Chapter 19 - Volume 1 (1/2)

Side Story 2 – Part 4

From then onward, Arche’s everyday life changed to a more productive one. To be precise, it 『returned』to normal is what one would say. It returned to the way it was before the revival of the demon king, long before Agedilus left on his journey.

That day, she gardened and pruned leaves like she did every single day. Finally finishing the harvest, she took her hood off. Holding the basket full to the brim with the harvest, a smile grew on Arche’s face. Compared to before, the freckles on her face had remarkably decreased.

She was doing her unchanging job as a gardener like usual. But today, there was one thing that was different.

「Will Sir Agedilus be pleased with this, I wonder?」

The shears in her hand made a click. She carefully, carefully cut off the stems of the white flowers, dropping it into the bag she held in her other hand so the petals wouldn’t get damaged.

The soft scent of the flowers tickled her nose. These flowers were from one of the herbs Agedilus had ordered her to grow some weeks ago. With their petals delicately overlapping each other, the white flowers smelled so strong and sweet that she could have plucked them before they even bloomed.

When Arche found that the herb had flowered early today, her heart throbbed with excitement. Today was the very day that Agedilus would show up. She couldn’t hold back the grin from her face as she thought about giving him the flowers that had bloomed today.

What would Agedilus say? He would be so pleased. And not just that, maybe…

——Maybe, just maybe, he’d be more than pleased… Maybe, he’d… Kyaaa!

Face turning red, Arche waved her hand about. That was when she heard him.

「Oi.」

「Huh—?!」

Arche literally jumped in the air at the sudden voice from behind.

「S-Sir Agedilus…!」

She timidly turned around to see that beautiful being, all the more beautiful with his jet black hair. Arche stiffened as he narrowed his sunrise-colored eyes in puzzlement at her, those eyes placed so exquisitely on his face. Androgynously beautiful in a way that couldn’t be described with words like ‘intense’ or ‘powerful’. Arche could never get used to that beauty, and that jet black hair that made her feel nothing but fear.

She was so flustered she felt like she might drop the basket in which she’d put those white flowers in full bloom. Thankfully, she managed to avoid that tragedy by holding it with both hands, letting out a sigh of relief.

「What are you messing about for?」

That surprised-sounding voice had such a strong impact to the one being talked to, precisely because it was so beautiful. She instinctively lowered her head, disheartened at the words that pierced into her heart. But then Arche tried to think, ‘that’s just what he’s like,’ and held out the basket to Agedilus.

「Um, these are the herbs you mentioned before. They bloomed early, so I wanted to show you right away!」

Her heart was so noisy as it throbbed with nervousness and expectation. That’s right, these was the flowers that Arche had painstakingly looked after from when the herb was just a potted plant until it flowered.

It was a completely different matter from that Delia she had given Agedilus long ago. Back then, she really didn’t think anything about it. But now that she knew she was in love, it was different.

She didn’t want to give them to just anyone, but only him. She didn’t want anyone else to receive them, only him. Those flowers were packed with all the feelings Arche had. She wanted him to be pleased, even if only a little. And if he was…

He took the basket from Arche’s hands. Taking out one white flower from the inside, Agedilus brought it to his face as if checking it. That gesture looked so picturesque, Arche was fascinated by it. Agedilus then raised his face towards her.

「……I see. Thank you.」

Softly, Agedilus smiled. That frozen, androgynous beauty thawed to reveal a glossy, large flower blooming. A smile that would shame even a night fairy. A smile so different from his usual, cynical smile.

Ah, she really wanted to see this face again. The same as when she first realized she was in love – no, in fact, even more sweet, that smile like melted honey.

In the end, she didn’t want anything fancy or grandiose from him. In fact, there was nothing particular that she wanted. She just wanted him to smile, and that was enough.

This tender, soft smiling face aimed just towards Arche——

「She’ll like these too.」

「…….Huh?」

Arche couldn’t help but tilt her head at the unexpected words from Agedilus’s sweet lips. It was an unconscious, instinctive gesture she made but it revealed Arche’s innermost thoughts. Her thoughts couldn’t catch up. 『She.』

Agedilus spoke of 『someone』 Arche didn’t know with a tender, soft smile on his face. Because she was Arche, she realized that his smile and his voice were not aimed towards her. But that was why she didn’t understand what he meant. She didn’t want to understand.

「Um, who’s ‘she’?」

Despite that, her mouth moved by itself, asking Agedilus that. She didn’t want to ask a question like this. She didn’t want to hear the answer to it either.

His sunrise-colored eyes shook at Arche’s question. Hesitating, as if wondering if it was alright to answer or not. Like a child would hesitate when showing his most beloved treasure. But in the end, after a short silence, Agedilus opened his mouth as Arche stood stiff.

「……My wife.」

W-i-f-e. Wife. She pondered over that word, dumbfounded. Even though she didn’t want to know the meaning of it, she just had to ask.

「You…」

Her mouth was parched, dried up. She didn’t even know what she was saying.

「…have a wife?」

「——Yes.」

Agedilus nodded. The smile had disappeared from his face at this point, but that gentle atmosphere remained unchanged. This wasn’t the Agedilus that Arche knew. No, just who was the Agedilus she knew in the first place? Confused, she suddenly couldn’t understand anything.

Agedilus didn’t seem to notice her shock at all……. Yes, he really hadn’t noticed it. He had his eyes softly narrowed at the white flower in his hand, as if picturing that 『someone』. That voice that was supposed to be so pleasing to hear, was now about to say something Arche didn’t want to hear at all.