Chapter 85: A Leaf's Fading Color's

I wanted to question why she continued to have sex with me despite me being unconscious, but I refrained from doing so and just decided to ignore it as I could tell Master wasn't too pleased with the conversation.

"Ahh, that was delicious, Leader's disciple!" Said Simba with a loud burp as he patted his chest, earning disgusting looks from his three former teammates.

"Show proper etiquette, Simba, or I'll forbid you from eating at the table." Said Lavender with a slight frown as she glared at Simba while tapping Alexander's arm, prompting him to use his wind mana to clear the room.

"Eh, sorry, I'll make sure to do so next time." Replied Simba with an apologetic smile while sheepishly rubbing his head, causing Lavender to sigh as she knew it wouldn't happen.

"Anyways, Leader's disciple, I've been meaning to ask ever since we first met, but how did you stop me?" Asked Simba curiously while his expression became slightly serious as he eyed Alexander, his words garnering the attention of Lavender.

"I wouldn't really say I stopped you, more like slowed you down, but it's a skill of my greatsword-" Remarked Alexander wryly as he scratched his head and summoned Trina from his right hand, though before he could, he was cut-off by Simba.

"I'm not talking about your weapons skill; I'm talking about when I was about to grab Leader. You yelled at me, and following that, my body suddenly stopped; I could no longer move despite trying to. It was almost like my body was no longer mine to command." Stated Simba solemnly as he gazed deeply into Alexander's purple eyes, eliciting curiosity in both Marlin and Lily and prompting them to also look at Alexander while Talis was busily enjoying her food.

"Hmm? Oh, I know what you're talking about, but I didn't do anything. I figured you stopped on your own accord; at that time, I was also confused about why you suddenly stopped. Though since I had thought you were trying to harm Master, I didn't think about it for long." Replied Alexander in confusion with a slight frown while looking at Simba, who was also confused.

"Weird; if you didn't do anything, then why did my body forcefully come to a halt." Muttered Simba in confusion as he leaned back and stroked his beard, looking rather philosophical.

'Master, you were actually the reason why Simba couldn't move.' Said Trina within Alexander's mind, though her words only furthered his bewilderment.

'Hmm, I was? But I'm confident I didn't do anything; at that time, I had yelled at Simba purely out of fear and anger.' Replied Alexander with a raised eyebrow, and while he was skeptical of Trina, given her notoriety for not being able to explain things properly, he did trust her.

'Yes, you did, Master, but because of the powerful emotion of fear and anger you were feeling at the moment, you managed to subconsciously use your Mythical trait, [Heroes Will], forcing Simba's body to stop.' Stated Trina as she folded her arms and nodded her head, though all Alexander felt was a slight pulse in his head.

Listening to her words, I was quite surprised Trina was able to properly explain something without leaving me more confused than before; the trait [Heroes Will] was something I'd forgotten about over the years. Among all of my skills and traits, it's the only one I haven't ever been able to use, I mean, besides passive abilities like [Heroes Aura] and [Omnilingual].

With that new knowledge, I decided not to bother informing everyone, not because I wanted to keep it a secret or anything, but mainly because I had no way of displaying the use of a skill; besides, the conversation has since changed.

"Excuse me if this question is a little rude, as I know Master doesn't like speaking about it, but how are you all so old? Master's a Dryad, and Marlin is a Dark-Elf, so I can see them living for long periods of time, but you and Simba don't seem to be the type of species that tend to live for a long time." Asked Alexander curiously as he interrupted the four's conversation, causing Lavender to groan in annoyance while everyone else didn't seem to mind.

"My goodness, Lavy really didn't tell you anything about this world; no wonder she never liked the idea of having a disciple; she always knew she would be a sorry excuse of a Master." Remarked Lily with widened eyes as she gave Alexander a look of pity before shaking her head and glancing at Lavender in disappointment.

"I-I was going to tell him!" Yelled Lavender defensively with a slight blush of shame as she knew Lily was right, but she wasn't about to admit it, especially not to Lily, considering she slept with Alexander.

