Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: 3 Weeks of Vacation-6
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It was a strange feeling.
Even though she clearly couldn't get up due to exhaustion, she didn't feel the hardship.
On the contrary, the rest induced by fatigue was comfortable, even blissful.
She could feel Leonardo.
It was an odd way to put it, but it suited the moment perfectly.
The place where she lay now, the thing enveloping her body, even the temperature and air—it all felt like Leonardo.
"...Mm..."
Unable to resist that happiness, Ariasfil slowly began to open her heavy eyelids.
When she opened her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling, but upon waking, she caught a familiar scent.
Amid that contradictory harmony, Aria cautiously sat up in bed and looked around. An old desk, worn walls and wallpaper, faded curtains.
Everything seemed aged, yet paradoxically more comfortable than the family estate.
The fact that there wasn't a speck of dust or grime anywhere, despite the wear, greatly contributed to that positive impression.
As she slowly surveyed the modest home, she glanced to the side and saw the kind knight who had created this comfort.
"...Leo...?"
Leonardo was dozing off, leaning against a chair. His clothes were caked in dirt and torn, with the collar and sleeves roughly ripped into rags.
The body hidden beneath those pitiful garments was even worse. From palms to fingertips, everything was peeled and torn, thick with calluses, and the barely scabbed wounds were clumsily wrapped in bandages.
"...Because of me..."
Just as guilt made her want to wake him, she noticed a tray on the bedside drawer with a piece of bread and a glass of milk. A small note lay beside it.
[Sorry about the village head. He's just that inflexible. Please eat the bread and milk when you wake up if you're hungry. It may not compare to what you eat at the estate, but it'll help replenish your nutrients.]
Aria silently decided to leave Leo be. He'd already exhausted himself breaking through the barrier, so letting him sleep a bit more was best.
Aria picked up the bread and milk and began eating slowly. As Leo had said, it wasn't particularly delicious. The bread was crumbly, and the milk lacked savoriness.
Still, she liked this taste.
Separate from how tasty it was, this food was good.
After finishing her nutritional supplement, Aria carefully lifted Leo. His body was heavy and solid, but compared to what her knight had done for her, this courtesy was nothing.
The moment she tried to gently lay him on the bed,
Screeech
The door's rusty hinges creaked as an old woman walked in.
"Leonardo, how's the kid doi—"
Anus's eyes fixed on the bed. More precisely, on the girl holding a man in her arms.
"..."
"...Ah... Um..."
"We'll talk later. I won't stop you, but don't forget protection."
With that, Anus turned to leave and close the door. Surprisingly, Aria didn't panic; she laid Leo on the bed and walked toward the door.
"It's fine. You can talk now."
"...You're surprisingly unflustered. Familiar with that word?"
"...What word?"
Aria asked back in confusion. From her reaction, Anus could immediately gauge her level of common knowledge.
"...You planned that without even knowing...? "
"...Pardon?"
"No, nothing."
Anus glanced at the sleeping Leo on the bed, then back to Aria.
"I lack decorum, but may we speak outside?"
Aria peeked at the dozing Leo and quietly nodded.
Doron's night was quiet, unlike its mornings. The darkness settling like fog seemed to swallow all surrounding sounds.
Two women—one in her old age, the other in her youth—walked through the dark forest.
In the heavy silence, Anus pressed her cane firmly into the ground.
"...How's your body?"
Her question was curt but not harsh. The kindness hidden beneath her gruffness was noticeable even to Aria, with whom she had no prior bond.
"...Yes, I'm fine. Thanks to you..."
"You collapsed because of me. You recovered thanks to Leo, though."
Aria made a wry face but didn't correct her. She wasn't outright angry, but she hadn't fully forgiven Anus's words either.
"Do you hate me?"
Having sensed the lingering resentment, the old woman approached Aria's heart with muddy boots.
"...Pardon?"
"If you hate me, hate me. If not, hate me now. It'd be easier for the young ones if an old hag like me dies sooner."
Aria hesitated at the self-deprecating remark, unsure what to say. Even sympathizing or agreeing felt burdensome.
"...That's not..."
"...And I'm sorry. The apology should come first, really."
As if offering that hesitation itself as atonement, Anus bowed her head and waist to Aria.
Aria could only feel more confused by the response.
"...Ah..."
