Catfight

Midra’s matter, for now, was tucked away.

A fellow whose true nature was utterly impossible to grasp.

And I concluded, one who seemed too burdensome to dig into further.

‘This, I can only watch cautiously, little by little.’

Wielding divine magic as he did, acting rashly was even more out of the question.

So, for the moment, I’d decided to hold back.

Right now, just pushing through the scenario is already taxing enough.

The Winter Magic Palace War, begun in such a muddled, confused fashion.

For this place, for this Winter Magic Palace War, forming a preliminary team was necessary.

Professor Veganon had said he’d entrust the team formation to me.

Having seen my abilities thus far, he’d acknowledged them and entrusted it to me.

I had to carry out what was entrusted faithfully.

To do so, first and foremost, I asked Sharin.

“Sharin, a magic palace search team is needed. How about it, would you like to go along?”

“Is that really the kind of thing you ask so blithely?”

A lighter atmosphere is often easier to approach than a heavy one.

Sharin listened to my question and stared intently at me.

“Husband.”

Then, she raised her hand, just like that, and began to pinch and poke my cheeks this way and that.

“Don’t you remember almost dying in the magic palace not so long ago?”

That’s right.

Somehow I had managed to return alive, but back then I truly had been on the verge of death.

“And yet you’re saying you’ll descend into the magic palace again? You made a promise to me, didn’t you?”

“The promise I made to Sharin, never to return injured.”

The memory of that vow, rekindled by her, brought a sheepish grimace to my face.

“That’s why I want you to come with me.”

“And what if you suffer some other curse or affliction?”

“I figured Sharin, being the genius mage she is, would already have devised some method to prevent it.”

Sharin puffed out her chest, a hint of pride coloring her features.

“Of course, I havee!”

To think she actually prepared for this.

Typical Sharin.

But regardless, a pout lingered on her face.

“Husband, you’ve always had a bit of a tendency, but lately you’ve been throwing yourself into danger even *more* recklessly.”

Sharin clung to my shoulder.

Her skinship had been steadily increasing as of late.

“It’s because of this.”

The shroud bandage I was using.

Sharin had long since seen through my true nature.

So, she’d realized the shroud bandage was the source of my defects.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t told Sharin about the problems the shroud bandage caused.

I hesitated for a moment.

Was it right to reveal this to her?

But the times Sharin had helped me already numbered more than a few.

I couldn’t keep secrets from her forever.

“Sharin.”

I told her about the penalties associated with the shroud bandage.

At first, she listened silently with her usual languid expression.

But soon, Sharin’s face gradually transformed, ultimately twisting into a deep frown.

The sharp angles of her furrowed brows were striking.

A fierce glint flashed in her eyes, like distant stars exploding.

“…Husband.”

Sharin gripped the collar of my coat tightly.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“There just wasn’t an opportunity, I suppose.”

“The reason I never particularly wondered about your husband’s identity… it’s because whoever he was, it didn’t matter to me.”

I’d never seen Sharin so earnest before.

“But this is different. You’re headed towards a dangerous place, continuously.”

“…Yes, you’re right.”

In an instant, I became the guilty party, listening obediently to Sharin’s words.

Sharin gently chided me.

“Do you know what happens when you lose even your sorrow?”

I don’t.

Because I was losing the last of my own sorrow.

But lately, I’ve been less and less aware of the danger I’m in.

It seemed to be the effect of the last sorrow fading away.

“You won’t stop, even if I ask you to, will you?”

Instead of answering, I lowered my head.

In a few months, I won’t be able to enter the Demonic Palace anymore.

There weren’t many options left to me.

Sharin gazed at my face and sighed deeply.

Then, she lifted her arms and embraced me tightly.

“Alright. I’ll take care of your emotional defect.”

My eyes met Sharin’s.

Sharin rested her chin on my shoulder and nodded slightly.

“It’s a wife’s duty to support what her husband wants to do, right? I’ll just have to recover all the emotions he loses.”

It seemed she was truly intending to become my wife.

Following Seron and Isabel, even Sharin.

They all declared they would help me regain my emotions.

I had forgotten what love even was.

But I could tell that their sincere hearts stemmed from love.

And so, perhaps, I grew curious.

It was an emotion that had always been there, so I’d never paid it much mind.

But now that it’s gone, this feeling called love…it makes me curious.

What is it that moves these three so sincerely?

And how can they wear such a happy smile when they look at me?

I want to know too.

‘Ah, I see.’

Emotions vanished, swathed in a bandage-like veil.

The first stepping stone in finding those emotions is this very curiosity toward what I’ve lost.

The emotion of love that these three have shown me.

Because I saw and received this emotion with my own eyes, I can be curious.

‘I can get it back.’

Surely, if I have these three, I can regain love.

And so, I raised my hand and gently stroked Sharin’s hair.

Perhaps because it was the first time I’d initiated touch like this.

Sharin’s large eyes widened into perfect circles.

“Yes, I’d like to ask you a favor.”

A faint smile bloomed on my face.

If it’s Sharin, she can surely restore my emotions.

So when I asked, Sharin stared intently at me.

Then, she lifted herself onto her toes.

In that instant, a soft sensation brushed against my cheek.

Sharin’s lips had touched my cheek.

After a moment, her lips parted from my cheek.

“A reward for being such a good boy.”

Can a one-sided skinship really be a reward?

I don’t know for sure, but seeing Sharin’s beaming smile, it must be.

Even if I don’t know other emotions, I certainly know the feeling of joy.

Sharin’s happy smile was the same joy for me too.

“More than that, now I finally understand why my husband has been so impassive even though I’ve been here all along.”

Sharin nodded, as if all the clues had finally fallen into place.

