Chapter 162 - Where Did You Go?
"...Excuse me, Professor Isolet."
Two girls had come to the front of Isolet's house.
- Creak...
"I-It looks like it's open."
"...Yeah, it does."
For some reason, they were Lulu, her eyes ringed with heavy dark circles, and Aishi, her face pale as a ghost.
"Um... Lady Aishi... did you come here after hearing from Professor Isolet too?"
"Y-Yes."
Perhaps due to the gap in their statuses, or because they hadn't spoken much despite being in the same hero party, the two exchanged words in an extremely awkward manner.
"L-Let's go inside first."
"...Yeah, that's probably best."
Before the awkward atmosphere could thicken further, they quickly slipped into the house.
"Mm... so you've come."
Isolet, who had been slumped over until then, greeted them with a goofy grin.
"Frey's over there, so pay your respects."
"...Pardon?"
With that, Isolet flopped back onto the dining table.
""......"""
The two stared at the spot Isolet had indicated and fell into a long silence.
"Hero... please..."
Rosewin, her hair disheveled, knelt and pleaded with some sword sheath.
"Please accept this flower... perform a miracle for me... I beg you..."
She didn't even notice the two new girls who had appeared behind her.
"Th-they say if everything ends and I go to the hero with this flower... a miracle will happen. Please, please..."
Rosewin continued in a desperate voice.
"I've finally realized who I should have served... I've finally realized who the second hero was, the one who kept our family alive, and me too..."
Her expression seemed laden with some deep story as she reached out a trembling hand.
"Th-the love letters you gave me every day... I'll write that many back for you. As many as you want."
True to her word, Rosewin had received love letters from Frey every single day.
She had read the first few to bolster her ego, but their overly detailed contents had quickly killed her interest, so from then on, she tossed them into the fireplace without even reading them.
And yet, she had always grinned at Frey and told him she read them all carefully.
"I-I'll do anything. Whatever you want, I'll obey..."
Frey had always granted whatever Rosewin desired.
Unlike Ruby, who started with small requests and gradually escalated to outrageous demands, he had fulfilled anything she asked.
The only price he demanded was dinner together.
"So please... come back..."
Lost in such thoughts, Rosewin desperately prayed for the miracle she had read about in the diary to come true.
"I'll preserve the flower with care, have dinner with you, never refuse a dance at balls again, smile at you from now on... so please..."
She didn't even know what the miracle in the diary truly was.
By that point, Rosewin was no longer in her right mind to ponder such things.
"Just once, let me talk to him... I have things to say. Let me atone. Please appear again and punish me."
Rosewin bowed her head, clutching the sword sheath, wishing for an impossible dream.
Even briefly, let the miracle manifest.
Let the man who had been abandoned by her to the end, who had sought her help until the very last, return to her side.
Let him judge her, the one who had aided the Demon King and attacked the hero.
"Please... just once..."
As Rosewin rambled incoherently like that,
"...Ah."
she finally noticed the flower, still unwilted, drooping in the sparkling soil on the sword sheath.
"Ahh."
She realized that the object she was desperately pleading with now was neither the revived Frey nor even his corpse.
"Ahhh..."
Just the sparkling remnant he had left behind when he vanished.
"........."
Realizing this, Rosewin quietly caressed the sparkling soil in the sheath.
- Srrrrk...
Sparkling powder clung to her hand.
"Hero..."
Staring blankly at the trace on her hand—the remnant of the man who had desperately sought her help—Rosewin murmured,
"I'm sorry..."
without finishing her words, lowering her head and falling silent.
""......"""
And so, silence filled the room for a moment.
"Th-this is..."
Rosewin's diary placed beside her.
"...A diary?"
Until Lulu, who had been pale-faced and piecing together the situation, discovered it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
- Srrrrk...
"...Ow."
Lulu cut her finger flipping through the diary and jolted up from her seat in surprise.
"Ahhh..."
For her, it had been quite a while since her last injury.
She had long since stopped the self-harm she used to do without rest.
"Mm..."
In front of such a Lulu, Aishi stared blankly at Rosewin's decryption notes and the diary alternately.
To be honest now, Aishi's Frozen Heart Curse is practically a blessing to me. Nothing beats it for killing off unnecessary emotions. Without her curse, I probably wouldn't have lasted this long.
"Um... Lady Aishi."
"...Sorry. I need time to sort my thoughts right now."
Aishi, who had shot up from her seat while reading the diary, cautiously picked up a bottle of liquor from the table where Isolet sat.
"The benefactor who saved my family and made my kingdom prosperous... and what I did for him was help kill his emotions with a curse that freezes the heart."
Sitting beside Isolet, she began pouring the strong liquor into a glass.
"...Lulu, do you know this?"
She began her story with a gloomy expression.
"The Frozen Heart Curse doesn't just freeze emotions—it freezes the heart itself."
"Y-Yes..."
"So when the curse worsens, even a single breath... brings intense pain."
With that, Aishi downed her glass in one go.
