I want someone to laugh at me and tell me I’m overthinking it.
That I came up with a weird conclusion because of how relieved I am to have found the Demon Lord and the release of all the tension that came with it. Someone, please, tell me.
My lips were way too cramped to laugh this one off.
I took each step of the stairs as if my mind and body disagreed with each other, before stepping on a pebble and staggered.
Despite saying we should leave soon, Commander Lieber didn’t move from the spot.
He stood still, not stopping nor worrying about my odd behaviour from just now.
His face, void of the usual friendly smile, scared me.
“Your Highness.”
“I’m sorry… It’s just… I’ve realised something odd, but probably just a misunderstanding, I’m sure.”
“…”
I wanted him to say something, but not a single word came back.
His silence seemed to be his answer. It made me snap.
“I know it, I already know it… But please, please tell me I’m wrong…!”
I screamed in his face, but he wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
He only stared at me with calm eyes. His silence, his gaze, and his expression. One by one, these things were turning my imagination earlier into reality, and it terrified me.
My frail and fragile heart finally cracked.
“…You’re a wise woman. I’m sure you already know the truth.”
That voice was so quiet, it shouldn’t have come from Commander Lieber.
I wanted to think that it was all a delusion, but I couldn’t find any evidence to refute it.
How come Raptor’s men, who had combed the border this past year to no avail, suddenly arrived ahead of us at the temple?
Or how could they set up an ambush with the information I’d just shared today?
Recollecting everything that had happened thus far, I finally came to a conclusion.
The conclusion that there was a spy in Nebel.
“Why…!?”
I squeezed out a hazy voice.
Despite the whirlpool of emotions swirling inside, all I could ask was a simple question.
“‘Why,’ you ask?”
Commander Lieber repeated.
“If you were looking at Isaac’s materials, then I believe you should know the answer.”
“Sir Walter’s…?”
“Not only the tales from Nebel, but also those from other countries—from Raptor as well.”
I once talked to Sir Leonhard about the relationship between the two countries’ stories of the Demon Lord.
The flame that symbolised the Demon Lord was described in Nebel as ‘a seed of disaster that signifies absolute destruction’, while Raptor described it as ‘a seed of salvation that connects life’.
Thinking to that point, I remembered something.
A person who wanted to connect to ‘life’, Commander Lieber.
“Was this… for your wife?”
Commander Lieber stayed silent. He only showed me a wry smile.
“…”
‘Is there really no other way?’ ‘Your wife won’t be happy even if you do that!’
I swallowed those words that were about to spill out from my mouth. I knew, just by looking at his face, that he’d asked himself those things many times over already.
“My wife was born with a heart defect. The doctor told her she wouldn’t live to her adulthood.”
When I heard that she had a weak body, what came to my mind was Emma, Georg’s mother.
I was wondering whether there was something I could do. However, it turned out to be something outside of my expectations.
I’m neither a goddess nor a doctor—just a little girl. There is almost nothing I can do.
“She declined many times, saying that she doesn’t want to because her life is so short. But, perhaps because my love has taken root in her heart, she finally accepted on my 30th try. ‘I want to live for you, even if a little, so please marry me,’ that’s what I told her.”
Commander Lieber shifted his gaze down slightly and squinted, looking as if his wife was right in front of him. His eyes and voice told me she was very dear to him.
“She will be 20 this year. She has worked so hard to be here, five years longer than what that doctor said… and I know very well how selfishly terrible it is to ask for more.”
His voice was shaken.
He clenched his fists to endure the pain.
“But it’s no good. Unlike my wife, I am weak, so I couldn’t accept her goodbyes. I’ve come to realise how sinful it is, but I still wish for an eternity with her.”
I couldn’t simply pass him off as egoistic.
If I were in his shoes, I probably would’ve done the same, or at least it would’ve been impossible for me to bid farewell to my loved ones so easily.
This must’ve been a great weight on his heart.
Repeatedly thinking of the faces of his family, the faces of his friends, and this face of Sir Leonhard. It must’ve been excruciatingly suffocating.
Despite all that, he still decided to walk this path.
“I’ll sell my soul to the Devil himself if it means he’ll save her.”
‘Even if I have to abandon everything in this world, as long as it keeps her safe, I will do it.’
Is it a sin to call that love, I wonder?
“Therefore, I’m so very sorry, Your Highness.”
The sound of his steps echoed throughout the room as he slowly approached me.
