Reach out your hand
Just as she had welcomed Mitina, Istaria invited Kyelse with a casual response.
When the door to the room opened, a familiar figure appeared. However, while he usually wore his uniform at evening parties, that day he was dressed up in formal attire.
As soon as she entered, Kyelse’s face turned grim as she spotted Mitina. Then, in a beautiful voice that she hadn’t heard in a long time, she started cursing as usual.
“You’re sneaking around in a place like this, are you trying to convince Istaria to marry me again?”
Kyelse was clearly still holding a grudge over what had happened last time, and Mitina instinctively looked down. When she found herself angry, her mind went blank in an instant, filled with anxiety and confusion.
However, seeing Mitina like that, Istaria frowned and glared sharply at Kyelse.
“If you keep being rude and not being honest like that, you’ll get dumped again.”
“What…?! I, I, got dumped, etc…”
“You got dumped, right?”
“Ugh…”
Kyelse groaned and turned her face away as Istaria mercilessly dug into her wounds. It must still be painful for her to face the fact that Mitina had rejected her.
(Lady Istaria, you are truly merciless…)
“Well, Mitina, have fun.”
“picture?”
As I was impressed by the sharpness of Istaria, for some reason she pushed Mitina’s back. When I turned to look at her to see what she meant, she gave me a quick wink.
“Eh, do you have business with Lady Istaria…?”
“No.”
“…………”
He clearly said that he had come to see her, and Mitina fell silent. Just as she was hesitating and unable to make up her mind right away, Istaria whispered something to her.
“Don’t worry. I’ve called for help.”
“Helper?”
“If Kyelse tries to do anything strange, she will come to your aid right away. Don’t worry.”
I’m not sure, but it seems that Istaria had predicted this would happen and had taken measures to deal with it. Or rather, maybe she had prepared an opportunity for Kyelse to talk with Mitina.
If that was the wish of today’s main character, then he should comply. Besides, he also felt a strong desire to properly apologize to Kyelse.
Taking a deep breath, Mitina steeled herself and stood up. Then she turned to Istaria.
“Okay. I’ll be off.”
“Yeah”
Istaria waved her hand, telling her to do her best. Mitina thanked her and then turned her gaze to Kyelse with a nervous look on her face.
When Mitina finally turned towards her, Kyelse seemed a little relieved and told her to follow her. She left the room and followed him, passing through the mansion, across the venue bustling with guests, and coming out onto a deserted terrace.
The sky was already dark, the stars were shining, and the place was filled with a tranquil atmosphere, like another world, where the lively sounds of the venue could be faintly heard.
“…”
“…”
We stood there for a while without saying a word. Even though it had been a long time since our breakup, there was no way we could suddenly start a conversation.
Kyelse was the first to break the silence. He coughed exaggeratedly and turned towards Mitina. He looked at her as if he was licking her all over.
“…Not bad.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“But it definitely looks better if I choose it and put on the makeup myself.”
“Oh, you’re talking about clothes…”
Come to think of it, she had said before that she would take care of everything for the party. As a result, Mitina’s current outfit was entirely produced by Istaria, so in a sense, Kyelse may have lost the battle against her.
“But… well… it’s beautiful.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Well, you’re pretty beautiful, next to me. I’ll admit it.”
“Thank you……”
Kyelse was still as condescending as ever, and I couldn’t help but smile wryly.
But speaking of clothing, Kyelse was the same. He was unusually not wearing his uniform, but something else, more neatly dressed. Even though she had previously said something like that she almost never took off her uniform.
“You’ve also dressed up quite a bit today, Kyelse-dono. Is it because it’s Lady Istaria’s birthday party?”
“Huh!?”
“Huh?”
“Uh, oh, oh. There’s no way it’s for Istaria’s sake. Why don’t you understand?”
Kyelse, who had accidentally yelled out loud, coughed in a panic. It seemed she was regretting how she had spoken too forcefully during her previous confession.
“Right now, I’m not here as a knight. …Of course, I’ve come here to confess my feelings to the girl I love, so it would be weird to be wearing my uniform.”
