Chapter 225: Frillite (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 225: Frillite (5)
Her pretense of being unconscious didn't last long.
Cloud, realizing Frillite was awake, had started talking to her relentlessly. In the end, she had no choice but to sit up.
“Are you okay? Does anywhere hurt?”
“I am fine.”
“Don’t just brush it off. Check yourself properly. A small wound now could get serious if you neglect it.”
“I am truly fine.”
With that, Frillite sharply turned her head away.
Cloud continued to chatter beside her, but his words didn't reach her ears.
She didn't have the emotional capacity for it.
What… what on earth did I say…!
Frillite felt like she could die of embarrassment.
It would have been one thing if the venomous words the Parasite had spewed were all lies, but they weren't.
It was true that she resented him, at least a little.
Of course, it wasn't enough to say such things to his face. Frillite was far more in love with Cloud, her first love, than she herself realized.
Because of that, she also felt a sense of dread.
She worried that his feelings for her might have cooled because of what she’d said.
She couldn't take his current kindness at face value. He was kind to almost everyone.
After wrestling with her thoughts for a long while, she forced her reluctant lips to move.
“Cloud. About… about what I said during the fight… I am sorry. I did not mean it. No, it wasn’t that I didn’t mean it at all, but… that slime exaggerated things. I do not think of you that way.”
“Huh? Ah…”
A silence followed Cloud’s soft sigh.
Frillite felt her heart clench, keenly realizing just how powerless a person could become in the face of love.
The sound of a soft chuckle broke the heavy silence.
“I was worried because you seemed so down. Was it just because of that?”
“…You cannot say it was ‘just that.’ It is no exaggeration to say that words are formless blades. I have essentially wielded one against you.”
“You wielded a real blade against me, too. A bit late to be worrying about that.”
“Ugh… Th-that was the slime…”
“Controlling you, right? I know. So let’s just say that bastard was the one who said all that nonsense, too.”
“…Is that all right? To just gloss over it like that?”
“It’s nothing. Not between you and me.”
Cloud’s words were slightly playful. But instead of feeling a flutter of excitement, Frillite’s heart sank. An image of a certain woman with long, brown hair surfaced in her mind.
“…What are we to each other?”
The words slipped out, laced with bitterness.
She regretted them a moment too late, but she didn't take them back.
Cloud’s expression hardened slightly.
“What do you mean by that? What are we? We’re fianc—”
Frillite cut him off with a bitter smile.
“Cloud. I am not a fool. I am aware that you have simply been playing along with my stubbornness.”
A relationship that began with her misunderstanding, unable to take a joke as a joke.
That was the true nature of their relationship.
She couldn't admit it once, but she could now.
“So tell me. What are we to each other?”
Frillite loved Cloud.
She wanted to be by his side, to share her affection with him.
But she would no longer force it upon him.
That would be an act of violence.
It would only hurt them both.
Therefore, if he did not want her, she intended to leave without bothering him any further.
Cloud read her resolve in her eyes. So, instead of giving a clumsy verbal answer, he took out a ring.
The Knight King's Ring. Its power was spent, but it had lost none of its splendor and beauty.
He slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand.
Frillite’s eyes trembled.
“C-Cloud, this is…”
“You’re the first person I’ve ever given a ring to.”
“What…? Is that really— Mph?!”
Startled, Frillite looked up to ask if he was telling the truth, and in that instant, their lips met. She flinched at the sudden kiss. But she quickly composed herself and met his kiss, extending her tongue.
It had been a while, and the kiss was gentle, a light licking of each other’s lips rather than a deep one.
Even so, Frillite was satisfied just by the fact that Cloud had initiated it.
Soon, their lips parted, ending the brief kiss. Just as a look of disappointment crossed Frillite’s face, he met her gaze and spoke.
“Frillite. Will you marry me?”
“…Huh?”
Frillite’s reaction was a beat too slow. That was how surprised she was. As the situation began to sink in, a blush crept across her cheeks, soon turning her entire face crimson. Unable to overcome her shyness, she ducked her head.
