“Ah—no, um. I mean, I like you. I do like you, but not in a romantic way, or anything like that. It’s more like… I dote on you. I like you a lot. I mean, I care about you. I love you, that’s all.”
The crease between my brows only deepened.
“Ms. Sheila, you’re an incredible supporter. I can’t use buffs myself, but with your precise buffs, everyone gets ridiculously strong. At this point, my body can’t be satisfied without you.”
“Wait. That wording is misleading.”
“But once you experience Ms. Sheila, you can’t be satisfied with anyone else.”
I really was working as a supporter.
Attack boosts, magic boosts, mana supply, even handling meals—I did everything. I was useful enough that whenever someone wanted to run a quest, they would immediately say, “Then come join our party.” I was confident enough to say I was in demand.
“This is my first time working with you, Ms. Sheila, but I can’t work with anyone else anymore. I like you. Please be my supporter forever. I’ll make sure you’re fed for life.”
“I’m still married!”
I hurriedly shot back at Asti’s overwhelming declaration.
Even if my husband was cheating and had a hidden child, nothing was confirmed yet.
“…Well, whether you divorce or not, I can’t work with anyone else now, so I’ll keep going solo. Still, I want to help you, Ms. Sheila. Of course, I hope for more someday, but forcing you isn’t my style, so don’t worry.”
He smiled brightly.
He looked like an ordinary, pleasant young man, yet the moment he opened his mouth, everything went wrong. Why was that?
Normally, Asti worked alone as an all-purpose sage, capable of offense, healing, and everything in between. He rarely joined parties. This quest should have been our first time together.
During the quest, he barely spoke. If anything, he gave off a quiet, gloomy impression.
Even his self-introduction had been strange.
“N-nice to meet you. Um, I’m Asti. Like iced tea. Sorry. Please call me Asti. No honorifics. If you don’t call me that, I’ll cry, so please do.”
Yet during the quest, he fought calmly and efficiently, casting spells without hesitation. Even the leader had commented, “This is so easy, it’s great.”
Who could have imagined he carried such heavy feelings toward me?
Still, because he was there, I felt like I had some strength left.
Since Asti had already prepared everything ahead of time, I decided to do what I needed to do.
“Thank you, Asti. Then… could you help me a little more?”
When I said that with a strained smile, his eyes lit up.
“Of course! Then we should start with food. I bought things that should be easy on your stomach. Just eat whatever you think you can.”
The table he led me to was covered with dishes.
“There’s too much. Let’s eat together.”
When I sat down, Asti, for some reason, turned red and perched stiffly on the chair beside me.
I picked out what I thought I could manage. Asti ate the rest. I had imagined he’d eat a lot, but he took small bites instead.
Still, we finished at about the same time. Maybe I was just slow.
“Asti, where did you place the surveillance magic?”
I asked once we were done. His expression turned serious as he took out a magical device.
“I placed it inside the entrance of the house the mother and child entered yesterday. You can see it through this mirror now. Do you want to look?”
I chose not to think about why he had placed it inside rather than outside.
It was already late at night. They should have finished dinner by now. There was a small hope that Leon had already left.
Clinging to that hope, I nodded.
“Please.”
I clasped my hands beneath the table to steady myself.
Asti murmured to the mirror, and a hazy image appeared.
“Leon, when will you be able to come here?”
A voice came through the mirror, and my heart jolted unpleasantly.
Most surveillance magic showed only images. Sound was rare. Was this Asti’s doing?
I looked at him, but he raised a finger to his lips and pointed back at the mirror.
The magic placed inside the entrance allowed us to see the entire house, passing through walls.
Two rooms, a living space, a kitchen, a bathing area, and a separate lavatory. A comfortable home for a mother and child.
In one room, a little girl slept peacefully.
In the other, Leon and a woman lay on the bed, undressing each other.
“As a royal knight, I have to live over there. The pay is completely different.”
“Is that so…? For Lilia’s sake, I’d rather you be stationed here.”
“I’m sorry, Chiara. Being apart from the woman I love is painful. I know Lilia feels lonely too…”
The sound of a kiss, followed by the woman’s soft voice, made my fingers go cold, even as sweat gathered on my skin.
“How long can you stay this time? I wish it were longer.”
“Two or three more days should be fine. There are plenty of monsters around here, after all.”
“I wish even more monsters would appear. Then you could stay forever, right?”
“That’s a dangerous thing to say. I’ll have to silence that mouth.”
I signaled to Asti, and he closed the image.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
My clenched hands turned white, my fingertips numb.
“Ms. Sheila…”
Asti called out to me. I tried to smile, tried to pretend I was fine—and failed.
“Isn’t your magic… a bit too high-performance?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Seeing him look more dejected than I was, I tried to laugh it off. Instead, my face crumpled.
My vision shook, heat filled my eyes, and tears spilled out.
I tried to speak, but only sobs escaped.
“Why… why…?”
The question echoed, unanswered.
But unlike before, someone was here.
Asti said nothing. He simply stayed by my side.