“…”
In other words, she was trying to say that she had dressed up in order to look beautiful in front of Mitina. She was surprised at the level of determination she had put into it.
Indeed, Kyelse’s current outfit was so beautiful that it would put even a prince from a fairy tale to shame. His hair was also styled differently than usual, and the white-based formal wear that matched his platinum hair perfectly accentuated his beauty.
Thinking that he had prepared this just for her, Mitina blushed and became embarrassed. She casually realized that he still cared about her that much.
However, silence fell over them again. Mitina wondered if she should also compliment Kyelse on her clothes, but of course she didn’t have the vocabulary to do so.
As she was feeling anxious inside, Kyelse spoke again, perhaps sensing Mitina’s feelings.
“Earlier… I was talking to Istaria and myself.”
“Eh? You were listening?”
“It’s Istaria’s fault for starting to talk about other people’s pasts without permission! It’s my story, and I have the right to hear it!”
She looked at him in shock, wondering if he had been eavesdropping on her conversation, and Kyelse looked embarrassed to be subjected to such a gaze, but then she acted defiant. This was probably the kind of defiant behavior Istaria had mentioned that people should take as an example.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t want you to know, right?”
“…”
“I’m truly sorry.”
“……,…………”
When she politely apologized, he seemed to be in a quandary, wanting to say something. Perhaps she could not forgive him after all, Mitina frowned sadly, and Kyelse, with a red face, muttered in a mosquito-like voice.
“I don’t want you to know, so… rather, I… want to fall in love with you again…”
“fart?”
“Huh…! I’ve fallen in love with you all over again! Hearing you say things like how glad I am that you love me, it’s made me like you even more!”
“Ha, haa…”
Mitina was taken aback by the force of the attack, and stared at Kyelse in shock. Seeing her gaze, he quickly covered his mouth, realizing he had yelled again, and let out a deep breath.
“It’s not that I didn’t like it or anything. It’s just that… I was scared. I know that there were problems with Father and Mother. But even so, I thought that you would say that Father and Mother were in the wrong.”
“…”
“But you… acknowledged Father and Mother’s love. That made me, uh… very happy.”
Despite struggling with her pride and shame, Kyelse desperately put her feelings into words. Seeing her brave figure, Mitina felt her heart flutter.
“I realized that I need you after all… That’s why, Mitina.”
Kyelse stopped him as he reached out to touch her, and looked at him with a serious gaze. Her cheeks were flushed red, and her beautiful eyes were completely ablaze with love.
“The other day, when I confessed to you…I’m sorry for blaming you.”
“…!”
Mitina was taken aback by the unexpected apology, because she had thought that she was the one who should be apologizing.
“Ever since then, I’ve always regretted it. Why did I end up blaming you? Why couldn’t I tell you how I feel more calmly?”
“That’s not something you should apologize for, Kyelse. I deserve to be blamed for what I did.”
When Mitina said that without thinking, Kyelse looked at her with a frown.
“You were dating me for money? Hmph, I’m sure you only agreed to the mission because my lord dangled a reward in front of you. That’s not something you should be worried about.”
“but……”
“For you, being by my side was a duty. I just fell in love with you, that’s all. Where is your fault?”
“That’s… tainting your feelings with money…”
He looked irritated at Mitina’s answer for a moment, but then he suppressed it with all his might. It was as if he was forcing himself not to make the same mistake again.
“I don’t care if it’s for the money.”
“Heh.”
“Rather, how much will you be mine? Whatever price you ask. I’ll give you as much money as I want to have you.”
Seeing Mitina once again being taken aback, Kyelse became annoyed and her cheeks turned redder. Then she loudly proclaimed.
Subaru: “Even if you’re only interested in my money, my feelings won’t change! That is, of course, I want you to like me… I want you to love me.”
