Chapter 67
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Cry
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In that instant, a black curtain appeared between Helga and Tristan.
It was truly a magical sight.
Her spewed soup had been completely blocked by his umbrella, not a single drop getting through.
It was astonishing reflexes.
Under normal circumstances, she might have realized that the movement resembled Blanche's, which had dodged her strike.
But Helga was in no state for that.
Cough, cough! Ugh!
Helga coughed, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Her mouths roof had been scalded by the hot soup, and her nose stung.
On top of that, the humiliation of showing such an ugly sight before the Count made it impossible for her to lift her head.
Helga screamed inwardly.
It really was that girls trap!
Pretending to show kindness to deceive me.
She had the face of an angel, but in truth, she was a little devil!
As Helga fumed over Wendys scheme, a cold voice reached her ears.
I told you never to appear before me again.
When she raised her head, there stood Helgas lord, Tristan Ruelverta.
The man who wielded the greatest influence among the Empires nobility and was a source of fear for the imperial citizens due to his cruel nature.
However compared to before she had left for deployment, he looked entirely different.
The thick flab that had once defined him was now hard to find. His once-faint features had sharpened considerably.
He was far removed from the pig-like Count the world had scorned as Tristan.
Tristan had changed.
What on earth had happened while she was away?
Beyond the cold rain, a gaze cold enough to freeze her looked down at Helga.
Those eyes were even more chilling than the ones she remembered.
Helga wiped her wet eyes and stood up.
She didnt want to show him her ugly side.
Ahem Ive been here all along, my lord. Youre the one who appeared before me.
Such wordplay
Tristan clicked his tongue and pulled something from his breast pocket.
It was a blank check with nothing written on it. He picked up a pen.
Youve worked hard for me all this time. Ill give you whatever severance you want.
It might have been an offer to make someones eyes pop out, but to Helga, it was utterly cruel.
No way The faint hope shed harbored in her heart crumbled.
She felt so pathetic for having hoped at all.
Just how far did this man intend to break her?
Tell me. How much do you want?
Enough to buy the seat beside you, my lord.
At Helgas near-pleading words, Tristan quietly shook his head.
Dont act like a child.
Im not a child anymore.
No. You havent changed since back then.
Back then. Their childhood, when Helga and Tristan had first met.
Tristan had been a boy newly ascended to the Counts seat, and Helga a frail girl.
It was the turning point of her life for her, and also the most painful period.
The boy from those memories spoke to Helga.
Youre still a tomboyish, selfish brat.
I!
She shouted before she knew it.
Ive changed! Im not that weak little girl anymore! Not the dazed kid who couldnt handle even a speck of mana!
Uncontainable rage burst from Helgas throat.
Look closely!
Helga roughly shrugged off her military coat.
Then she tore open the uniform she wore beneath with her hands.
Through the rain, her pale skin was revealed.
It was a gruesome sight.
Helgas body was marred with scars large and small; it could hardly be called beautiful.
But they were all marks of survival.
Proof that she had lived through countless battlefields, through crises of life and death.
Helga cried out, her heart feeling like it was vomiting blood.
Look! My lord no! As your childhood friend, Im telling you! Im strong now! Im not afraid of assassins or the Emperors guards anymore! Im the only one who can protect Tristan oppa! You, at leastIll protect you even if it kills me! Even if I have to die! Ill definitely protect you!
It was a form of address she hadnt used in ages.
But Tristan didnt get angry at Helgas impertinence.
He merely let out a deep sigh.
Thats why youre a brat. So foolish.
Why do you keep! Calling me a brat!
Helga ground her teeth.
I! I could die for you, oppa!
I know.
Id stake my life! If thats not enough, Id stake my soul too!
I already know.
Tristans face, as he said it, somehow looked sad.
He gazed at her as if hed just woken from a terribly sorrowful dream.
Helga. I know you could die for me any number of times.
Then why!
Thats precisely why I cant take you in.
!?
She couldnt accept that he couldnt take her in for that reason. Helga couldnt comprehend Tristans words at all.
