SSS-Class Revival Hunter

Chapter 105: The Way He Loves (3)

Chapter 105: The Way He Loves (3)

I was happy that I was with her. It would be an exaggeration to say that I had been living for her, but it wasn’t a lie that I was going to live for her. I was glad that I could say this without a single lie.

“Are you crying again?”

“Let’s make a promise,” I sniffled.

I could be a person who cared for someone.

“Tell me. I want to hear it.”

“When someone is crying, don’t ask them if they’re crying. And let’s be honest here. You’re asking so you can tease me, right?”

“Hmm. From time to time, you can be surprisingly smart. However, it’s also obvious that you still can’t be smart and calculative with me. It’s rare to find someone like you whose reactions are worth teasing...”

“Promise me, please.”

“I don’t want to.” She looked away from me.

Ah, it’s nice when she says “I don’t want to.” I really enjoy it... I love you...

—Ahhh! Arghhhhhh! Argh! My eyes! Urgh! Aaaahhhhh! My eyessssss! The Guardian frantically rolled around in the air. Save me! Someone save the poor ghost out here! Why am I suffering this misfortune just because I couldn’t find eternal peace? Why do I have to watch you blush in real-time? Shit, my eyes! Save my existence, you da? freaking Zombie!

Ah. Sword Emperor. I pity you for not knowing the beauty of love.

—Shut up!

Raviel Ivansia, the master of my heart...

—Stop it. St?... !

Strangely, the Guardian’s voice sounded a bit more distant than usual. His voice was as loud as a train horn, but its volume was slightly reduced now.

It’s happening, I guess.

The Guardian wasn’t the only one who was reacting. After freezing up solid when Lady Silver Lily and I shared our kiss, the air defrosted slowly and with difficulty.

“L-Lady Silver Lily. W-what are you doing...?”

Oh, it was amazing to see ramen talk. Now that I looked at it, it seemed that this blond ramen had gone bad and belonged in a trash bin.

“I apologize for causing a commotion.” Lady Silver Lily leaned her head against my shoulder. “I shouldn’t have behaved like that in a public place, Your Highness.”

“Uh...”

“My misbehavior ruined the Sormwin Ball, but I also tarnished your honor on a larger scale. My sin is grave,” Lady Silver Lily quietly said. Her voice was barely more than a whisper, but that was enough. Her cold voice had the charisma to draw people’s attention.

Everyone present at the ballroom stared blankly at Lady Silver Lily.

“Please punish me for my sin. I will gladly accept the punishment.”

“P-punishment?”

“Is it difficult to judge what kind of punishment should be given? I’m sure it is, so on your behalf, allow me to request my punishment. From today onward, I shall endeavor to minimize the damage to your honor. To do that, I cannot dare to attend the academy classes. I’ll quietly reflect on my wrongdoings for a while. And...” Lady Silver Lily took a small paper envelope out of her inner pocket.

The crown prince, still too stunned to come to his senses, blankly accepted the envelope. “This is...?”

“That,” Lady Silver Lily slowly said, “is my application for withdrawal from the academy.”

A wave of emotions swept through the ballroom like a blizzard just when the air had unfrozen. The faces of the young ladies and lords, especially the blond trash, were filled with shock.

“As I said, I’ll keep a low profile until my withdrawal request is accepted. I’m not even planning on receiving private visits. Please allow me to be punished, Your Highness,”

“Ra-Ravi...?”

“I am deeply grateful for your permission, Your Highness.” Lady Silver Lily remained leaning against my shoulder as she bowed. Actually, it was closer to nodding than bowing.

She still has feelings for the crown prince because of the sword stuck in the mirror...

For a moment, I had to wonder if this was okay. But when I thought about it, Lady Silver Lily had apprehended the crown prince’s spies and killed them, so it was okay. This was nothing compared to that time. Above all, she seemed happy, so it didn’t matter.

Lady Silver Lily grabbed my hand and pulled. “Let’s go.”

“Ah, yes.” I quickly nodded.

So after dousing the ballroom in shock and fear we... left. We just left. And no one could stop us. They might be able to stop me or her, but not the two of us together. We were going to leave when and if we wanted to. If someone tried to stop us... How were they going to stop a regressor couple?

The Inquisitor was the only one who followed us as we left the ballroom.

“Mr. Death King! Mr. Death King! What about clearing this stage? And what was that peck on the lip just now? I didn’t understand anything!”

The Inquisitor was the type who called a kiss a peck. Amazing. I heard that there were such people out there in the world, but I never thought the Inquisitor was one of them...

“Mr. Inquisitor.”

“Yes, Mr. Death King! Oh, by the way, my heart keeps pounding hard whenever I see you and the young lady together. Hmm, why do you think that is...?”

“It’s a sign of heart attack. Be careful.”

“A heart attack? I see.”

“Yes, yes. Anyhow, I’ll be working on the stage on my own. You can think of this as a vacation. I’ll call you if I need you, Mr. Inquisitor.”

“Oh. I see.” The Inquisitor smiled brightly. “Understood! I’ll make my own judgments and operate freely!”

His bottomless cheer was unsettling.

“... Mr. Inquisitor.”

“Yes!”

“You can’t kill people.”

“Oh, I understand!”

“No torture either.”

“I see. Okay.”

“You shouldn’t kidnap or hold people captive under the pretext of gathering information.”

“Mr. Death King.” The Inquisitor looked troubled. “Then there’s nothing I can do.”

“It’s fine. Just stay in your room and read a fairy tale.”