“teeth……”
「Well, well? If I, the most beautiful, talented and greatest knight in the world, were to get serious, it would be a piece of cake for me to make you completely fall in love with me, even if you’re only interested in my money! No problem!」
Mitina was surprised by his words, which were filled with his usual confidence, and after a few beats she realized that this was a bold confession. Slowly, she too began to blush.
“In the first place, I’m sorry for not being honest. After I called you ugly in the beginning, to say I like you now… is that embarrassing?”
“Well… that’s true.”
“Don’t agree so easily…! But, if I put it into words honestly, it will be properly conveyed… That’s what I thought when you gave me the love potion. There was no turning back after all.”
That’s why he was even grateful for the love potion incident, Kyelse said in a low voice. For him, being forced to confess his true feelings had helped him to let go in a way.
“At first, I certainly had high hopes for you as a knight, but I never wanted to marry you. In that respect, you were certainly an unpopular fiancé.”
“So, were you serious about the first part about her being plain ugly and filthy?”
“N-no, it’s different now. You’re not ugly, you’re cute, I don’t think you’re dirty!”
“……n/a”
Seeing Kyelse’s behavior, which was no different from usual, made Mitina smile. She felt so nostalgic, so much in love, that she almost burst into tears.
Seeing her smile, Kyelse gasped softly and gazed at her lovingly. Then, as if making up her mind, she continued with her serious confession.
“I fell in love with you… I think it was when you told me, without flattery, that I was beautiful and that you respected me as a knight.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I was really happy at that time. I finally met someone who acknowledged me… and then, after the mission to defeat the demonic beasts.”
Hearing the topic, Mitina lowered her eyes slightly. Now that she knew about Kyelse’s past, it was easy to imagine how he must have felt towards Mitina, who was dying from poison that her secret arts had no effect on.
“Seeing your body covered in wounds, and remembering how you treated me so carelessly, I began to feel that I had to… protect you.”
Ever since the incident with the monster subjugation, Kyelse had probably decided that she wanted to take good care of Mitina. And so she began to actively look after her.
“As I continued doing that… I no longer found it unpleasant that you were touching me so casually… In fact, I began to want to touch you even more, so while making the excuse that it was just training, I started to…”
Blushing, Kyelse spoke in a halting tone. In a roundabout way, she was making the excuse that she wanted to overcome her obsessive-compulsive disorder, and that she was trying to create an excuse to be with her.
“Every time you were kind to me, every time you laughed at me, every time you accepted me… I started to care about you more. At first I didn’t want to admit it, but… before I knew it, I had no choice but to admit that I like you.”
As she listened to his honest confession, Mitina thought back on her days with him.
He looked after me all the time after a mission to subjugate a demonic beast. He tied my hair back at an evening party. Our hands stuck together after a magical accident and I couldn’t let go. He touched my body during our first training session. He dressed me up. We drank delicious sake together. We witnessed a duel. And, our first time together.
He could remember it as if it were yesterday. Of course, he also remembered the days after they had been together, and Kyelse’s clumsy attempts to convey her love to him.
“So, um, ah, that’s it…”
Her face was bright red, her eyes were wandering, and her voice was trembling as she tried to somehow get the most important words out. Then she took a deep breath and looked at Mitina with a serious expression.
Subaru: “I love you more than anyone. I will definitely make you happy. I will help you with anything, even regarding your hometown. I don’t care if you don’t like me yet. So, so, so… with me――”
Desperately trying to avoid being rejected, and his voice trembling with nervousness, he still expressed his feelings honestly.
“I want you to marry me. Will you stay by my side forever from now on…?”
His honest confession fades away into the darkness of the night. But his serious gaze remains unchanged as he continues to stare intently at Mitina.
In the quiet world, she could hear the loud thumping of her heart. Sensing it, Mitina was about to open her mouth.
“……Kyelse-san――”
「I’ll tell you, no matter how many times I get rejected, I won’t give up! I love you, I really like you! There’s no way I could have any other partner than you!」
“that”
“If that’s what you want, I’ll do anything! I’ll give you anything you want! You are the most important person in this world to me…!”
