Author: aji (あじ)
Translator: sleepingjay
Jill
The endpoint of the teleportation was a plateau.
They arrived right as the sun was starting to rise over the horizon.
The upper body of the sun, vermillion bright, dyed the surroundings with a powerful, red glow.
Jill was especially fond of the view from this plateau.
Looking down, there was a lake to the left. On the right was a vibrant meadow full of greenery. A little higher up, the mountain flowers were blooming bountifully.
And if one were to look far, far away in the distance, the everpresent sun always shone beautifully down on this world.
“……It’s pretty.”
In his arms, Lilius murmured. Those words seemed to have escaped him unintentionally.
Jill felt slightly abashed at hearing his favorite place praised. Inexplicably happy, he etched this moment deeply in his memories.
The tall grass swayed in thick clumps, just like the coming and going of sea tides. Their original beautiful golden color was dyed red.
Though dawn had painted the sky, the moon was still on it, now-transparent, a small remnant of the night.
“…..Any other injuries?”
“No.”
Jill knelt down in front of Lilius, who had sat down on the grass.
His feet were small. The snow-white skin was covered in blood. The wounds were worse than Jill thought, and even just walking should have been extremely painful.
A sigh escaped his lips.
“Why did you come after me when you had these injuries? If you had just left, then you wouldn’t be wounded or in pain.
It was too painful…… Jill’s heart was soft, even though he should have been angry.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Frlcu tfjilcu wjulm, tf megfv atf kbecvr. Dea, ktlif kbcvfglcu ktfatfg la kjr ralii tegalcu, tf mjgfrrfv atf rqba ktfgf atf kbecvr tjv yffc.
Cr tf vlv rb, Oliler jcrkfgfv, tlr nblmf oijuulcu ja atf fcv.
“P kjcafv ab jqbibulhf.”
“Ktja’r rbwfatlcu kf mjc rfaaif ktfc kf ufa yjmx ab atf wjcrlbc.”
“…..That won’t do. I think I need to apologize now. I always let Jill come to me, and I keep giving up, so….”
“……”
Usually, Lilius spoke in a brisk manner, like an aristocrat. However at this moment, when he was speaking out his true thoughts and inner heart, he constantly seemed anxious.
The way he was looking up at me, was reminiscent of a young child trying to gauge the mood of an adult.
“I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“……What is this for?”
“Yesterday, I found out who the merchant was. Everything I saw was a misunderstanding, and I also heard about his left eye.”
“Did he show himself?”
“…….Is that no good?”
See, it was happening again.
Jill was merely surprised. But with a start, Lilius’s shoulders shook and he glanced at Jill.
Seeing him like that, Jill’s heart was struck by a disquieting sadness.
It was tempting to pamper and spoil Lilius, to keep him away from everything that could possibly hurt him.
“No, it’s fine. It’s his own decision. Besides, if it’s you, then I have no objection.”
“……Thank you.”
“……”
“Are you mad?”
At the question, Jill’s throat made a sudden sound.
Jill was indeed angry. But it wasn’t about being misunderstood by Lilius. In the first place, part of that was also his own fault.
Jill had so many secrets to the point he hesitated to keep Lilius by his side once again.
Just from hearing a little about it, he suspected that the shadow had been acting unkindly towards the skeptical Lilius.
However, no matter how much he wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, he couldn’t. He had scruples about arbitrarily talking about other people’s past, nor could he reveal someone else’s true identity.
This kind of thing would surely occur again in the future.
Each time, he would end up causing Lilius to be anxious. Could that even be truly called happiness?
In that case, perhaps it might be better for them to stay away from each other.
“I am angry.”
“……ah.”
All said, the reason Jill was angry—
It was a very childish and simple reason.
Lilius’s magic sunk even lower, dispirited. The scent of sadness became thicker.
But Jill did not stop.
“I have never said I liked anyone casually, or even as a joke, but you have always dismissed my feelings. This matter is the reason I am angry.”
“—!”
“Even for someone like me, expressing the word ‘like’ is an extremely important matter. Every time I opened my mouth, full of tension, you never recognized it. You only laughed it off. At this point, it might be easier and better if I was rejected.”
“……I’m sorry.”
It seemed so childish when put into words.
However, for Jill, it was an extremely sad matter. Having his heart brushed aside, and his words dismissed as crap no matter how many times he said them.
Jill had always approached his interactions with Lilius with seriousness and sincerity.
However, in Lilius’s eyes, only Jill the “hero” was reflected, and not the Jill who was just a man concerned about every move of the person he liked.
What could he do to reach Lilius’s heart?
—No matter what, nobody actually likes me seriously.
—No matter what, even Jill doesn’t really like me for real.
—I’ve always been alone.
Every time he heard the voice coming from Lilius’s heart, he felt sad.
—I’m right in front of you. Jill would tell him that again and again.
But the more he said it, the more pained Lilius was, and the distance between the two of them never shrunk.
Even though he was called a hero, he didn’t know a single method to heal the heart of the person he loved. How pathetic was that?
“That, I had no idea you thought that way.”
“……Indeed, that’s true. I’ve also been hiding it. I had been hiding various things from you so that I wouldn’t hurt you. However, I think I’m going to stop doing that.”
At these words, Lilius raised his head.
The face I could finally see was white as paper and tinged with fear.
“……Does that mean you don’t like me anymore?”
Lilius’s lips quivered, his speech faltering.
His large eyes were covered with a film of tears.
Every time Jill received a reaction like this, he almost misunderstood him. Jill’s heart would tell him that Lilius seemed afraid of him leaving.
However, even now when he was like this, Lilius’s heart was still rejecting something, as it always was.
He truly hated that his ability made him able to see what that was.
Gah! Stop using your ability :((
Poor Lilius needs help healing and he needs a sense of security after what he has been through! Think, Jill! Think.
Thanks for the chapter <3
Ha?? He couldn’t stop that ability. Also, Lilius needs that but he himself is the only one who can fully heal himself. I think you didn’t understand Jill’s pov at all if you try to put the blame on him. They should BOTH work on it, not just Jill. They won’t be okay unless they never open up to each other.
I ignored the other comment because I didn’t want to argue with you. But please don’t tell me what I did or didn’t understand and/or what I can or cant say.
if you wanna make your comments, go ahead and make your own comments. but this feels like a personal attack and I really don’t appreciate you commenting on stuff from 7 months ago (other comment) or 2 months ago (this comment) just to be contrary to what I felt/thought at that time. I saw you do it to other’s comments too and I find it completely unnecessary.
thanks for the chapter! ♡
Aaaaah ,….. +.+
Here lies a reader, killed by another steep cliff
Thank you so much for the chapter, hope you are healthy and well
you dont deserved to be the king of the jungle with that weak a.. attitude
lol wth are you even saying, what weak attitude? does being weak meant that you don’t deserve to get comfort and be afraid of the things you were gonna lost in a unexpected situation due to your power and status? King of the Jungle?? lollllll
hahahah..just a passing thoughts from a moment of heat..dont take it at heart…
Jill, out of all people you shouldn’t assume things. Lilius’s heart is rejecting something, but it’s not you!
Thank you for the chapter!!!
thanks for the chapter!