"I promised. If I lost, I'd retract my words and apologize."
Anus raised her head and met Aria's eyes.
"I'm sorry. I took your feelings lightly and disrespected your relationship with Leo. I apologize, even if belatedly."
Anus bowed her head and waist again.
Perhaps because she usually spoke so roughly, this apology carried a different weight from others.
"Ah... No...! I was the one who brought it up so suddenly...! It's only natural you'd be upset as his guardian...!"
Feeling the depth of that apology, Aria hurriedly tried to accept it. Since Anus had practically raised Leo, Aria couldn't help but consider her dignity.
"...Guardian... True enough. I'm not even his parents, so I had no right to interfere in your relationship."
Aria's eyes trembled at the continued self-mockery. She wasn't even lovers with Leo, let alone married, so her conscience stung with guilt.
"...I... That is... Actually..."
"I called you out here to talk about Leonardo from his childhood."
Aria shut her mouth, her confession halted.
"That blockhead won't answer even if asked, so an old busybody like me has to meddle."
Leonardo's past.
It was something she had to hear, even if crushed by guilt.
Not mere curiosity.
The forest air and Anus's sincerity instilled in Aria the resolve to listen without deception.
"Have you heard about Leo's mother?"
Aria nodded in response.
"Yes, she passed when Leo was around 10..."
"...Passed away. That's probably how Leo put it."
Anus smiled bitterly. Not smiling would only leave the bitterness thicker on her lips.
"Do you know why Leo left the village?"
Aria couldn't answer. She couldn't possibly.
She had no knowledge to fabricate an answer.
Come to think of it, Leonardo never spoke about himself. Especially his past—he hid it thoroughly.
"You wouldn't. That's Leo for you."
Anus walked deeper into the forest's shadows. It was dark, yet no fear of the darkness arose.
People find reassurance in shallow shade more than harsh sunlight.
"Leo left the village to find his mother. The mother who vanished around age 10."
"But... Leo said..."
He'd thought she died because she hadn't returned for three months.
Soon, Aria grasped the true meaning of Anus's words.
It was just 'what he said.'
"Leonardo arrived in this village before he was even one."
Anus recalled that day as vividly as last night. Strangely, as her body aged, dredging up old memories became easier than in youth.
A stormy night when even water spirits fled the fierce rain.
A fool had trudged through that downpour.
A woman sufficient to be someone's mother, but seemingly lacking to be a good one.
Traversing such a storm alone, pregnant without a husband—that was her judgment call.
"That was Leo's mother, Ren."
Ren, who appeared in the village so abruptly, demanded a place to live out of nowhere.
"...Pardon? Wasn't this her hometown?"
"It is for Leo, but not for Ren."
Ren was merely an occasional outsider who stayed briefly; not a native.
"Anyway, since she'd protected the village a few times, I gave her an empty house nearby. I even thought it was good use instead of a warehouse."
Grumbling aside, Anus provided shelter, simple food, and money.
She asked about the baby, but Ren remained silent as if cursed.
"So Leo doesn't know his father. Nor do we."
She recalled Leo's self-introduction then.
'So I'm just Leonardo. Don't butt in unless you're making up a dad for me.'
She brushed it off lightly then.
Leo had said it casually.
But the time it took for that weight to seem light wasn't light itself, she surmised.
"Leo was a peculiar child."
"...In a good way?"
"Neither good nor bad. If anything... pitiable."
Leonardo desired nothing.
Just as madness lurks in desire, so too in desirelessness.
Like the good children in Santa's carols.
"He didn't cry, didn't complain. Not even pranks."
He seemed a different person from the current Leonardo.
Crying aside, no complaints or pranks was unimaginable now.
"The villagers all worried. Feeding and housing him was easy, but it was no different from tending livestock."
An extreme comparison, but vivid to Anus still. The boy back then merely survived; 'alive' didn't fit.
"But we weren't too worried. He seemed human around his mother."
With Ren, Leo smiled, threw cute tantrums, and pulled pranks that amused the whole village.
"...But Leo's mother..."
"Yes, she vanished completely around age 10."
After that.
Leo transcended desirelessness into indifference.
"Even the smiles he barely managed were gone."
The boy lost hope and grew apathetic to all.
About a month later, Leonardo tried to leave the village.
"He said the village was boring, but no one believed him. He was off to find his mother."
