“Fuhwa…”
Letting out a small yawn, I slowly get out of bed.
As winter’s footsteps can be heard these days, it takes a bit more than usual reason to leave the warm bedding, but still, the scent of spices that tickles my nose has awakened my consciousness without hesitation. Sleepiness holds no power against hunger.
With no lingering attachment, I leave my bed, moving towards the source of the fragrant cooking accompanied by the growling of my stomach.
In a not-so-spacious rented room, the kitchen is right in front of me. The back of the man standing there cooking shines brightly in my eyes.
Even at my slightly above-average height for a woman, I find myself looking up to him. Just by seeing his broad and sturdy back, even a child would understand that he is a first-rate warrior or knight. In fact, he is even more than that; a berserker so strong that even a top-tier warrior would run away barefoot.
Now, the back that possesses such superhuman strength is currently bare from the waist up, wearing nothing but a shirt. Facing the back of his armor-like muscles, I gulped not for the sake of hunger but for another reason.
Like an adventurer lured in by a succubus, I stumbled towards him. If he had been wearing his favorite black dragon leather pants and was also bare from the waist down, I might have dashed over to him.
In any case, I arrive quickly in this small room. A distance from where I can reach out and touch him, to a zero distance of skin-to-skin contact.
Without hesitation or reserve, I embraced the black-haired man from behind, allowing my desires to take over.
“Good morning, Chrono.”
“Good morning, Fiona. It’ll be done soon, so just wait.”
“Alright.”
“…You won’t let go, will you?”
I can picture his wry smile. I want to see his face directly, but it’s also hard to stop nuzzling against his back. Since it’s impossible to separate, there’s no helping it.
“I’ll just wait patiently.”
“That’s not the issue. If I can’t move, it’ll burn.”
“A little char is delicious for meat, though.”
“It won’t be just well-done.”
“That would be a problem.”
“Just hurry and get dressed. It’s a problem having you naked in front of me.”
Even though he’s already used to seeing me naked, it’s cute how he says such innocent things.
Realizing I have no choice, I reluctantly let go of the witch’s embrace.
Today, cheerfully riding a dreadful undead horse, Chrono and I briskly head off to the School of the Gods.
Now a hero known throughout Spada as the “Black Nightmare Berserker,” alongside a witch, our status as a best couple makes the envious gazes of students feel pleasant. Being recognized as a couple is wonderful.
After handing over the horse at the stable, we hold hands again as we go to the classroom. Our fingers intertwine, a gesture informally known as “couple’s linking.” I want to hold on without letting go, to not be apart for even a second—that’s how I feel, but reality is often contrary. But it’s alright; I am a woman who can manage to wait.
Reluctantly parting our hands, I take my seat next to him. I’m glad the Adventurer Course has free seating. Even if someone else is there, the understanding students readily offer their seats. It’s important to read the atmosphere.
Thus begins the low-level modern magic class, which barely counts as a review. For me, who graduated at the top of Elysion Magical Academy, the top academic institution of the Sinclair Republic, classes at prestigious schools all feel quite similar.
I’m not here to learn anything, though. My purpose is to assist him, who came from the faraway “Nihon,” a world different from this one, in learning about this world.
“Hey, Fiona, how do you do this?”
“That part feels like ‘gyuun,’ and if you do this part ‘kutsu,’ it will work better.”
“I see, as expected of Fiona, that was easy to understand.”
No, no, it’s nothing much. This is easy for me as a witch.
Chrono, due to the translation magic imprinted directly on his brain, seems to struggle with the incantations and some technical terms or proper nouns, so my support is essential, especially in magic classes.
It’s wonderful to be of help to the one I love.
“—So, what do we do for lunch?”
Hearing the chime announcing lunchtime along with the dragon’s roar coming from my stomach, Chrono stands up and asks.
“Let’s eat at the cafeteria today.”
“Alright then, let’s go.”
Having a meal with someone like this at the cafeteria would have been unimaginable for me just a year ago.
