“Is that how you’re going to hit me?”
“Shut up, bald dude. Be grateful it stopped at that.”
“Grateful? What the hell…”
Alex was sitting on Yona’s bed, gently rubbing his head.
It had been a while since Yona’s palm had made contact.
That palm left a bright red mark on Alex’s smooth scalp.
“So, why are you here?”
Yona, finally calming down and returning to her normal self, cleared her throat and asked Alex.
After a good while of his heart racing, it felt like it was finally settling back into its rhythm.
“Ceres, the Regent, was looking for you. She asked you to come to her room.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She just wanted me to pass the message. She’s only calling for you.”
Why again?
Calling people here and there, isn’t this going to lead to something annoying this time?
Yona was gripped by an ominous feeling.
*
“They said the hero’s party will arrive late this afternoon.”
“…Really?”
“Yep, that’s what I heard.”
Yona nodded while picking up a cookie from the plate Ceres offered and dunking it heavily in honey.
The sweetness of the cookie and the honey combined to create a literally violent sweetness that filled her body with sugar.
“So, there might be a banquet tonight.”
“…Wasn’t I called to go greet them?”
“What? Greet them?”
Ceres looked at her with a confused expression.
Yona faced Ceres with a somewhat unimpressed look.
Since she had called with such a serious tone, she thought she was being asked to go welcome the hero’s party upon their arrival, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
“Forget I said anything.”
“Why would you go to greet them? All the important people will be in a flock, and there you are standing around. What if someone goes, ‘Hey, I sense a demon over there?’ Now that would really be a disaster.”
“That’s true.”
Swallowing her cookie, Yona casually glanced down at her left arm.
To be honest, she didn’t quite understand either. The Vervaria residing in this arm was literally a demon itself, yet how come no one in the Church Region ever seemed to notice her wandering around?
If they hadn’t witnessed her devouring a mermaid, they might not have believed she was a demon at all.
If I hadn’t seen his face, I might not have believed that he was a demon.
In fact, even after seeing him, the terror faded away completely after watching Rubin imitate Yona’s mannerisms just days ago in a dream.
Nonetheless, it can’t be concluded that others wouldn’t recognize the magic of Vervaria that dwells in Yona, so Ceres’ words weren’t entirely wrong.
“Instead, please attend the banquet. Both Yona and Alex, as well as Kaiyak. Ah, but Rubina can’t. She’s already received too much favoritism, so that’s out of the question. It would be a bit problematic if she stands out too much compared to the other kids.”
“Yeah, I get it. Fine.”
There was no reason to disagree.
The adventurer who defeated Vervaria at Kapatia Port, the child Yona personally brought.
Add to that, the elder Ceres and the Pope both personally acting as guardians.
Rubina, who was already receiving excessive protection at the orphanage, attending such a banquet would cause too much comparison with the other kids.
That wouldn’t do her any good, and moreover, it wouldn’t be beneficial for Rubina’s self-development either.
If she starts to think she’s too special, and grows up believing that—
“Vigrind, she’ll end up just like that. Ugh.”
I can’t bear to see that.
Yona hoped Rubina would grow up to be a child with correct and healthy thoughts.
*
On the day the hero’s party arrives, Yona couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Strangely enough, Yona found the hero quite unpleasant.
Ludvik didn’t seem like a bad person; in fact, she knew he was a good guy.
During the Semek battle, Ludvik truly acted like a hero, and thanks to him, they avoided being slaughtered in Semek.
Although Scarlet, the cathedral knight, also contributed, it’s a fact that it was Ludvik who held back the waves of the dead before he joined.
Still, there was something about the hero that felt uncomfortable.
Vigrind wasn’t on bad terms anymore, but for Yona, he wasn’t exactly a comfortable person either.
“Scarlet is also coming, isn’t he…”
Ludvik,
Vigrind,
Scarlet.
These three made up the hero’s party, so if they all came together, Yona would have three people who were rather uncomfortable for her.
“Still, don’t be like that. After all, they are comrades who have crossed the battlefield together.”
“Anyway, we’re comrades who crossed the line together.”
