Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.
<s>Hi folks! My back (or hip to be precise) is getting better š Thankfully I wasnāt seriously injured so I managed to finish editing a half of the chapter. And ācuz itās only āa halfā, the remaining half will be posted next week. Do remember, this chapter is āincompleteā. Pls come back again next week for the full chapter.</s>\n
Hereās the full version of the last part of chapter 5. Next week weāll move onto chapter 6, the last chapter of book 2. Since ch.6 isnāt that long, I plan to just divide it into 2 parts. And for that reason, each parts will have +/-2300 words (which is much more than my usual average word counts for chapter parts) so I might need longer time to finish it (re:editing). Just wish me luck to finish it within 10 days šŖšŖ\n\n
āā¦, huh?ā\n\nSo it turns out he doesnāt want to confess. I might have shouted something like āif you like someone else, you shouldnāt hide your feelings!ā, but uhm⦠I think itās also fine for him not to confess and just leave it as it is.\n\nāThen letās just leave it as it is. Thereās nothing that canāt be done.ā\n\nāā¦, but Lord Roel is a man. We canāt keep being engaged like this anymore.ā\n\nāā¦, what?ā\n\nAh shit, what are you talking about nowā\n\nāIām a woman!ā\n\nA female! A girl! A woman!!\n\nāā¦, woman?ā\n\nCaptain Jullius muttered in a daze. Thatās right! Iām a woman!\n\nāIām a woman! Ever since I was born until this day Iām definitely a woman, Iāve never been a man!ā\n\nThe pale grey eyes blinked slowly, seemingly contained disbelief, and then they started to regain their glow and became clearer.\n\nāBut, that⦠a woman?ā\n\nāYes.ā\n\nā⦠Lord Roelā¦.?ā\n\nHe looked like he was recalling about my past self. And then he tilted his head.\n\nāā¦, a woman?ā\n\nāā¦, although my past appearance didnāt look like a woman, but Iām definitely a woman.ā\n\nAlthough itās doubtful enough, but itās true that Iām a woman. I donāt know how to prove it to you when I canāt even dig up my dead body.\n\nāIt seems that Captain didnāt know because you didnāt engage much in high society circle, but while itās quite unbeliavable, itās a fact that everyone knows about.ā\n\nYour first impression of me when you saw me for the first time as you made your debut in high society, must be that of a handsome manā and as things progressed, the surrounding people would start approaching and swarm around the handsome Lord Roel, when in all actuality Iām a woman. Ohohoho, it used to be like this. As such, itās only natural because when people saw me, the first thing their eyes saw was my appearance and it lead them to recognized me as a man in their minds, hence most of the time they forgot the fact that Iām a woman and treated me as a man. That being said, it made me think of an instance; if a cat looks like a dog, barks like a dog, and acts like a dog, then itās a dog, even if you know itās a cat.\n\nāA woman, you saidā¦ā\n\nāYes. Iāve always been a woman, be it in the past or in the present.ā\n\nāThenā¦ā\n\nāI wonāt be returning as a clergy and our engagement will remain the same. Iāve told you, nothingās changed. Itās still the same. If we stay engaged like this and presume that nothing wrong happens, then weāre supposed to get married within half a year.ā\n\nI looked at him and told him with a smile. Really, did you become like this because you mistaken me as a man? Well, if itās revealed that the person heās engaged to turns out to be a man, then he would be taken aback for sure.\n\nāSoāā\n\nI was going to say that thereās nothing to worry about but my tongue went stiff. The pale grey eyes that were still looking at me, brimmed with tears. As tears welled up in his eyes, they started to spill over and trickled down his cheeks. Uh, uh, uhā\n\nāWa, wait a minute!ā\n\nWait! This is a foul! No, donāt cry!\n\nāC, ca, captain! Why are you crying!ā\n\nWha, what to do? Iāve experienced on how to take care of a woman crying several times before, but this is the first time I have ever met a man crying! What should I do?! Both my hands were fluttering around in agitation. What is it? Should I just wipe down his tears? But I donāt even have any handkerchief on me right now. Or should I give him a hug? Can I kiss his cheeks or forehead like I did to the ladies to soothe him? Arghh!! why are you crying?!\n\nāI, I thought I couldnāt be with Miss Epheria anymoreā¦ā\n\nāTh, thatās not true! We can still be together! Iām not going anywhere!ā\n\nāMiss Epheria⦠no, Lord Roel.ā\n\nThe tears-soaked eyes were looking at me. Because his eyes were wet with tears, the color of his eyes looked even prettiā no, itās not the time for this. As Iāve been wondering on what I should do, I decided to just stand on my knees and stretched out my arms then gave Captain Julliusā head a big hug.\n
āIām not going anywhere so donāt cry.ā\n\nāI really like Lord Roel a lot.ā\n\nāI also like Captain Jullius.ā\n\nHis hand reached out to my waist. But he didnāt hug me in return, he just grabbed the hem of my dress tightly as if heās desperately hanging onto it instead.\n\nāBut I think even though Lord Roel is a woman, for Lord Roel to become Miss Epheria, it didnāt do you any good, soā¦ā\n\nāWhy do you think so? Iām not going back as a clergy anymore though? At most, itās just changing from being a former holy knight to Miss Epheria, an ordinary noble lady. The current situation doesnāt change.ā\n\nāI⦠actually what vice-captain said is right.ā\n\nāā¦, yes?ā\n\nHe put more strenght into his hand which was holding onto the hem of my dress. Heh, vice-captain? I mean, not our vice-captain(Sieg) but that bastard Luth. Itās about what he said to Captain Jullius back then. As I was trying to recall my memory of it, the sound of horseās hooves could be heard along with the appearance of a large black horse all of a sudden.\n\nNeigh!\n\nāBlackie?ā\n\nAfter I called its name, Captain Jullius whose head was in my embrace, raised his head. The black horse which had its rein and saddle without anyone rode on its back, lowered its ears and had them pulled backward indicating that it recognized its master. Then Clauen on horseback appeared from behind, seemingly to have followed Blackie \n
