Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Saint's Inner Thoughts Are Heard
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I was stroking the ring Victoria had slipped onto my finger, trying to calm my trembling heart. If she had seen me like this, she probably would have told me to calm down by touching my own chest.
The cosmos flowers my mother loved. This flower engraved on the ring was also blooming in the flowerbed near our house.
"Seeing things like this makes me wonder if that experience was a dream or reality... it's confusing."
I took a deep sigh as I recalled the image of my parents I had seen in the dream. The faces and smiles of people I had longed for my entire life weren't easily forgotten from my mind.
If I had accepted Velamora's offer, I would have been trapped in the past, living in an endless fantasy.
"But... our parents would never have recognized a being like Velamora as their daughter-in-law..."
I muttered to myself, and thinking of Victoria, I couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Because I also remembered my father's words—that if I ever got a girlfriend, I should tell him right away.
He said he'd be curious about what kind of beautiful person could make his son fall in love.
"...Actually, if it were Victoria, it might have been okay."
On top of that, my father gave me one piece of advice.
He told me that if I ever found someone I loved, I would need the courage to do anything to protect them.
As a butler from a noble family who fell in love with someone he shouldn't have, my father had many difficult experiences after fleeing to a rural village with my mother.
Perhaps he sensed that I, who inherited his blood, might also fall into a similar path.
"Victoria is a girl who likes me, and though her words and actions can be a bit playful, she's respectful toward elders."
Thinking of Victoria's usual words and behavior, I smiled faintly. She was the very embodiment of sincerity, having spent her life healing the injured and sick.
One of her eyes had turned into a flower, the sensations in both her ears and tongue were gradually fading, and even her sense of touch had dulled to the point where she hardly felt pain even when bleeding.
'If my parents were alive... I might have accepted Victoria's feelings.'
I let out a deep sigh and ruffled my own hair.
To be honest, just counting the times I'd recklessly risked my body and life to save her, this was already the second time.
And we had already exchanged both physical intimacy and mental pleasure to the point where saying we weren't dating felt like a lie.
'...I'm such an idiot.'
I cursed inwardly.
If you stopped anyone on the street and asked, they'd all say that if the Saint liked you, of course you should date her.
Even when I thought about wanting to date Victoria, the mere thought of her being killed by the Demon King's hand made it hard to breathe.
A sudden impulse to smoke a cigarette made me curl my fingers and bring them near my mouth.
'......'
Experiencing a precious person losing their life to the Demon King's hand once was enough. It was a thought etched into my bones after wandering through the nightmare Velamora created, regretting it hundreds, thousands of times.
'At least... after killing the Demon King...'
I pondered the words I'd heard from Victoria's inner thoughts. I imagined a world where everything had become peaceful after the Demon King was slain, building a small hut and living there.
Of course, the image of her saying she'd bear eleven children, showing the Dragon's unique strong possessiveness, and trying to pin me down on the bed came vividly to mind.
'...Could a person like me ever be happy?'
I began to think that perhaps I could indulge in such whims.
If I could kill the Demon King, avenge my parents, and prevent any more precious lives from being sacrificed.
"I went to the restroom, and what's with that terribly serious expression?"
"Ah, you look cool even when you're troubled... If you look at me so indifferently like that, I'll get aroused..."
Victoria, having finished her business, looked at me, tilting her head as she made her presence known.
Though Victoria maintained an expressionless face as if nothing was wrong, her inner thoughts and actions had been running wild ever since we crossed a certain line.
Victoria now wouldn't leave my side unless it was for something like the restroom, and she even went so far as to throw a tantrum, wanting to enter the bathroom together.
By compromising with just petting her head, the unfortunate event of seeing her naked or being asked to wash her hadn't occurred yet.
Because I could hear Victoria's inner thoughts, I could somewhat evade the tricks and schemes she prepared.
"...It's just, I was thinking that you must have seen the world this way all along."
I looked at Victoria hugging me tightly from the side with my half-visible field of vision and spoke. After all, I was only barely alive thanks to the Heavenly God's mercy.
One of my eyes had turned into a flower, the sensations in both my ears and tongue were gradually fading, and even my sense of touch had dulled to the point where I hardly felt pain even when bleeding.
"I'm starting to understand why you always tried to fall to one side and wandered around trying to taste delicious food."
