Raising her eyelids, she tuned out the noise and focused on the road ahead. It wasn’t long before she arrived at her inn.

Valentine didn’t stay at the palace, that was an abhorrent lie. Instead, she had rented a room. She tried to keep her identity hidden, but of course, that didn’t fool the demon lord.

It was a mystery why he never thought to do anything to her, even when she was there to acquire as much information as she could about Liliath's disappearance.

However, the only thing she got from working at the demon tower over the seasons was how the demon lord was preparing to organize a new search party to find Liliath.

For the past two years, the search had come out empty. This time, the demon lord had garnered the collaboration of one of the princes. He will search the kingdom, acting under the guise of ambassador.

If it was someone like Liliath, she should stand out, especially with her degree of magic.

Unless somehow.. she had died..

Valentine shook her head to rid of the thought. 

“Yo! It’s the pretty woman.”

“Heya, want to spend some time with us? I’ll order beer for ya free of charge?”

“Hahahaah! You’re being ignored again,” the other adventurers laugh, spitting saliva everywhere.
Valentine walked past the group, showing an indifferent expression. She aimed for the stairs. One of the burly adventurers reached out and grabbed her by the arm.

“I’m talking to ya. Are you even listening?”

“Let go.”
In a weak yet firm voice, Valentine commanded.

“Excuse me, this place isn't a bar. Please keep unlawful actions to a minimum,” the waitress who noticed the situation tried to defend Valentine.

“This is unlawful? What do you think guys?! Being ignored by a girl isn’t wrong but stopping a girl is?”
“Oi, oi. Stop it, let her go.” another adventurer from a table further over called out.’
“Not until she apologizes.”

“Sorry,” Valentine said.

“Hm?? Did I say a word is enough? Come, let’s have a drink.”
“I’m sorry but I’m in no mood to have a drink.”
“You’re a tough one huh?”

“Just let me return to my room and rest already,” Valentine’s voice had this usual sense of calm, perhaps it was because she had already lost all energy to retaliate.

“Hahaha.. you care to go against..”
“Excuse me sir, could you release her?”

“Heh? Who are yo..”

The man grabbed the adventurer’s neck.

He smiled at him, face turning purple from the lack of oxygen.

“Touch her next time and you know what to expect alright?”
The adventurer did his best to nod.

“Good.”

Only then did Javiel loosen his grip. The adventurer fell to the floor struggling for air.

“My apologies for the intrusion. Here’s to reimburse the damages,” Javiel held out a pouch.

“Eh no.. you did nothing..” the waiter gulped at the sight of the gold coins.

“No. I did something unlawful. Please receive this much at least. “

“T-thank you..”

“Using some of the money, would you kindly waive the fee for her stay?”

“Y-yes.”

“What are you doing?!” Valentine raised her voice.

“Helping you.” Javiel replied in a firm tone.

“I don’t need your help. Stop butting into my business.”

“Liliath-chan wouldn’t want to see you in this manner.”
Valentine froze up.

“Did I hit the bullseye?” Javiel smiled, “I will confess. I too am worried about Liliath-san’s situation. Her disappearance was quite a shock.”
“Y-You..”
The demon who was enslaved back then.
Valentine was doubting her ears. Did he just say he was concerned for Liliath?

“If you have any troubles. Feel free to share them with me. I don’t mind lending an ear once in a while. Now then, I shall take my leave–”
“Wait.”
“Yes?”

“You said.. you were trying the find Liliath-chan too right?”

“Yes. As you may already know, I’m arranging a search in cooperation with His Highness Kyoshi. I’ll inform you if we ever find any hints.”

Valentine took a moment to collect her thoughts before saying.

“Thank you.”

Javiel shook his head.
“As her future spouse, such thanks is unnecessary.”

He soon left, the inn returned to normalcy with the adventurer gang now gone from the scene.

Was Javiel her enemy or ally?

Valentine started having her doubts.

339. 

“What’s this?”

“A small gift.”
Valentine narrowed her eyes suspiciously. It was a small box.

It wasn’t the first time Javiel dropped by the tower. Everytime it happened, he would bring up some miscellaneous topics regarding his adventures.

“What is it?”

“Open it,” Javiel grinned.

All the staff in the office stopped and turned towards them. All curious to know what Javiel had prepared this time. Some even had expressions of ‘oh, not this again’.

“I won’t open it until I can be sure it isn’t some poison.”
“Poison? Now, now, how could I poison my staff? Everyone would turn against me if I ever did that,” Javiel said, panicking.
Valentine sighed. Giving it a little tug, the ribbon fell off. She peeled back the cover, and inside was a..

