Author: aji (あじ)
Translator: sleepingjay
43
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Half-asleep, I noticed that the warmth against my body was moving away.
I was sleepy, so sleepy I couldn’t move.
But, I didn’t want to let go of that sunny warmth.
My hand stretched out and roamed around, only for something to grasp it first.
A large palm wrapped around my tightly clenched fist.
“Lilius? Have you woken up?”
“Hnn…… don’t.”
“Ah, wait,”
The warmth that had left me came back.
I could vaguely hear someone’s confused voice above me, but I ignored it and forcefully pulled the warmth close to me.
I snuggled to the warmth that had returned. When I found a comfortable spot, my satisfied consciousness went back to sleep again.
“Haa. You’re really a devil when you’re out of it.”
“……’m not.”
At the moment my consciousness cut off, I thought I imagined a voice very similar to Jill’s saying such a thing.
＊
“—it wasn’t my imagination. Am I stupid? Do I want to die that bad?”
Five seconds after waking up:
After awakening, I deeply and furiously reflected on myself while lying on the bed.
Calm down, calm down.
Taking several deep breaths, I looked up. What I saw was a common, ordinary ceiling.
Then I looked at the problematic thing on my left. Aah, this had to be an illusion, right? ……Jill was sleeping there. No matter how many times I looked, this fact didn’t change.
Jill was there, holding me, sleeping soundly and showing an unfairly beautiful sleeping face.
My heart seemed to be trying to burst out into a rampage. I suppressed it ruthlessly, and looked up at the ceiling once again. Then, I took another deep breath……
“~Ah, it’s impossible, I can’t believe I did something like that!”
“…..Morning, Lilius. Do you want me to hug you more?”
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.
“—?!”
Cr lo ab olii lc atf ujq atja tjv yffc ifoa njmjca, Alii fwygjmfv wf. Cc fzagfwfis gfogfrtlcu rwlif jqqfjgfv bc tlr ojmf.
Obbxlcu ja wf ktb kjr rmgfjwlcu kbgvifrris, tf qeggfv klat tfjgaofia qifjregf.
“Yt, la’r atf ereji Oliler. Qtja j qlas.”
“……Tfrafgvjs’r wf kjrc’a wf. Mbgufa jii bo la.”
“Aah, you’re talking about your cuteness last night? You were so sweet when you were asleep, just like a kitten.”
“~tch, I said, that was!”
Not putting up with Jill’s teasing, I got up abruptly.
However, a sharp pain ran through my left arm, and a scream welled up in my throat.
“You can’t make strong movements until you are healed. Come here, I’ll apply some healing magic on you.”
“No,”
“It’s too late to be embarrassed now, there’s not much difference between you yesterday and today.”
“I didn’t cry that much, or anything!”
“Every person alive cries at some point. I understand what you’re saying, so come here, Lilius.”
“……”
Unlike his gentle pretense, he was actually firm and forceful.
Jill had a unique aura that made people unable to fight against him. When I reluctantly returned to his arms, I sensed a hint of confusion from him.
“What’s it now?”
“Ah, nothing. I just wonder if you’re playing around with me sometimes.”
“……”
I chewed on the words in my head.
Then, when I understood his meaning, my face flared with heat.
“M—my bad.”
Right, I didn’t actually have to place myself back in Jill’s arms. I could have just lied down on the bed, and he could have touched my arm with no problem.
Yet, I had snuggled up to Jill’s chest as a matter of course. What was up with me?
I apologised in a fluster and tried to create some distance between us, but my arm was caught and I was pulled back.
“I’m happy though.”
“……Please, shut up already.”
“Of course.”
In his voice, there was a hint of a satisfied, happy smile.
I was too helplessly embarrassed to face him, so I accepted the healing magic in a silent state.
Warmth surrounded my whole body, permeating it and making the pain recede. When I recovered enough to move, breakfast arrived as if the timing had been calculated in advance.
We sat down on the mats. But when I reached out for a spoon, it was taken away by another hand.
What the heck?
Full of dissatisfaction, I looked up at Jill. However, he simply put the spoon up to my mouth with an indifferent face. The food that was on it was perfectly bite-sized.
“……What are you doing.”
“You are left-handed, aren’t you? Wouldn’t it take longer if you eat by yourself?”
“……”
Was he trying to get me, an adult, to accept being spoonfed?