The distance between us was getting smaller. I knew I had to run away, but my feet wouldn’t listen.
My feelings of frustration overwhelmed my fear.
It was so frustrating it was crushing my heart.
“Please give me that stone. I do not wish to be rough with you…”
Commander Lieber stopped about three metres away from me.
He gave me a surprised glance with a hint of confusion, then knitted his brows.
“Why… Why are you crying?”
It wasn’t until then that I noticed something wetting my cheeks.
The small droplets fell onto the floor with a pitter patter.
“And how come you’re not…?”
Commander Lieber opened his eyes wider than before.
His eyes repeatedly blink, and for a brief moment, he looked like his usual self again. Like everything had all been a bad dream. But he soon narrowed his eyes and smiled bitterly. It was a benevolent way of laughing, like a mother calming a child.
“You are very kind. Had it been someone else who had their heart crushed like this, they would only be able to feel pain… But this might be why you can move Leonhard’s heart.”
“Huh…?”
“I know I don’t have any right to say this… But please, take care of my friend for me.”
It was a terrible but gentle voice.
I never wanted to hear such a bittersweet farewell, but I didn’t know what to say.
How can I fix this?
How can I make it so that everyone gets to laugh at the end? Racking my brain apart, I couldn’t come to an answer. This was reality. Not a game. There was no option to choose so that everyone could be happy.
‘Happily ever after’ only exists in fairy tales.
Tears ran down my face. Small sobs leaked from my clenched lips.
Why am I so powerless?
Footsteps from afar reached my ears.
“Seems like we’re out of time.”
Commander Lieber erased his gentle smile and walked up to me. He grabbed onto my arm the moment I reflexively backed away.
I tried resisting desperately, but my struggle was nothing for Commander Lieber. My palm was forced open and the stone stolen from me.
“No…!!”
“Princess!!”
Sir Leonhard jumped into the temple.
He who heard my cry, called out to me in desperation.
My eyes met his gaze as Commander Lieber held my arm tight.
There was a sound of someone taking a breath. Sir Leonhard’s eyes were wide open. He immediately unsheathed his sword from its scabbard.
His usually gentle eyes shone the sharpest swordsman’s light the likes that I’d never seen before.
I want someone to laugh at me and tell me I’m overthinking it.
That I came up with a weird conclusion because of how relieved I am to have found the Demon Lord and the release of all the tension that came with it. Someone, please, tell me.
My lips were way too cramped to laugh this one off.
I took each step of the stairs as if my mind and body disagreed with each other, before stepping on a pebble and staggered.
Despite saying we should leave soon, Commander Lieber didn’t move from the spot.
He stood still, not stopping nor worrying about my odd behaviour from just now.
His face, void of the usual friendly smile, scared me.
“Your Highness.”
“I’m sorry… It’s just… I’ve realised something odd, but probably just a misunderstanding, I’m sure.”
“…”
I wanted him to say something, but not a single word came back.
His silence seemed to be his answer. It made me snap.
“I know it, I already know it… But please, please tell me I’m wrong…!”
I screamed in his face, but he wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
He only stared at me with calm eyes. His silence, his gaze, and his expression. One by one, these things were turning my imagination earlier into reality, and it terrified me.
My frail and fragile heart finally cracked.
“…You’re a wise woman. I’m sure you already know the truth.”
That voice was so quiet, it shouldn’t have come from Commander Lieber.
I wanted to think that it was all a delusion, but I couldn’t find any evidence to refute it.
How come Raptor’s men, who had combed the border this past year to no avail, suddenly arrived ahead of us at the temple?
Or how could they set up an ambush with the information I’d just shared today?
Recollecting everything that had happened thus far, I finally came to a conclusion.
The conclusion that there was a spy in Nebel.
“Why…!?”
I squeezed out a hazy voice.
Despite the whirlpool of emotions swirling inside, all I could ask was a simple question.
“‘Why,’ you ask?”
Commander Lieber repeated.
“If you were looking at Isaac’s materials, then I believe you should know the answer.”
“Sir Walter’s…?”
“Not only the tales from Nebel, but also those from other countries—from Raptor as well.”
I once talked to Sir Leonhard about the relationship between the two countries’ stories of the Demon Lord.
The flame that symbolised the Demon Lord was described in Nebel as ‘a seed of disaster that signifies absolute destruction’, while Raptor described it as ‘a seed of salvation that connects life’.