“What is this?”
“What do you think?”
Valentine picked it up with her fingers. It was a 3 by 3 cube with a chain attached to one of the corners. Every side had one colour, and you could rotate it in one of the 3 possible axises, in three possible lanes.

“My sister created this. A genius, isn’t she?”
“You mean, all those things you’ve given to me before are..”
“Her works. As you guessed. She’s quite the tinkerer. This is called a rubix cube. It’s a toy whereby you scrambled everything and try to return it to this state. I’ve never studied how to solve it, so if it’s messed up, there’s no way to revert it back unless you deconstruct it.”

Out of pure curiosity, Valentine twisted the cube a few times.

It was scrambled.

She tried to fix it, but the harder she tried, the worse it became.

“What sorcery..” it was getting increasingly frustrated.

By the time she had repaired one face of the cube, Javiel had already left the scene. All Valentine’s co-workers could only sigh at the sight. Yet again, Javiel brought something to take Valentine’s mind away from work. What a good boss.

===

It was night.

Everyone had left.

All the lights were off– all but one. The one at Valentine’s desk.

She was still grinding away at the paperwork yet again. Dark circles had already become part of the natural features of her face.

It had been weeks since Javiel stopped by. Valentine wondered why he stopped coming. 

The first fews days of this happening, she didn’t think too much of it.

Then a week passed, and she started asking around. Most of her colleagues had no answer to the question. Of course, some jokingly, had thought that maybe he had given up on chasing Valentine. Other’s said that he was busy attending to a matter.

Two weeks in, Valentine began to think that she wasn’t as good of a person as she thought. Perhaps all that indifference had caused him to treat her in the same manner.

Her mind was split. 

The reason why she was working so hard, she knew deep down in her consciousness that she wanted to atone for her sin. 

But if that was the case, there were many ways she could atone.

So why this?

She came to the demon tower with the intention of finding her sister, yet.. a season had passed with no news.
She didn’t know why.

Why was still here?

Was it because she enjoyed the thrill of his arrival?

His cheerful banter.

The small gifts.

Stories of his encounters.

Valentine looked over her table. Small gizmos, miniature buildings, figurines, tools. These were but a part of what she had back at the apartment.

She had already moved out of the inn and was staying inside the new accommodation built inside the demon tower; made for the convenience of the staff. 

Why would Javiel go so far for them?

Demon lords.. weren’t cruel, vile creatures as the records suggested them to be.

This was what her sister had been after all this time, wasn’t it? Peace. To finally resolve this millennium-old conflict.

Yet, what had Valentine been doing all this while? Aiming for the throne? So that she can save Liliath and remove all discrimination?

Pressing her face against the papers, Valentine stared at the note pasted on the small corkboard– another invention of Javiel’s sister.

‘I came here to find Liliath,’ it stated.
What if Liliath was no more?

What would she do?

“Then I should..”

At least support Javiel, to bring to reality Liliath’s long cherished wish– so that her fight wasn’t in vain.

“Right.. at least.. I, achieve that wish of her’s..”

“Oh hey.”
“Huh?” Valentine muttered, pulling herself up in a languid manner, she turned to the voice. Her clothes were a mess.

“Are you Liliath’s elder sister?”
Valentine rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

She must be hallucinating.

“Yes, excuse me, who are you? Are you one of Javiel’s wives?”
“What the fuck.”

“Hh?”

“Don’t curse me damn it.. I have a stinking suspicious that’s what the tarot cards are telling me..”

Valentine sobered up a little. A short girl with black hair similar to Javiel’s own.

“Could it be that you are.. Iona-chan..?”

“No, no, no! That’s Javiel-san’s little sister.. I do look like her don’t I hm..” the girl fell into contemplation.
“Then?”

“Ah, sorry. Brain fog, my mind is a little muddled. Anyways. I’ve come here to bring you over to Liliath.”

“Huh?”
“Ready, set..”

The girl touched Valentine’s shoulder and the scene warped.

The next thing she knew, she was in front of His Majesty, her mother Marilyn, a girl with white hair, a boy with black hair and..

340. 

Having heard her story, it seems Javiel wasn’t the kind of person we thought he was.
“That’s merely one side of his nature..” Liliath denied her sister’s words.

“I know that however..”

“Let’s say Javiel is as you say he is, kind and good natured..”

“That’s impossible!” Liliath rejected.

“Um.. and also cruel and incredibly sadistic.. maybe he’s just like the Regressor, struggling to survive.”
“Excuse me, what is ‘The Regressor’?”

