359. The Eve of Blooming
359. The Eve of Blooming
- 1 -
Once our private Fate (緣) Meeting concluded, I called Saya to my room.
There was no particular reason. I was simply worried about her.
The matter of going to meet the survivors of the Amatsu clan.
Even knowing it might be a trap, I had decided to take the risk, out of consideration for her feelings.
She could not help but feel anxious about it.
And she was far more vulnerable to the threat of 'loss' than my other close aides.
For that was the very reason she was here in the first place.
Because she had already been a victim who had suffered loss twice.
"Master."
As the door to my private room closed, Saya knelt before me with the same respectful posture as always.
She looked far more composed than she had earlier.
"I am fine. Truly."
Saya spoke before I could even open my mouth.
She held herself more upright than usual and smiled.
"I settled my mind through meditation just a moment ago. There is no need for you to worry, Master."
That smile was so flawless it only made my heart heavier.
The way she always restrained her own emotions to spare me was simply pitiable now.
"Do you truly believe you are all right?"
When I asked carefully, Saya nodded firmly.
"Yes. The mere fact that you are risking danger for my sake, Master... is happiness enough for me."
Her voice was full of sincerity.
Yet at its very edge, a shadow of fear she had tried hard to conceal was faintly flickering.
"Saya."
I rose from my seat and approached her.
"Stand up."
"Master?"
I took the hand of her, whose expression was puzzled, and helped her to her feet.
Then I led her to the sofa and sat her down beside me.
Silence followed for a moment.
Saya was choosing her words while gazing at her hands resting neatly on her knees, and I was watching her do so.
"Be that as it may..."
Saya carefully began.
"Is this not proof that you truly love me, Master? It would be a lie to say I am not anxious, but more than that, your sincerity seeps deeper into my heart."
She gently took my hand, then slowly brought her lips to the back of it.
A warm, moist sensation lingered on my skin.
"Master..."
Her voice, continuing before the sensation of the kiss had even faded, held an unshakeable conviction.
"I will protect you from your side. If that family truly longs for me, I will greet them joyfully. If they turn as enemies, then..."
A cold light flickered through her pink eyes.
"I will punish them with my own hands to protect you."
"I see."
I savored the ticklish feeling on the back of my hand, letting the smile that rose naturally remain.
I turned my hand to intertwine my fingers with hers, and I kissed her forehead.
"It reassures me to hear you say so."
"Master..."
I held her in my arms.
Feeling the subtle tremor of her body leaning against my shoulder, I gently stroked her back.
"But it is all right to be afraid. It is all right to worry. You are not someone who would be rendered unable to move by such feelings... and it is you, including all of that, who is the Saya I love."
"Master..."
In that moment, I felt the tension smoothly drain from her body.
"Thank you. Master."
Her quietly murmured voice resonated within my embrace.
"Your consideration, your love, your care... truly... I am so happy it is almost unbearable."
For a while, I stroked her hair, and she breathed deeply with her face buried in my arms.
The scent of cherry blossoms, mingled with her characteristic hint of milk, brushed my nose.
And so, we spent a quiet time holding each other for a while.
- 2 -
The next afternoon, in the same place.
Yuran could be seen lying prostrate, her top loosened, quietly regulating her breathing.
Libertas placed her hand upon Yuran's white back and drew up her mana.
From her fingertips, deep purple mana bloomed like a flower and began to circulate along Yuran's mana circuits — the 'meridians' arranged in the Western Continental style.
'It's fast.'
Libertas's mana flowed naturally through the inside of Yuran's body.
As if it had been a part of her all along.
It was partly due to her own outstanding ability, but also thanks to Yuran trusting her completely and opening her circuits.
To a degree impossible in an 'ordinary relationship.'
'Carefully.'
Libertas, who had been smiling faintly while feeling Yuran's trust, soon focused her mind.
In truth, such preparation was unnecessary for an ordinary ritual.
For Yuran had already surpassed this stage and risen higher once before.
There was no need to prepare many sacrifices, nor a reason for special tuning.
But now, it was necessary to endure some labor and risk.
In order to gain the maximum possible strength.
"I have been having a recurring dream of late."
When the flow of mana stabilized, Yuran quietly spoke up.
Her voice was heavy and subdued, unlike usual.
"What is it?"
"The time when my aunt... passed away before my eyes keeps returning."
Libertas's brow subtly narrowed.
Because she detected a faint tremor in Yuran's voice.
She waited in silence, and Yuran soon continued.
"When I used reincarnation magic to flee here, my aunt was killed by Homyung while trying to protect me. That scene... keeps appearing in my dreams, so..."
Libertas felt Yuran's bare back stiffen.
All sorts of negative emotions were hardening her body and circuits.
"The image of my aunt searching for me in the underworld, shedding tears of blood, and the dreams where those accursed enemies mock me, calling me a fugitive..."
The tips of her gathered fingernails dug into her forearm.
Deep enough that a little more pressure would draw blood.
"After having those dreams, my longing for revenge grows stronger. Those of the Fox Clan... I must, with my own hands..."
Her voice began to be stained with cold hatred.