Thinking to that point, I remembered something.
A person who wanted to connect to ‘life’, Commander Lieber.
“Was this… for your wife?”
Commander Lieber stayed silent. He only showed me a wry smile.
“…”
‘Is there really no other way?’ ‘Your wife won’t be happy even if you do that!’
I swallowed those words that were about to spill out from my mouth. I knew, just by looking at his face, that he’d asked himself those things many times over already.
“My wife was born with a heart defect. The doctor told her she wouldn’t live to her adulthood.”
When I heard that she had a weak body, what came to my mind was Emma, Georg’s mother.
I was wondering whether there was something I could do. However, it turned out to be something outside of my expectations.
I’m neither a goddess nor a doctor—just a little girl. There is almost nothing I can do.
“She declined many times, saying that she doesn’t want to because her life is so short. But, perhaps because my love has taken root in her heart, she finally accepted on my 30th try. ‘I want to live for you, even if a little, so please marry me,’ that’s what I told her.”
Commander Lieber shifted his gaze down slightly and squinted, looking as if his wife was right in front of him. His eyes and voice told me she was very dear to him.
“She will be 20 this year. She has worked so hard to be here, five years longer than what that doctor said… and I know very well how selfishly terrible it is to ask for more.”
His voice was shaken.
He clenched his fists to endure the pain.
“But it’s no good. Unlike my wife, I am weak, so I couldn’t accept her goodbyes. I’ve come to realise how sinful it is, but I still wish for an eternity with her.”
I couldn’t simply pass him off as egoistic.
If I were in his shoes, I probably would’ve done the same, or at least it would’ve been impossible for me to bid farewell to my loved ones so easily.
This must’ve been a great weight on his heart.
Repeatedly thinking of the faces of his family, the faces of his friends, and this face of Sir Leonhard. It must’ve been excruciatingly suffocating.
Despite all that, he still decided to walk this path.
“I’ll sell my soul to the Devil himself if it means he’ll save her.”
‘Even if I have to abandon everything in this world, as long as it keeps her safe, I will do it.’
Is it a sin to call that love, I wonder?
“Therefore, I’m so very sorry, Your Highness.”
The sound of his steps echoed throughout the room as he slowly approached me.
The distance between us was getting smaller. I knew I had to run away, but my feet wouldn’t listen.
My feelings of frustration overwhelmed my fear.
It was so frustrating it was crushing my heart.
“Please give me that stone. I do not wish to be rough with you…”
Commander Lieber stopped about three metres away from me.
He gave me a surprised glance with a hint of confusion, then knitted his brows.
“Why… Why are you crying?”
It wasn’t until then that I noticed something wetting my cheeks.
The small droplets fell onto the floor with a pitter patter.
“And how come you’re not…?”
Commander Lieber opened his eyes wider than before.
His eyes repeatedly blink, and for a brief moment, he looked like his usual self again. Like everything had all been a bad dream. But he soon narrowed his eyes and smiled bitterly. It was a benevolent way of laughing, like a mother calming a child.
“You are very kind. Had it been someone else who had their heart crushed like this, they would only be able to feel pain… But this might be why you can move Leonhard’s heart.”
“Huh…?”
“I know I don’t have any right to say this… But please, take care of my friend for me.”
It was a terrible but gentle voice.
I never wanted to hear such a bittersweet farewell, but I didn’t know what to say.
How can I fix this?
How can I make it so that everyone gets to laugh at the end? Racking my brain apart, I couldn’t come to an answer. This was reality. Not a game. There was no option to choose so that everyone could be happy.
‘Happily ever after’ only exists in fairy tales.
Tears ran down my face. Small sobs leaked from my clenched lips.
Why am I so powerless?
Footsteps from afar reached my ears.
“Seems like we’re out of time.”
Commander Lieber erased his gentle smile and walked up to me. He grabbed onto my arm the moment I reflexively backed away.
I tried resisting desperately, but my struggle was nothing for Commander Lieber. My palm was forced open and the stone stolen from me.
“No…!!”
“Princess!!”
Sir Leonhard jumped into the temple.
He who heard my cry, called out to me in desperation.
My eyes met his gaze as Commander Lieber held my arm tight.
There was a sound of someone taking a breath. Sir Leonhard’s eyes were wide open. He immediately unsheathed his sword from its scabbard.
His usually gentle eyes shone the sharpest swordsman’s light the likes that I’d never seen before.
