Ch-66: Behemoth (8)

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The smile disappeared from Frillite's face.

"Why should I do that?"

"Well..?"

"I asked why. Don't make me ask twice."

Her voice was frigid cold. Her face was expression-less, but her eyes were hiding a snowstorm within.

Lorian was perplexed.

The words he had uttered were a bit out of line, he had expected a certain amount of backlash. But he did not expect that she would react so strongly.

'Are they already close to that level…'

He was glad that he hadn't delayed any further.

"Well, then please excuse me. I had tried not to sound harsh."

Lorian groaned, refining his set of words inside his head.

He then spoke in a voice as soft as possible, for him.

"Cloud is a Hero, yes. But we are fundamentally different."

"What do you mean by being different?"

"Class. In short, the environment we belong to is different."

He was a commoner without origin.

He was of humble bloodline.

No such direct words were used. Regardless of what Lorian actually thought, he knew better than to say a word that she wouldn't like.

"Look at him."

Lorian pointed towards Cloud, surrounded by the citizens. The square still had a friendly atmosphere.

"It is a delightful sight, indeed. A hero calming the citizens who have been harmed by monsters, it's good, right? Perhaps those citizens will get some comfort from that, too. So I will not deny that he is a great warrior. But."

Lorian narrowed his eyes.

The reason the cloud was launched earlier was to say this.

"He is disqualified as a noble."

"…"

Frillite clasped her arms together and lifted her chin.

At the signal to continue speaking, Lorian gained confidence and continued to speak with same momentum.

"Think about it. What is a noble? In other words, it means being a ruler. It means not to be a person who cares about every single commoner, but a visionary who stands tall over them."

Lorian pulled up the hand that was pointing at Cloud.

"Of course, even if you are a ruler, you can pay attention to each and every commoner. You can hear masses say that people like him become good rulers. But he will never be a good one."

A ruler is a being who reigns and a being who rules.

A ruler must be able to see the future.

If he forsakes the future because he is afraid of some sacrifice, he will be buried in the present.

"Frillite. You and I were born as rulers. We were different from people like Cloud and Gis from birth. I was just saying this out of fear that hanging out with Cloud would undermine your identity as a ruler."

After Lorian's words were finished, Frillite remained silent. He knew that she was taking his words seriously and that made him elated.

But it was an illusion.

After a while, Frillite's forehead had a tic.

"Lorian, do you see me as a fool?"

"Huh..?"

Lorian was stunned.

How did she took his words for her to come to such a conclusion?

Was she misunderstanding something?

But Lorian was given no time to explain.

Frillite continued without stopping.

"I, Frillite de Perdiac, understand my position, role, and responsibilities as a hero and as the next head of the Perdiak family. But you think I'm going to ruin it all because of my personal feelings. What does this mean if you don't see me as a fool?"

"No, no. That's not what I meant…"

"Stop making excuses!"

Frillite's wrathful shout resounded loudly.

The citizens around her looked at her in shock, but she didn't mind them and stared at Lorian.

"Listen carefully. Frillite de Perdiac is a hero, and if she had to sacrifice for the peace of the continent, she would gladly lay down this one life. If she had to make some sacrifices for her estate as the next lord of the Perdiac's, she would. If you have understood what I have said, get out immediately."

Because she didn't want to see him anymore.

While Frillite was furious, Lorian was greatly agitated.

Because it was the first time he had ever seen Frillite get so blatantly angry. H-How he was going to fix this? That alone made Lorian feel like his head would explode.

"Frillite, I had no intention of demeaning you. I was just worried, so please release your anger. I apologize for my mistake."

Lorian apologized in the most courteous manner possible.

Of course, there was no way that Frillite's anger would be resolved with just a single apology.

Her anger was for the insult to her values, the insult towards Cloud, and her displeasure towards a third party for trying to take away her first friend from her, and so on. It was a collection of complex emotions.

Contrary to her heart, however, Frillite sighed deeply and accepted his apology.

She also wanted to maintain an amicable relationship with other heroes, though both her mind and heart wanted something else.

"Thank you for accepting my apology. But I want you to reconsider what I told you earlier."

"Lorian, you are..!"

"Not for the same reason!"

She stretched out her hand towards her sword, she was losing her cool, and Frillite wasn't taking it any longer. Lorian almost lost his control and hurriedly waved his hand like a snobbish brat.

"Won't there be rumours when a man and a woman get together too much? Then Frillite, it will become a problem during the time of your marriage…"

"I don't know why you worry so much about my marriage. Let them create as many rumours as they want."

Frillite interrupted him and spoke as she sheathed her sword. Lorian joked to try lighten the atmosphere.

"So you don't worry about rumours… You are strangely confident. You don't even want to marry Cloud, do you?"

"…"

Frillite did not answer.

Lorian's eyes twitched at her silence.

'What, what? Why are you closing your mouth all of a sudden? It was a joke, alright..?'

N-Noo way?

Just when Lorian wanted to open his trembling lips.

"What are you guys doing?"

Cloud, approached from behind, intervening between the two of them.

