Ain stood at the door, while Lillian stood on his bed.
“I’ve already explained everything that happened today. What more do you want?”
“Oh.”
“Get out. I want to sleep.”
“No.”
Ain clenched his fists, then slowly let them go.
He suddenly felt like crying.
He just wanted to progress the main storyline...
The auction hadn't even started yet, and now there were dragons, the Church...
And now even Sevis's business was tangled up with him!
I just want to sleep...
“Lillian.”
“...”
“Miss Lillian, Lady Lillian, Master! Mo— cough! I beg of you, let me sleep, okay? Just for today, just for this one night. Let me sleep for a bit, just a little bit, please!”
Seeing Ain begging her so submissively, Lillian’s heart instantly softened.
Thinking about how he had faced that level of danger today, she felt a bit bad as well.
“Ugh...”
Lillian obediently got off the bed. Just as Ain was about to throw himself onto his long-awaited sanctuary, the girl suddenly chimed in.
“When are you going to confess to Erylin?”
“...”
“Putting everything else aside, where on earth did you get the idea that she likes me?”
Hearing Ain's words, Lillian felt utterly exasperated.
Erylin had even invited him to her home, acted so close to him, and even defended him. How could she not like him!
Lillian felt that even she, a romance-idiot who only read romance picture books, could tell Erylin had feelings for him. Yet this guy, who was always surrounded by girls, was a complete blockhead!
Ain even smiled confidently. “She told me herself that she wouldn't like me.”
“Putting aside whether Erylin likes you or not, don't you like Erylin?”
“That's right, I don't!”
Lillian was instantly stunned.
“Can you tell the truth for once...”
“I am telling the truth. When did you ever get the idea that I liked her?”
Ain held his head, completely unable to comprehend Lillian's train of thought.
“Erylin is so beautiful. How could you...”
“If it's just about liking someone because they're beautiful, there are so many good-looking girls in the academy. I could just pick one and pursue her. Why would I have to go after Erylin?”
“But, but Erylin is so outstanding...”
“Huh? Am I supposed to like her just because she's outstanding? Since when does liking someone depend on their personal value?”
“Ugh! I, I...”
“Besides, nothing has ever happened between Erylin and me. Aren't we just ordinary friends? Liking someone requires feelings first, right? If there are no feelings, how can I like her?”
“But...”
“And it's not like you don't know! How popular is Erylin at the academy? Her fan club is practically ready to execute me right now! If we actually started dating, I'd probably be chased and chopped down the moment I step out of the house!”
Regarding this point, Ain actually didn't care.
He had only thrown out this reason to quickly refute Lillian.
If he really liked Erylin, this wouldn't be a problem at all.
So what if I stole your goddess?
Beat me first before you talk!
“Th-then do you like me?”
“I do.”
“Ugh...”
Being so bluntly admitted to being liked by Ain, Lillian clenched her small fists, her cheeks flushing slightly.
She instantly felt her position in Ain's heart had risen another step.
“D-don't think that just because of this, I'll...”
“I just really like you. What's the big deal...”
Ain looked at Lillian somewhat speechlessly, saying very casually, “I like the you of today, and the me of tomorrow will only like you more than the me of today. That is what liking someone means.”
“D-d-don't say such unfair things!”
Lillian's cheeks flushed crimson, and she shyly averted her gaze.
The girl nervously crossed her hands in front of her, her fingers tightly interlacing, trying to calm her wildly beating heart.
But when she met Ain's gaze, the final line of defense in her heart instantly crumbled. She could no longer control herself, and like a bird returning to its nest, she dove headfirst into Ain's embrace.
“Then can't you just like one more...”
Ain decided to make things clearer.
“If you like someone, you have to take responsibility.”
“Liking someone means that you have made up your mind to bear the burden of their future and give them eternal happiness.”
“If you like someone with a playful attitude, can that really be called liking them?”
“If I already have a girl I like, and then another girl confesses to me, what do you think I should do?”
“If I just agree like that, do I actually like that girl, or do I like the value she brings to me?”
“People who can do that are mostly the latter, right?”
Ain sighed.
“Liking isn't about exploiting someone's personal value, but using your own value to willingly bring happiness to them for the rest of their life.”
“So, liking someone is actually a burden. Liking someone isn't easy.”
Lillian pouted.
“I don't care.”
