Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Even If You Lose Your Memories, There's a Way
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Victoria felt a strange dissonance as she looked at Astal before her.
Her memories with her other companions were intact, but certain recollections felt foggy and refused to surface clearly.
“…Are you saying I was your lover? Based solely on those marks?”
Victoria narrowed her brow as she examined the red marks on Astal’s body. If she truly was the one who had left them, they were meticulously engraved to an almost embarrassing degree.
Similar things had happened often in the Holy Kingdom of Aurelium.
Newly enthroned popes or paladins had tried to tease her with all sorts of frivolous excuses.
“Yes, and the ring on your left ring finger is proof. Right now, you’re in a state of having been attacked by Memoria, the memory-eating slime.”
At his words, Victoria checked her left ring finger.
A ring engraved with the same cosmos pattern as Astal’s was indeed there.
“You could have slipped this on me while I was unconscious. You could have all gotten your stories straight beforehand.”
Even after seeing it, Victoria couldn’t easily trust Astal’s claim. Waking up after a brief blackout to a man she barely knew declaring himself her lover… it was suspicious.
“…Is there really a need for that?”
“I am a rather attractive woman, you know. If this is a scheme by a lifelong bachelor and genius mage, it’s not entirely implausible.”
“Not entirely wrong… Seeing you know that much, you’ve completely forgotten what happened during the Demon King subjugation, haven’t you?”
Astal didn’t bother refuting her statement, instead agreeing with her to put her at ease.
After all, Astal Kaisaros before the Demon King subjugation was that kind of person. An eccentric mage obsessed with saving people, weighed down by guilt.
That’s why, despite being well past marriageable age, he remained single and even rejected letters from other women.
“It’s surprising you admit it so readily. If you were trying to deceive me, I thought you’d lie a little more.”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“…….”
Victoria raised both hands, scrutinizing Astal’s body closely as he postured innocently, showing he meant no harm.
The old-looking scars and wounds.
Victoria found the scars currently etched on Astal’s body even stranger.
If he had used her miracles, he could have been healed without a trace. Why would he deliberately keep such wounds on his body?
“…I’ll ask just two things. Where did the flowers on my body disappear to? And why is your body covered in wounds, unlike our other companions?”
Furthermore, the flowers that had tormented Victoria her entire life were now completely gone from her body.
In this inconsistent situation, she directed her questions to the most suspicious person before her—the mage.
It seemed like the man named Astal Kaisaros had done something.
Given his bizarre actions, like slitting his own wrist right beside her, she had to consider the possibility of illusion or hypnotic magic.
“That’s a bit difficult to say.”
“Why is that? Is there something you’re hiding? If we truly were lovers, couldn’t you tell me a little?”
Astal hesitated at Victoria’s question.
He couldn’t readily explain that he had nearly died while subduing Belamora, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and that Victoria had sacrificed herself as a result.
Moreover, how could he possibly mention in front of their companions that, with the Heavenly God’s permission, he had gradually removed the flowers blooming on her body by… engaging in indecent acts?
“…Victoria, Astal probably did that because he didn’t want you to use your miracle. He was always an obstinate guy who stubbornly relied on healing potions.”
At that moment, Anima, who had grown closest to Victoria during the Demon King subjugation, spoke up. She had often witnessed Astal’s stubbornness firsthand.
Even as scars accumulated on his body, Astal had laughed them off, calling them medals. He’d hidden broken bones or serious injuries and forced himself to endure.
“But wouldn’t that leave scars or accumulate fatigue, putting you at a disadvantage in battle? Why go through such trouble….”
Victoria rested her chin on her hand, sinking into thought.
Until now, she had only seen people who depended on her miracles.
The miracle that realized the impossible required the price of turning Victoria’s body into flowers.
Thus, Victoria had lived her entire life enduring pain. Yet now, there wasn’t a single flower on her body.
“Ah, could it be… You harbored feelings for me all this time and acted so stubbornly because of that? And you even found a way to remove all the flowers from my body?”