"A long time ago, we drank a longevity potion, which greatly elongated our life span; without it, none of us would be here today; we'd have long since died. Even Lavender, who could live the longest among us, would've died over 1,000 years ago." Stated Marlin calmly as he finished eating his food and wore his cloak again, hiding his appearance.

"Oh, that makes sense. Though I must agree with Lily on this one, Master, how are you going to be an alchemist and not tell me about that?" Said Alexander with a nod before looking at Lavender sitting on his lap and giving her a blank look, causing her to fold her arms and huff in annoyance while her cheeks were bright red in shame.

Chuckling at Master, I shook my head and tightened my hug around her as the five of us, excluding Master, started talking about things, which mainly consisted of me asking about their past while refraining from trying to accidentally bring up the topic regarding their party; since whenever they did, I'd see vast amounts of rage, wrath, and anger appear within their hearts.

Once everyone finished eating, we all exited the house and leaned against the tree as he continued our conversation from earlier; just like this, the day passed by with the five of us, plus occasionally Talis, enjoying ourselves. Not once did any of us bring up the topic of Master's declining health, even though it was visible to all that she was aging at an accelerated rate.

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With Master's health declining every passing hour, I spent every waking moment with her, forgoing my training just to spend more time with her. I never separated from her, not even when she used the bathroom; well, I stood outside the door; I didn't actually go inside with her. I wanted to, but she refused me to do so, which is understandable, but it did waste our precious time together, which was already incredibly limited.

As the days slowly passed, it was getting harder on the two of us; Master was becoming less and less active, and more of her skin was turning brown while she became even more wrinkly. Unlike Master, I didn't feel any physical pain, but being forced to watch your lover experience agonizing pain while slowly dying without being able to do a single thing to help her was honestly driving me insane; it was emotional torture at its cruelest.

Though for Master, I forced myself to stay calm as I stood by her side on her last days, even going so far as to use [Heroes' Gaze] to slow down my perception of time so it felt like I was spending more time with her.

"T-Tell me, Alexander, have I lost my beauty?" Asked Lavender weakly as she lay in Alexander's embrace, the two having just finished a passionate night of lovemaking.

"Depends which beauty you're talking about, Lavender; you're physical or spiritual one?" Questioned Alexander softly as he gently caressed Lavender's back, which felt rough and dry, a far cry from her usually soft, tender skin.

"Both."

"Well, your physical beauty has definitely vanished, and if I showed people a before and after picture, most people would find it hard to believe that the two people were actually the same. However, your spiritual beauty has stayed just the same, if not even more beautiful than before; after all, I fell in love with you not because of your physical looks but because of who you were, Lavender. Your physical appearance was just a plus, in my opinion." Replied Alexander truthfully as he used his other hand to grab Lavender's hand and transfer his emotions into her, causing her to softly smile before suddenly erupting into a fit of coughing.

Seeing her cough with such intensity while being unable to do anything felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing me in the heart.

"I-I'm fine; t-though I'm both glad and sad to hear that." Said Lavender as she finally rested her head back on Alexander's chest once she finished coughing.

"Beauty fades, but the heart will always remain the same; a quote from my past life, one that fits us perfectly." Remarked Alexander as he closed his eyes, his words causing Lavender to laugh weakly.

"Hehe, what a wonderful quote; I wish I had heard it sooner." Muttered Lavender while soaking up Alexander's love.

"It's getting late, Lavender; you should go to sleep." Said Alexander softly as he looked down at Lavender, though, to his surprise, she shook her head.

"No, I'm fine." Replied Lavender, though when she felt Alexander's hand squeeze her own, she nearly started to cry.

"Heh, I can't hide anything from those stunning purple eyes of yours. Can I, my disciple? I-I can't go to sleep; if I close my eyes, I-I won't ever open them again." Added Lavender weakly with a forced smirk as she felt the world around her begin to dim.