Volume 8 Chapter 3 Part 1
Fiancée of the Wizard
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Translation by Goma
Editing by Team Foxsunes
Today’s dinner was prepared within 30 minutes. I had no lack of water and fire since the magical stones in the kitchen were both working. Additionally, there were food ranging from ingredients, seasoning, herbs, to spices stored in the storage.
Thanks to this I could make an easy but proper meal. That is a quintessential stew with smoked meat and a cheese base as the main dish, and some pickled vegetables for the side dish. The more important part about this dinner was that it was warm. One’s heart could be filled just by eating a warm meal. I did not intend to criticize the meals Noct had painstakingly made for me. However, as I expected, I was very grateful to have a proper warm meal.
Just to top it off, I put fruit confit into the wine, and somewhat made a sangria. I think this went well also. I had been told to not drink alcohol while I am pregnant. Hence, I just licked the wine to taste it. I was sure Noct would be able to drink this. That being said, seemingly, Noct could not afford to notice the sangria for now.
Noct was eating hurriedly. The way Noct ate perfectly fit the description “Noct was devouring his food”. He was eating the stew hurriedly in front of me. I could not contain my smile at how he ate. It almost resembled the time when we had first met. When I invited him to the Lancent secondary estate.
I observed Noct as I ate the stew as well. The way the stew dirtied his mouth and cheeks resembled a young child. Although I should not be saying this I could not help but think he was adorable.
「Noct. There is something sticking on you」
I timed my call so that he would be more or less full by then. Noct reddened his face and drooped his face as if he was embarrassed at himself. Then, he wiped around his mouth with the back of his hand. However, obviously his mouth would not become clean by just wiping his mouth with his hand. Thus, I leaned forward, parted his long fringe with a napkin, and wiped his face.
Surprised, Noct tried to back away. But he sat still because the back of the chair prevented him from backing away. Making full use of this, I wiped his face completely clean.
「There, your face is clean now. Do you need some water? 」
「……Give me」
It seemed that he gained some composure back. When I poured water into a glass from the water pitcher, he drank it in one go. Then, he exhaled with a satisfied sigh. I could not help but smile at this. Then, Noct took a sudden breath and cast his face downward.
Well, it was a natural reaction. Surely, he did not expect such a situation whereby he not only let the victim out of the room without permission, but made her prepare a meal, and eat dinner with her……rather, it was an undesirable accident. A dinner between the kidnapped and the victim. It reminded me of a scene from a C-class mediocre movie.
Nonetheless, that did not mean I regretted my past actions. While smiling, I opened my mouth.
「Suzette was also worried about you」
「!」
Noct lifted his head suddenly. We locked eyes. Noct attempted to shift his gaze, but I intently looked at him so as to not let his gaze escape.
The light in Noct’s eyes conveyed a sense of fear. Hmm, I did not intend to make him afraid. Was I making a scary face? Involuntarily, I touched my face with my hand. Noct looked down once again.
「Both you and Suzette, are, weird」
Coincidentally, he said the same line when we had hosted him for the first time. I did not know if it was intentional or coincidental. Nonetheless, as if actually mystified and confused, Noct continued stammering softly.
「What you said just now is true. It is all my fault. Yet, why are you being kind to me? Why don’t you blame me like just now? Aren’t you stupid? Not blaming me but even worrying about me and preparing a meal for me」
Was it my imagination that his voice sounded like it was trembling, and that he was about to cry?
「Why are there people like you? I did not know such a thing. No one taught me so. I only needed mother」
「…….『Mother』must be very precious to you, right? 」
「Of course!」
Lifting his head suddenly, Noct shouted with all his might. Involuntarily, I cowered at his voice. Noct guiltily cast his face downwards again.
I felt as though I was being mean to him. I did not mean to say that he did something bad to me. Obviously, the kidnapping aside, that is.
While I remained silent, Noct seemingly could not endure the silence any more. This was because he slowly lifted his head and warily looked into my face. When I tilted my head while smiling, he showed an expression of relief. Then he immediately wiped such expressions off his face.
Ah, what a shame. I murmured in the back of my mind. Remaining expressionless, Noct stared at me as if trying to ascertain something. It was my turn to become uncomfortable.
After contemplating about what to say, I said, 「What is your mother like? 」. Such an unquestionably needless question it was.
Even though I was the one who asked the question, I concluded that he surely would not answer. However, converse to my expectations, Noct slowly lifted his head and faced me. Although I could not read any emotions from his expressionless face, somehow he looked like he was about to cry to me.
「Mother was the person who took me in」
「Took you in…….? 」
I repeated the line that I could not miss. Sarcastically, Noct grinned.
「Don’t tell me you thought I was related to mother by blood. 」
「Am I wrong? 」
「Wrong. I was born to a normal human couple in a village between the mountains in the rural parts of this country. Probably, that is」
「『Probably? 』」
「Yes. In fact, I think my father is a demon」
Noct started talking bit by bit. It was a story only he knew, his own story—–no, it was not just a story. It was his very life.
「When I got to my senses, my parents were gone. But the people in the village insulted the person who bore me as a prostitute who betrayed her religion to mate with a werewolf. The woman’s husband seemed to have left me because he could not bear their insults」
Noct talked plainly; neither burrowing in sorrow nor trembling in hatred. I did not know where Noct’s heart was. Surely, he did not need my response, since I could only fall silent and listen. Undoubtedly, pitying or feeling sorry for him now was too late.
「I did not have a place to go because I was born with these ears and this tail. I neither had a name, nor a house to stay in. The villagers feared me, thinking that they would be cursed if I died because of them. Hence, they neither approached me nor did something against me. Hiding among the mountains, I hunted prey and ate them raw. In the summer I was scorched by the blazing sun, while in the winter I shivered in the snow. I lived like this for a few years—-then, that day came」
「That day……? 」
Suddenly, Noct’s tone changed. His voice definitely conveyed a sense of ingrained fear. At the same time, I felt his voice had a tinge of hopelessness and sadness.
「The villagers had reported about me to the church in the nearby town. I thought, why now? But I was helpless. Even though I had done nothing, even though I was just staying alive」
Saying this, Noct laughed quietly. As far as I knew, Noct’s smile was very rare, and I should be happy to be able to see it. However, currently, I was not happy at all. In contrast, I simply felt pain that penetrated my heart.
Oh yes, hadn’t he said before? Just before I was kidnapped from the Schtorenvihein estate, he had said about the estate, 「They are like that」. Then I had wondered. Why did he speak as if he had experienced it before, when he had no proof? Finally, I understood what he had meant now. What he had said was really based on what he had actually experienced. He had clung onto life without being able to rely on anyone. His trembling voice wielded a mixture of emptiness, helplessness, and indignance against the overwhelming violence that denied him life. He continued.
「So, I was chased by the priests from the mountain, and fell from a cliff. Despite feeling afraid, painful, and stressed, I was very happy when I thought: this was the end, I could finally be free」
He sighed, clearly conveying a sense of relief. Noct narrowed his beautiful yellow eyes, as if he was recalling some memory very precious to him.
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