Chapter 280: The Boy I Raised

Location: Yuno City

Place: Yuuta’s Apartment

Yuuta sat quietly at the dining table while dinner was served before them. The warm aroma of roasted garlic and honey-glazed meat filled the apartment, and across from him, Elena was happily munching away without a single care about the mess she was making around her mouth.

Yuuta watched her with the same smile he had been forcing himself to wear ever since returning home. His eyes were exhausted and his body desperately needed rest, yet whenever Elena looked toward him, he made sure none of that showed upon his face.

"Slow down, Princess."

Yuuta reached across the table with a napkin and gently wiped the sauce from the corner of Elena’s mouth.

"Chew properly."

"But Papa, it tastes better this way."

Yuuta couldn’t help smiling a little more genuinely at that. He rubbed her head before pulling his hand away.

"Does it? You’ll still choke if you keep eating that fast."

Elena considered this seriously for a moment before nodding.

"Hmm... okay."

She returned to her food, although considerably slower this time, while Yuuta simply watched her eat. There was something strangely comforting about seeing Elena enjoy something he had cooked, even if the peaceful sight did little to ease the heaviness that had remained inside his chest all evening.

After several bites, Elena finally noticed something strange.

"Papa?"

"Hm?"

"Why aren’t you eating?"

Yuuta’s smile froze for a moment.

He looked down at the table and realized his own plate remained completely untouched. He hadn’t eaten anything since the argument, nor had he properly stopped to drink water during the hours he had spent searching for Erza, but somehow he still couldn’t bring himself to feel hungry.

Beside his own untouched plate was another serving.

Erza’s.

Yuuta had prepared it without even thinking.

The same amount he normally gave her, arranged exactly the way he knew she preferred it. Some foolish part of him had apparently expected the apartment door to open at any moment and for Erza to return as though nothing had happened.

Yuuta stared at her empty chair for a moment before forcing his smile back.

"Well... Papa is waiting for Mama."

Elena stopped chewing.

"Mama?"

Yuuta immediately realized his mistake.

"Where is Mama?"

His fingers tightened beneath the table. He had deliberately avoided mentioning Erza ever since coming home because he knew Elena would eventually ask questions, but after spending weeks treating Erza’s presence at this table as something completely natural, the answer had slipped from his mouth before he could stop it.

"Well..."

Yuuta looked at Elena’s innocent face and forced himself to remain calm.

"Mama had some work today, so she’ll be a little late. That’s why Papa was waiting for her."

"Work?"

Elena tilted her head.

"What work, Papa?"

Yuuta gently reached across the table and rubbed her hair.

"That’s a secret."

Elena’s eyes immediately brightened.

"Secret?"

She leaned forward excitedly.

"Elena loves secrets! Tell Elena, Papa."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because secrets aren’t supposed to be revealed, Princess."

Elena puffed her cheeks at the disappointing answer, but her expression suddenly changed as though she had discovered something important.

"Is it Elena’s toy?"

Yuuta froze.

For a moment, he didn’t understand what she meant.

Then he remembered.

When he had returned home earlier, he had told Elena that he had spent the day searching for a toy because he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he had actually been desperately searching for her mother.

The lie suddenly felt considerably heavier.

Yuuta looked at Elena’s excited face and felt another painful tightening inside his chest. She had absolutely no idea what had happened between her parents today. She didn’t know that Mama wasn’t working somewhere or secretly preparing a surprise for her.

She didn’t know that Papa had made Mama cry.

Yuuta hated lying to her.

Yet the thought of telling Elena the truth and watching that excitement disappear from her face frightened him even more.

So he slowly nodded.

"Yes..."

His smile became painfully gentle.

"Something like that."

Elena’s eyes widened.

"Yahhh!"

She raised both hands excitedly.

"Elena is so happy!"

"Hey, hold on."

Yuuta quickly stopped her before she could climb out of her chair.

"You still have to sleep tonight."

Elena immediately nodded.

"Yes! Elena will sleep really fast."

Yuuta blinked.

"Really fast?"

"Mhm!"

Elena smiled brightly as she picked up another piece of meat.

"If Elena sleeps really fast, then Mama will come back sooner and surprise Elena!"

Yuuta stopped moving.

For several seconds, he could only look at his daughter while she happily returned to her dinner. Elena genuinely believed that all she needed to do was finish eating, go to bed and close her eyes, and somewhere during the night her mother would return home with whatever wonderful surprise Papa was refusing to tell her about.

Yuuta slowly turned his eyes toward Erza’s empty chair.

Her untouched plate was still waiting there.

His vision blurred slightly, but Yuuta lowered his gaze before Elena could notice. He pressed his lips together and swallowed the painful lump forming in his throat, desperately reminding himself that he couldn’t cry in front of her after spending the entire evening convincing her that everything was fine.

He wished Elena’s innocent little belief could become reality.

He wished he could put her to bed, clean the apartment and sit here beside Erza’s untouched dinner until he eventually heard the familiar sound of the front door opening. He wanted to look up and see silver-white hair entering the apartment, even if Erza refused to speak to him, even if she was still furious and even if she couldn’t forgive him tonight.

Yuuta didn’t need forgiveness anymore.

He just wanted her to come home.