It was also the reason I had selfishly rejected Victoria's confession. It was a level of pain and discomfort that made me understand why she had tried to push me away by acting mean.
It was a sensation as if the concept of death was slowly strangling my neck. That eerie sensation flowed down my spine, causing my entire body to shrivel.
"Lord Astal... I wish you wouldn't experience the same pain as me. No matter how much I love someone, I didn't want to share this kind of misfortune."
Victoria stroked my cheek with her hand, wearing a sad expression. I felt the cold metallic sensation caught between her fingers.
It was unmistakably a ring. It felt as if the bond that connected my parents was now acknowledging the relationship between Victoria and me.
"If you were to bleed, I would suffer enough to want to replace all that blood with my own."
"Victoria..."
"If you were to fall ill, I would lovingly accept all your vomit and filth."
Whispering words of love into my ear like that, Victoria kissed all over my face as if pecking with a bird's beak, as if she wouldn't let me go.
"So, please don't overwork yourself too much."
The short kissing sounds—*peck, smooch, peck*—spread, and I began to feel an itchy, embarrassing thought.
"This is the love I want to show you. I am the salvation that will make you love yourself."
"Because I truly want to make you my real boyfriend and let you live a happy life."
Victoria lightly bit my ear with her teeth and even licked the rim with her tongue, making a sticky sound.
"Hoo... Your ear is soft too, it feels indecent."
Victoria's love was such a deep and heavy emotion. It felt like if placed on water, it would sink like sediment.
"Is there... anything you want to do once you kill the Demon King?"
Watching Victoria's actions, for the first time, I asked her about her inner thoughts. After all, there was a world of difference between what was actually said and what remained unexpressed.
"...Are you asking me that?"
"That's unexpected. I thought you wouldn't be curious about my feelings, to keep your distance from me."
Victoria let out a brief hum, then showed a look of struggling as if she couldn't answer what she truly wanted.
"Uuum... I'm not sure. My current wish is just to become a good mother and raise children."
"...Not that. Something thoroughly for yourself alone."
I shook my head at Victoria's answer. In the end, that was also about sacrifice or consideration for others.
"In my case, after killing the Demon King, I'd like to visit my parents' grave with all of you."
"...Your parents?"
"Yeah. And tell them I've avenged them, that it's late but I've taken my revenge... I want to pour a drink and have a heart-to-heart talk."
As I said that, I stroked the ring Victoria had given me again. Then, the urge to die even without alcohol or cigarettes seemed to subside.
"...And I should tell them that their son has made such good friends. Because you all are too good for me."
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Victoria poked my cheek with her finger, then pointed at herself, making a silent appeal.
Just as a question bloomed in my mind about what I had forgotten, her inner thoughts began to reach me.
"You're not thinking that by then I'll have made you a father, are you? That naive side is cute too."
"You should also tell them you've found a virtuous wife. A rabbit-like wife... no, a Dragon-like wife, I suppose."
"......"
I hadn't considered that if this contract relationship hadn't ended by then, Victoria might become not a fake but a real lover.
"Huhu, your face is red! What kind of delusions were you having alone!"
Victoria covered her mouth with her hand and laughed as she looked at my reddened ears and cheeks. It was the first time I realized that she, who didn't show much change in expression, could make such a face.
"...Shut up. It's because you're always pressing your chest against me and seducing me with lewd words. Even Kyle and the others misunderstand our relationship."
"What if they misunderstand? I like Lord Astal, and if you don't dislike me, then all that's left is waiting."
"What waiting... Mph."
"Be quiet...♡ The mood I've caught... mmm... shouldn't be broken... hup... *smooch, slurp*...♡"
Victoria blocked my mouth, which was about to say something, with her own lips, and proceeded to give me a deep kiss with her tongue.
As our tongues intertwined, breathless, and the indecent sucking sounds unfolded, the gazes of the people around us were fixed in one direction, but...
"...Astal. After we really kill the Demon King, shall we go to the sea together?"
She paid no mind and continued kissing until I could no longer endure it and cried out my surrender.
"I want to show you my swimsuit there. Ah, I'll wear the lewd and shameless outfit you like, so you can look forward to it."
"I'll say the swimsuit strap came undone by accident and secretly show you my naked body. Then, you'll be aroused and secretly release your lust in a crevice between rocks so others won't see...♡"
On top of that, Victoria said she would show me her swimsuit appearance while indulging in her own lewd fantasies.