“Yes…”
Hearing a voice devoid of its usual dignity, Cloud smiled and kissed her again.
This kiss, unlike the last, was deep and passionate, their tongues intertwining.
Her spirits were already soaring, and the addition of a kiss filled with affection sent her into such a state of ecstasy that her mind went blank.
Just then, Cloud caressed the back of Frillite’s hand, then slowly began to interlace their fingers. She responded in kind, gripping his hand tightly.
Swoosh—
Under Cloud’s lead, Frillite’s body slowly leaned back. Cloud followed, leaning his own body over hers, and the two naturally pressed against each other.
First their lips, then their hands, and now their bodies. It felt as if she had become one with him.
Being led isn’t as bad as I thought.
While Frillite was lost in such idle thoughts, Cloud pulled his lips away and pressed his forehead against hers.
“I love you.”
It was a simple, unadorned confession of love, yet it made her heart flutter more than anything else.
Frillite suddenly wondered what it was about her that he loved, but she didn't ask, not wanting to ruin the mood.
Instead, she uttered different words.
“I love you, too.”
Their gazes burned with mutual desire. They drew their faces close, about to kiss once more, when—
“Hero Cloud! Is it all right to enter?!”
The booming voice of the Platinum Knight Commander echoed from outside the temple.
“Ah.”
As if he’d forgotten, Cloud’s eyes widened. He unlaced their fingers and immediately sat up.
“I forgot I told him to wait outside. I should’ve just told him to go back to the barracks.”
Cloud clicked his tongue in disappointment and let out a sigh.
“Let’s go back.”
Cloud offered his hand to Frillite. But she just stared at it blankly, not taking it.
“…You’re just going to go back? Like this?”
“What choice do we have? There’s nothing more embarrassing than someone walking in on you in the middle of something. Come on, take my hand.”
Cloud extended his hand a little further, but Frillite’s expression remained dazed.
Wasn’t the mood just perfect?
They had confirmed their feelings for each other, and he had even proposed.
She couldn't say she had spent a lot of time with Cloud, but in all that time, the atmosphere had never been as good as it was today.
And he was going to throw it all away after just a few kisses?
“…Are you really leaving?”
“What, should I pretend to leave? Come on, get up.”
“Hero Cloud?!”
“We’ll be right out! Now, let’s go. Hurry!”
Frustrated by Frillite’s lack of movement, Cloud grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet. He began to lead her away, and she followed, limp and powerless.
*
Bennet, the Platinum Knight Commander, was on edge.
Nearly two hours had passed since Cloud had entered the temple alone, yet there was still no sign of him coming out.
Should I have forced my way in with him back then?
Bennet regretted having to wait outside the temple after Cloud had so strongly insisted.
Should I just charge in now?
But what if he just ended up getting in Cloud’s way?
After much deliberation, Bennet decided to simply shout into the temple. If Cloud was safe, he would answer. If not, well…
“Hero Cloud! Is it all right to enter?!”
“…”
Was once not enough?
“Hero Cloud?!”
“We’ll be right out!”
Ah, he’s safe.
What a relief.
Bennet clutched his chest.
The only heroes left were Frillite and Cloud. If he had failed, they would have lost both of their last remaining heroes.
After a short wait, the slightly ajar temple doors opened fully, and Cloud emerged.
With him was Frillite, who looked perfectly fine aside from some minor damage to her armor.
He actually did it…
Honestly, Bennet had been half in doubt when Cloud said he would go in alone. Creating an opening against the knights might be one thing, but doing so against Frillite was another matter entirely.
Yet here he was, having pulled it off magnificently.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting so long.”
“Not at all. I am just glad you are safe.”
Bennet treated Cloud with even more deference than before.
“I am also relieved that you are safe, Lady Frillite…”
Bennet flinched as he turned his head toward Frillite. The look she was giving him was colder than ice.
“L-Lady Frillite…? Is something the matter?”
“…It is nothing.”
Frillite averted her gaze from Bennet.
Her attitude was strangely cold.