Precisely, he stood close to Frillite.

'Wh-When did he leave the square?'

Why was he here? Rather, why at this time!

Now, it was impossible for him to urge Frillite to answer the previous question. What happened next made Lorian's expression wrinkled in annoyance.

Because, he saw.

Frillite looked at Cloud and opened her eyes wide, she was surprised, then she smiled softly.

It was a big contrast to the cold expression she had taken towards Lorian.

"Cloud, you literally jump out of nowhere. Thanks to you, I was shocked silly."

"I don't jump out of air. I walked here, openly, just that you didn't notice. What were you so engrossed with that you didn't even notice my footsteps?"

"Something you don't need to know."

Indeed, it was not the cold voice she had when dealing with Lorian.

"Come on, tell me! What is it? What are you guys hiding~?"

"Like I said, it's not a big deal."

"Hoh… so you are going to hide it to the end? You don't know, but these things pile up one by one and destroy friendship. You have planted the seed of distrust between us, Frillite."

"Why do you like exaggerating things so much? Stop whining and chill out. Is there any reason to whin like a kid?"

"Of course I'm jealous!"

"Gee, jealous?!"

…he felt so confused.

The world itself seemed to be tilting on the other side.

She is Frillite, right? The Frillite he knew?

A small sense of uneasiness grew in size and made Lorian's heart heavy.

– You don't want to marry Cloud, do you?

A joke thrown in to lighten the mood.

It was just a joke, but suddenly it started to turn realistic.

'Marriage..? With that guy?'

With that bastard who had nothing to this name except his worthless good looks?

Why?

Lorian couldn't quite understand.

Lorian was better than Cloud in all aspects except for his appearance. Also, had he become ugly just because his looks were inferior to Cloud?

No!

He was so good looking that ninety out of the hundred women would turn around when he walked down the street.

'Is Frillite more into appearance than I thought?'

If so, this anomaly could have been explained. But instead, Lorian felt the sensation of being stabbed in the chest with an awl. For the first time in his life, Lorian felt a sense of inferiority.

Lorian was about to clench his fists to control his burning heart.

When, Cloud's and his eyes met.

Cloud looked at Lorian for a moment, and then gently placed his hand on Frillite's shoulder.

Lorian eyes popped with blood pressure.

It was almost funny, his eyes seemed to be popping out.

'Whose body does that lowly bastard thinks he is touching!'

Last time and this time too.

He didn't know his place.

Just when Lorian was about to say something stingy.

"So be it. I won't ask any more, let's go get a drink."

Cloud smiled and invited Frillite.

For a moment, Lorian doubted his own ears.

Had he heard it right? Did that commoner bastard just dared to invite the heiress of the Perdiac family for a drink?

It felt so ridiculous that he was barely stopping himself from bursting out with laughter.

Building friendships as fellow heroes and having a drink together are completely different things. If she does that, she will never be able to avoid a rumour in making.

And having such rumours were one of the worst nightmares for an unmarried woman of a noble family.

Of course, there are still some young girls who secretly went out to drink with handsome men.

However.

'… Frillite isn't your usual woman.'

She was qualitatively different from the women around Lorian.

Regardless of whether it was an aristocrat or a commoner.

That was one of the reasons Lorian adored her.

No matter how friendly you are, she will firmly reject your offer…

"I got it. Alright, don't rush. Where are we going to drink though? The city is not in the mood for them to open the pubs, as you can see."

Lorian's face contorted in despair.

That was enough to startle even Cloud for a second, but Frillite was not surprised.

Because she just wasn't paying attention to him.

Since Cloud came, she hadn't looked at Lorian a single time.

It was same for this time as well.

"Can we not have drinks in the castle? If the duke still has some conscience left, wouldn't he bring out some fine produce for us to taste?"

"Oh, that's kind of exciting."

"Then it's decided, let's go."

""

Cloud turned on his heels, placing a hand on Frillite's shoulder.

The two heroes headed for the castle, leaving Lorian behind, alone.

What could he even say?

He wanted to stop them, he had come up with reasons, but his lips just wouldn't move.

Lorian was blankly staring as two of them were about to leave his sight. When–

Cloud turned his head to look at Lorian, and then, saw his misery…

He smirked.

Lorian, who had seen Gis prank others several times in the past, knew the meaning of that smirk. So, he suddenly lost his sanity.

His face contorted fiercely, he stretched out his hand towards his sword.

Cloud's eyes turned sharp.

[Strength in Numbers]-!

The moment he saw Cloud's eyes, his body stiffened.

The stiffness was released within 0.5 seconds. Lorian with his high resistance to status abnormalities, wasn't made to suffer 'fear' status.

Originally, he should have been happy with his high resistance showing its worth…

'I-I am scared? M-Me?'

Lorian didn't know anything about Cloud's Behemoth's Glyph. Therefore, it was natural for him to accept the stillness of his body with a different meaning.

Slump!

Lorian sat down helplessly.

There was no more of his characteristic arrogance in those eyes. There was only a deep sense of defeat.

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02