“My mother didn’t love me.”
I tilted my head. He was being contradictory.
“What does it have to do with hating and not loving…?”
“Haha, who knows.”
Garou’s focus was toward the empty audience seats.
“My mother is not only not interested in me but also in all of her children. All my mother loves is the monster trapped in the basement of the first magic tower.”
The evil spirit I saw in Natalia’s past came to mind.
According to the reasoning so far, it died after reviving me in Lily’s body and returned to an evil spirit. And the emperor still kept it in the tower, which was no longer useful.
“Of course it’s strange. Why is she obsessed with a useless monster even when she has an excellent demon like me…?”
Garou muttered like he was thinking of the past.
I stared at the side of his face and dragged the water bag.
“I guess you were upset.”
The demons lived without drinking water, but it was hard to withstand the thirst.
As I gulped down the cold water, Garou asked back with a shrill voice.
“Huh?”
“You wanted her to look at you, but that’s not what you got. Isn’t that the reason you’re upset? You’re jealous of that evil spirit.”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and shrugged.
“I’ve been like that too.”
It was hard to reveal it to others, but I thought it would work out as much as I wanted because I was in front of the man who had even entered my dream.
“…I wanted to be the daughter of the duke.”
It was a rather painful problem because I was constantly reminded of it, but the crown prince became lost in thought as if he had finally realized his own feelings.
“Oh, you’re right. I guess I was upset. That’s what it was.”
The crown prince, who was arrogant as if he knew everything in this world, suddenly acted like a boy of his age. Somehow it felt weird, so I said it as if I was scolding him.
“If it’s a thing of the past, it seems you know what happened 100 years ago, but you don’t know how you feel.”
“Hmm. But I know what I’m feeling right now.”
Garou leaned his cheek on one side of his hand and looked at me. The burning summer breeze gently shook his hair.
“Lilietta, I’m happy with you.”
The boy’s eyes were bent like a half-moon. I was a little surprised by the innocent smile.
‘Sometimes you look like a child younger than your age.’
I was more reluctant than friendly. It was because of the future to come.
I asked the crown prince to teach me black magic. But if it’s as I expected, the strength that Garou was helping me cultivate would someday be directed towards him.
‘The world won’t be peaceful after pulling down the emperor.’
It would be great if Garou and the people of the duchy could rule the empire in half, but honestly, it was only a dream. A man who wanted to take down his mother couldn’t stop his greed.
“The fight will continue even if the World Tree disappears. Until the strongest forces are identified.’
From Garou’s perspective, it was like raising a tiger cub. I didn’t feel guilty because it was him that tried to use me first, but I didn’t want to make friends for nothing.
“Let’s continue. The training.”
I put the water bottle in the corner.
Garou stretched as if he was sad that the break was over.
“All right. So… do it as if you’re controlling the blood flowing through your body.”
“I know that, but you keep interrupting me.”
“If you go to war, there will be more enemies.”
Garou pulled my hand and folded the stretched sleeves bit by bit. It was a very friendly touch.
“You have to be careful, and on the lookout for surprise attacks.”
Whoosh!
My sight turned.
I didn’t know what happened, so I screamed belatedly.
“What…”
“There will be moments when you have to choose.”
With the black magic sand chain secretly created by Garou, my upper body was wrapped around and pulled to the ground.
I was tied up tightly and fell backwards. My braids scattered like ropes.
“Lilietta, you like to play family, right?”
Garou put his hand next to my head. His shadow cast over my face.
“What would you do if you had to choose between your dad’s life and the success of rebellion?”
He slowly smoothed my cheek, asking an ironic question. The sleeves of the shirt blown by the wind tickled my nose.
“Even if you save your dad, if the rebellion fails, you will eventually be executed. In that situation… what will you choose?”
A languid voice like a cat’s flowed into my ear.
I stared at him and answered without hesitation.
“I’m going to choose the duke.”
My answer was already set.
Garou raised his eyebrows as if it was unexpected.
“That easy?”
“Yes.”
He might think it’s a difficult question, but I couldn’t quite understand his thinking.
“Is Duke Bauner that special?”
“Because he’s the first person who made me happy.”
Garou frowned at what I said.
“…If I were that kind of person.”
He smoothed my cheek once more with a bitter smile.
“Will you choose me over this world?”
I didn’t know why he asked the obvious question.
“Yes.”
As I nodded, the corners of Garou’s lips twitched.