"...Frey had grown numb to that pain already, hadn't he?"
"........."
"To receive such a horrific curse countless times... and rejoice that it kills emotions. I can't even imagine it."
Her face, as she poured another glass, reflected a tumult of emotions.
"It was on purpose, right? Provoking me at the slave market to transfer the curse?"
"Sometimes I told you, didn't I? That an inner voice kept tormenting me."
Lulu nodded quietly at her words, and Aishi continued.
"The arrogant voice from my inner self, the horrific one that plunged me into hell as a child... the one that drove me to the brink of suicide."
Regret filled Aishi's face as she spoke.
"But I suspected the owner of that voice was Frey."
"...Pardon?"
"Every time Frey approached me, every time we talked... the voice stopped."
"Ah..."
"I thought it was because he couldn't speak when I was around."
Recalling the diary's contents as she spoke,
Aishi seems to be struggling a lot with the voice lately. Looks like I'll have to stick by her side for a while.
"In truth, it was the hero's power Frey had that weakened the curse."
Aishi emptied her glass calmly as she spoke.
"When we met, Frey always suggested we drink."
"Drink...?"
"...Yes, and not just any drink—extremely strong liquor."
She set the glass down on the table with a clink.
"Everyone knows Frey was a heavy drinker, right? So every time he spouted trivial nonsense and drank in front of me, I truly despised him."
Recalling the diary's contents once more,
Today I drank and talked with Aishi. I hadn't planned to talk with her today, but she even shed tears I rarely see, so I had no choice. In such a smoothly progressing loop, she can't commit suicide like last time. I can't stomach finding her cold corpse the day after we talk anymore. So I've decided to stay with her as long as possible, but this is no easy task. Being near her intensifies the Frozen Heart Curse several times over. Even I've grown numb to pain, but when my heart area turns to ice... every breath unfolds hell before my eyes.
The content that troubled her heart the most.
That's why, for long talks with her, I always bring liquor over 70 proof. It's the best for forgetting pain and warming the chest. Of course, in my case, I have to cast an intoxication spell on the liquor I developed myself. Still, it's a hundred times more effective than painkillers that barely work anymore.
"But... it turns out there was another reason."
Aishi's words were true.
"He drank to endure the intensified heart-freezing pain because of me. Force-feeding himself liquor to block the inner voice."
By now on her third glass,
"If I'd known... I should've drunk with him at least."
she sighed and downed it in one gulp.
"Actually, I'm pretty good with liquor myself."
"...Ah."
"What about you, Lulu?"
"I... can't even have one drink."
As Lulu glanced nervously and replied, Aishi gave a sad smile and poured another glass.
"Everyone who stands before me reacts like that. Come to think of it, Frey was the only one who ever suggested drinking with me."
"........."
"If he hadn't been cursed with that fate... we might've been good drinking buddies."
Her face flushed by now, Aishi continued her lament.
"Is there anyone else in the world as pitiful? Honestly, I don't think so."
"Uh, uhh."
"Even if he had to deceive and be deceived... I do owe him, and I did burden him... and now I can't even repay it."
As she brought the glass to her lips,
"...Honestly, I didn't need time to sort my thoughts."
she paused.
"I was afraid of what I'd find if I kept reading the diary."
Her expression trembled slightly as she spoke.
"...There aren't any bigger secrets, right?"
Hearing that,
This is driving me mad. This loop is going perfectly, so Ruby's tormenting Aishi at unprecedented levels. After chasing me away from our talk, she pretends to comfort her outwardly, but inwardly whispers unspeakable things through the curse she planted in Aishi as a child.
Lulu, who had been staring rigidly at the newly turned page,
This means I have no choice but to pester her more often. The side effect will be my heart fully freezing, leaving me trembling in agony for a while. But it's better than retrying.
"Um... Lulu? What are you looking at so seriously?"
"Ah, uwaaah..."
"N-No way..."
"N-Nothing...!"
As Aishi asked in a trembling voice, Lulu hurriedly flipped the page and answered, but
"...Huh?"
she soon failed to control her expression, her mouth gaping open.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Due to the excessive heart freezing side effect, I messed up with Lulu. This can't happen... Without recruiting Rosewin, Lulu is my only support. I can't sleep properly without hugging her anymore. I need to apologize. Apologize. I can't ruin everything now that we're this far. I haven't even fully removed her stigma yet. If we go down that route after coming this far...]
"...Ah?"
Lulu flipped the page, where the usual gentle, indifferent handwriting gave way to frantic scrawls.
She's gone. Ruby took Lulu from me. I have to get her back.
"......Ah."
She froze upon discovering the phrase repeated across several pages.
Where did you go come back where did you go come back where did you go come back
".....Uwaaah."
"L-Lulu... what on earth is wrong..."
Aishi looked on anxiously as Lulu began trembling with a wretched expression. Beside her,
"Yes... Kania... you'll gather the remaining three...?"
Isolet smirked, holding a communication crystal.
"Yes, good work..."
She was on a call.
"...Frey is waiting for you all here too."