Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Victoria's Inner Thoughts
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Victoria Everhart was a more cunning woman than one might think.
Completely opposite to the status of Saint and the image she had built up, she was a woman who thought of nothing but pouncing on me at any moment to establish a fait accompli.
"I don't think it's right for you to drink with a friend while you have a cute Victoria like me here... Even though you know I get lonely easily..."
Victoria was currently putting on an act, pretending to be drunk on purpose, acting cute and coquettish, trying to exploit the vulnerabilities in my heart.
"You weren't like this originally. Where did the usual cool-headed and devout Saint Victoria go?"
I was trying to help her regain her senses by using cold ice magic on the nape of her neck.
"Huh? What on earth are you talking about? There's only the world's cutest~ Victoria here..."
Completely opposite to when we first started the contract relationship, Victoria kept up her drunken act with a shameless face, refusing to break character.
It was as if she felt no embarrassment at referring to herself in the third person; she didn't stop showering me with affection whether people were around or not.
"Hahaha! How insecure must you have made your lover, to see this level of behavior just from a few drinks!"
Gragtar was sipping his drink, using our pathetic state as a snack. A pleased smile spread across his face.
Since we were currently using perception-hindering magic around us for protection, the other patrons in the tavern wouldn't be able to see us, but...
"It's a long story, but in the end, I was the one in the wrong."
"That's right! You were wrong! How can you not accept me when I love you...!"
With Victoria continuously leaving kisses on my neck, cheek, shoulder, and collarbone as if marking her territory, I started wishing I could crawl into a mouse hole and hide.
"You won't even accept my confession...! You don't keep your promises to quit drinking and smoking...! You don't even hold me warmly every night...! Hic, hic!"
"...Sorry for causing a disturbance."
As Victoria seemed increasingly on the verge of losing her last thread of rationality, I had no choice but to cover her mouth with my hand, breaking into a cold sweat.
"It happens. I was a complete fool too when I first fell in love. But don't forget, people who genuinely like you for who you are are rare."
"That's right! Well said! This person needs to cherish me more! Where else would you find such a kind Saint!"
Victoria used her physical strength to overpower my hand covering her mouth and kept talking.
Originally, she had to keep the fact of our contract relationship a secret from our comrades, so she had no one to vent the emotions she'd been holding back like this.
"You used to curse me out terribly and call me a pervert back then..."
"That was then! This is now! And it wasn't exactly wrong, was it! You're not even impotent..."
Victoria shouted while groping my thigh under the table. She was touching such an inappropriate area that it was hard to believe she was a Saint.
"Besides, back then I was living on borrowed time! I wanted to erase my feelings for you, but I couldn't, so I just grumbled!"
Victoria was clinging to me, craving affection, using the influence of alcohol as an excuse (though she wasn't drunk at all).
"Do you dislike me? Astal?"
"I don't... dislike you..."
"Then why won't you accept my feelings! Victoria is very angry...! If you don't kiss my cheek, I'll sulk!"
Victoria puffed out her cheeks and hugged me tightly. Her soft skin kept brushing against me, making it hard to decide where to look.
- It's a little embarrassing... but I have no choice if I want to seduce Astal-sama! Yes, this is all your fault!
For me, who could hear Victoria's inner thoughts, her embarrassed voice kept coming through. She had now set aside her pride and dignity as a Saint, confronting me with her true feelings.
"As a third party, I think it's best I bow out around now!"
Gragtar chuckled at the sight, tidied up his spot, and stood. He even showed his thoroughness by having already settled the bill with the shopkeeper.
"Wait, wait, what about all this alcohol and food we ordered!"
"You and that woman can just finish it! Well then, I'll look forward to our fight in the arena tomorrow!"
Gragtar waved without looking back as he exited the tavern first, giving a thumbs-up. I understood the meaning of "do well," but I didn't expect him to run away from the situation like this.
"...Now it's just the two of us? Astal-sama."
Gulp.
Watching Victoria's Adam's apple bob dramatically like a predator eyeing delicious prey, I couldn't help but flinch.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As the glasses emptied one by one, in the space where tipsy warmth and heat were rising, we talked, momentarily forgetting about the enemy demon tribes and monsters out there.
