Chapter 53: Folia and Zale

When Folia finally woke up, she was lying on a bed shone by the moonlight.

“Huh?” She couldn’t remember why she was there. Her mind was blank as she tried to get up. Then, she noticed her hand felt warm. She turned to look and was so surprised that she almost yelled.

Za- Zale-sama!?

She saw Zale leaning against the bed while holding her hand. It was the first time for her to see him sleeping unguardedly like this. Her heart was pounding furiously.

She tried to calmed her heart down. She was relieved to see that Zale seemed to be fine, unlike his previous state. She unknowingly squeezed back her left hand which was held by him.

Zale felt it and woke up from his sleep. The moment he saw her fresh green eyes wide open, he pulled her into his arms. “Folia!”

“Huh!?” Folia goggled in astonishment by the sudden event. Zale was an undemonstrative person. Getting hugged by him was beyond her expectation. Although he was a priest, he was a well-built man. Her face gradually turned red.

“I was worried about you…”

When she heard his words, she felt her heart tightened in her chest. His voice sounded so sad and she knew it was because he cared about her.

“Zale-sama. How is your injury? Are you okay?”

She was only exhausted after overstraining herself. But he was different. He was heavily injured. After she had calmed down, that was the first thing that came to her mind.

But when Zale heard her question, he let go of her body and then said to her with a grim face, “Why worry about others? You should worry about yourself. You’ve been unconscious for four days.”

“What?!” Folia was dumbfounded. For her, the incident happened just a few hours ago. When she looked around, she noticed that she was not in the church.

“I- I’ve slept for four days?”

“Yes. It was the repercussion for overstraining your magic. I could only wait for you to wake up. I was so worried.”

Being stared with sincere eyes by the person that she liked, Folia was at a loss for words. After contemplating for a while, she decided to ask about the voice that she heard right before she fell unconscious.

“Hmm. Did Razé-chan come when I was unconscious?”

“Razé…? Oh, Razé Granoli? I didn’t hear anything about that.”

“Really? Perhaps I heard wrong…”

But she was sure that she was hugged by someone at that time. Folia thought about it a little more, but couldn’t find an answer. An awkward silence hung between the two of them.

“…Hmm-” Folia broke the silence. “I’m glad that you’re okay, Zale-sama. Thank you for taking care of me. I- I feel bad for you helping me all the time.”

Her smile looked fragile and forced. Seeing Folia illuminated by the moonlight, Zale clenched his fist. “That’s not true. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead by now.”

He dropped his gaze. Back then, Zale seriously thought that he was going to die. He couldn’t move his body at will and gradually had difficulty breathing. And then he was half conscious. Or perhaps, instead of half conscious, he was half dead. When he was dying, the person that he wanted to see the most was the girl right in front of him now.

Please don’t be happy in a world without me. That was his true feeling that he hid deep inside his chest.

He was the one who helped her to enter the school, but he couldn’t help but be anxious when Folia talked happily about things that he didn’t know. He knew obviously she needed to participate in Battle Fiesta, but he was so worried that he couldn’t concentrate on his job. When he saw her looking like a different person during the tournament match, his heart felt uneasy. He thought that she was getting further and further from his reach. And the problem was, his love for her just kept growing.

He knew that he wasn’t thinking straight, but he couldn’t help it. And he ended up entering the school too. He was happy to be near her, but she was surrounded by the golden eggs[1]. To him, Folia looked so dazzling when she was enjoying her school life with her classmates. There were many times when he wished that he could be by her side as her classmate too …

Nevertheless, there were things that he could do for her because of who he was right now. As long as Folia could live happily, Zale wouldn’t ask for more. She visited the chapel almost every day and smiled at him. Seeing her smile could easily blew away the idle thoughts he had been thinking about.

He thought he was satisfied as long as he could continue to live his life like this. Until that day when he almost died.

“Folia…”

“Yes?”

“The person who saved me was you, there was no doubt about that. And you might have noticed, back then, it was the purification skill. A person who could use this skill rarely exist. And there are a lot of unknown things about this skill… You might even be targeted by others…”

“…I understand. B- But I don’t regret for having this skill. After all, I managed to save you because of it.”

Folia’s carefree and pure smile pierced through Zales’ heart. He had made up his mind. He squeezed her hand gently and firmly.

“Folia, let me protect you. From now on, and for forever. No matter what happen, I’ll be by your side.”

Folia held her breath when she saw him looking at her with earnest wish. “…Is- Is it because I’m weak?”

Folia knew her words were distasteful but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to be a girl that could only rely on others to be protected. She didn’t want to be treated with kindness if it was out of sympathy. She used to be happy just to be able to take a glance at him, but didn’t know since when she had become so greedy. But Folia yearned for it. She wanted to stand next to him and be a woman recognized by him.

Looking at her anxious face, Zale shook his head.

“It’s not about being strong or weak. Those matters depend on one’s perspective.”

His low voice permeates through the quiet bedroom. After taking a deep breath, Zale said, “It’s not because you’re weak that I want to protect you. It’s because of you. Because I love you, I want to protect you.”

When she digested his words, tears flowed from her eyes.

Zale was stunned because he didn’t expect her to cry. But needless to say, she cried out of happiness. Folia grabbed Zale’s hand again.

“Me- Me too. I love you too, Zale-sama. That’s why I want to protect you. I might not be that strong now but I will make effort to do better… Will it be fine for me to stay by your side?”

“Of course. I will never let you go even if you hate me.”

“I feel the same way too.”

Folia wiped her tears with her other hand and had a fearless smile on her face.

* * *

Sob sob

A sobbing sound could be heard from Moldir Residence.

A girl wearing a special black cloak that could absorb light moved from the room where Folia and Zale were to the roof, wiping her emotional tears. Her brown colored hair tied in a ponytail could be seen when the hood came off. It was the brown-hair brown-eyed female soldier.

“Uwu- Folia- I’m so happy for you-” Razé Orphan mumbled to herself while crying profusely. Razé Orphan, also known as Razé Granoli, was the same person who had infiltrated the Centrior Imperial Magic Academy.

She actually had been visiting Folia almost every day after she heard that her saint angel had remained unconsciousness. Maybe she could say that she was looking out for Folia because she might be targeted for her purification skill. But if someone saw how she looked now, they would realize that it was just a poor excuse.

“So darn precious. What the hell was that! Was it even real? Or is it two-dimensional? Is this youth?!” Luckily nobody witnessed her squirming on the roof.

Due to her situation, she had chosen a life-threatening job as a soldier and did her duty. To her, this kind of event was something worth to be worshiped.

Carna and Ruben also have their own lovey-dovey youth, but that was another story.

“Huh! That Cardinal. I thought he was just a fool for Folia. That was well said. Or maybe he could say it because he was a fool for Folia? … No- Well, who cares. Anyway, congratulations Folia. Today we’re going to celebrate! ”

With her rising heartbeat and her bouncing footsteps, she flew through the night watched by the moon.

[1] golden eggs: This phrase has come up at least 10 times, so you should know the meaning by now. ↩