+48 Pause : Talk ³

"Oi brat , WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"

I was lying on the ground while the old man asked me

"Wait wait wait!!! don't kill me. I did kiss her without asking her but I didn't do it just for fun , I think I've feelings for her. Please let me tell you how I ended up kissing her."

I explained what happened that night , I didn't tell him anything about me being from other world and about my past. The anger visible on his face was no longer seen after hearing what I had to say. He calmed down a bit and asked me ,

"Hey brat , do you really believe you love her?"

'Huh!?'

"From what I've heard from you it looks like you worship rather than love her. From my point of view she's just a saviour for you , who helped you when you were at your lowest. That doesn't mean you love her , do you even know what love is?"

'What love is? Now that I think about it , I believed whenever my heart beated fast for a girl it is love. I really should've socialized more , f*ck I don't know anything love and I've been saying that I love Lecilia.'

After hearing I realized how foolish I was to think that I loved her , how could I just declare that I loved her on the basis of my heart? In my whole life only 3 girls made my heart beat fast for them and I believed I love them.

'Wow , I'm really an idiot.'

But for some reason I still wanted to tell him that I love Lecilia , I couldn't just forget the moment I kissed her , the moment I hugged her and felt her warmth. She was different from everyone , because of her I could live knowing that there's still a person who accepts me.

"I really don't know how I feel about her , this is the first time I felt something like this. But I can say that this feeling I have is definitely directed to Princess Lecilia and I'll do anything to protect her."

To my answer the old man looked kind of surprised.

"So you're saying that I should believe in this 'feeling' of yours? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"

"Yes , I do. But I can't just shake those feelings off , I assure that I wouldn't anything that would hurt princess."

"You brat , you've already done it. What if this feeling you've isn't love and the princess loves you , what will you do then? Will you just leave princess hanging then? The one who fell in love with you cause of your actions will be left with nothing but just a wound."

His anger grew and his voice increased ,

"What if she doesn't in love after what you've done to her? I've seen someone close to me experience something like this , it almost ruined her life. What will you do if she love you but you don't?"

'What have I been doing? Why did I not think of her? I was happy that I was accepted by someone and blurted out words mindlessly without thinking that they could hurt someone.'

This time I was left speechless , there was no answer I could with. Firstly was their any answer to this kind of question? All of this was my fault , I didn't try to defend myself as I knew how shameless my actions were.

"I-I don't have an answer to that."

"You finally realize huh? Just cause someone helps you and you feel something towards them , doesn't mean that the feeling you felt was love. Sometimes it's just gratefulness that you feel towards them."

The old man let out a huge sigh and further continued ,

"Well luckily the one you confessed to was Princess Lecilia she will probably ignore your feelings. For her Serven family comes first , her coming to age ceremony will be held soon. At that ceremony she will probably find herself a competent and powerful fiancé unlike you who doesn't even know what to say I hop-"

I couldn't hear anything after the fiancé part.

'What? Fiance? She is going to get married soon?'

Deep down I knew that she couldn't be with me , of course who would want a weak person like me. But I thought that maybe she's different and would accept me , that's why I started training but maybe it was just a false hope from the start. I could feel this pain in my heart , I placed my hand on my heart.

'What is this pain? Why am I feeling this way? What is this urge of being with her? I don't want this , I want to be with her... But how could I be compared to a noble family? Even if I train hard I can't compare myself to them.'

Even though the old man couldn't see my face , he saw my hand placed on my heart and knew how I felt.

"Do you still want to be with her after knowing what you've done to her? Or do you feel like you've hurt her enough that you don't want to be with her?"

"What do I want."

'I don't want to hurt her more than I already have , I hope only hope to the person who helped me to be happy.'

"But I-"

'I want to be with her. I want to be with her. I want to be with her. But is it really okay for me to say something like this again , something that could possibly hurt her.'

I calmed down and remembered the few hours I spent with her , I could feel her unforgettable warmth even though she wasn't present here.

'I guess I can't keep myself from making these idiotic decisions when it comes to her.'

"I still want to be with her."

"Hah. And what about the 'feeling' you don't know about."

'I don't know about this feeling but I'm sure that I-'

"I want to be with her , that's all it matter to me. for that I'll train and be strong , strong enough to be with her."

I took a moment and remembered her and confirmed what I wanted to do.

"Thank you , old man Calius."

With that my conversation with Calius ended and without wasting any time I went to clear all the remaining bases.

×-×-×

'It must be good to be young. Still not knowing what the world holds for you , it's an adventurous time for them. I hope I'd Liz by my side now , well I guess I can meet her soon. That is once this brat wakes up.'

Calius looked at his right hand which looked swelled up. The part of the hand which hit Axel wasn't swelled or injured but the hand which didn't hit him was the one swelled up.

"That one has good reflexes , he got a clean hit on my right hand and blocked it , luckily I had my left hand whose presence he couldn't have sensed."

He scoffed looking at his left hand , the hand looked like a normal human hand.

'How could he have something that isn't even human hand anyways.

×-×-×

In the dining room sat all the Serven siblings and Garius's fiancée Herial. Nobody said a thing while they were having the delicious dishes before them , like always the one who sparked the conversation was Garius.

"Lecilia , your coming to age ceremony is coming soon isn't it? Tell me what do you want as your present? I'm ready to give you the whole territory if you want or elf slaves if you would like hehehe."

Hearing the last words an awkward silence spread into the room , all the servants and maid had a their heads down. His siblings all had an uncomfortable look on their face. Infront of Elf Princess Herial who was known to protect elves and was against slavery , her fiancé Garius just asked his sister if she wanted any elf slaves.

Of course Princess Herial was obedient to Lord Garius which is why she didn't say a word which opposed him. Instead she enjoyed this and saw Garius's behaviour as his way of violating her.

"Of course I was joking about the last part about elf slaves , but I was serious about giving you territory or something like that."

One of the siblings , Novil who was silent until also spoke up.

"Yes sister , if sister Lecilia wants anything I'll get it for you. I'm sure brother Garius and sister Herial will help me."

Not even Herial could stand against Novil's excessive cuteness , hence she joined Garius's Novil fan club and adored him.

"Kyaa , sister Herial will definitely help you with anything you want."

"Of course your sister will help you Novil but you know who your favourite sibling is right? It's me brother Garius."

The siblings and Herial had a exchanged dialogues between themselves and laughed making fun of the Lord of Serven like he was a lowly commoner. With a smile on her face Lecilia finally answered his

"I don't want anything from my own family , if anything I wish to repay for all you've done for me till now. I look forward to all the marriage proposal I'll get on the day of the ceremony. Brother do you have anyone in your mind that could be a good partner for me?"

"I h- No I don't have anyone who's good enough for you."

"Oh , is that so? Well I will have limited time to be with my family once I get engaged so I wish to spend it being with you all."

- 5 month's until Princes Lecilia's coming of age ceremony -