"So─, the problem is that Astal-sama is too much of a coward. Who knows? This could be the first time we actually kill the Demon King and bring peace to the world!"
"Countless hero parties have challenged the Demon King until now. But no human has survived."
Our differing opinions and emotions clashed.
Victoria couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand her either.
"They say that Dullahan guy survived! I think it'd be fine if this world just perished, as long as I can be with you."
"Are you serious when you say that? How can you, the Saint of the Heavenly God Lumina, say such a..."
I couldn't hide my shock at Victoria's outburst. I had no idea the Saint, a hero chosen by the gods, could think it'd be fine if the world perished.
"I was born as a pawn of the gods from the start. Do you know how painful it was to live a life using only Miracles, unable to save my parents, imprisoned by demons?"
"......"
"I don't know what the Heavenly God wants, but I never once wished to become a Saint."
Victoria's voice sounded sadder than ever. It was rare for her to bring up such topics herself, having sacrificed most of her life simply because she was born a Saint.
"It was a life like a canary in a cage, trapped somewhere I couldn't eat or sleep properly, just using Miracles. Then I was barely rescued by the Papal Court's paladins."
Victoria swallowed her tears and spoke slowly, as if reminiscing about that time. I knew from reading in the Holy Kingdom's forbidden archives that she, like me, had lost her parents to demons.
Victoria's hometown, called the Village of Miracles, was ultimately a place seething with the selfishness of people who knew of her sacrifice yet turned a blind eye.
"Because of this, I thought I had to live my life as a Saint. After all, it was thanks to the Heavenly God that I could survive. But you know what's funny?"
"...Victoria, you're too drunk. You should stop drinking now."
Seeing Victoria's flushed face and already slurred speech, I tried to get her to put down her glass. She had started drinking heavily out of frustration since I wouldn't succumb to her seduction.
"No. You didn't listen when I told you to quit drinking and smoking. I was so worried you might get poisoned like the former Pope, or get sick and die."
- If you really die, I'll live my whole life single. And I'll carve your name big on your tombstone so you'll be mocked as impotent forever...
Victoria's inner thoughts were conveyed more transparently than ever. Seeing her sentences and thoughts transmitted unfiltered, it was clear she had drunk past her limit.
"You, as a man, treated me not as a Saint but as an ordinary woman. Other people always said, 'Victoria-sama, please cure my illness. Make me rich...' and prayed to me, but you were different."
Victoria tickled the back of my hand with her finger, sending me the softest gaze of all. The reason I treated her normally from the start was because I thought it was the right thing to do.
"But that's just because it was the right thing..."
"Right. You're that kind of upright person. That's why you're also putting off answering my feelings now."
- Honestly, if Astal-sama had been the type to hit on any woman and make dirty jokes, I wouldn't have fallen for him either.
Victoria chuckled while looking at my face. I'd heard countless times that I was the first man who saw her naked yet felt no lust, instead worrying about her health.
She said that when walking the streets, many men looked at her with lecherous eyes because of her larger-than-average bust and seductive curves,
and that when she became the subject of vulgar gossip about how lewd her body was, she wanted to die.
"...So I thought. Ah, this person might be able to love me not as Saint Victoria, but just as Victoria."
In stark contrast, her evaluation of me was extremely favorable.
"But then, why don't you always put me first? Even if it started as a contract relationship, you know I like you now."
Victoria pulled out the will I'd left behind and placed it on the table. Her face, with tears welling up, was reflected in the transparent surface.
"Is my love still too burdensome even after I've bared my heart this much? Is it enough for you to just leave me a will and die?"
"No, I don't think that's it..."
"Tch, as long as you know."
With that, Victoria left a short kiss on my lips. It wasn't her usual passionate kiss, but one with a slight sense of regret.
"...I'll wait for your real answer. So don't you dare die. And next time, tell me you love me in a more romantic place. Promise?"
With that, Victoria hugged me once more, then said she'd go up to the lodging first.
- No matter how I think about it, being held by you because you truly want me seems much happier than an accident that happened while drunk.
- That's real love, isn't it?
Listening to Victoria's inner thoughts gradually growing fainter, I felt my heart beat a little faster.