Libertas charged her fingertips with more mana and then moved them gently along Yuran's spine.
"Nngh...?!"
At the sudden prickling sensation, Yuran let out a small moan.
One of the tails she had temporarily hidden for the tuning popped out with a puff and instinctively covered her body.
"Ah, my apologies..."
When the flustered Yuran tried to hide her tail again, Libertas smiled and gently caressed that black tail.
"It is all right. Yuran."
"My Lord Husband..."
Sensing the tension release in Yuran's voice, Libertas began to finish the tuning.
"She would not resent you. Yuran."
"How can you be certain...?"
"Because I, who love you, would not do so."
Libertas's voice seeped into her ear.
'Ah...'
Yuran clutched the pillowcase tightly.
It felt as if Libertas's low voice was reaching beyond her ear, seeping into her entire body.
That a warm energy, starting from her lower abdomen, was spreading throughout her entire being.
"Think about it. If you had given your life for someone, would you want to see that person tormented, blaming themselves? Or would you want to see them living happily?"
Yuran's silence did not last long.
"It would be the latter..."
"That is the correct answer. And perhaps..."
Libertas's hand mysteriously caressed Yuran's back, moving toward the base of her tail.
Yuran strained to calm her mind, which was trying to become absorbed in that touch, and listened to the voice.
"... right now, at this very moment... she might be blessing the bond between you and me, might she not."
Libertas was sensing a faint presence felt from the spirit world.
Horan.
Yuran's aunt had gone where she was meant to go, but still unable to completely abandon her lingering attachments, she occasionally watched over this place.
"... Do you believe so?"
"Yes. I am certain."
In Yuran's eyes as she looked back at Libertas wordlessly, a faint hope dwelled.
Yuran, familiar with Libertas's power, knew well that she would not speak nonsense about 'souls.'
"She will be watching over you even now. Not with eyes of worry, but with eyes of pride."
Only then did Yuran's body relax comfortably.
Libertas felt her emotions.
Relief, and love. Yet the hatred and rage still smoldering, burning like embers.
"... Thank you. My Lord Husband..."
"You are welcome."
Libertas meticulously tuned that mana of hers.
For the sake of tomorrow.
- 3 -
That evening, in my private room.
"Say it one more time. Rita."
Serica clung to my arm, her eyes sparkling.
"All right. I love you. Serica."
"Hehe..."
Serica let out a sweet laugh and nestled deeper into my arms.
It was an appearance unimaginable from the noblewoman she showed to the outside world, but it had become a daily sight when we were alone together.
Since the day we shared our honest feelings last time, Serica had been seeking my affection even more actively.
As if trying to be compensated all at once for everything she had held back until then.
"If... it's all right, can we sleep together again tonight?"
"Why, of course."
Lately, it had become so natural that even sharing a bed felt unhesitant.
Of course, a misunderstanding would be troublesome.
'We really are just holding hands and sleeping.'
That was the case for 'most' times, at least.
Ttok-gak. Ttok-gak.
We headed toward my bedroom with our fingers intertwined.
Before entering the bedroom, I met her eyes and whispered.
"There will always be a place for you by my side. This time is no different."
"Rita..."
Our breaths overlapped naturally.
A moment later, she looked up at me with breath slightly roughened and clouded eyes.
"Lie down first. I will finish the inspection and join you."
"... Okay."
We entered the bedroom.
Beneath my bed, an intricate magic circle had been arranged, and around it, several monster cores to be used as sacrifices were placed.
A magic circle that had been installed over the past several days.
I had been tuning her internal mana here for the past few days. Just like Yuran, who would soon be facing her ritual.
I tuned her by combining the ritual I had experienced personally with the experiences of my close aides who had reached the Lord-class.
So that she too would rise to that place, and to give her the awareness that she was walking alongside me.
To create the optimal physical and mana state that could absorb the greatest amount of power from the sacrifices.
"It might sting a little."
"... Okay. I'm ready."
I took Serica's hand and sent my mana flowing into her.
The mana burrowing along her circuits gradually changed from my purple to her dark crimson hue.
"Mm... it's warm."
Serica closed her eyes and wore a satisfied expression.
Then, she let out a somewhat tense voice.
"Tomorrow's the day."
"Indeed it is."
"I'm nervous, and looking forward to it."
"It will go well."
A brief remark and a short comfort.
On the day of Yuran's Ritual of the Ultimate, she too would be ascending to a new realm by my side.
"Rita... thank you."
"For what."
"For everything. For loving me, for believing in me, for being with me."
Serica's voice grew smaller and smaller.
Drowsiness was washing over her from the effects of the mana tuning.
"Me too."
I whispered as I kissed the nape of her neck.
"Because you are here, I can become stronger."
Her breathing was already following the pattern of one asleep.
I finished the tuning, gave her internal condition one last check, and then lay down beside her, pulling the blanket over her.
Stroking the hair of the sleeping Serica, I looked forward to the approaching tomorrow.
'By tomorrow, the center will be set.'
Right tomorrow.
Two high-rank Dungeon Lords who would serve at my side would be born.