Was he mocking me or being serious? After thinking about it, I finally came up with the answer that Jill was just the sort of person that liked taking care of people.
“……You want to feed me?”
“Hm? Well, I guess that sums it up.”
“I see.”
As I had thought.
I figured it out already, but Jill, who took people out to eat and nagged them to be careful, was a strange person who liked taking care of people—no, rather, he was a meddling guy.
In that case, it shouldn’t be strange for me to take Jill up on his offer.
“……It’s pretty embarrassing to depend on other people like this.”
“Both your dominant arm and your right arm are injured. So, it’s fine to be reliant.”
“……Right.”
Hearing my words, Jill smiled.
I opened my mouth stiffly.
Lightly, a small potato fell on my tongue.
While chewing on the potato that softly crumbled in my mouth, I worried about what to do about this abashed emotion. In the end, I swallowed it down together with the soft potato.
I pretended to nonchalantly look up at Jill, but he only asked me what I would like to eat next, making me feel dispirited.
I was the only one feeling conscious about this situation. I realised that Jill didn’t think anything special of it.
“Hm? You don’t want to eat?”
“No, that’s not it.”
After realising that I was the only one who was agitated, an indescribable emotion came over my heart, leaving me feeling a bit disgruntled.
The meal proceeded blandly.
While I was being fed, I asked about what happened last night.
Thanks to the quick response, there was no major damage.
“Then, did you leave Seth to handle the aftermath?”
“That’s right. Other than that demon, the others didn’t seem to be that strong. You’re the only one injured.”
“……That’s good. I want to thank Seth later. Has he already returned to the garrison?”
As far as I could remember, Jill should have stayed by my side all the time afterwards.
Even though he said the number was small, that makes no difference to the hard work Seth put in. With my nature, I couldn’t sit still if I didn’t thank him properly.
When I looked up with such a thought, Jill had a serious face, and opened his mouth after a few beats.
“Actually, about that, Lilius, you should know the reason the knights were assigned to this town, shouldn’t you?”
“Sort of. Isn’t it because that demon had once attacked along with a huge number of demon beasts?”
The village was situated between forests and mountains.
For a long time, demons and beasts had brought harm to the villagers, who were weak and easily squashed. However, none of these villagers had a sense of crisis.
Last night, taking advantage of this carelessness, the demon attacked the villagers while the demon beasts attacked the town.
They caused great damage, and left behind vivid scars in the memory of the people living here.
“At that time, we respected the opinions of the villagers, but we can’t do the same now that it’s happened a second time. It’s been decided that not only the town, but also the village will have the knights deployed in it.”
“That is,”
“I understand your worry. That’s why I’ve thought of discussing with the village chief on who to choose to send here. In case someone acts with insolence or violence, they’ll be punished severely.”
“……Then, I have nothing to say.”
“Also,”
Jill stopped talking for a beat, eyelashes fluttering slowly before he opened his mouth again with caution.
“Lilius, why don’t you live with me in my residence?”
It took me a moment to understand Jill’s invitation, and I blinked in surprise.
SAY YES SAY YES SAY YES
That would be a reasonable option! Lilius, you are injured, Jill can ease your pain, and spoil you rotten at the same time. AND you can finally perform some parenting, I bet boys are missing you dearly. SO don’t be such a stuborn tsundere and go!
Thank you for the chapter!!!
Sigh. I think I have to give up on expecting any sort of apology from Jill. So disappointed. Yes, it’s sweet & all but this sugar doesn’t sit right with me, not with all blame having been taken by Lilius. Lilius needs love, yes, but he also needs respect & true understanding. My child should have received better.
Thanks for the chapter
I’m so glad someone is still expecting an apology from Jill. The same with you, it really doesn’t sit right with me with them being all sweet and cuddly when Lillius took all the blame and apologize for something he said out of pain and weariness. Lillius deserves so much better. 😞
thanks for the chapter! ♡
Ooh ooh! Speak clearly about everything and say yes!
Thanks for the chapter <3
Is this road to proposal? Hahaha
Thank you so much for the chapter!!~ 🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻
Sweet sweet sweet.
Thanks for the chapter!
please God let him say yes 🙏
thanks for the chapter
I just literally dropped my phone. That was FAST. Jill really said “hey want to move in with me? Since there’s demons and all that” in a smooth way.
thanks for the chapter!