Volume 4 Chapter 13 Part 5

Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
Editor: Jacinta

It was a dream that was filled with much sorrow and other emotions, a dream about a love that that could never be. But it is not my dream. Those feelings are not my feelings. Those must have been the feelings that Elizabel left behind.

There was always a possibility that in exchange for her life she wanted for Juri-kun to taste just how lonely and cruel solitude can be, but somehow I don’t think that is the case. I wanted to believe that she saved his life out of love, out of good and warm emotions, not because of resentment and hatred she was harboring towards the people.

It was all my imagination, my assumptions and my own desires speaking, but I really wanted them to turn out that way. Juri-kun may not realize it himself, but he never spoke of Elizabel with hatred or ill intent. He was the only one who knew her for who she really was. And if he won’t tell the world the truth, no one will ever get to know the real Elizabel.

Ahh, I think I can hear the crying voice again. It was the distant voice that was weeping for her loved one to forgive her. And I am sure that voice must have been trying to reach out to Juri-kun all this time.

「I-I think I may have said too much. I’m sorry about that. Please, think nothing of it!」

I could have just barely let those words out of my mouth. It was really high and might of me to say all that to Juri-kun after all. Also, for some reason I was starting to feel dizzy. But I could still hear something very clearly.

「Can you dispel Juri-sama’s magic?」

「We won’t know unless we find out.」

Even though the words of that man were cold and emotionless, I could still feel the kindness that was hidden behind them. That man must know. And that’s just how he is. To love someone and be loved in return is a precious miracle, one that you would never want to share with anyone else. Otherwise it would bring you nothing but pain. That man must be fully aware of that.

Still, I cannot help it but to hope that this boy loves Elizabel after all this time as much as she loved him. And that she wanted him to forgive her. I also couldn’t help it but to see them as one of the future possibilities for us, a possibility that I would much like to avoid if I could help it. And so I will pray for us to avoid sharing their fate and for us to find a path of happiness for ourselves.

***

「Juri-onii-sama?」

「What’s wrong, Leti? Don’t make such a sad expression, it spoils your beauty when you do that.」

The two were still standing in front of the ruins, watching as Filmina and Agedilus left the scene. Seeing the Governess’s sad and sorrowful expression, Juri waved at her with his hand and then patted her gently on the head when she knelt down in front of him. As a result she smiled a little but then her eyebrows went up. She told him time after time to not treat her like a child, but still he was doing just that. On the other hand, he could not help but wonder just how quickly she matured from a little child into a fine and dignified woman. It was making him happy, but also a little bit sad at the same time.

While he was looking at her, the Governess’s face became sour again. She probably figured out what he was thinking about just now.

「I’m sorry. I’m fine now. But are you sure about this, Juri-onii-sama? About the flowers?」

She tried to keep her voice in check, but she couldn’t possibly pretend that she wasn’t going to cry any second now. The white flowers kept on blooming on this island for more than three hundred years now. It was the only thing that was left of Juri’s old self before he became immortal. It was also a reminder of Elizabel as well as Juri’s sin. However, no matter what it was, it was still an important memento.

「You did that for my sake, right? Thinking of me. So there is no reason for me to get angry at you.」

Every single trace of the flower’s existence would soon be destroyed. There was no helping it. But even so, even if the Governess understood that, she was still feeling guilt and regret about that.

「But still.」

「It’s fine, really. And thank you, Leti.」

It was spare, but the Governess could sense the feelings lurking behind those words. She looked at Juri-kun for a moment before she let out a long sigh. Sometimes she forgot that even though this man looked like a twelve-year-old, he was much older than that. Compared to him, she thought of herself as a terrible Governess, someone who did terribly at her job and lived in fear of the foreign nations. Juri thought it was kind of cute of her to be like that, but that it was also pitiful. She was much more than that.

He still remembered the day when he met her for the first time, when she was brought to the ruins by her father, just like her grandfather did with her father before that and so on for the last three hundred years. Her bright face, her resolute eyes and her hair, just like that woman.

–––––– Whose hair was just so beautiful.

Before anyone could notice, her eyes opened wide and tears began to flow down from them and drip down her cheeks. For as long as he remembered, he felt truly surprised and frustrated at the same time.

That’s it. Letishela was no longer a little girl but a full-fledged Governess. She was her own person, not Elizabel. And she surely wasn’t something like her incarnation. She was a woman who lost her parents at a young age and was thrusted into a position that was not meant for someone so young, entrusted with knowledge that no young person should be forced to bear at a young age.

From that moment, almost eighteen years have already passed.

「I’m truly grateful to you.」

Seeing her with her cheeks flushed red , trembling lips and runny nose, Juri was at a loss for words. He never thought that someone would do something like that for him. But it was already too late. And the feeling he felt on that day all those years ago would only continue.

「Juri-onii-sama?」

「Hm?」

As soon as he raised his face he felt that something was strange. He felt a soft sensation on his lips, accompanied by surprising warmth. He would never expect something like that to happen. That Letishela would kiss him just like that. His eyes widened with surprise. He was unable to move. And soon enough, white light clouded his vision.

「…… Sorry, Leti.」

「!!!」

That Court Wizard said that only the power of true love could dispel the curse that was put on him. So when nothing happened, the Governess opened her eyes wide in shock, stood up and ran away with tears in her eyes. Seeing that, Juri couldn’t help it but smile bitterly.

「It would be great if he could be like those two, but sadly that could never be.」

Please tell me, Elizabel.

He asked that question into empty space, but there was no one here to answer him. He knew that all too well. But even so, he felt as though he could hear a quiet and sad cry coming from somewhere in the distance.