kscans

Chapter 109 - Respective Feelings and Parting

My discussion with Darius was over.

"If Ariel is unable to move, I’ll ask Adrian to take her in for a while."

"Right."

I brought Darius back to the base, then headed to the tower again myself.

When I went up to the second floor, Mireille was there.

"Sorry, I was taking Darius back."

"I knew. ...I could hear your voices."

Mireille looked down. She was hurting just as much. She believed she was being protected at the cost of Ariel’s sacrifice.

"It’s not your fault. You’re doing your part. The one at fault is Darius."

Irritation brewed deep in my chest. This country was practically being protected by Ariel alone.

Now that Ariel was gone, we couldn’t even properly defend the Tree Sea. It was only because of Mireille, whom Ariel had raised, that we were managing to hold on in this forest.

If we were to lose to a major power, the noble system would collapse in an instant. Darius, of all people, should know that better than anyone...

"...They should have just run away together."

The words escaped me. The invincible Ariel and the first-rate swordsman Darius. The two of them would have had it easy in any country. Why were they always thinking about others?

But I understood. I knew how much blood would be shed if they did such a thing. I, too, was formerly in the knight order. In a war, you could lose your life at any moment.

If the political situation became unstable, that in itself would become a reason to invade. The one who was most frustrated was surely Darius himself.

I hugged Mireille, able to do nothing but bite back my own frustration.

Meanwhile, at that very moment.

Faced with a sobbing Darius, Adrian sighed.

"I told you, nobles and commoners can’t be together."

However, if not only Adrian but Darius too had left her back then, the "human-like Ariel" of today would not exist. Mireille, too, would not have been raised properly.

But as Darius spoke through his tears, Adrian’s expression clouded.

For the King and Rainer to have pushed Ariel into such a corner with such malice. There was no way Ariel could be in a sound state of mind. This was a matter of whether her life was in grave danger, or if it was already gone.

(After the coup succeeds... if she needs treatment, the Royal Castle or my home would be the safest places, but...)

"...You understand now that you must part ways."

When he pressed the point, Darius’s shoulders shook, and he nodded while still sobbing like a child.

"Then I’ll take her under my protection. If she’s at the Royal Castle, you and Ariel might have chances to see each other. It would be a problem if your heart wavered."

Adrian recalled the days he had clashed with Darius.

(Darius... I’m not that good a person. You probably didn’t know. That I, too, Ariel...)

Though his face was sad, a faint smile played on his lips.