17. Goddess Aria – 01
A week passed after that.
I decided to focus on healing my wounds and getting my body back to normal with Bianca’s help for a week.
It’s not like you’re in a hurry anyway, and there’s nothing helpful when you eat with your mind impatiently. If so, I have no choice but to do what I can do at this moment.
If Ariel had been by my side, this wound would have all healed in less than a day, but she is no longer by my side. Holding on to someone who doesn’t have one and whining about it must also be extremely unsightly.
“Cain, Bianca is waiting for you outside. He told me to come out to the front door if I finished all the preparations.”
Iris does not go with us. It’s not that Iris doesn’t take her because she’s not strong enough. If she goes with us, she will not dare to approach us with the slightest danger. No matter what anyone says, she’s one of the strongest swordsmen in the world.
However, I expressed my disapproval to the end for Iris to participate in this journey. Because she wasn’t currently single. No matter how strong she is, it is impossible to know what will happen to human affairs, so I think we should always be prepared for unforeseen accidents.
“You’re selling your worries. My arms and legs are still working fine. The current you are the same as overprotecting me.”
Even though she grumbled so much, in the end, Iris meekly accepted my request to remain with the Duke of Estelle. To be honest, I was really fortunate. Because the current Iris and the baby in her belly were my hopes.
“Cain, let me ask you one last question. Would you really mind if I didn’t go with you? The one you have to deal with is Kyrie el Denaris. It’s a monster that can’t be easily guessed how many hundred years it has lived or how much power it hides. In addition to that, we cannot rule out the possibility that we may have to point our swords at others. So, even now, open your heart-”
“No, lower. The answer I give you back is always the same.”
I don’t know anything else, but I can open my chest and answer this confidently.
“I am not going to kill Kyrie and Arya. Rather the opposite. I’m going to rescue them. In a way, you could say it was my fault that things got to this point.”
“…Your fault?”
“I am telling you what happened that day, in the middle of the forest, when I met Kyrie, Ariel, and Arya who had lost her mind.”
At that time, I knew that Arya had already regained much of her power as the ‘winter witch’. And the fact that Kirie subdued such an aria like twisting a child’s wrist.
…That’s why I became afraid without even realizing it. Kyriera, who easily overpowered Arya, shuddered at the power of a woman.
That’s what was wrong. If, with Kirie in front of him, he hadn’t been afraid of her, he had strode over and hit her in the head, things might not have turned this way. No matter what kind of existence Kyrie actually was, she is also just a woman for whom I am responsible.
“…It’s also very remote. And talking about other women in front of me isn’t a very wise choice. Seeing this, I am a very jealous woman.”
Saying that, Iris raised one hand and gently caressed my cheek.
“However, I will have no choice but to fall for your flattery this time too. Because I am in love with you, including all of your stuffy and sometimes stupid parts.”
“…Lowering. No, Iris.”
Iris slightly lowers the hand that was caressing my cheek, and puts her own arm around the nape of my neck. Her arms were clasping my back and hugging me.
“Let me ask you one last question. Is there a way to save Arya?”
I nodded softly at Iris’ words. Odds are good enough. I am clearly aware of what my role is. Arya can definitely be saved.
“Then let’s go. I will make sure not to send you off. But make one thing clear.”
“what?”
“Aria and Bianca on the way back. Let the three of us come back together. It doesn’t matter if you leave Ariel and Kirie in a suitable place, but these three must come back. Can you promise me?”
“…Do you want to come back together as a group of five?”
“Then there is nothing you can do. This time, I have no choice but to accept the role of losing money. Originally, in a romantic relationship, the one who loves the other person more loses, right? Since I was losing to you from the beginning, I have no choice but to lose again this time. This kind of defeat has become quite familiar by now.”
Iris grinned and brought her head close to mine, stealing my lips very quietly. It was a kiss wishing for victory and at the same time suggesting a brief breakup.
“…go now. Because you have someone waiting for you.”
At those words, I also turned my back on Iris without saying anything further. It was as she said. Just as she doesn’t see me off, I don’t feel the need to leave a message for her either. Because there is no need to put your mind on a brief breakup.
So I strode toward the front door where Bianca was waiting for me. As Iris said, Bianca was waiting for me at the entrance of the front door with her back against the wall.
“Are all the preparations finished? Can we leave now?”
“No, wait. I guess there is still one thing left.”
Braking Bianca’s words, I turned and looked behind me. Behind me, there was a figure who had been quietly following me since I left the room just before. And when I look behind me, the person hurriedly hides her face behind the wall, perhaps out of concern that her identity might be discovered.
…To put it bluntly, her efforts were to no avail. Because I had already figured out who was behind my back a long time ago through the signs I heard from behind.
“Sarah.”
Even though I sigh and call her name, Sarah hides behind a wall and refuses to show herself. As if he was ashamed to show his face to me.