“That’s another Irregular we know of..”

“I seem to not be able to recall why I hate him,” Liliath pouted.

“He killed Rin.”

“No recollection.”
Liliath’s brain is a mystery.

“What do you intend to do? Now that you know what I’ve done..”
So Valentine-sama just spilled all that information because she was scared. I actually didn’t utilize any sort of Interrogation skill, we merely asked her to confess.

“It doesn’t matter what you do anee-sama.”

Valentine-sama trembled.

“I understand how you must feel. I too have been fooled by the demon in the same way. The doubts and worry. Your actions till now have been for my sake, I thank you for that. No matter what you've done before, you will still and always be my anee-sama.”
“I don’t..deserve this..” 

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve missed you. Thank you for everything.”
“Liliath-chan..”
Valentine-sama began to bawl in Liliath’s arms. A similar scene to what happened during their first reunion was taking place a second time.
All this time Valentine sent me those thank you notes because she felt guilty of not being able to save Liliath.

Honestly speaking, I was surprised that Javiel helped people. Well.. this really just brings up a bunch of questions as to why he would act so cruel towards Liliath. If he treated everyone else with such grace, why was it different for Liliath? I get that the kingdom betrayed him but..

There’s something here I’m not getting.

Also, Valentine-sama is still a target. After all, she left the demon tower abruptly without prior notice. 

Additionally, Javiel knows that Liliath is here.

So why was he making his way over the Southern axis of the Elven Territory? Isn’t his top priority Liliath?

I don’t like this feeling of a bad premonition.

Should I just strip him of his status right now?

How exactly should we proceed? Time and time again, I’ve already told myself that removing his Unique skill is the fastest and most effective method of resolving the issue. Stripping his skills, we can talk with him face to face in safety.

Yet, we were taking roundabout measures to handle the issue.

“Because we’re scared.”
“Noel?”

“No. I’m just thinking. Maybe we should just talk to Javiel. That’s the most efficient way to resolve things.”

“You can’t..” Liliaths words tapered off. It’s the best method.

“I’ll ask Nine about it. Maybe we’ll all meet up at the Elven Territory. If I’m not wrong, the Regressor should arrive in a few days.”

Liliath grimaced.

“You can do it.” I stroked Liliath’s hair.

“You intend to defeat him there?” Valentine-sama asked.

“Who? Javiel-san? I’m thinking maybe we should reconcile with him,” I said.

Liliath remained silent. 

This was what she wanted right? To forgive him.

“Even through all that?” Valentine asked, hesitant.
“Y-Yes..” Liliath said through her teeth.

“It’s a decision she came to..” I said.

Taking revenge and holding hatred in the heart is one thing. Above that is forgiveness and love. Not something you would find in your typical light novel.. unless it’s related to magical girls. Though, if you really think about it, the most interesting and grounded scenes usually come from doing this. Say stories of the hero wanting to take revenge against his companions? He reconciles with the demon lord first. 

Of course, it becomes intense when the enemy does a counter when the MC lowers his or her guard.

Valentine-sama nodded.

“Noel, how should we proceed with him?” Liliath parted from her sister, turning to the floor where Ruff laid.

“I’ve stripped him off his skills, maybe we can wait until he wakes up? Or do you want to go to bed with Rin first?”

“Will you be staying up?”

“Most probably.”
“Then I will too.”

===

I was sketching on my UI when a sound came from behind us.

“Ugh..”

Liliath, Rin and I turned around.

“Do l really have to go first?” Rin asked.

“Yup.”
“There’s no need to follow the script, act natural.”

“Just try to calm him down so he doesn’t misunderstand.”

Rin nodded.

Hopefully he doesn’t go into a full panic attack. We’ve been kind enough to offer Ruff a pillow– and a couch. 

He got up holding his head.

“Huh? Who..”

“O-Oh.. you’re awake..” Rin stuttered.

“Where I’m I.. no, who are you?”

“Erm.. a demon lord just like yourself?”

The way you said that, add on top the transition of your horn appearance, that was real cute Rin. Bonus points.

“What? Where.. I was..”

Rin approached him slowly, keeping her distance. Funnily enough, her expression was like a scholar observing an exotic entity.

“Those two, where are they?”

“Those two..?” Rin titled her head.

Liliath and I were watching the entire scene play out from behind a curtain of concealment magic.

“Do you need some water? I’ll go get some?”
“It’s.. alright. Pardon me, I need to go now.”
“Oh. Alright.”
Ruff quickly got up and looked around. His expression was a mix of awe and confusion.

