Chapter 115
Chapter 115
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: 33-1. Even a Glass Rose Has Thorns
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pine Granasia was empty like glass.
During Magic Hat's raid in the past, her mother had nearly died, and she had lost almost everyone who cherished and loved her.
Because of that, she blamed her weak self and yearned to grow stronger, living without forming close relationships with others.
"You want them safe because they're precious to you, don't you, Pine?"
"Yeah... I don't like it if you get hurt."
But Licht was different to Pine.
He was stronger than her, of course,
and even when she hid her identity, he always approached her kindly. He treated her normally despite knowing she was a princess.
Moreover, Nex, Sharutineth, Kainel, Ariel, and even herself.
The number of lives he had saved was too many to count on one hand.
No matter how much her younger self had cried and resented the hero who never came for years,
from Pine's perspective, Licht was a hero incarnate. Even if he was a hero from another world like the others, he was special to her.
The cold hand of the naive man in the Black Knight helmet, the small laugh from within the helmet, his warm and solid embrace.
"We have to catch Magic Hat to free Empress Bellin too, right, Pine?"
"Still... still..."
Having felt the warmth of his gentle heart, she thrashed about, unwilling to return to those cold, numb days.
In fact, when Licht's heart was pierced by Head's attack, she felt like her own heart was being torn apart.
That was why she thought of and carried out the desperate measure of transplanting a Dragon Heart, risking her life.
To a girl who didn't know emotions, love was like cruel pain. Being by Licht's side made her feel safe and at ease.
"I wish you wouldn't get involved with the Demon Kings anymore."
But leaving his side turned the whole world to gray ashes scattering in the wind.
"Pine, you saw me take down Head. No one else is suited for this."
"You almost died. I saved you, Licht."
She clung obsessively, terrified of losing him again. She had already gone through similar scares twice while fighting Magic Hat and Head.
"But to counter the Demon Kings' powers, Kainel alone isn't enough."
Each time, Pine worried sick about Licht. Her jealousy toward the Nameless Saintess was partly why.
Wolves were pack animals by nature.
The wolf-kin, modeled after them, had strong attachments to family and lovers, so the Black Knight's judgment wasn't wrong.
"Do you have to fight...? Can't you just live a peaceful academy life, Licht?"
"Then who will protect pure love?"
There was love, but it was closer to obsession.
"Don't protect things like that anymore."
This was the greatest difference between Pine Granasia and Lee Soo-hyun: their attitudes toward love.
For example, imagine a beautiful flower blooming in a field.
The girl, emotionally parched since childhood but recently feeling intense emotions, believed she had to 'pluck it' to possess it.
"There's no reason for you to sacrifice yourself like that in the first place, Licht..."
"There are plenty of reasons."
He, bearing past painful wounds and barely standing again, believed he had to 'only gaze upon it' to protect the flower.
"Reasons enough to stake my life on it."
If someone saw this scene, they might say:
A woman who didn't understand love, and a man who believed it was too late for him to have it,
a flickering flame akin to obsession, and a moth drawn to it in sacrificial pursuit.
"...I'm getting angry, Licht."
"Sorry. But apostles are weaker than Demon Kings, so it'll be fine."
Love took many forms for different people, and viewing it from one side often made it seem wrong.
In the end, emotions should tangle and intertwine like molten iron in a furnace, melting hearts with immense heat.
But these two lacked the ability to share each other's coldness and warmth.
"If we don't deal with the apostle, not only the northern issues, but we can't convince Asha Aureus either."
"Why do we have to convince Duchess Asha anyway, Licht?"
Even if Lee Soo-hyun showed her the status window before him or spoke of preventing Pine Granasia's future death, she wouldn't understand.
It might even intensify her obsession so far.
"Because that's what a pure love Black Knight does."
He gazed at his helmet's reflection in the blue holy sword he gripped firmly and spoke like a vow.
"What even is pure love anyway...?"
Pine lowered her tail and ears, opening her mouth. No matter how she thought, she couldn't identify this uncomfortable feeling.
"Love doesn't solve everything, Licht."
"But it has the power to change people."
Parallel lines that couldn't understand each other. Black and white. Queen and knight. Glass knight and Black Knight.
How could the flame understand the moth's feelings as it flew into the fire?
Pine, unaware that Licht roamed connecting others' love lines for their happiness, found it absurd.
"If it's a marriage, I can convince them."
"What about Asha and Senior Nex's relationship then?"
If he had fled his duty as pure love Black Knight, many things would have changed, but she didn't know that.
"It'll work out somehow... Somehow..."
To a princess, the idea of a commoner convincing a duchess to change a marriage was shocking.
Licht's assessment of Pine wasn't distorted. It was less like loving a person and more like cherishing a precious doll.
Immature emotions. Love that didn't consider others.
"Are you saying it's okay if Senior Nex and Senior Sharutineth end up unhappy?"
"You don't need to step up for that. I don't get it."
It was closer to obsession than love, and as the Heavenly Demon had once said, her jealousy was too intense.
"Parents not being honest with their child—that needs fixing."