Mitina was stunned as Kyelse clumsily confessed her feelings one after the other. Perhaps she was afraid of being rejected again, and didn’t want to hear Mitina’s response.
That brave resistance was so cute that Mitina almost burst out laughing. However, she suppressed her smile and, with all her tension now gone, began to speak in her usual tone.
“Are you threatening me? I’m just plain scared.”
“Ugh!”
“If you’re not careful, that statement could lead you to the level of stalker, so please be careful.”
When she poked a sensitive spot, Kyelse glared at Mitina with tears in her eyes. She could almost hear a voice in her head asking if she was going to refuse again.
“Well, it can’t be helped. Kyelse-dono, you were always saying that it was impossible for me to fall in love with you, and you were so confident that you were the one being pursued.”
“Hey”
“I don’t know how to come up with a good pick-up line. I have zero experience with women.”
As he relentlessly provoked her, Kyelse’s expression became even grimmer. Somehow, this exchange felt nostalgic to him, and in contrast to him, Mitina looked back at him with a cool expression.
“Do you enjoy bullying me?”
“Yes, it’s fun.”
“You have a bad personality too! Ugly!”
“… Hehe.”
As Kyelse desperately tried to fight back, Mitina could no longer bear it and laughed.
Kyelse blushed again as she gazed upon her girlfriend’s smile, but perhaps hurt that her feelings were not reciprocated, she bit her lip in pain.
“Don’t laugh with that kind of face…”
”I’m serious,” he said in a weak, trembling voice, and Mitina began to feel guilty. It seemed she had bullied him a little too much.
“I’m sorry. I was feeling nostalgic and ended up relying on you, Kyelse-dono.”
“…Spoiled?”
“Yes. During the time we didn’t meet, I missed you, Kyelse-dono, who always responded positively to everything I said.”
“Uh… nope…”
Kyelse groaned, struggling to decide whether she should be happy that he missed her, or angry that he was teasing her.
But Mitina’s expression quickly hardened, for there was something she had to tell him.
“Kyelse-dono, you said that I am not to blame for trampling on your feelings for the sake of money. However, I still don’t think so.”
“You…”
“Even now, I can’t forgive him. … I guess that’s why I feel that way.”
If you think about it objectively, Mitina was just trying to carry out her mission honestly. It could be said that various factors overlapped and caused the two of them to completely miss each other. It’s hard to say that she is solely to blame.
Even knowing that, Mitina found it impossible to forgive herself for hurting Kyelse.
“I strongly felt that I did not want to hurt you, Kyelse-dono. Now that I think about it, ever since I first apologized to you, Kyelse-dono, I feel like I have been careful not to hurt you more than necessary.”
At first, Mitina thought it was because it was necessary to carry out her mission, but now it seemed different.
“Looking at how honest and pure you are, Kyelse-dono, I realized that I never wanted to hurt you. Before I knew it, you had become someone very important to me.”
“Mitina…”
“So, I continued to disregard your feelings, and even tried to pretend I didn’t see them…I am truly sorry.”
Hearing Mitina’s sincere apology, this time Kyelse didn’t complain either. She fully accepted Mitina’s feelings and smiled gently.
“I’ll forgive you. If that makes you feel better….If you’re really worried, you can flirt with me and be spoiled to make up for your insensitivity in not noticing my feelings. That’ll be your compensation.”
“I don’t think it’s good to force people like that.”
“Are you forcing me to do this…?!”
“I’m kidding.”
As Kyelse exclaimed in shock, Mitina chuckled. Then she spoke the answer to the confession she had been withholding for a long time.
“Honestly, I’m still not confident about romance or love. But still… while we were apart, I was constantly thinking about you, Kyelse-dono, even though I wasn’t aware of it.”
Part of her felt at ease living alone. But more than that, Mitina was made aware of how much she missed Kyelse. Especially when she wasn’t working.
“I can’t forget how much you cared for me. I miss your delicious food, your gentle hands, and even your nasty remarks… Before I knew it, my body had become so useless that I couldn’t live without you, Kyelse-dono. I’m amazed.”