He smoothed his mouth and eventually burst into laughter.
“…Hahaha, ha, hahaha!”
The boy grabbed his stomach and rolled around. I stared foolishly at the sky, tied to the dirt.
“What are you so excited about?”
“Oh, no. I like you so much.”
“It’s good to laugh, but please untie me.”
I twisted my tied body around.
At that time, a frighteningly low voice was heard from the side.
“Release it.”
A heavy and cold voice like a thousand metals.
I raised my chin and found a man with black hair. Even from the upside down view, he seemed to be quite unhappy.
“Ah, Duke.”
Garou lightly called Alan and harvested the black magic that was restraining me. A pleasant smile bloomed on his face as usual.
“Don’t get me wrong. We were training.”
“…….”
Alan stared down at me without changing his expression.
I quickly knelt down.
‘Am I going to be scolded for playing around instead of training?’
Alan was the one who bought the entire circular stadium, so I had nothing to say even if I was beaten. As I clenched my molars tightly, he asked an unexpected question.
“Is it true?”
“Yes, yes?”
Alan grabbed my wrist as I reflexively let out a squeak. The traces of the sand chain remained. Alan’s expression became harsh when he found a red mark.
I hesitated and made excuses.
“I, I’m sorry. Lily’s body couldn’t remain clean during training…”
“It’s not because it’s Lily’s body.”
Alan frowned greatly.
“I don’t care about that. It just means… Don’t get hurt.”
Those words made me fall into deep doubt.
“I can regenerate even if I get hurt. I’m of the demon race.”
“…….”
“Oh, you don’t trust my ability to regenerate? Don’t worry about it. There’s no problem with this much…”
“…I get it.”
Alan seemed to have something more to say, but he soon got up from his seat and let go of my hand. He turned to the exit of the stadium.
“Come in before dinner.”
I was looking at Alan’s back, which was moving away like a dot, and Garou hugged me without permission and raised me up.
“Are you upset?”
Garou stretched his black magic power to the end of the stadium and snapped a small wildflower in the corner.
“That your dad doesn’t treat you the way he used to.”
He put the wildflower behind his ear and said the same thing I said earlier.
“That can’t be true.”
“Lie.”
“Upset or sad… I don’t deserve to feel that way.”
“You feel it even if you don’t deserve to. It cannot be stopped.”
The tail of Garou’s eyes grew as long as a fox’s.
I wish he could leave me alone, but he kept digging into it.
“…Are we going to train or not?”
He took the flower stuck in his ear off and threw it away grumpily.
Garou smiled as he mercilessly trampled on the flowers he picked.
“You told me I don’t know my heart, but you don’t know yours either.”
Tuk!
I pushed Garou with my demonized hand. Perhaps because he was careless, his tall body easily fell backwards. The boy leaning on the floor opened his eyes wide with a smile.
“Huwaa…”
“You told me to watch out for sudden attacks”.
I stood up with my tongue sticking out. It was a small revenge, but I felt relieved.
“…I think the speed of demonization seems to be fine.”
Fwoosh.
Garou’s body turned into black sand. It seemed like he was ready to train now.
While positioning to face him, my eyes suddenly caught a silhouette of a man standing at the exit of the stadium.
Alan was looking at me. His black cape fluttered greatly in the warm wind of summer.
He turned around as if he felt my gaze. And disappeared without a trace.
I was hit about five times by Garou’s counterattack while looking at the place Alan had left.
***
That winter. Benny carved a huge ice cube with his rake hands to make an ice statue of me. When Hugo saw it, he broke all the frozen lakes, saying he could make it as well.
The spring of the following year.
I got lost while playing hide-and-seek at a picnic.
Usually, Pedro would have smelled me and chased me, but Benny found me a little faster that day.
Summer of the next year. Suddenly, Michael asked if I wanted to see the sea.
I had never seen the sea in my life.
He asked me to go on a trip, but I refused because I was in the midst of preparations for the rebellion. I didn’t want the plan to be delayed because of me.
On a day in spring that came again. Alan was looking at the lilacs blooming in the courtyard.
I stood far away for fear of disturbing him.
Alan, noticing my presence, approached me.
We enjoyed the scent of flowers together without saying a word.
By the time I got used to the sweet scent, Alan had returned to the castle.
I moved my feet to where he was and stood for a little longer.
***
The seasons changed helplessly. It was so fast that I couldn’t even catch it.
Then four years later, spring.
The year to change fate has come.