“He likes me, but he didn’t know love, so he couldn’t express it.”

That now, what sort of nonsense is that?

“Since when have I ever, Sharin, been fond of you?”

“From the very beginning?”

“Where does that unfounded confidence even come from?”

Sharin lifted her hand, cupping her chin.

Despite that, her face was completely intoxicated with languor.

“Prettiness.”

She is pretty, that much is true.

“You said men are bound to like a pretty woman.”

“Who spouted such prejudiced drivel?”

“Mother did.”

“She only ever spoke the truth.”

I nearly blasphemed against my late mother for a fleeting moment.

Sharin grinned sheepishly, then turned and skipped away with a *dododo*.

“Off to find your next person, are we?”

It seemed Sharin had already decided to accompany me to the Winter Magic Palace.

I nodded and followed Sharin.

“We’ll create the best search party.”

“Where do I rank?”

“First.”

“That’s correct.”

In aspects like these, Sharin and I were perfectly matched.

We’ve secured the best magician.

Now, time to find a warrior.

* * *

The next member of the Winter Magic Palace search party was easily predictable.

“Honestly, you are something.”

It was Isabel, the main heroine herself.

Isabel’s Wings of the Goddess were especially specialized within the Magic Palace.

Including Isabel in the search party was the only logical thing to do.

She stared at me, her face a canvas of unspoken words.

Not long ago, I’d faced the Autumn Demon Palace, and even Vulcan.

We weathered crisis after crisis then, and now I was volunteering to enter a Demon Palace again? It was utterly baffling.

“You think I was lying, perhaps?”

Isabelle fixed me with a piercing gaze.

An expression that said she couldn’t tolerate me deliberately rushing headfirst into danger.

The words she spoke of before must have been about imprisonment.

Judging by that look, she might truly lock me away this time.

“The words you spoke of before, you say?”

At that moment, Sharin, who’d come with me, tilted her head.

As her eyes met Sharin’s, Isabelle flinched, her gaze wavering.

A subtle awkwardness hung between them.

More precisely, Isabelle was testing the waters with Sharin.

Sharin had revealed her affections for me long ago.

Isabelle, on the other hand, had a more recent awakening.

She seemed unnerved by the prospect of loving the same man as her friend.

In contrast, Sharin hadn’t cared whether Theron liked me or not, and acted as she pleased.

Sharin was the unusual one; Isabelle’s reaction was perfectly normal.

“Bell.”

Sharin called out to Isabelle.

“You confessed to hubby, didn’t you?”

Isabelle’s shoulders twitched.

It seemed she hadn’t expected Sharin to make the first move so directly.

Isabelle’s eyes darted wildly.

She couldn’t bring herself to meet Sharin’s gaze.

“I don’t really mind, though.”

Hearing Sharin’s reply, Isabelle finally lifted her head.

Sharin maintained her languid expression, regardless of Isabelle’s reaction.

Instead, she casually sidled up to me, linking her arm with mine.

“I won’t be giving him up anyway.”

She acted as if I belonged to her from the very beginning.

The audacity of it made me pull a face, and Isabel, equally stunned, simply stared at Sharin.

But Isabel didn’t reveal that she’d confessed.

Instead, the light went out of Isabel’s eyes, which had been laughing moments before.

Soon after, that blank expression I’d seen once before settled on her face.

It was a look so chilling, it gave me goosebumps even after forgetting what terror felt like.

“…Since when has that one been *his*?”

“I’m his fiancée.”

“Yeah, *just* a fiancée.”

Isabel’s gaze flicked to me.

And then, she smiled sweetly.

“It’s just a promise to marry, right? Isn’t it?”

Was that really a relationship you could describe as *just*?

I didn’t know the specifics, but the atmosphere was awful.

Sharin and Isabel glared at each other.

Two women, once the best of friends, were now fighting a silent war over me.

Of course, it couldn’t be good.

“Bell, why won’t you admit you confessed?”

Sharin mentioned that Isabel hadn’t admitted the truth, even though she was obviously found out.

At that, Isabel faltered and avoided Sharin’s eyes.

I could sense her hesitation to openly confess her feelings to Sharin.

“…”

Isabel chose silence once more, and Sharin’s brow furrowed a little deeper.

“If you keep being so careful…”

It seemed Isabel’s defensive stance was only making Sharin angrier.

“Isabel, Sharin, calm down. Why are you two fighting over this?”

I quickly stepped between them.

Now, Sharin glared at me with a decidedly peeved expression.

“He can’t even choose because her future husband’s in that state.”

I shouldn’t have opened my mouth. Now I’m in trouble too.

Isabel glanced at me, then lowered her head, unable to say more.

It seemed Isabel was still hesitant to confide her feelings, even in front of her friend, Sharin.

The truth was plain as day, but acknowledging it aloud was another matter entirely.

Admitting she’d fallen for the man her precious friend had liked, after all.

Isabel’s conscience was tormenting her.

“Bell, you can figure it out by seeing who the husband asked first, duh,”

In that lull, Sharin popped her head out from beside me.

As I pushed Sharin’s head back down, Isabel bit her lip tight.

“…That man just moves based on whoever’s closest. Lin must have just happened to be the nearest.”

Greed was peeking out, a little more than conscience was.

“……”

“……”

A standoff continued between Sharin and Isabel.

And the problem was, it wasn’t just these two.

There was that red badger girl, absent here.

She was probably eating dinner right now, oblivious to this situation.

I quietly exhaled.

I needed to retrieve the love quickly and put an end to it.

Later on, it felt like it might really blow up.

Lucas, in the game you managed to endure even surroundings like this.

Today, I respect you.