Chapter 99 — Love's Kiss
Chapter 99 — Love's Kiss
Translation: Godtl
Kalix clicked his tongue and approached closer, examining her up and down.
His previously grinning expression turned quite serious.
"Hey but really... it's incredibly convincing? Anyone who sees you would think you're a real woman."
Meanwhile, Griffith and Romeo were looking past Lelia's shoulder at Oscar with cold eyes.
Lelia looked at her friends gathered together again, then pressed her hand to her forehead.
No... how... why on earth....
While it was certainly good and joyful to see them... thinking about her grandfather, Uncle Karius, grandmother, aunt, and great-uncle who would soon return made her head ache.
What on earth should she explain?
And more importantly than that... how did they even get here?
"How did you know to come here?"
Lelia asked Romeo. He only shrugged without saying a word.
"I think we need an explanation first about why you left us behind and ran away with just the two of you."
Griffith, who had been sitting quietly, countered with a cold voice.
"We didn't leave together... I left alone, and Lord Oscar followed me."
Though she told the truth, Oscar's brow furrowed at the word"followed."
"Then the reason you left alone? Is there something you're hiding from us?"
"......"
Griffith rose from his seat and walked steadily toward Lelia.
When he approached right in front of her.
Tap.
Oscar, who had been standing behind Lelia, suddenly stepped forward and blocked her path.
Oscar lightly pushed Griffith's chest as he tried to come closer.
Griffith let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn't believe it.
At Oscar's action, Romeo's expression also grew serious.
The air in the reception room grew heavy with inexplicable tension. Lelia was also surprised, her eyes going wide.
The only person free from that atmosphere was Kalix.
Griffith asked with a frown.
"What do you think you're doing, Oscar?"
"Don't come closer."
"What?"
"Don't come closer to Lelia."
Oscar murmured like a wooden puppet repeating only one phrase.
As the two glared at each other with strange looks, Lelia felt flustered.
"Why, why... right now..."
Why are they fighting?
Unable to watch any longer, Romeo rose from his seat and changed the subject.
"More importantly, Lelia, while coming here I saw the temple looking for you?"
"What?"
"Princess Julianna and Lute Castrill apparently reported you. They say you made a fake holy artifact and stole the real one."
"...Ha!"
Lelia was dumbfounded. She had expected it to some extent... but she never imagined they would report it to the temple this quickly.
"Maybe because you disguised yourself as my relative, a priest I met on the way here interrogated me."
"......"
Lelia passed by Oscar and Griffith, who were still engaged in a staring contest, and approached Romeo.
Surely the temple isn't following Romeo's tracks and coming here?
"I told them your whereabouts. I said Sir Raymond returned to his hometown in the home country."
"Ah..."
"By now, the temple has probably left for the countryside of the Roseberry Empire."
Lelia breathed a sigh of relief.
"As expected... you really are amazing, Lord Romeo!"
Lelia expressed her pure gratitude, grabbing his hands with both of hers and shaking them.
At a single word of praise, Romeo's expression brightened considerably.
"Is that why you left alone too?"
"......"
Lelia nodded. As always, Romeo really... was impossible to deceive.
"There, there, how hard must it have been for you. You should have told me sooner."
Romeo sat Lelia down beside him and patted her shoulders.
Before long, Oscar and Griffith were glaring at Lelia and Romeo.
Kalix approached Lelia and flopped down on the table in front of her, saying:
"Poor thing. Didn't I tell you? You're my little sister now! So why are you bearing that heavy burden alone?"
"......"
"And... I saw it."
Kalix lowered his gaze with a heavy expression.
Saw it, just like that...? Saw what?
After hesitating for a while, trying to say something, Kalix finally raised his head.
That was when it happened.
[Final Quest Complete! ✧*.◟(ˊᗨˋ)◞.*✧ Claiming rewards!]
∙ Special Recipe
[system: Special Recipe acquired!]
[Special Recipe: Immortal Vision Restoration Potion]
※A famous medicine created by the god 'Heujum'! A remarkable medicine that grants heightened vision. It's a special remedy for those whose world has gone completely dark! ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪
Messages appeared in succession, announcing the completion of the final quest.
She had completed Kalix's favorability quest to the very end! Lelia looked at the message window fading away with joy.
"You... you left a medicine bottle for me? What a loyal guy."
Kalix placed his hand on her shoulder with an emotional expression.
However, that hand was knocked away by Oscar, who had approached without anyone noticing.
Kalix, paying no mind to Oscar's action, smiled as he looked at Lelia.
"......"
But Lelia's expression was not good. Her brow gradually furrowed.
