Chapter 60
A small exchange while accompanying Chris on a visit to a neighboring party.
If anyone was injured, we would be asked to treat them first, and we could receive a reward as well.
I didn't have any particular role, but I couldn't send Chris into the dark dungeon forest alone.
As her escort, Claude had designated me.
Of course, several parties were camping nearby, so there probably wouldn't be any serious trouble.
“Phew, this party's in bad shape.”
“That's what happens when they don't listen to Master.”
The last party Chris and I visited was the one that had been making a fuss about how great they were.
The two men were badly injured as well, but the woman was having a particularly hard time.
On our way back to camp, Chris said,
“By the way, Lady Aris.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“I've noticed it since yesterday. Did you perhaps have a fight with Lord Claude?”
Her expression held both curiosity and concern.
More than anything, I never expected to be asked whether we'd fought.
From the outside, we probably didn't look any different from usual….
“We didn't fight. How could I ever…fight my Master?”
“I see. Is there perhaps anything I can do to help?”
Chris asked me cautiously.
If she had gone so far as to say something like this to me, had it been that obvious?
To be honest, it would not have been an exaggeration to call this the crisis of my life.
If I became separated from Claude…I truly had no idea what I would do.
“I…need some advice, Lady Chris….”
“Oh, Lady Aris. You must have been having such a hard time!”
She was startled by what I told her.
What did my expression look like right now….
“Master is avoiding me.”
“I see. I noticed it too. Lord Claude is sulking, isn't he?”
I wasn't sure whether it was all right to describe it simply as sulking.
He must think that I've rejected him.
I wanted to clear that up somehow, but he wouldn't talk about it.
And the fact that I was troubled by it…mattered to me, too.
The fear of leaving slavery behind and becoming his lover.
Could I tell Claude about it?
It's not that I absolutely hated the idea, but I was too afraid to take the initiative, and I didn't know what to do.
“Master is laboring under a misunderstanding right now.”
“Oh, so he really is…! If it's a misunderstanding, should I go explain it to him?”
“No. It's just…complicated.”
Trying to clear up a misunderstanding through someone else wasn't a very good approach.
This was something I had to resolve by making up my own mind and steeling myself.
My feelings for him were sincere, but
could I continue carrying those feelings with me from now on?
Could I really act as the perfect woman for him….
The task before me was to overcome my inherent nature.
My Wolpi instinct's desire for a male was convenient, but it was also poisonous.
It would be nice if I could act as a woman rather than merely as a female.
“Lady Aris seems to have a lot on her mind right now.”
As she said that, Chris clasped her hands over her chest as though praying.
“You're hesitating over some concern right now, aren't you?”
“Yes.”
As a cleric, the girl's voice made her easy to talk to.
“I don't know much about romance, but I've seen plenty of arguments at our church.”
Chris asked me,
“What is it that Lady Aris wants from Lord Claude?”
“What? What I want….”
Claude was the one sulking right now. Did what I wanted even matter?
“Master provides me with everything I need….”
“I don't mean that. A fight only happens when both sides clap their hands together, right?”
It happened when the things each side wanted came into conflict.
But I truly wasn't asking anything extraordinary of him.
Just….
“…I want to be loved.”
To be honest, I wasn't even sure what it was that I wanted.
After all, I hadn't even considered wanting anything in particular.
“There you have it. You definitely do have something you want, don't you?”
But once I actually thought about it, I realized that, despite the vagueness, there was something I wanted from him.
It might sound very simple and insignificant….
I wanted Claude to love me.
We had already mated and crossed so many boundaries in various ways.
Even so, I wanted to be loved.
He had already told me that he liked me and asked me to go out with him…!
And yet I wanted to be loved even more.
I hadn't intended to push him away, but somehow…here I was, having pushed him away!
I still wanted to be loved.
“There is a very simple way to resolve a fight.”
The solution Chris offered.
Tell the other person exactly what you want.
“Of course, it won't necessarily resolve everything. But if all you do is think about it, nothing will change.”
As she said that, she told me stories about the children at the church's orphanage.
They were cute examples involving children, but in the broader sense, weren't they much the same as us?
“So, Lady Aris! Ask Lord Claude for what you want. Tell him to love you!”
Chris said it with a determined huff.
“It won't be easy….”
“That's right. What I want to say is simple: get what's weighing on your heart off your chest!”
She said that the first step was confiding one's troubles to the other person.
“If you wish to be loved, love.”
Chris smiled softly as she said it to me.
Love. An expression of affection greater than simply liking someone.
It was something I had tried to tell him recently, but gave up because I was too embarrassed.
Was I in love with Claude?
If I wanted to be loved, I had to love him as well.
“I want to be honest.”
“I think Lady Aris is already an honest person. So I'm sure you can do it!”
Chris encouraged me with both fists clenched tightly.
“Thank you, Lady Chris!”
She was right. Once we returned to camp, I would talk to him somehow.
I would confess my love like a real man!
‘That's right, isn't it? Giga Wolpi!’
[Orb of Calls! The direction your four holes point is the right one to run in, Wolpippi.]
As I steeled myself, I felt as though my mind had grown lighter.
When we reached the area near camp, Livnil came out to meet us.