“What’s your name?”

“Rinalanashina.”

“Rinanasina?”
“Rinalanashina.”
“Rinalnashina”
“Rinalanashina.”

“Rina– lana–shina.”
Rin nodded.

Liliath held back her laughter.

“Thank you for saving me.”

He placed his hands on the door handle and paused.

“What..”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“My body.. it’s weird.”
Yeah, we took away all your stat.

“Weird in what way, are you alright?”

“No.. who are you exactly? You can’t possibly have brought me here..”

And now he was on guard against Rin.

Rin panicked, waving her hands out in front.

“I-I didn’t bring you here but..”
“But?”

“I don’t know. I’m supposed to calm you down, was what I was told.. hehe,” Rin said with a troubled laugh.

“By who?”

“Um..”
“Who?”

“Do you want some tea?”

“This is a trap.”
No shit.
“What should I do..” Rin sat down on the bed and muttered.

“What do you want out of me?”

“I just want you to calm down?”

“What’s up with the uncertainty in your words..”

“Erm..”
Ruff decided not to waste any more time and bolted to the door.

“Eh wait don’t there are–”

He shut the door as soon as he opened it.

Yup. We borrowed a few guards and stationed them around Liliath’s room.

“I can’t use my abilities, and I’m surrounded..”

“I was thinking maybe you should calm down first before making a hasty decision to escape?” Rin said, “If you want, I can divert the guards attention..”
“You got me,” he raised both hands into the air. Huh.. was this a gesture the people of the world knew?

Rin tilted her head.
“I’ll listen.” 

He sat down on the floor.

Rin blinked a few times.

“Come on. What’s the real purpose of saving me?”
“Have you calmed down?”

“Yes.”

“Hold on a moment..”

Rin pulled out the tea set we’d prepared just for this occasion from her inventory. Ruff looked at it in exasperation.

Tea was ready in about a minute. Rin served it to him.. warily.

It’s pretty obvious by this point who’s scared of who.

“Thank you,” Ruff accepted the tea, but he didn’t touch it. I’m afraid the tea isn’t poisoned.

“You’re welcome.

“Are you being forced to do this?”
“Eh? Not at all.”

Ruff pondered.

“What happened after I passed out?”

“We brought you here to hide.”

“We?”

“We can’t continue until you’re absolutely sure you’re calm and can answer our questions.”
“I knew it.. it’s an interrogation..”

Rin turned towards us. Liliath and I looked at each other.

“Don’t hope for anything, I’ve sworn my loyalty to His Highness. I’ll sacrifice myself even if I need to.”

“Even if Gina-san will become sad after that?”

“W-What?! You..”

Yup. I did a little digging through his status and found that he’s bound to her. Congrats. Rin poked a sensitive spot.

“We mean no harm really. We just wish to know how to get along with.. His Highness Javiel?” Rin was unsure how she should address him.

“Why?”

“Because Liliath wants it.”

Ruff’s expression warped.

“Right?” I asked in a whisper.

Liliath nodded reluctantly. She’s really pushing herself with this one.

A few more exchanges later, Ruff became comfortable in Rin’s presence. He’s not without caution but at least we’ve placated him somewhat.

It’s time to make our appearance.
I gave Liliath the signal.
Liliath stepped out of the concealment barrier first. Ruff frowned.

“Pleased to make an acquaintance Ruff, you may know me as..”
“Your Highness Liliath,” sarcastically, he continued, “I heard so much about you from His Highness.”

“My, you’re making me curious about the stories he fed you with. Nevertheless, it isn’t the focus of today’s discussion. First, understand that we will release you by the night’s end,” Liliath pointed her index finger, “Two, we will return you your powers,” the index and middle finger, “And three, we’ll don’t intend to harm you nor Gina-san. In fact, she is a student of my class.”
“So?”
“Very simple put, answer our questions with honesty. I’ll begin with this. Does Javiel.. have any intentions of reconciliation?”
Ruff was perplexed by that. It took him some time to collect his thoughts.

“By reconciliation, what do you mean?”
“Reconciliation as in, no longer bringing the past to the present.”

Huh. That is quite paradoxical. What does it mean by reconcile? It’s not like we’re going to be Javiel’s active friend anytime soon.

“Past to the present? What does that even mean? I don’t know enough about what happened between the time where you disappeared and reappeared now, however, to ask for forgiveness when you initiated the fight? Are you a fool?”

“Who’s the foo..”