…Well, her feelings are quite understandable. If I were in her position, I wouldn’t have been able to walk around with my head up proudly for at least a year. But even so, pulling her out by force might have the opposite effect, so I cautiously opened my mouth and spoke to her.
“…Sarah. Come out for a moment. Maybe it will be the last time, because there is something I really want to tell you.”
Sarah, who had been hiding behind a wall and showing a steadfast expression at those words, suddenly showed a hesitant expression, and then cautiously walked toward me with her head bowed. The distance between Sara and I, who was standing behind the wall, was about twenty steps. However, it took 10 minutes for Sarah to walk all those 20 steps. I don’t know if I don’t know, but I don’t know if the distance between Sara and me is about that much.
“…Cain.”
She was staring at the floor all the time, as if she didn’t have the courage to look straight into my face. A week has passed since then, but it seems that the feelings she felt at that time have not been diluted in the slightest.
“Aren’t you calling me Little Duke now? In the past, even though it was okay to call me by my first name, they steadfastly called me by that name.”
At my words, which sound mischievous at first glance, Sarah answered in a low voice, still with her head bowed.
“…I already, not even calling you by your name on that day was not enough, I already used half words to you. But now, to use honorifics to you again means to pretend that what happened that day never happened. I am an ugly woman, but I am not that ignorant.”
…was it It seems that the fact that she is currently using short language to me was an act she was doing to remind me of what happened that day. However, if the fact that you can’t look directly at my face is a blind spot, it’s a blind spot.
“Then why are you so hesitant to face me? What the hell is making you so hesitant?”
“…I’m ashamed. It just looks so ugly that I can’t open my eyes and face it.”
Sara’s voice was very quiet, but at the same time it contained a resonance inside.
“I am a horse. I wished for myself to be forgiven. I wanted to count even a little more of your pain that was hurt because of me. I thought my death was the only way to atone for you.”
But no. After a suicide attempt ended a week ago for a really absurd reason, she was given the opportunity to look at herself calmly for the first time in a long time.
Looking at myself from an objective point of view, it only looked too ugly. Yes, it was the same as when he saw himself reflected in Cain’s memories.
It was ugly, disgusting. really.
“That’s why I couldn’t hold my head up proudly. I am always a woman who is only a nuisance to you, and a woman who has always been nothing but a burden to you. This kind of self is so pathetic and pathetic-“
I couldn’t possibly see your face.
“…..”
I take a step towards her without giving her a response. Then, he reached out his hand and gently lifted her head down.
“To be honest, I was disappointed too. For what you did that day.”
In an instant, a very small ripple rippled through Sarah’s eyes. She was trying to hide her emotions as much as possible in front of me, but it seemed that she couldn’t hide the minute torrent of emotion in her eyes.
“I never wanted an apology from you, and I never wanted you to pay anything in return. What hurt me looking at you before returning? I’m sorry, but that’s nothing for anyone to feel guilty about. It was just that I was a nasty, pathetic man.”
Love is something that really shines and looks noble from the perspective of the person concerned, but if you look at it from an objective perspective, it’s rare to find something as muddy as that.
…Yes, just like that day when she couldn’t overcome her passion and tried to stab herself in the heart.
“Yes, even if there is something wrong with you, I have no right to demand anything from you anymore. Because you even risked your own life for the atonement.”
There is nothing in the world that is more precious and precious than life, so what kind of apology can I hope for and what kind of demands can I make from her?
“So I’m really fine. So there’s no reason to be heartbroken anymore, and you don’t have to act like you’re such a guilty person.”
No, on second thought, it doesn’t seem like she didn’t do anything wrong.
“So, in the future, don’t say anything like taking your own life again. The fact that the past days you and I were together only hurts because of you is something I hate a little bit.”
I don’t know why, but the images of me and her when we were young suddenly flashed through my mind. Certainly, the memory of that time cannot be said to be a very beautiful and shining memory. However, there is no reason that only pain remains in the past that has passed away.
“…So, Sarah. If you have no choice but to be sick to the end because of my past.”
I quietly whispered in her ear, wondering if Bianca, who was leaning back on the other side, would hear.
“After I come back this time, let’s start over again. They say that original love is forgotten with a new love, right?”
After all, there are five women around me, so what’s the point of adding one more now? At most, what else would happen other than the other women yelling at me again.
“…Cain.”
I give Sara one last hug, and this time I turn my back on her and stride towards Bianca.
“it’s over. Let us set off now.”
At my words, Bianca nodded calmly, turned her eyes to look behind me, and then asked me a question with a look of curiosity.
“What did you just talk about with that woman?”
“…why? Any problem?”
“No, it’s the first time I’ve seen that woman make that expression. I thought she was a woman who always made a gloomy expression, but in reality she could make that kind of expression.”