“Lady Aris! Chris! Want to see what Grif and I just caught?”
“Heeey, you must have caught something amazing?”
Livnil walked over to us, and we walked toward her as well.
Meeting her on the path and listening to her boast helped ease my tension.
Now I felt as though I could truly tell him how I felt.
“Ms. Livnil.”
“Yes~ Lady Aris?”
“What is Master doing right now?”
Just in case.
I thought it would be best to find out what he was doing.
But she said she didn't know exactly either.
“I didn't see him myself. He's probably cooking, right?”
Come to think of it, it was about the right time for that.
Our camp was just a little farther ahead.
Was I getting nervous again as we drew closer?
Thump-thump. It felt as though I were staking my entire life on this and moving forward.
Just then, Claude appeared on the path to camp…?
“Aris!”
He called my name loudly and ran toward us.
“Eh…? M-Master…?”
I had been bracing myself, but I hadn't expected this…
I never imagined I would suddenly run into him on the path!
“Uh, ohhh… W-what do I do…what do I do!”
“Lady Aris! Calm down! Calm down!”
“Why, what's wrong? That's Mr. Claude! Lady Aris?”
Patter-patter-patter-patter-!
Claude came running energetically toward us.
Claude had appeared in front of me, panting for breath.
The women who had been with me quietly withdrew like a curtain being drawn…and I was left alone.
“Aris!”
“Eek…Y-yes!”
Until now, Claude had been avoiding my eyes.
When I called out to him, he answered in a weak voice, and when he told me to go with Chris earlier….
‘You go.’ That was what he had said.
It was the first time he had said that instead of calling me by my name.
It was an incredibly frightening feeling.
“Aris. I have something to say.”
“Yes? I-I see. I-I do too….”
“Is that so? All right. Do you want to go first?”
I swallowed hard.
This must have been a gesture of consideration for me, too…!
If so, I had to stake everything on this opportunity.
I wanted to win Claude's heart back.
I didn't need him to free me from slavery.
Because I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life!
“Master, I…!”
I mustered my courage and shouted at him.
But Claude suddenly shouted too.
“Aaah…! No! I'll go first!”
“Hee…eek…yes….”
Thump-thump. I could hear his heartbeat loud and clear.
And just as I was about to take in his scent….
There was a delicious…no, distracting smell from somewhere, as though someone were grilling meat.
“Aris! Accept this! And I'll say it again! Date me.”
Claude pulled out what he'd been hiding behind his back.
And the scent wafting from it….
The delicious smell of meat masking his scent?
The source was smoked skewers. A bundle of ten of them, at that.
A bundle of skewers he had brought like a bouquet of flowers!
Livnil and Chris opened their eyes wide, looking flustered.
But that was enough for me.
“Yes! I will!”
I accepted his bundle of skewers.
I sniffed it, once and then again.
“R-really? You'll go out with me?”
“Yes! I like you too, Master! I'm in love with you! I love you!”
I ran to him and threw my arms around him.
But Claude froze instead of embracing me and said,
“W-wait, Aris? You don't mean you said yes because of the bundle of skewers…?”
“I like the bundle of skewers too! And I like Master too!”
“Aris. Tell me clearly. Do you like me? Or do you like the bundle of skewers?”
Claude grabbed me by the shoulders with a serious expression.
Then he looked straight into my eyes and demanded an answer.
Honestly…a man competing with a bundle of skewers?
It was funny even to me, but I couldn't help it.
I looked back and forth between Claude and the bundle of skewers, then smiled at him.
“Of course I love you, Master.”
I dropped the bundle of skewers I was holding onto the ground.
It was such a terrible waste…but I had to choose.
“A-Aris…really?”
“Of course. I have no one but you, Master. I love you. I love you.”
Claude couldn't take his eyes off mine.
He seemed to want to keep confirming that I was sincere.
“Master…do you love me?”
“O-of course. I love you, Aris.”
Then he reached a hand out to the side.
Sliiide- The bundle of skewers I thought had fallen to the ground….
It had stopped in midair just before hitting the ground.
The bundle flew back into Claude's hand.
“You shouldn't waste food. Here, these are yours, Aris.”
“Wow…wow! Master…I really, really love you!”
I had no idea what had happened.
Until I left with Chris to provide healing, Claude had clearly been sulking….
But all of a sudden, he was like a different person—or rather, he was back to his usual cheerful self.
“You're not teasing me, are you?”
“Teasing you? Ah, are you saying that you accepted me so easily?”
Claude asked in response to my suspicion.
I had no idea what had happened, but I would find out later.
“For now, these are really delicious. Master….”
“I'm glad to hear it.”
I returned to camp in Claude's arms.
Then Grif, who had been waiting, said,
“Oh—you did it!”
“Thank you, big brother!”
Ah, did Claude perhaps get advice from Grif too, just as I had from Chris?
Until now, I'd thought Claude was the only one who'd misunderstood.
But perhaps I had, too.
It wasn't just Claude who had misunderstood; there had been a small misunderstanding between the two of us.
As Chris had said, a relationship was about learning what one another wanted.
“Master.”
“Yes, Aris.”
“I want us to talk about what's on our minds tonight.”
He nodded to show he understood.
Would tonight be much longer than usual?