Back then, being alone was the norm. It was natural for people to drift away from me, and being lonely was simply a part of life. There was no pain nor regret, just accepting things as they were.
Now, I can look back and think how boring, trivial, and unhappy that was. I was a complete fool for belittling friendship and looking down on love.
To be with someone, to be united with the person I love. I have come to know that happiness now. I have already known it, and I can never return to those days.
No, the truth is, that part of me likely longed for it as well. A rosy school life, or something like that.
“What do we do after school? Should we find a quest or something?”
“No, today…let’s go home.”
What to do once we get home? I believe it’s understood without needing to say.
“I doubt I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”
Far from rosy, it’s a peach-colored life.
I’ve recently come to learn that sexual desire is an overwhelming and irresistible urge that rivals hunger. It’s truly terrifying, to know it but still be unable to stop…
Before dawn, just as I was starting to fall asleep, my consciousness awakened again.
“Are you crying, Chrono?”
In the bed, where the heat of our heated encounter has cooled down, I notice his shoulders slightly trembling as he turns towards the wall, hiding his face.
“…Lily is calling for me.”
“It’s a bad dream. It’s all over now.”
On the last day of the battle of Alsace, the First Month of the Fire, on that day, Lily died.
Killed on a whim by the two Apostles who stood in our way. The overwhelming difference in strength left both me and Chrono powerless.
No, thanks to Lily being sacrificed, Chrono was saved.
I was the one who had collapsed from magical exhaustion after releasing the “Golden Sun,” and I didn’t witness any of it. Chrono too remains silent about the details.
However, it’s easy to imagine how utterly horrific it must have been.
“If it hurts, it’s okay to forget. If it’s painful, you can run away. No one will blame you for pretending none of it happened.”
“But…I…”
Throwing off the blanket, I climb on top of Chrono. His face, marked with tear streaks, shows a look of surprise.
Compassion and pity. The positive feelings I had aimed at comforting him instantly turn into base desires at the sight of his face. I can’t help but think that I alone know this face. I am filled with possessiveness and superiority. I feel powerful, omnipotent, as though I have seized the entire world.
Before I know it, I am deeply kissing his lips. For a moment, reason slips away. I pull back to catch my breath.
“I will help you forget everything… just like back then.”
Chrono, who was plunged into despair after losing his comrades, his trust, and the dearly beloved Lily, was almost like a broken person.
I dedicated myself to taking care of him, something I’m proud to say.
Neither of us knows anyone in this Spada. In this borrowed room, a closed-off world, just the two of us, man and woman.
“Don’t leave me alone… Fiona,” Chrono said, pushing me down onto the bed.
For he, having his heart troubled, seeking the only remaining comrade, friend, and the opposite sex—me—was only natural.
“I’m sorry, back then, I…”
“Don’t apologize.”
After all, I had been waiting for this. The cowardly and despicable one is me.
“I love you, Chrono. Both your strong side and your weak side, everything. So it’s okay to escape from the painful past.”
Forget it all, forget everything. The dreadful memories of despair, the beautiful memories with Lily, all of it. It’s fine if the one in your heart, past and future, is only me.
“There are no more foes. You don’t have to try hard; you don’t have to be strong. You can live in peace.”
Thankfully, the Crusaders were annihilated on their own.
Thanks to the preemptive strike by Spada and Daedalus’s rebellion, the Crusaders were effortlessly expelled from the Pandora Continent. Commander-in-Chief Sariel, the Eighth Apostle Ai, and the Eleventh Apostle Misa were all defeated together. There is no one left to take revenge on.
“That might be true.”
“Yes, it is.”
At long last, Chrono gently hugged me back. My feelings were conveyed, coloring his thoughts. What a blissful embrace.
“Thank you… I love you, Fiona.”
“I love you too, Chrono.”
And so, filled with both heart and body, I finally drift off to sleep.
Ah, what will I eat tomorrow, how will I share my love with Chrono? My happy days have only just begun—