“L-Liliath..”
Rin held Liliath in place, the mana in the surrounding spiked.
I stepped out stood between them.
“T-That demon..”
“It's ridiculous.”
“I never initiated anything. Creating this false accusation as a means to toy with me?”

“You put him under slavery and you say you had no part in it?”

“Ruff-san, can you think of your position? She’s seriously going to kill you if you don’t take care of your words.”

“So what?”
“I don’t want to see you die either, you know.”

I held the teary eyed Liliath in my arms.

“She wants to reconcile. The reason why we asked you that in the first place is to understand Javiel-sama’s viewpoint on the matter.”

“Give it up. There’s no way he’s going to accept your apology.”

“You never know.”

“His Highness is that sort of guy. He won’t compromise. Once it’s set, he’ll follow through with it.”
This is way more complicated than I thought.
“What do we do now?” Rin asked.
I stroked Liliath’s hair, thinking..

“Since you’ve asked your question, can I ask mine?” Ruff said.

“Sure.”
“Who are you? You’re the one who broke her out, correct?”
“Half correct. Breaking her out from the prison happened on a whim– I summoned her, like how people here summon heroes here from the brink of death.”
“What?”
“I’m an Irregular,” I showed my horns. “And also a demon.”

===

We let Ruff go after that. In the end, he did take a sip of the tea Rin made. No comments, but judging from the empty cup, it was decent at least.

“I don’t know.. what to do Noel. I don’t know..” 

“Take your time.”
Liliath was in her nightgown, hugging her pillow with her knees bent. It was the infamous roll into a ball but sideways.

“You’ll find the answer eventually,” I placed my hands on top of her’s.

Liliath nodded in response, the sound of her hair rubbing against the bedsheet.

“Was it alright to just let him go like that? What if he comes back?” Rin asked.
“Then we’ll deal with him again. It’s pointless to make him an enemy if we want to stop creating enemies.”

It’s usual: defeat the enemy because he or she doesn't have the same ideology. I suppose that’ll be left as our last resort. But for now, since we have all the resources and cheat, let’s consider alternate solutions first.

The ending Liliath is seeking.

“She’s asleep, Noel.”

“Yeah.”

I got up from the bed carefully.

“Are you going to sleep on the couch?”

“Yup.”

“Sleep with us no?” Rin narrowed her eyes.

“No. Until we get married, officially.”
“What’s the difference anyways? I’m not letting you sleep there, come here.”

“Heeh.. sorry Rin. no sir do.”

I plopped myself on the couch and wrapped myself up into a burrito.

I was thrown to the floor.

“Hey..”
“Shush, Liliath is sleeping,” Rin looked down at me, who was sprawled across the floor.

“Come on.. we need to go to Bleu’s domain, it’s getting late and.. we need to wake up early tomorrow for the exercise regime.”
Rin said nothing and tugged at my hand.

She barely had the strength to do so, unlike Liliath. It was a cute effort.

“N-oel sleep on the bed.”

“N-o.”
“SLEEP.”
“N-o.”

“You’re so stubborn.”
“That’s how it is.”
“Mwu.”
“Alright, you win.”
“Yay~”

I plan to wait until Rin sleeps before sneaking away to the couch. Yup, that should work. 

I laid in between Liliath and Rin.

We faced each other.

“Noel,” she called out to me, her face pressed against the pillow. “Will Liliath be alright?”

“She will.”

“How do you know?”
“Because that’s how it’s always been.”
Rin didn’t quite get me.

“Many things have happened right? Problems here, problems there. Even so, we’ve managed to get through it to come to where we’re at now. Here’s a thought experiment, Rin, do you think we’re blessed or cursed?”
“Blessed,or cursed.. Somewhere in the middle?”

“Then it is somewhere in the middle. Most people would agree that it’s the latter, you know?”
“Because everyone is different.”

“Because we’re comparing. If we had nothing to compare to, it becomes, whichever we think is what we are.”
“I don’t get it,” Rin bent forward, her forehead to my neck.

I wrapped my arms around her shoulder.

“But.. it doesn’t matter. So as long as you’re here. Everything will be alright,” Rin said.
“It’ll be alright even if I’m not here.”
“Not the case.”
“Yes, the case.”

“I don’t want to think about it, don’t get hurt Noel. I-If you’re gone.. I don’t know what will happen to Liliath and I,” Rin coiled her arms around my body.

“I’ll take care.”

…

“Rin?”
…

“Looks like she’s asleep. Time to get out of.. huh, she’s holding me pretty tight.”
“You’re not getting away. Hehe.”
Damn it.