Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: The Lying Wolf's Identity Exposed
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A strange silence hung between Pine and me.
Rather than my heart pounding, it felt more like we were both trying to read each other's expressions and gauge our true intentions.
A confession inevitably demands an answer that's already set in stone.
Yes or no.
Acceptance or rejection.
She had to choose between those two paths.
There was no going back to being just friends with Pine Granasia now.
If we were still clueless about each other, maybe, but we knew one another far too well at this point.
Better to distance ourselves if it would only cause pain.
When the wolf hiding its identity with lies gets found out by Little Red Riding Hood, there's no escape left.
"......What?"
Her small lips trembled. Her golden eyes widened.
Like antennae judging an enemy, her pure white wolf ears twitched as Pine tried to probe my intentions.
"Do you think it's impossible, Pine?"
I deliberately provoked her competitive spirit.
To hide my reluctance to lose my memories.
'No matter what, it's better to remember the past beautifully.'
Half a year. Not a short time by any measure.
The moments I'd spent meeting Pine and getting to know her were memories I cherished deeply now.
"Wait... give me a moment to think?"
Pine rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.
She was probably racking her brain for a way to keep me from losing my memories.
"No. This way, I'll just end up embarrassed."
But if she fully awakened as a hero, she wouldn't fall to the Demon Kings' powers.
This was the best way.
The future version of her had been clumsy and innocent in every way—a saintess without even a name, whom everyone simply called "Saintess."
But what about Pine now?
She'd changed after meeting people at the academy, just like how she'd changed after getting to know me.
"Licht... I don't want you to forget your memories of me..."
The once-empty glass knight had gradually learned emotions.
Now, she was crying. Shimmering glass shards of tears fell from her eyes, streaming down her cheeks.
"I don't want you to forget me... I've only just figured you out..."
"I'm fine, Pine."
I wiped her tears and comforted her.
No matter what I lost, no one could take away the memories we'd created together.
She always said she'd come to save me, but in truth, it was the other way around.
"This is the best I can do for you."
I tried to sound as calm as possible.
Now that I'd made up my mind, I couldn't burden her any further.
The child I used to be had been saved by Pine.
That game poster on the rooftop had pulled me back from the brink, no different from her saving me.
A jumble of text that might mean nothing to others had made me breathe again.
It had lifted me from the edge of a dark world.
'It sucks not hearing your answer to my confession, though.'
But a confession isn't about begging or demanding an answer.
Better to lose my memories like this than leave her with lingering regrets.
Someone once said confessions aren't about sharing feelings—they're about confirming them.
Was that really true? Was the Love Meter flashing before my eyes the whole story?
The Love Meter in my status window read 39%.
A hollow number, like a cry into the void—visible only to me.
Could I let myself believe Pine liked me just because of this game of numbers?
"......"
No. Love shouldn't have right answers or wrong ones.
It's like filling blank sheet music together—everyone's notes take different shapes and forms.
The tones and melodies that emerge belong to their lives.
It's not for anyone else to judge or grade.
Someone might say the song isn't beautiful.
But you can't call it "wrong." That's life.
And that's the love I believed in.
Call it conviction or stubbornness—it didn't matter.
I flashed a bitter smile at the status window popping up right in front of me.
With other pairings, you could assume mutual affection, but not with Pine.
[Drinking the memory-loss potion might reset your Love Meter with the Nameless Saintess..?!]
[Risk: Love Meter with Pine Granasia may be lost.]
Not part of the developer's plan, apparently— the potion was plastered with semi-transparent warning text.
Maybe a setup for becoming the Nameless Saintess.
Like hell I'd let it go your way. Lose my memories here, then my powers next?
Even if all my efforts went to waste, Pine mattered more than some Love Meter.
"Um... when you say 'make you fall for me again,' you mean... that, right?"
Pine's face was like a fireworks display.
She'd started with a blank fuse-lit stare, but now it was beet red again.
Like fireworks shooting into the night sky, the darkness on her face faded bit by bit.
She glanced at me, then quickly bowed her head again.
"Licht... didn't you like the Saintess more than me...?"
She breathed heavily, trailing off.
She'd finally grasped the meaning of my words.
A spark had ignited in the girl's heart.
I could feel her pounding heartbeat.
Whether from connected magic circuits or a red thread of fate, it pulsed between us.
We'd had that ambiguous distance—not quite friends, not quite lovers.
'At first, the Nameless Saintess was definitely more appealing...'
But now, my heart wouldn't stray from her anymore.
I could tell her that for sure.
"If that were true, I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble, Pine."
"...Ah."
The potion shimmering before my eyes looked ominously foreboding.
Would drinking it really erase my memories?
Or send me back to a time before I knew Pine?
Didn't matter.
The potion sliding down my throat was bitterly acrid, like all the lies I'd told Pine.
I grimaced and upended the now-empty vial over my head.
I wanted to look at her just a little longer.
My eyelids grew unbearably heavy. I staggered like I was drunk.
Black Knight.
If I had to lose my memories for Pine's happiness, then finally, I was living up to the name.
"Pine, I'll trust you and wait."
I smiled, not wanting to worry her.
Soft breathing sounds.
Licht was asleep now, his head pillowed on Pine's lap.
The moment he drifted off, Pine Granasia had connected with the hero couple outside via telepathy magic.
Part of her wanted to confirm if she really was that Saintess.
Pine gently straightened the sleeping man's hair.
The scar taking up half his face. How much had he suffered alone?
Truth was, she wasn't okay. It didn't matter if she was the Nameless Saintess.
Her mistake was not noticing sooner the burdens Licht had shouldered alone.
Guilt gnawed at her.
With Licht by her side, she always felt safe. So she'd been blind to his loads.
She'd said they'd face hardships together first, yet...
'What an idiot...'
Licht had sacrificed something precious to save her.
Yet she'd missed his deepest worries. Pine fiddled with her hair accessory and sighed.
His confession, too—she hadn't given him an answer from her heart.
If only she'd spoken before he drank the potion.
"Licht... how do I make you fall for me again...?"
Before she knew it, she was mumbling to herself.
Even the smallest things—she wanted to lean on him, rely on him.
Who the hell was this Nameless Saintess that had made Licht suffer so much?
Turns out it was her future self. Should she be angry? Or jealous?
'.....'
She kept biting her lower lip.
She'd thought it wouldn't matter at first. Never expected his bold confession.
What even was liking someone?
Wasn't it just cherishing them deeply?
Pine Granasia's chambers were filled with Licht memorabilia.
She'd hastily hidden them when he visited the palace, but now they were out again.
'I even made a doll that looks like him...'
If that's what liking someone meant, anyone could do it—or so she'd thought.
That's why she couldn't answer his confession easily.
Love, liking someone—it had always felt distant from her.
Who knew a man would confess so boldly to a princess like this?
The corners of her mouth twitched up unwittingly.
So innocent.
So pure and kind it was adorable.
But she couldn't ignore the resolve and sincerity behind it.
She'd asked for just a moment to think, and he'd sadly downed the memory potion.
Could she save Licht? Vague anxiety clouded her.
"...If I pass the labyrinth trial, will his memories come back?"
Pine spoke to the dwarf who'd just returned.
"No idea. Only the gods know."
Grundel gave a pitiful look, lips downturned.
Even passing might not restore memories.
"I'll do it. I'm Licht's White Knight, after all."
Without a hint of hesitation, she leaped into the rippling full-body mirror before her.
Her answer to his confession? She'd give it when he regained his memories. That's what she vowed.