Wait a moment.
Despair began to drift across Lelia's face.
Suddenly, Lelia shot up from her seat, cupped Kalix's cheeks with both palms, and brought her face right to his.
"......!!"
From beside them, the sound of Romeo gasping in surprise could be heard.
Romeo was startled, thinking Lelia was suddenly about to kiss Kalix.
Oscar and Griffith were likewise surprised.
But Lelia, gently holding Kalix's face, leaned in close and examined his pupils.
It was close enough for their noses to touch.
The most surprised was Kalix.
"......"
Kalix also thought Lelia was trying to kiss him.
No matter how much he considered her like a little sister....
A kiss? Isn't this a bit much? He tried to push her away, thinking that....
But his body wouldn't move at all.
As Lelia's pupils approached right before his eyes, his breath caught.
Wait, why is she so bold...? His heart pounded heavily.
Having surprised everyone with her incomprehensible behavior, Lelia finally bit her lip hard. Her expression contorted with pain.
Just as Oscar could no longer bear it and was about to separate the two, Lelia spoke.
"...Your left eye can't see right now, can it."
"......"
Kalix's expression, having been hit right on the mark, froze like ice.
The atmosphere was heavy. Outside the window, a drizzling rain had begun to fall.
As the sky grew dark, the servants in the castle hurriedly lit lights here and there.
Lelia leaned against the window of the drawing room, gazing at her friends who sat with grave expressions.
After she had asked about Kalix's condition and brought it up, Kalix had clamped his mouth shut like a clam, saying nothing at all.
"I knew something was off when he kept saying he was fine every time I asked."
Romeo muttered, pressing his hand to his forehead.
"Come with me to the neutral zone. Let's find a way."
Even at Griffith's suggestion, Kalix remained unmoved. Oscar too wore a troubled expression.
Glancing at them occasionally, Lelia glared at the crafting screen floating in the air. The darkest expression in the room belonged, without a doubt, to Lelia.
Just moments ago, Lelia had checked the crafting details of the recipe she'd received as a reward. She needed to hurry with the crafting to fix Kalix as soon as possible.
[Immortal Sight Restoration Potion]
- Required Materials List
∙ Crystal of Love's Kiss (0/1)
'What on earth is a Crystal of Love's Kiss...?'
But the material was strange.
She had tried to enter the Special Shop, but it hadn't opened since the update notice appeared.
Lelia glanced anxiously at Kalix.
'Surely... it's not an item you get by kissing Kalix... right?'
[You need Alchemist's help, don't you?(•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑]
"...."
Lelia ignored the system window that appeared before her eyes. It didn't seem like it would be much help.
[◔⌓◔?]
[╭( •̀ •́ )╮︡]
Perhaps reading her inner thoughts, Alchemist displayed message windows in succession as if in protest.
[If you ignore the Alchemist's advice, something terrible will happen! (>_<#)]
Just then, with a terrifying sound effect, a larger message window than before appeared.
Perhaps because it was raining outside, she suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.
'...I haven't ignored your advice. So what advice do you have this time?'
[Would you like to hear the description of 'Crystal of Love's Kiss'?(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧₊˚]
'Go ahead, let's hear it.'
['Crystal of Love's Kiss' is an item you can obtain by kissing someone whose Affection has reached Max. (*˘ ³˘)♡]
She had expected as much... but realizing it was actually the case, her heart grew even heavier.
[Alchemist is cheering for you, Master!(≖‿≖)✧]
"...."
Lelia turned her gaze outside the window.
Kalix's condition was worse than she had thought. To fix his eyes, she needed to hurry....
'A kiss, of all things....'
Ah, perhaps a cheek or the back of a hand would be acceptable?
['Crystal of Love's (Lips to Lips) Kiss']
"...."
[|•'-'•)و✧Fighting! Fighting!]
With Alchemist's confirmation killing any hope, Lelia rested her forehead against the cold window and closed her eyes.
Kalix didn't speak until the end, and Lelia only came to her senses upon discovering the carriage approaching the main residence through the window.
She hurriedly approached where her friends were sitting.
First, first of all... so....
As Lelia tried to say something with an anxious expression, Romeo spoke first.
"Don't worry. You can just introduce us to your family as friends. As the truth."
"……."
"We'll handle the rest ourselves, so don't worry."
At Romeo's reassuring words, Lelia felt relieved. Kalix was pouting with a sulky expression.
It seemed Uncle Karius had returned by carriage.
"Lelia! You have guests?"
The reception room door swung open, and her uncle, whose shoulders were slightly damp from rain, stepped in.