Ain patted her head with some worry.
“But I do...”
“I won't like someone just because I want their body or their value. And I am not that amazing, nor do I think I have the ability to make two girls happy at the same time.”
Lillian suddenly felt that Ain was right.
“But doing this, aren't you being irresponsible to the girls who like you...”
“Huh? Irresponsible? Me?”
Ain chuckled and pointed to himself.
“Ah, Lillian, be proud. I'm not the type to fool around! Since I met you, I haven't pursued a single girl!”
“So far, the only girl who likes me is you, you know?”
Ain flicked his hair with some pride.
Lillian frowned.
“But that day at the dining table, you clearly!”
“Stop, stop, stop! Then I really need to straighten this out with you!”
Ain held out his hands, counting them down finger by finger.
“Look, Erylin is my friend.”
Ain smiled and held up his index finger.
Lillian looked at him with a face full of speechlessness.
“Vanessa hates me, right?”
“Violet is just a senior I do experiments with.”
“Lola, this... uh, anyway, I can't afford to offend her! And I definitely don't like an old hag who has lived for who knows how many years!”
Taking advantage of Lola's absence, Ain slandered her fiercely.
“And Sevis, he's a man!”
Thinking about how today's misunderstanding was resolved, Ain spoke very proudly.
“Rosalind, she's just Sevis's maid. She belongs to someone else's household, so what does she have to do with me?”
“And that Imeve, I don't even know her! Even if Sevis really wants to set me up on a blind date, I would absolutely never agree!”
“See, who have I let down? Where am I being irresponsible?”
“Of all the people I mentioned, is it even possible for any of them to like me?”
Ain was full of confidence.
Lillian, however, didn't even know where to begin roasting him.
Just based on that Rosalind today, she felt like that girl was determined to have Ain.
“How about this. If you really want me to pursue Erylin, I'll do a divination myself. If there's a chance, even a tiny bit, I'll definitely go after her!”
Without waiting for Lillian's response, Ain quickly summoned the Cards of Canal, silently meditating on his romantic affinity with Erylin.
【2】The Fateweaver
Upright: The weaving of fate, a destined encounter.
Reversed: A broken destiny, backlash after forcibly breaking fate.
“What does this mean?”
Lillian frowned.
Ain shrugged.
“In any case, it doesn't mean there's a chance.”
Lillian was instantly dissatisfied.
She didn't want to care about those twisted arguments.
Seeing the witch's mana coat and her signature magic hat gradually appear on Lillian, Ain was instantly stunned.
“What are you doing?”
Lillian showed a fierce look.
“I'll poison you to death!”
With that, Lillian leaned in toward Ain's lips.
A witch's saliva is poisonous.
[Little white rabbit overpowering the big bad wolf.jpg]
The room door was quietly closed, leaving not a single gap.
Erylin turned around and leaned against the wall.
“Is that... how Ain thinks of it?”
Looking at the never-melting ice crystal bracelet on her hand, silent tears fell onto the “confession draft” she had prepared beforehand.
The handwriting was crooked, as if she didn't know how to express her feelings. The girl had clumsily patched together a few lines from her favorite weekly magazines and copied them onto it.
She didn't know if she really liked Ain, nor did she know when she had started liking him.
But... none of that mattered now, did it?
Erylin slowly tore up that “scrap paper.”
The girl clutched the shreds in her palm, holding them against her chest.
Soon, layers of frost condensed in Erylin's palm, completely freezing the ball of scrap paper.
If Ain were here, he would have discovered that this layer of frost was exactly the same as the one he had seen in the first vision.
Not only that, but the fact that Erylin could use magic without even using a wand also matched the first vision with striking accuracy.
What was the use of confessing your love to someone who didn't like you back?
Listening to the sounds of the two of them playing and fooling around inside the room, the girl walked away step by step toward the guest room.
Her silver-white long hair rested on her shoulders, and her silhouette looked exceptionally lonely in the wind.
Just as the big bad wolf was pinned down on the bed by the little white rabbit's forceful attitude, another Card of Canal, overlapping with 【The Fateweaver】, fell beneath the bed, turning into streams of starlight and disappearing.
God Card (White Card)
【6】The Lovers
【Upright: Two hearts beating as one, mutual feelings】
【Reversed: Unreachable affection, mistaken love】
Rate on N.U.