“You’re quick on the uptake. How can you say, ‘Look at me nicely’ when we’re practically about to knock each other’s heads off?”
Yona squinted her eyes and glared at Alex.
But then she quickly turned away.
Whenever their eyes met, it somehow reminded her of what happened last night, and looking at his silly, grinning face… it felt like her face was heating up.
“Well, I mean, guys can be like that. I won, right? So it doesn’t matter.”
“Oh really, winning, huh? Didn’t we each take a hit?”
“Hey, let’s get real. I blocked with my shield! He hit me with my hammer on the side. That means I won.”
“Well look at you. Good job, good job.”
Yona pouted her lips a bit, but deep down, she wasn’t feeling too bad about it.
Honestly, Alex was kinda cool at that moment.
He stood in front of Yona, throwing a fit, and not only did he block Scarlet’s attack with his shield, but he also hit back with his hammer, which was pretty awesome.
“So, you see? Moping over past feelings won’t do you any good. You know that, right?”
“That’s true…”
But still, it’s also true that she couldn’t shake her feelings off completely.
Still, it would be best to leave it at this level.
Since Alex was the main party involved, if he was okay, then it was okay.
If she was the one getting all worked up about it, that would just be weirder.
With that thought, Yona shifted her mindset.
“So, when are they coming?”
“No idea, me neither.”
And barely had she finished speaking when, from afar, the sound of a choir echoed.
A grand and weighty melody that surely welcomed the hero’s party as they entered the Church Region.
“Wow. Talk about favoritism.”
“What favoritism are you talking about?”
“Are you genuinely nice, or are you just dumb? No guts, huh?”
Yona didn’t care what Alex was saying and flopped down on his bed.
She’d been feeling a bit hot since earlier and didn’t like the feeling one bit.
As she gently rubbed her left arm, she could feel the heat rising.
No matter how you look at it, they had solved things so coolly just yesterday, so how much pent-up desire was still hanging around?
“Still, I think we got here faster than expected, right?”
“Isn’t this the same?”
“They said they’d arrive late in the afternoon, but it seems like they got here early.”
Yona, who had been sprawled on the bed, turned her head to gaze out the window.
The sun was already past its zenith, half-hanging in the sky.
It was awkwardly positioned, right in that no-man’s land between noon and afternoon.
Not quite this, not quite that, simply hanging around in the middle.
As Yona stared at the sun for a moment, she stretched out both hands.
Her right arm and left arm.
The right arm, inscribed with a saying, and the left arm, possessed by a demon.
Yona, who could freely enter and exit the barrier that humans couldn’t touch.
Thoughts began to swirl.
“…What are you looking at?”
When she shifted her gaze, Alex hurriedly looked away.
But Yona didn’t miss that brief moment when their eyes met, nor did she miss that Alex had been staring at her intently.
‘Look at this guy?’
Sitting up, Yona adjusted the skirt of her nun’s habit.
With a face full of mischief, she approached Alex, and he scratched his flushed face, desperately avoiding her gaze.
“What were you staring at, huh?”
“…I-I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
Seeing Alex’s red face stirred up some playful mischief in her.
He always had a fantastic reaction, was a bit naive, and was quite skilled, too.
Yona knew well that it would be hard to find someone like him anywhere else.
The heat radiating from her left arm felt particularly intense.
“No, it’s nothing. Really.”
“Sure, let’s say it’s nothing. Such an innocent guy.”
Yona flopped back down on the bed and stretched lazily.
‘Should I take a nap or something?’
Since they said they’d call her when the banquet was ready, there was nothing else to do.
Waiting was the job for now, and she had no other tasks at the moment.
“Hey, bald guy. I’m going to take a nap in my room, so call me when the banquet starts.”
“Uh, o-ok. Sure.”
Leaving behind Alex’s awkward chuckle, Yona waved goodbye and stepped out of the room.
She’d have a good long nap, eat lots of delicious food at the banquet tonight.
Sure, there were still lingering problems to solve, but that could wait.
Worrying about matters that hadn’t even happened yet was not Yona’s style.
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