The blue-haired man before her was the famous Astal Kaisaros, known by the epithet “Harmless Mage.”
Of course, the current Victoria had no memories with him, but he was a figure so renowned across the continent that no one was unaware of him.
Based on the evidence presented so far, Victoria was beginning to trust Astal’s words a little.
If all this were an illusion or a ploy to ensnare her, the fact that her memories weren’t intact felt somehow off.
If he intended to deceive her into thinking they were lovers, implanting false memories would have been more efficient.
“…My memories of Astal-nim are faint now, but I do know the fact that Belamora and Durahan have been subjugated.”
Furthermore, it appeared they had succeeded in subduing Belamora and Durahan and arrived at the domain of Memoria—known by the epithet “memory-eating slime”—only to be attacked.
“…So you truly liked me and kept doing these insane things all this time? There’s hardly a part of you without a wound, is there?”
Victoria stepped closer to Astal as she spoke.
Of course, this could all be a trap set by the enemy, a scheme to rob her of her purity and turn her into an ordinary woman.
“I’d really prefer if you didn’t use your miracle. The side effects aren’t completely resolved yet….”
If that were the goal, they wouldn’t have set the stage like this. They could have just assaulted her while she was unconscious.
“…You’re quite naive. What happened to that confident demeanor from earlier, slitting your wrist and claiming to be my lover?”
Seeing Astal blush the moment she approached, Victoria couldn’t help but find him a little cute.
To think the mage hailed as the continent’s strongest had this side to him… It was an unexpected sight that made her want to laugh.
His face was handsome enough to be called good-looking anywhere, and unlike others, he didn’t cling to her demanding miracles.
“That was to undo the transformation… And I acted forcefully because I was worried you’d be put in an awkward position.”
Listening to Astal, Victoria was growing increasingly interested in him. He seemed to truly know her well, understanding precisely which points she was sensitive about.
“Hmm, is that so? You seem to have worked quite hard on muscle training. I thought mages fought from the rear in battle….”
To test him, Victoria began touching the scars on Astal’s body with her own hands.
If this were an illusion or a means to beguile her, there would be some reaction.
“In the Demon Realm, my staff broke often, and using my fists was more efficient to protect people.”
Firm, well-defined abs without an ounce of excess fat.
Looking at Astal’s muscles, Victoria unconsciously swallowed her saliva, and her touch grew increasingly lecherous.
“Victoria? Your touch feels a bit indecent….”
“No need to pay it any mind, right? Based on everything I’ve heard, you and I probably didn’t hesitate to do indecent things together.”
“…….”
Victoria made excuses she didn’t believe herself while indulging her desires. The flowers that had tormented her all her life were gone now, and she had no need to use her miracles.
“I’d like to thank you. Not only did you remove all the flowers from my body, but you even succeeded in subjugating two of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings.”
“…I didn’t do it expecting thanks. I saw you suffering too much. Honestly, it was out of pity.”
“I thought I hid it well, but it seems my lover saw through me.”
Victoria liked this honest side of Astal.
While in the Holy Kingdom of Aurelium, due to her position as the Saint, her days were so painful she hardly felt like a human being.
“To you, I suppose I wasn’t Saint Victoria.”
However, the man named Astal before her continued to treat Victoria not as a Saint, but as an ordinary woman.
It was a refreshing sensation.
He didn’t address her with the honorific “Saint,” but called her by her name consistently, treating her without burden.
“Of course. Crying when hurt, screaming—that’s human. What difference does being a Saint make? Everyone’s equally weak and has complicated, bad sides.”
“Hehe, I’m starting to regret losing my memories. If I was loved by someone who could say such things so easily… We must have been quite close.”
“It was you who visited shops selling delicious food or read indecent books to relieve stress.”
Hearing him say that even she, a Saint, could have bad sides, Victoria was beginning to trust a little that Astal had been her lover.
“…In the Holy Kingdom of Aurelium, I was always forced to be devout and noble. It was my own form of rebellion. Interesting. Could you show me more proof that we were lovers?”
These were Victoria’s secrets, which she had never told anyone.