“How astonishing!”
Kyelse immediately retorted, thinking that this was something that would make him happy.
“But perhaps this longing is the true self that I have been neglecting all this time.”
No matter how much she thought about love and romance, she couldn’t understand it. But as she thought about Kyelse, Mitina gradually began to understand what she wanted to do.
The feeling of missing Kyelse. The feeling of wanting to eat his delicious home-cooked food. The feeling of wanting him to gently touch her hair. The feeling of wanting to sleep in a bed where she could hear his breathing.
That feeling, that I want to be with him forever and ever.
This was the answer that Zeffen had been trying to make me realize about what I wanted to do.
“Putting aside the mission and the money… it’s just my wish… I’m sure that’s it.”
Mitina was wavering. Even if she had feelings for Kyelse, should she really accept her marriage proposal? Would it make him unhappy? Would she be a hindrance? All she could think about were such things.
But right now, I just wanted to tell him how I felt. I wanted to respond to his honest and warm confession.
Because I knew that he was showering the same love he inherited from his parents on me. And I felt so happy about that from the bottom of my heart.
Because I realized that I loved him and my feelings.
“You’re narcissistic, a germaphobe, clumsy, and easily hurt… I want to be with you forever, Kyelse-dono.”
“Huh…”
“I want to be loved forever by you, the person I love, who has a more beautiful way of life than anyone else, who is noble and excellent, kind and warm-hearted.”
If possible, just like life in that mansion. With that added, Kyelse knelt respectfully before Mitina and held out her hand to her.
“Then… would you please marry me…?”
The night breeze gently caressed her cheeks. On the terrace, where a small lively chatter could still be heard, Mitina smiled and gently extended her hand.
“If you choose me…I’d be happy to.”
“Of course!”
“Wow.”
She felt her hand being pulled by Kyelse, who immediately stood up and embraced her tightly. It had been a long time since she had felt his arms around her, and Mitina’s heart naturally began to beat faster. She immediately put her arms around his back as if to welcome him.
“Mitina…I’ve missed you for a long, long time too.”
“yes”
“I wanted to see you, touch you, and hold you… I didn’t cry when I dreamed about you, but… I was that lonely…”
“Fufu, yes.”
Mitina could easily imagine Kyelse waking up, remembering being rejected, and quietly shedding tears, and a loose smile appeared on her face.
“I love you, Mitina…”
“yeah”
“You have a strange lack of confidence in yourself. But don’t worry, if you are loved by this handsome and all-powerful man, you will realize that you are the woman most worthy of me.”
“It’s fine if you love me, but I don’t like being treated like an ornament.”
“Of course!”
At Kyelse’s suspicious reaction, Mitina laughed again and buried her face in his chest as if snuggling. Strangely, doing this felt much more comfortable than before.
“Doing this really calms me down. I feel like I’ve come home to where I belong.”
“Hk!”
“I’m so… happy. I want to stay like this forever…”
Happiness for oneself is so warm, so peaceful, and so comfortable. The sweet sensation made her feel a little scared, but her arms around him as he held her tightly made her feel like she was being protected.
Unable to hide the longing she had felt for him for so long, Mitina rubbed herself against Kyelse. In response, he shook in surprise and hugged her even tighter.
“Don’t suddenly say such cute things! Don’t do them! What if I get the feeling like that in a place like this…!”
“Eh… please stop, it’s ruining the good atmosphere.”
When I complained like that, he looked frustrated. Perhaps it was the joy of finally being united with Mitina that had me feeling energized in my lower body.
Realizing that it would be a bad idea to get Kyelse to do something like that, Mitina tried to move away from him. However, wanting to stay in contact with him just a little longer, she hugged Kyelse tighter. Then, in a complete turn of events, she slipped out of his arms.
“Well, now that we’ve safely finished our talk, shall we go and celebrate with Lady Istaria?”
“Why are you so cold-hearted? Who cares about Istaria’s birthday? Let me bask in the afterglow with you alone for a bit longer.”