Everyone thought Ren dead.
Even if not a great mother, she didn't seem rotten enough to abandon motherhood.
"To stop him, Din stepped in. A ten-year-old in that state wandering out? Obvious outcome."
"...And he won and left."
"No, he lost the first time."
Aria was taken aback.
Leo had overwhelmed her without mana at their first meeting. Even as a child, defeat seemed implausible.
"A month later, he beat Din. A mere kid taking down a werewolf."
Not by raw power or skill—opposite to what Aria imagined.
"First, he splashed animal blood around to mask scents, harassing with checks. Finally, snapped pre-cut trees to trap Din. Far from fair and square."
Yet no one detained him.
"...Holding him further risked crossing a line. As a child or person."
Thus Leo left the village.
No one knew the journey's details, but scars etched on his body after three years told it was no easy path.
"Then the runaway suddenly sent a letter."
Aria recalled the letter Din showed her from Leo.
"At first, we wondered. Why would such a doll-like kid join a knight family? Find fulfillment serving a lady?"
The villagers' consensus was simple.
"We thought Leo had learned love. How else could he change so?"
Aria's cheeks flushed slightly. It wasn't impossible.
"And when he visited a year ago, I was certain."
Anyone close to Leo would know.
"In love, he's no different from a stone. He doesn't even know what it is."
Aria grew somber again, but her expression soon turned oddly flustered.
"...Why the face? Did you think I truly believed you were lovers?"
Shame crashed like a typhoon and tsunami. Fresh black history heated her face sufficiently.
"The villagers may have jumped to romance, but I'm no romantic... Harder to fool."
"...S-Sorry..."
"No need. If anything, I should apologize for raising him so stoic."
Anus smirked with wrinkled lips. Not mockery, but relief and reassurance.
"So, sorry, but... could you take care of that Leo for me?"
"...P-Pardon?"
Anus's eyes were clear, gaze straight. Such eyes flowed only from pure, unadulterated sincerity.
"I know you're not dating or engaged. Still, I want to entrust my grandson to you."
Anus brushed back Aria's hair. Despite the wrinkled hand, gentle warmth seeped into her head.
"...But I'm weaker than Leo..."
"No need to protect Leo. A lady guarding a knight? Unheard of."
A pause, then Anus spoke again.
"So protect yourself. Please don't die before him."
Only then did Aria understand Anus's test.
"You can do it."
"But I..."
"Skipping dating straight to marriage shows enough resolve... Or am I rushing?"
Aria's face burned completely. Anus laughed heartily, satisfied with the girl's heart.
"Good. I'll head back first. Thanks for lending time."
Aria stood speechless, fanning her flushed face.
"...I'm back..."
Returning, Aria trailed off and looked toward the bed.
Due to deep fatigue, Leonardo still lay asleep.
"Must be... so tiring."
Worried, Aria approached the bed. Leo breathed evenly with a peaceful expression.
'...Expressionless Leo...'
Even now, the village head's words were unbelievable in many ways.
Leo's usual vibrancy made it harder for Aria to imagine.
'...But where do I...'
Glancing around, Aria realized one fact.
'...This house... only one sleeping spot.'
Usually there's a sofa too, but this rundown place had only the bed. The rest was cold, hard floor.
...A gulp echoed.
Aria cautiously lifted the blanket over Leo.
This wasn't like that at all.
Force majeure, undeniably.
Leo would be cold too, and sleeping on the floor was tough for her.
Mutual benefit! Yes, reciprocal gain.
Sharing the blanket but staying apart was fine.
No issue.
The village head entrusted him to her—no guilt.
"...Ha..."
But with a sigh, Aria pulled her half-entered body out. No matter what, this was wrong. Better the floor for her conscience...
Thud...
Then Leo's arm wrapped around Aria's half-entered waist. Unintentional, pure sleep reflex.
"...Le...Leo...na..."
Aria faced ultimate mental conflict. Reason and instinct clashed, heightening her agitation.
"...I'm sorry..."
In that moment, Leo murmured softly.
"...Leo...?"
"I'm sorry... Don't go... I'll... do better..."
Then, reason and instinct aligned.
Lying on the bed, Aria embraced Leo to her body.
Be it ulterior motive or mutual gain—didn't matter.
Simply,
She wanted to give this boy the assurance that it was okay.