Tristan looked at the scars on her body and spoke.
Youve gone to the battlefield countless times, but you always survived. It must have been to return to me.
His umbrella now sheltered her head.
But if you stay by my side, youll throw your life away for me all too easily.
!
Helga swallowed hard.
Only then did she understand why he had kept her at a distance.
...
She had been under a ridiculous misunderstanding.
The shame of it was unbearable.
She wanted to erase the ugly heart that had doubted him, if she could.
To think Id volunteer as his bodyguard with such a lowly mindset
Helga couldnt bring herself to raise her head.
Tristan stood mere centimeters away from her.
The man she longed for maddeningly was right before her nose.
Oppa
Helgas heart began to pound as if it would burst.
His lips slowly parted.
So dont go dying on your own.
I dont want to. I dont My life belongs entirely to you
If its mine, then cherish it all the more. Dont stake it on trash like me.
Tristan added indifferently.
If you can keep that promise, Ill reconsider your disposition.
It was a chance.
Her final chance.
Helga spoke in a trembling voice.
But what if you die, oppa? What about me? Then I couldnt keep my promise to you. Id follow after you and die
I will never die.
There was no reason or basis for those words.
It might have been half-bluffing.
But there was a strange power in them.
So dont you die without my permission.
Yes.
Helga could only nod silently.
Because that was how he was.
Since he said not to die, she could no longer die.
I understand I promise
Good
Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Tristan murmured in a faint voice.
You have to be there in my ending.
Helga quickly covered her face with her hands.
Because it burned hot.
Ah What to do.
Just seconds after promising, she already wanted to die for this man.
That was when it happened.
!
In an instant, a gust blew the umbrella away.
At the same time, the eyepatch over Helgas nervously perched eye flew off.
Ah!
She hurriedly covered her eye.
Helga could show Tristan all her wounds.
But this one thing, she could no longer show him.
It was now too pathetic a scar for the strong woman she had become.
The rain and wind wetted her face.
She thought it fortunate that it was raining.
Tristan looked at the slumped Helga and said.
Are you all right?
Yes Im fine
Please dont look this way
Helga desperately covered her left eye.
To her, Tristan tossed just one remark.
Crying again, are you?
?!
It was said in such an everyday tone.
Yet those words rippled massively through Helgas heart.
When she looked up, the same face as always looked down at her.
Yes Oppa has always watched over me like this.
Hic.
Amid the cold rain, she felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
Tristan had known all along.
Did I say something wrong?
With Helga bursting into tears before me, I paused in thought for a moment.
Earlier, when shed choked, Helga had suffered with tears and snot flowing.
Unfortunately, I wasnt the character who wiped her tears.
So at first, Id stayed silent.
But this time, I could at least show some concern. To those words I tossed out, Helga began to sob.
Hmm.
In the original story, Helga never showed herself crying.
Even with great and small wounds from the battlefield, she hadnt cried. Now she wailed loudly.
She cried like a child.
Waaah! Oppa! Oppa!
Whos your oppa?
To think shed call Tristan oppa so casually, without reservation
I might have needed to question her insolence.
But it was also proof of just how deeply her feelings ran.
I decided to wrap this up.
Helga Ive thought about your disposition.
I took off my coat and draped it over her half-naked shoulders.
Startled by the body heat lingering in the coat, her body trembled as she clutched it.
Aslans vice-captain, who had shown such strength, was in fact this fragile a girl.
I quietly opened my mouth.
Start over as a knight.
Hic K-Knight? Sob
Her snot-smeared, messy face looked up at me.
She looked so wrecked, I wondered if this was really the Helga I knew.
No Truth be told, she might have always been this kind of character.
Id only known her from the book until now.
It was only after possessing the game character that I could truly face her.
Sob You mean start over as the youngest in Aslan? Sob Even so, that kind of playthrough is a bit
No.
I shook my head at the sniffling Helga.
The position of knight guarding me right now is vacant.
She must have gotten it by now.
Youll take that position from now on.