Pine, still unaware of her own feelings, sought answers in the books she read. The near-kiss before was the same.
In the romance novels she read, even if innocent love vibes flowed separately, it was a problem.
In the end, the man the heroine chose last mattered, and that confirmation was usually a kiss.
"In the books I read, it worked out easily."
The economics and political science books she studied for inheritance rights didn't emphasize pure love either.
"If the problem is loose ends, just silence them in the end."
She was now not the Nameless Saintess, but the princess of the Granasia Empire.
A position where she could have what she wanted, even using power.
"Pine."
"I... I want you to treasure me as much as I treasure you."
As a princess, she ultimately wanted Licht to desire only her. Closer to monopolizing than receiving his love.
"The almost-kiss before... That was your fault, Licht."
"Don't let emotions lead you, Pine."
In truth, misfortune had come too early for Pine and Lee Soo-hyun to know mature love. The helmeted Black Knight lowered his head.
"Some things just can't be done, no matter what, Licht."
"Do you know what powers the Apostle of Wrath has?"
He let out a long sigh and told the princess what he knew. The imperial family hadn't wanted to send her north for her safety anyway.
"As the name suggests, probably the ability to incite anger in others."
"Exactly. That's why I need to go."
Like a docile cat—no, wolf—climbing onto the hearth first. Pine was already showing considerable obsession and stubbornness.
"I can resist the apostles' powers to some extent."
"I have a Masterpiece too, Licht."
Of course, Lee Soo-hyun bore great karma, and he was at fault for not recognizing her as the Nameless Saintess sooner.
"...Don't get involved. Just stay put."
Due to the misfortune Magic Hat had sown, jealousy rather than love first took root as a flame in the cold, empty heart of the glass knight.
"A Masterpiece won't block it."
"It blocked Magic Hat's attack."
Unable to control her muddled emotions, she kept drawing close to Licht, showing possessiveness.
"That guy's a Demon King who uses magic to perform illusions, Pine."
His reactions were cute, and each physical contact made her feel victorious over the Nameless Saintess.
"Even if I enter a rage state, I'd never raise a sword against you."
"..."
But despite Pine's efforts, the helmeted Black Knight spoke firmly.
He had never lost his reason even against the powers of the Apostles of Lust and Gluttony.
"But Pine, even if you're furious, are you sure you wouldn't cast magic at me?"
"Yeah... Probably...?"
The white-haired girl awkwardly fiddled with her rose ornament with one hand, trailing off, her lie obvious.
"Pine... Lying is bad."
"I'll do it. So..."
As she spoke, Pine secretly pulled out a magic circle, hiding her hand behind her back against the door to avoid detection.
Shhh. Glass magic layered multiple walls from the outside, isolating Lee Soo-hyun's room like a sealed chamber. When the conversation didn't go as planned,
"From today, stay put in this room."
The princess left those words for the Black Knight and exited. The golden wolf eyes met brown ones.
"I can't bear to see you sacrifice or get hurt anymore."
Those eyes felt slightly chilling, and the voice leaking through the door crack carried a bone-chilling tone.
I woke up in the morning and sorted through the conversations and events so far.
This is driving me crazy. For real.
Pine's words and actions had always leaned toward possessing me. A sense close to ownership.
"Maybe I've been pushing my body too hard."
For a girl in love, her obsession with me was terrifyingly intense. When I was in the hospital bed before, she even tried to follow me to the bathroom.
That was why I had forcibly tried to walk and fallen.
If the Grand Route doesn't come true, or at least if we don't kill Magic Hat, there won't be a happy ending.
The game developers were ruthless. Dennis getting poisoned by Head for a bad end, or Ariel being abandoned due to Kainel's harem—examples abounded.
Black Heart mercilessly discarded even childhood friends or heroines who waited twenty years.
The Grand Route ending its possessor boasted was the only sure way; otherwise, Pine Granasia would plunge into misfortune.
My game knowledge didn't always match up in spots, so catching one Demon King wouldn't resolve her death.
Can't exactly show her the status window either.
No matter if I whispered to the status window in the room or shouted 'Status Open,' no transparent panel appeared.
Updates were delayed anyway, and there were times I'd wonder why the Love Meter wasn't rising.
Maybe I should check the prophecy I told the Sage in advance.
With Ignorance gone now, I could see all possibilities. It'd be great if I could foresee unhappy futures there.
I hated spoilers, but no other way. At this rate, I'd really end up locked in the imperial basement.
"Huh? It's locked?"
I grabbed the doorknob to get some fresh air and organize my thoughts.
The door wouldn't open, not turning fully.
Why was an inside-locking door locked from the outside?
It happened after our Pine left my room. Unsettlingly creepy. No way.
Click, click. Sparkling glass shards fell from the rattling doorknob. In that instant, sensing doom, I opened the window, but
"Completely trapped. She really means don't go outside."
An extra layer of glass wall outside blocked my hand with transparency. Not a breath of wind in the room.
"...Regret, Reminisce."
Regretting my past karma, I summoned the holy sword.