“Um... Yes, I understand...” The Inquisitor became a discouraged Welsh Corgi with floppy ears.

With a sigh, I patted the Inquisitor on the shoulder. “There’ll be a job for you later, so just hold it in until then.”

The Inquisitor stared at my face. After tilting his head three times, he finally spoke.

“Mr. Death King. I just heard that my immersion level increased. What do you think this is?

“You’re having a heart attack.”

Please don’t cause any trouble.

***

“The whole empire will be quite noisy tomorrow,” Lady Silver Lily calmly said as we stormed out of the academy. We were riding in a carriage she owned.

“Is that so?”

“I’m a celebrity.”

She had said that because she had decided to deviate from her usual life, she wanted to get out of the academy. Obviously, I had no reason to object.

“About two hundred letters from the capital’s high society will arrive first. The social circle in my hometown will also send twenty letters or so, and my father will send ten more. His Majesty may send a messenger too. Tell me you have a way to solve this, Gong-Ja.”

“Um...” I opened my mouth but soon stopped. Did she just call me Gong-Ja instead of butler? This was the first time she had called me by my name.

“What’s wrong?” Lady Silver Lily’s eyes curved teasingly. “Your face is red, Gong-Ja. Did you catch a cold? It’s cold at night even when it’s spring. Gong-Ja. I know you have a rather warm body, but you should still be careful so you can answer my questions quickly, Gong-Ja.”

Ugh. I should... think of a comeback. Anything...

“W-when did you write your withdrawal application? You wrote it in secret while I was away, didn’t you? Wow, I know we’re going to repeat today, but that’s a little cute.”

“You’re cute. That’s your comeback? Did you think I would be embarrassed if you called me cute? That whole idea is cute. Do you want me to adore you, Gong-Ja?”

I was tongue-tied.

“I accept your surrender.”

Once again, the victory went to Lady Silver Lily. Even I knew who was going to wear the pants in this relationship. On the other hand, the thought crossed my mind that this was a win for my life. At that point, I realized I was a lost cause.

“It’s small,” Lady Silver Lily suddenly said.

She was looking at Sormwin Academy through the carriage window as we were getting further and further from the place.

“Sormwin was established with the purpose of strengthening the imperial family’s authority. To prevent possible power conflicts inside the empire, children of nobles and influential families are practically forced to enroll in the academy. The students receive the same education in the same language and they follow the same schedule, all to give the students the unified identity of imperial citizens.”

“It sounds complicated.”

“I’ve been there for too long,” Lady Silver Lily muttered. “Jealousy, vanity, arrogance, possessiveness, lust... Everything lurks outside the academy’s small gate. They’re just hidden in the name of tradition and order, but that veil can go away at any moment. In the end, the empire that he has to rule is out there, not in the academy. I’m not sure His Highness understands that...”

“Raviel.”

Lady Silver Lily paused.

“Worry about the empire later. You’ve overworked yourself enough already. Just think about me for now, please. That alone will keep you so busy that you’ll feel like your head is going to explode.”

The carriage rattled.

“Gong-Ja.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll kill you if you scar my heart.”

I felt a chill run down my spine.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Tell me what you understand.”

“No matter what happens, I will never hurt your soul. If I do it accidentally, I’ll apologize.”

“Not good enough.” Lady Silver Lily stood up and then sat next to me, placing her hand on the back of mine.

My heart raced, but my spine still felt cold. The person I fell in love with had fire in her eyes and ice in her voice.

“If you betray me, Gong-Ja...”

“Yes.”

“Strangle me to death with your own hands. Don’t use such things as your aura. With your own hands, kill me until the day you and I met is erased from this world. I don’t care if it’ll take hundreds or thousands of deaths. I’ll sentence you to my death.”

Lady Silver Lily lightly held my hand and placed it on her neck. Her pale skin was cold. I could vaguely feel her ice right in the middle of her neck.

“And live on forever, remembering that I’ll never forgive you. You can live forever if you wish.”

My hand stiffened. “Yes, I can.”

“The moment you betray me, you’ll be banished to eternal hell,” Lady Silver Lily whispered. “Do you understand?”

“I do, Raviel.”

“If you have a secret to tell me, confess now.”

“I have a Skill called Monster Legion Reincarnation,” I immediately revealed. “I can summon those who I’ve killed. They don’t have their abilities from when they were alive, but if I wish, they can have their appearance and memories.”

“I see. Then you probably can summon me too.”

“You died nine times with me, so it’s possible to summon nine of you.”

“I forbid it.”

“Understood.”

From the beginning, I wasn’t planning on summoning Lady Silver Lily anyway, no matter what happened. But her words eliminated the possibility entirely.

Love was a sacred promise and a contract; we were creating a code of law for just the two of us.

“I’ll add one more thing to do when you betray me: obliterate that Skill.”

“I will.”

I chose my next words carefully. She was the person I loved, and she was the person who was going to love me. I had to be more careful and cherish her than I was with anyone else in the world.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance.”

“I’ll forgive you if you make one promise.”

I nodded. “I’m listening.”

“Don’t commit suicide without my permission. Don’t die even when death is your easiest escape. You’re my lover, so you can’t just throw away your life. Even if death seems inevitable, struggle to survive until the end.”

I silently carved our promise in my heart. “Yes, I will.”

“Tell me what you want from me.”

“Please trust me when I ask you to.”

“I’ll always trust you.”

The carriage rattled. Using the small vibration as an excuse, she and I leaned against each other, and our lips met. From that day on, we became each other’s love.