As soon as Akira left, the room fell completely silent.
The hero who was in front of me kept glancing at me, but I didn’t say anything.
Asahina was intently pondering over something, unaware that Yoru was gazing at him with hostility.
「…t, then, first of all, why is the princess here? And, where do you planning on heading next?」
As we all kept silent, the man named Asahina nervously said this to me.
When I lifted my head up and met his eyes, he, for some reason, flinched and looked away.
I sighed and answered him.
「Our final destination is the demon king castle that’s in the innermost part of the demon territory. We came to the beastmen territory because Akira’s weapon was in need of maintenance, so Kurou tempered it for him. It will be decided after discussing with Akira and Yoru on whether we will be directly going towards the demon king castle after this or not.」
I purposely didn’t say the names of the hero and the others.
After all, it seems that Akira didn’t want them to come along.
「Can I ask you something?」
, I nodded.
However, if we’re on the topic of Akira being harmed, what about me.
I almost killed Akira.
Certainly, at that time, I was not in control of my own body, but even so, it was due to my carelessness.
In the first place, my being abducted by a demon was also due to my lack of strength.
Thanks to the『Shadow Magic』, there wasn’t even a scar afterwards, but if it wasn’t for that, Akira would’ve died.
Seeing that I’ve turned silent, Yoru looked at me with worry.
『Miss Amelia, don’t worry about the stuff at the dungeon. What matters is that in the end, Master-dono lived through it and is as healthy as ever. Master-dono, doesn’t think that Miss Amelia wanted to do that either.』
I regained focus, smiled, and nodded.
「Un. Thank you, Yoru.」
Yoru nodded in satisfaction and once again pondered over something.
I left Yoru as is and went outside of the house.
When I entered the nearby forest, I sensed that the trees were welcoming me, a high elf.
Elves were a race that lived in harmony with trees.
In the past, the sacred tree was valued even more than the territory itself, likely out of fear that the other races would cut it down if they took over the forest.
Because that sacred tree was something that one was forbidden from coming in contact with.
——no, we did not come to think of it this way now.
For generations, whenever one’s thoughts had reached an impasse or one was worried about something, one would come into the forest like this, and ask the trees.
I put my forehead against the welcoming tree’s trunk.
The moment when my hand pierced into Akira’s body came to mind.
「…Yoru, you’re wrong. Certainly, I could not consciously move my own body at that time, but….」
I clenched my fist.
That hand was visibly trembling.
「I…was happy that there were traces of when we were connected remaining on Akira’s body.」
I detested the fact that I hurt someone I loved, but I was extremely happy that there were traces of me left on Akira.
After all, if Akira found a way to return to his original world, he would throw the likes of me away and immediately return.
I heard that Akira’s okaa-sama’s body was extremely weak, and as it would be impossible for his younger sister to support her all by herself, he had to return.
After returning, he would probably forget about me.
Akira might marry a woman who was suitable to stand next to him and was prettier than me.
However, when he sees that scar on his body, he might remember me.
I am so terribly jealous.
Before, I was jealous of my younger sister, now, I was jealous of a person who I’ve never seen before.
Aah, how ugly.
The corners of my mouth curled up in self-mockery.
And then, there was the sound of a branch snapping above me.
Taken aback, when I looked up, my eyes met jet-black eyes that were mixed with the darkness of the night.
Those eyes were narrowed in satisfaction.
「I thought that you were worried about something, so it’s about that, huh.」