“I don’t care… I feel bad for Lady Istaria, you’ve been so considerate to me.”
When Kyelse told her to be patient, she looked at Mitina with a sulky look. However, he suddenly thought of something and said to Mitina with a grin.
“If you want me to listen to you… you have to be the one to kiss me.”
“fart?”
“That’s fine! If you don’t, I’ll just take you home!”
“Kyelse-dono, you really do act like a child.”
“What did you say…?!”
Mitina remembered that he had said something about giving her a kiss before, and as she thought this, she leaned closer to him again. She then touched his cheek and brought her face closer to him.
“…It’s more embarrassing than I thought.”
“Hurry up.”
Holding back her throbbing heart, she gently pressed her lips to his. At the same time, he hugged her tightly again, and their lips firmly met.
Feeling that touch for the first time in a long time, Mitina felt her heart beat faster. He was soft and hot, and the feeling of his body temperature touching her directly made her feel an irresistible love for him.
At this point, his tongue licked his lips longingly.
“Hmmm… No.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it already almost over the top? I’m good at being patient, so please be quiet.”
“Hmm…”
Although she frowned in dissatisfaction, Kyelse seemed to be satisfied after Mitina’s kiss and quietly backed away. After that, she’d stay with me for as long as I wanted, he said, holding out his arm as if to escort her.
“—Looks like the conversation is over.”
Then I heard a familiar voice and turned towards it in surprise, only to find Zeffen standing right by the terrace door.
“Zeffen?!”
“Could it be that the helper Lady Istaria was talking about was the commander?”
“It seems so.”
He nodded calmly, wearing the same uniform as usual. Then, when he saw Mitina, he narrowed his eyes with a smile.
Mitina then remembered all the trouble she had caused Zeffen and immediately bowed her head in a panic.
“Commander, I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.”
“It’s fine. It’s for the sake of my adorable subordinate… Although I was really worried when I saw you running through the royal castle crying.”
“Th-please forget about that already…!”
Mitina was in a panic as if this had already become a dark memory, but Zeffen smiled with amusement. It felt like he had found out about her weakness.
“I’m glad I left Mitina in your care. I always thought that Mitina would be ruined someday, so I thought that Kyelse might be able to teach me how to love myself.”
Zeffen half-jokingly says he never thought they would become romantically involved, but having been watching the two for a long time, he probably predicted this would happen a long time ago.
“From now on, take care of yourself. That’s the most important way to show love to those who love you.”
Mitina nodded deeply, understanding those words now.
Seeing this, Zeffen smiled with relief.
“You’ll be happy, Mitina.”
“yes!”
“Oh, and Kyelse.”
“What, is this the usual health check…?”
Whenever they met, Zeffen would ask about Kyelse’s health, and Kyelse would reply with an expression of displeasure at having the good mood ruined.
However, what came out of Zeffen’s mouth was not the usual boilerplate.
“No matter what the reason, if you make Mitina cry again, I will never forgive you.”
“……teeth”
“Be careful.”
For a moment Kyelse cried out in shock, but the next moment she seemed to have sensed Zeffen’s murderous intent and her face turned pale and she was trembling. It seemed Zeffen was angry at Kyelse for making his subordinate cry.
“Okay then. Let’s celebrate today’s main character’s birthday to the fullest.”
The hall, which had been bustling with various conversations, was suddenly filled with thunderous applause. It seemed that Istaria had finished her preparations and arrived at the hall. Zeffen quickly entered the midst of the excitement.
“Let’s go, Kyelse.”
“Ah, yeah.”
“It’s okay. From now on, Kyelse-dono will never make me cry. In fact, I should be careful not to make you cry.”
“Hey, there’s no way I’d cry that easily! Don’t make fun of me!”
“Oh really? I thought you were crying because you were lonely?”
“I’m not crying, I’m not crying…!”
While engaging in such light-hearted conversation, Mitina and Kyelse also stepped into the glamorous venue, arm in arm in a friendly manner.
And so, Istaria’s birthday party was held without any problems.
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