all the way here. Did he purposely release Blackie to find Captain Jullius?\n\nāCaptain!ā\n\nClauen quickly dismounted from his horse then ran towards us, and when he saw Captain Julliusā face, he immediately shouted at me.\n\nāWhy did you make him cry?!ā\n\nāNo, Iāmāā\n\nWell, I guess, to say that he cried because of me is somewhat right. As I gave him a vague answer, Clauen glowered at me.\n\nāWhat the hell was this woman talking about? Whatever she told you, you donāt need to worry about it!ā\n\nāLorā, itās not Miss Epheriaās fault.ā\n\nCaptain Jullius sat upright and wiped the tear marks on his cheeks away using the back of his hand.\n\nāAnd rather, I was the one who was being somewhat dishonest myself.ā\n\nāWhat?! Wait a minute, Captain! You havenāt told her anything yet, have you?!ā\n\nClauen seemed really flustered and alternately looked at Captain Jullius and me. If itās about the fact that Captain was once a sacrifice before, Iāve already known about it. But judging from Captain Julliusā attitude, it seemed that thereās more to it than meets the eye out of consideration for someone.\n\nāMiss Epheria needs to know. She has the right to know.ā\n\nCaptain Jullius continued to speak to me as he stood up.\n\nāItād be better for you to learn about it from the High Priest than me.ā\n\nāThe High Priest?ā\n\nThat being said, weāll have to return to the Holy Church so Captain Jullius can receive his blessings anyway. After Captain said that, Clauen jumped in fright.\n\nāCaptain! Do you believe in her to the point that youāll tell her everything?! No, at least you have to discuss it with Ortzen before you make any decision!ā\n\nāOrtzen will agree.ā\n\nāCaptain!!ā\n\nClauen had a baffled look on his face as if he just heard something really absurd, but what Captain Jullius has said was very likely to happen. That way, itās possible that Ortzen would also know of my real identity. If weāre going to request for their cooperation in catching the Demon King, weāll have to reveal it, I guess. Apparently the High Priest seemed to know more about Captain Jullius, if thatās so, then as the former Captain of Holy Knight Squad he could tell me about it anytime. And thus, for the sake of gaining Ortzenās trust, we would have to agree to reveal the secret.\n\nAs Captain Jullius insisted on being stubborn, Clauen could only sighed deeply in distress. Then he looked at the surroundings before looking at me with a determined look on his face.\n\nāAs itās come to this, Iāll reveal the truth Iāve been hiding all this time. I believe that⦠Miss can keep a secret.ā\n
āWhat is it?ā\n\nāTo tell you the truth, Iām actually a demon, not a human.ā\n\nāOh, really?ā\n\nAs expected, this guyās truly a demon. Well, from the looks of it, I think this guy must be a very weak demon. If heās a Demon King then he could conceal his mana, but heās just a weak demon, and those who possessed medium amount of mana wouldnāt be able to escape the eyes of the clergymen. Not to mention that if heās particulary weak, he barely had enough mana to show, so he didnāt differ much from humans unless he intentionally revealed his identity. The only distinct differences would be that demons had a long lifespan and strong regeneration power.\n\nThe circus performer guy was taken aback by my flat reaction and said it again once more.\n\n(T/N: itās been a long time since Clauen was referred as ācircus performerā lol. Actually itās a pun (if not intended) made by the author since ź“ė can be translated as ācircus/acrobatic performer or clownā. Well you know, if you say it fast, Clauen sounds similar to clown)\n\nāI said Iām a demon, you know? Iām not kidding!ā\n\nāYeah, a demon. I get it right.ā\n\nI replied while nodding my head. I wonder if he revealed his identity first so I wouldnāt get too shock when I heard Captain Julliusā secret later. His way of thinking out of consideration for Captain Jullius is really admirable. On top of that, he didnāt hesitate to even give half of his yearly income to Captain, and I bet Captain must have saved lots of money.\n\nāā¦, wouldnāt people usually be surprised when learning about it?ā\n\nāNormally, people would be surprised and directly attacking you, but my reaction was different from ordinary people so donāt recklessly tell other people.ā\n\nāI wonāt! Am I that stupid?!ā\n\nClauen blushed and shouted.\n\nāReally, youāre indeed a weird woman.ā\n\nāWhat? Whatās wrong with me?ā\n\nBut of course, itās true that Iām not your average lady though. I called for the grey horse that was grazing at the lakefront.\n\nāThen, letās go back to the Holy Church now.ā\n\nI had no intention of forcing you to reveal your secret against your will, but if you wish for me to know about it, then I wonāt back down either⦠No, truthfully I wished to force Captain Jullius to tell me everything by himself. Iām his fiancee after all. I want to know more about him.