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Last Embryo Volume 6 Chapter 2 Part 5

Truth to be told, Ayato herself was surprised at how straightforward and easy to say her words were when she finally managed to muster up the courage to actually say them out loud instead of keeping them all to herself, but most importantly, she must have felt like that because these words were her own, true feelings.

She really was grateful to everyone who made her previous life as a Knight of Queen Halloween in Little Garden possible, and she would never have traded the life that she lived for anything else, because everything that she want through throughout these long years was an invaluable experience that shaped her up they way she was and might have even carried over onto her current life to some degree.

「You say that you are no longer who you used to be in your previous life, but. . . .  but did you not receive a mission from Queen Halloween along with your new life?」

「That might be so, but I am trying to look at that matter a little bit more objectively. After all, is it not nice to have a goal and guidelines for it in your life instead of wandering through it aimlessly while wallowing and dreading the fact that you have no idea what the purpose og your life actually is? And besides, it is not like Queen Halloween and her mission are the only things that I have in my life, you know? In this new life of mine I have been blessed with a wealthy home and loving parents, and I always made sure to enjoy both of these things immensely.」

Asuka was genuinely surprised when she saw Ayato smiling. Back when she was still Faceless, the Knight of Queen Halloween who always kept her face hidden behind a mask, she never smiled like that towards her even once. She constantly has a tense, overly-serious atmosphere around her and she looked tense all the time as well, which made Asuka think that back then she must have constantly had so much on her platter that she simply could not afford to smile, because that might have been taken for a sign of weakness on her part, meaning that she could not even crack the smallest of smiles under that face-covering mask of hers. But maybe, when she was all alone and there was no one looking at her with their discerning, all-seeing eyes . . . .  maybe then Faceless was smiling in the exact same way Ayato was doing it right now?

「Thank you for telling me all of this even if you did not have to. You are really kind, Miss Ayato.」

「N-No, not at all. If anything, then I should apologize to you for only speaking in broad, general terms without going into details about anything. . . . . 」

「My oh my, such a formal, uptight answer. But if that is how you really feel, then maybe I should have you talk to me about everything in greater detail later, when we are going to have all the time in the world without anyone else distracting us?」

「Y-Yes? If it is going to be only for a little bit then I would not mind that.」

It was an unexpected development for Ayato, but not the one that was entirely unwelcome, if she were to be totally honest. But the most important thing for her right now was that she was able to properly explain her circumstances to Asuka, and it did not end with them jumping at each other’s throats again. She only wished that it could have been done a bit more tactfully and with less chaos and almost heart attacks on her part. And who know, maybe this was the first step needed for Kudou Asuka and Kudou Ayato to actually build a new kind of relationship between the two of them? If would have been nice if it actually did, because that might just end up being a lot more fun than Ayato initially thought, and now that she revealed her identity to Asuka, she believed that there will be nothing more capable of scaring her. . . .

「Say, Ayato? Was that really a good idea?」

「Huh? What do you mean, Miss Uesugi?」

Ayato responded to Uesugi’s question with a question of her own, and she elaborated on what she meant by that while putting her wand on er waist with a somewhat anxious look on her face.

「I mean, do not take me wrong, I am so glad that the two of you finally managed to explain your circumstances to each other, because as someone who lived the most of her life lying and keeping secrets about myself from everyone around me, trust me when I say that such a life is nothing that you might have wanted for yourself. . . . .  however, I was just wondering, was it really necessary for the two of you to have that 「I have no memory of my past life and all of the things that I have done in it」setting in order for the two of you to get along with each other? Looking at how things went down just now, was that not nothing but an unnecessary landmine in your relationship?」

「Hmm. . . . . 」

Now that Ayato came back to her usual, calm and collected self, Ayato could think about Uesugi’s words without risking flying off the handle like she did when You outed her to Asuka. And after mulling that question over for a while, she had to admit that Uesugi was essentially right with what she said. Now that she managed to explain all of her circumstances to Asuka, there was basically no need for her to be keeping up the charade of not remembering anything from her previous life.

Or rather, being done with this charade was actually the best possible thing to do, because now that she knows the truth, Asuka will no longer have to worry about Ayato’s intentions or the possibility of her holding a grudge against her for killing her when she was still Faceless.

「You know, this situation between you reminds me of a certain proverb: 「Better to ask and be embarrassed than not ask and never know」. Have you ever heard of it?」

「I think I heard it before, but what does that have to do with our current situation?」

「Think about it this way: Asuka found out about your secret in an admittedly. . . .  less than desireble way that left you feeling quite scarred and embarrassed, if your facial expressions were any indications of your mental state, but at the very least now she knows everything, so even though you have caused quite a large amount of shame for yourself right now, it is still better than keeping your secrets to yourself, which could have led to a pretty bad situation further down the line. So be honest with me: if now was not the time to tell Asuka the truth, then when would that be, huh? Exactly. And since you decided to go and tell her the truth despite having your worries about it, then it also means that you have grown as a person as well, and that is something to be truly proud of!」

「Mou . . . . D-Do not say such stupid things. . . . ! ! !」

Now that she has laid her true feelings bare before Asuka, there was no way that she could have done it any other way, like turning it all into a joke along the lines of 「Oh I am so sorry, but I, like, totally remember everything from my previous life~~! And I also remember all of those situations where I had to step in and save your backside, so have fun with that~~☆!」

. . .  Yes, that would be so embarrassing to say that if Ayato done such a thing, she would have probably dropped dead on the spot.