Fiancée of the Wizard Volume 8 Chapter 4 Part 4
A child that had gotten lost in the mountain slipped and fell. Then it fell unconscious. When Noct had carried it back to the village unconscious, the child’s mother found them and screamed.
——Give me back my child! Somebody, somebody help! It is the demon! The demon appeared!
Freezing in the winter cold, when Noct had come down from the mountain that had no more prey, to scavenge the dumps of some food place. Coincidentally, the food place’s owner came out and scolded him.
——I don’t have any food to share with demons! Begone!
When Noct had been bathing in the river to escape from the summer heat, a child that had come to play in the river threw a rock at him.
—–B, be gone, you beast! Daddy, mommy, help!
That was not all. There were other sights that were unbearable to watch. These scenes screen one by one in front of me. I could not help but hold my mouth in the man’s arms. If I had not done so, I could not have contained a cry.
How, how lonely his memories were. How sad his memories were. The eyes directed to Noct in his memories were always cold eyes filled with hatred and fear. I could not spot a single pair of eyes that wielded warmth. Had Noct live through such gaze and words? How desolate of life had he been living?
——-Why can’t you just die!
——-You unwanted child that invited calamity, how terrible!
——If only you were gone!
Then, the day came. It was the hunt in the mountain by the church’s priests and holy knights that had been requested by the villagers. In the midst of running away, Noct heard the shouts of the ones chasing him.
—–Kill him!
—–Kill him!
—–Kill him!
It was almost like a curse. The words were alike a cursed spell that was written over his ears, head, and his whole body.
Stop. I wanted to say. However, I could not speak. This was merely his memory, and no matter how much I shouted now, it would not reach Noct’s memory. I wanted to look away. But, I could not. I thought: I must not look away. In the man’s arms, I endured the scene by holding hands with him. Since we had come to fetch him, if this scene would give a hint to where Noct was, I will never look away. I must look through his memories.
Then after running away in the mountain, Noct fell from a cliff while being hunted. Then, he met 『mother』.
For the first time in his life, somebody smiled at him. Just this made him happy. 「You can call me mother」. He felt so much happiness he was scared, should I be so happy?
As long as 『mother』 was around, no matter if her servant demons mocked him as a half-demon, or ridiculed him as useless, he could endure it. Even though it was indescribably tearing to hear 『mother』 herself call him such names. Although he could not count how many times she had ignored his call, 「mother」. Even though he could not hurt humans no matter what during the earlier war. Even though when 『mother』 coincidentally got an injury on her hands, Noct had been cursed multiple times and beaten thoroughly. Yet, for Noct, the demon was his 『mother』.
Actually, he had already realized what 『mother』’s true feelings. Yet, he could only cling onto 『mother』.
I was lost for words. What could I have said? Surely, the man could understand Noct’s feelings more than me. Even when I looked into Edi’s face, he did not say anything. I could not understand what his silence meant. What I could only do was to be beside him.
When I cuddled my body against his, the man tightened his arm around my waist. Then, he raised his wand. The magical sphere on the wand’s tip gleamed with a beautiful morning glow colored light. At the same time, the whitish silver wolf that had been standing apart from us let a loud howl. The morning glow colored light and the howl became a single beam of light and tore through the surrounding darkness. Noct’s memories which had been screening in front of me suddenly disappeared.
Then, I froze in befuddlement upon seeing what was beyond the memories that disappeared, when the darkness lifted. It was because there was.
「Our, estate? 」
Dumbfounded, I murmured. It was our home in the capital, the Lancent secondary estate that was standing in front of us. Even the man seemed to not expect this, and widened his eyes in surprise.
Glancing at us, the wolf then disappeared into the estate. It did not open the door. Instead, the wolf literally went through the closed door and entered the estate.
While I gazed at it in bewilderment, I finally asked the man.
「Edi, what is this…….? 」
「I don’t know either, but it seems that Noct is inside here. Can we go, Filmina? 」
「O, of course! 」
I could not turn back now. When I nodded firmly, he curled his lips and softly laughed as if he was satisfied with something. Then, he freed my waist and instead took my hand. Then, I was literally escorted to the entrance. I held the doorknob instead of the man whose hands were occupied with the wand and my hand.
The door was not locked. I silently opened the door. The space I stepped into so closely resembled our Lancent secondary estate that I thought it was a mirror image, like the exterior had been. What was different was that not a single magical stone that was placed on the walls was turned on. Instead, the estate was filled with darkness.
Although it was the estate I was familiar with, I could not help but somehow feel a sense of sadness. Was Noct in this desolated estate? I could not bear standing still upon such thought.
Where? Where was he? I felt a strong impulse to start searching to him in the room. But I should not part with the man, since it was dangerous.
Helpless, I could only look around my surroundings. As if exasperated by me, the man looked down at me.
「……Edi? 」
What was that gaze? Tilting my head, I looked up at him. He sighed and started walking while pulling my hand. While I was dragged along, the man plainly continued talking.
「You don’t even need to think about where he is. Had you forgotten what he usually did and where he usually was in this estate? 」
Upon hearing those words, I gulped. The place Noct often was in our home, the Lancent secondary estate. At times, I had folded laundry with him, drunk tea, or practiced reading and writing at that place. It was the estate’s living room.
It was too late when I had finally realized this. Guided by the man, I had already arrived at the living room. I could not help but gulp some saliva. Alike at the entrance, I opened its door once again. Then, I widened my eyes at the sight in front of me.
I had assumed that this living room would also mirror the original Lancent secondary estate like other rooms did. However, I was wrong. The room that was supposed to be the living room did not have anything in it. It did not have any furniture nor light, but was instead filled with a pitch-black darkness.
In it, I saw a whitish silver tail wave for a moment. Guided by this, the man stepped into the room that was supposed to be the living room. The man’s wand’s magical sphere’s light was the only light source in the room. The light gleamed on a boy that was crouching down at the center of the room.
He was surrounded by something black that looked like a shadow. From first glance, he was a young boy that seemed to be around five or six years old. I could not see his face because he was burying his face into his knees. However, from his untidy long ash-grey hair, his black furry ears and his similarly colored furry tail that grew from his butt, we clearly knew who he was.
Letting go of the man’s hand, I hurriedly tried to run to him. However, I could not go any closer,
—Everything, everything is your fault!
The familiar line stopped me. I froze and widened my eyes, while the man blinked as if surprised. The voice continued on.
—If you had not appeared in front of us, Edi would not have been taken!
I did not have to ask who this familiar voice belonged to. I felt as if my whole body’s blood boiled and froze at the same time.
—Because of you, Edi……!
The voice belonged to no other than me. It was the spoken blades of words that I had hurled at Noct.
Ah, this boy. Noct had been deeply hurt by my words to such an extent. I had hurt him so much. I realized this once again, and I felt terribly frustrated at how guilty I was.
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