Looking back, I think I was very rude to Sphere. She was a very accomplished woman, probably due in part to the fact that she was three years older than me, so she just went along with me when I rebelled, saying thatăit was a forced political marriageăthat had been given to me. I can see that now.
But Sphere seemed to enjoy listening to Remiliaâs story. The story of magical tools made with scaled ideas that no one has thought of, the non-lethal, life-saving magic developed by Remilia, and the success of a welfare project that has taken off and created jobs and profits without patrons.
So I felt alienated from her, who looked more knowing her than I did. Saying,ăI donât think Lady Remilia is the kind of person who would do such a thing.ă
âŠBy royal decree, I was now in charge of the Star Maiden with His Highness Prince Williard and his family⊠I noticed that she was always with us. At first, itâs the same as those who cling to us in social situations, flattering us⊠No, it should have been more aggressive and blatant than that, and there should have been nothing but disgust.
I had told Sphere about those days. She wasăthere for meăas easy-going as a big sister, and she said to me,ăIf it is a power built steadily in the world of swords, the owner is often humble⊠but if itâs a talent given from heaven, it is luck and has nothing to do with the ownerâs quality. Is she like that?ăShe said in dismay.
Itâs just⊠At that time. I was silent when I saw the Star Maiden who flirted with us and touched my body, and I felt a hot feeling in my chest at the anxious Remiliaâs appearance.
Eventually, I got annoyed when Pina came close to me, but for some reason I couldnât push her away. I would feel guilty about rejecting a woman who must have been the type of woman I disliked. No, it must have been Remiliaâs eyes that looked sad and anxious when Pina was around us. I never knew it could be that addictive.
ăHow can you, about Miss Pina⊠why did you choose to take sides with the Star Maiden? It looks like youâre leaning in the wrong direction.ă
ăBecause she was abused by Lady RemiliaâŠă
ăThatâs not right either. You must have been angry at Miss Pinaâs flippant behavior in the beginning. As far as I can hear, you are still doing that same thing. Why do you accept Miss Pinaâs conduct now?ă
I giggled when she points it out. If I keep her close, Remilia will be jealous. Because she will look at me with those sad eyes. I canât say that I was. I was also engrossed in Remiliaâs words as conveyed by Pina. It was as if she secretly cared about me even though she was bound to me by a political marriage, and she said,ăA woman like me is not worthy of David.ă
ă⊠Actually, when we spent time together, Miss Pina was not a bad girl⊠Besides, I have to protect her from Miss RemiliaâŠă
ăThatâs what I find most disconcerting. I wonder if Lady Remilia is such a bully? She has a reputation as a lady and takes the initiative in welfare. Yes, it started out as cute harassment, but now itâs all about injuries. I find it hard to believe that Lady Remilia would do such a thing.ă
In its own words. Remilia struck Pina on the cheek and cried,ăDavid is my childhood friend! Weâve spent so much time together, donât you dare take that away from me!ăI felt like I was being denied the story of her anger by my name⊠I felt superior to Remilia because she thought I was secretly thinking of her that much. I heard,ăHow could she possibly have that much feelings for you?ăand I was instantly on fire, raging,ăThere are witnesses,ăăWe have proof,ăand most of all,ăYou doubt Pina, who cried and apologized to you after she was hit on the cheek?ă
With a look of dismay on her face, the Sphere resigned from the dayâs meeting⊠Time passed without the next proper visitation and without questioning it. The night we condemned Remilia was one of them. She denied it to the end, sayingăI didnât do that,ăand wouldnât even acknowledge the fact that she was jealous of Pina⊠Just remembering it makes me angry.
Iâve been spending even more time with Pina, and today, while I was taking pleasure in hearing her narcotic words,ăRemilia-sama did this to me once, she must not have liked me being around Davy so much,ăI heard from my parents that Sphere had forcefully ended our engagement by removing herself from the noble family registry. Even at this time, I only felt it was convenient for me to be free now that Remilia had broken off her engagement from Williard.
But without any particular action being taken⊠I couldnât get away from Pina that way and drifted to the lower side of the cheaters. Iâve never missed a workout, but when Pina asks meăto stay with her,ăI feel like I have to fulfill that wish no matter what it takes.
Iâm estranged from my brother, whom I thought I had reconciled with. No, Iâm the one avoiding him. I know he despises me and Iâm afraid to confront him about it.
We could not restrain Pinaâs insistence on attending the evening party to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations with the demon world, and we were ordered by His Majestyănot to let her cause any problems or she would be held responsible for them.ă
She has no manners, and we canât have her in front of a state guest. And yet I canât reject her. I still feel a strong aversion to Pinaâs behavior as well, as I oftenădonât have ităâŠAnd yet, for some reason, I donât dislike Pina herself and canât stop being with her. I know that if I donât stay away, Iâll be even worse off, but I canât move because I donât want Pina toăhateăme.
Why canât he shun her? I donât know why I fell in love with this woman⊠there was not even a trigger. I clearly remember the day I fell in love with Remilia, but I had fallen in love with Pina as if she had poured poison on me before I knew it.
Lilin wine, which was handed out as a toast and said to be a tribute from the demon tribe, comes to hand. As soon as I drank it down, theăcurseăthat had been nestled in my chest while spending time with Pina was gone.
How did this happen?
What I believed and clung to was crap. An illusion with no basis in anything. Remilia is not the kind of woman who would hurt anyone with malice or jealousy⊠I knew it, I should have known itâŠ
She was the kind of person who would carry it alone at that time, grieve alone, hurt alone⊠I swore I wanted to be a knight to support her in the future. I swore in my heartâŠ
Remilia is so beautiful that I hesitate to look directly at her as she is held by the waist next to the Demon King. She was nothing like the girl I knew, the girl who came to pick me up in the woods, worried about me.
The only one that had changed was⊠me. Hoping for a change, keeping it close to my heart⊠I thought that would be enough to support her. I wanted it to be so, and I was the one who believed Pinaâs words.
If only I had trusted Remilia to the end.
I should have been the one standing by her side as a knight standing by the side of the Demon King.
I am truly jealous of Sphere who arrived at the right answer without being misled just by what she heard. That woman⊠If only that woman hadnât put a curse on me.
After the curse was lifted, I had no feelings left for the woman I had spent so much time with. When I hear that she was forbidden to commit suicide and was forced to work in the mines for the rest of her live, all I can think is,ăShe deserved it.ăI even found myself thinking,ăI wouldnât mind a heavier punishment for her.ă
It is too late for regrets. I swore an oath as a knight, and I will finish⊠I had to be prepared to trust Remilia until I saw it with my own eyes, and yetâŠ
The knightly oath I had taken as a child was tainted by myself and broken when I came to realize it. It was I who broke it.