__________

Location: Liebus Agency 54

Place: Green Sanctuary

After silently weeping in Sister Mary’s arms for several minutes, Erza had finally begun to calm down. Her breathing gradually returned to normal, and although the traces of tears remained upon her face, the crushing weight inside her chest no longer felt quite as unbearable as it had before.

"Thank you, Sister Mary."

Erza wiped the remaining moisture from beneath her eyes before giving the elf a small, embarrassed smile.

"I suppose you were right. I... really needed that."

"I know, my Queen."

Sister Mary’s voice remained gentle as she continued sitting beside her.

Erza didn’t answer immediately. She simply looked at Sister Mary for several seconds, quietly wondering why being held by this woman had affected her so deeply.

It had felt strangely different from being comforted by anyone else.

There had been something warm and familiar about Sister Mary’s embrace, something Erza couldn’t properly describe. Perhaps it was because Mary had spent so many years raising children, or perhaps it was simply the natural tenderness within her, but for those few minutes Erza had felt an unfamiliar sense of safety.

Almost like being held by a mother.

Sister Mary allowed the silence to remain for a while before finally speaking.

"My Queen, may I ask you something?"

Erza nodded slightly.

"If I’m not overstepping my place... would you tell me what really happened between you and Yuuta?"

Erza’s expression immediately became guarded.

"Nothing really happened, Sister Mary."

Mary didn’t respond.

Erza looked toward her and found the elf watching her with the same gentle expression as before.

"It’s all right, my Queen. I’m not going to force you."

Sister Mary gently placed her hand over Erza’s.

"If you don’t wish to tell me, then you don’t have to. But if you do wish to speak about it, I will listen."

Erza lowered her eyes toward their hands.

For several seconds, she struggled with herself before finally swallowing the tightness in her throat.

"You were right."

Sister Mary waited patiently.

Erza’s lips trembled slightly as another tear gathered at the corner of her eye.

"Yuuta and I... had an argument."

Her voice weakened near the end, and Erza immediately stopped speaking. The memories were already returning, bringing with them the same words she had desperately tried to bury only moments earlier.

Sister Mary noticed the pain crossing her face and gently squeezed her hand.

"Take your time, my Queen. I’m here."

Erza drew a deep breath.

Then she began from the beginning.

She told Sister Mary about finding the Aesthor stone near Yuuta’s apartment and how worried she had immediately become. She explained how Yuuta had eventually confronted her about it, how he had shown her his aura and tried desperately to convince her that he was finally strong enough to hear the truth.

Erza even admitted how easily Yuuta had managed to persuade her.

"He kept talking..."

A faint, bitter smile touched her lips.

"And somehow that foolish human convinced me."

Sister Mary almost smiled at how unsurprising that sounded, but she remained silent and allowed Erza to continue.

Erza explained how she had finally attempted to reveal the truth, only for everything to go terribly wrong. Yuuta’s body had reacted violently, blood had begun pouring from him, and Erza had panicked when she realized that continuing could seriously harm him.

"So I erased his memory."

Erza lowered her eyes.

"I thought I was protecting him."

Her fingers tightened beneath Sister Mary’s hand.

"But Yuuta was prepared for that too."

From there, Erza’s voice became increasingly difficult to maintain. She explained how the argument had begun, how Yuuta accused her of deciding everything for him and how every attempt she made to explain that she had only wanted to protect him seemed to make him angrier.

Then Erza stopped.

Her breathing trembled.

Sister Mary waited.

"He said..."

Erza swallowed painfully before forcing herself to continue.

"He said my love was animalistic."

Sister Mary’s expression changed.

Erza stared down at her lap as the memories returned.

"He compared the way I love him to the way a beast protects something it owns. He said I didn’t understand him, that I only wanted to control him and keep him because I considered him mine."

Her voice cracked slightly, but Erza forced herself onward.

"He said I was only pretending to love him."

Sister Mary’s eyes widened.

"He said he had been foolish enough to believe I was learning how to love him like a human would."

Another tear slipped down Erza’s cheek.

"And then..."

Erza’s fingers tightened painfully around Mary’s hand.

"He called me a beast."

Sister Mary went completely silent.

Erza drew another shaky breath and finally told her how everything had ended. She explained the slap, how she had told Yuuta she hated him and how she had left through the balcony because she couldn’t remain there any longer.

Then came the final part.

"When I flew away..."

Erza closed her eyes.

"He shouted after me."

Her lips trembled.

"He said he hated me too. He called me a fucking lizard Queen..."

Erza’s voice became barely more than a whisper.

"...and told me he wished I would never come back."

The Green Sanctuary fell silent.

Erza slowly wiped another tear from her cheek.

"That’s what happened, Sister Mary."

She attempted a small smile, but it carried none of its usual confidence.

"That’s all."

Sister Mary stared at her.

She had known Yuuta since he was a child. She had seen him angry, stubborn, frightened and unreasonable countless times, but even she had never imagined that he could say something so cruel to someone he loved.

Then Erza noticed something.

The air around them had changed.

A powerful Green aura was slowly rising from Sister Mary’s body, spreading through the surrounding grass and flowers while the gentle expression upon the Holy Saint’s face remained almost perfectly intact.

Erza’s violet eyes widened.

"Sister Mary...?"

"You did nothing wrong, Your Highness."

Sister Mary’s voice remained remarkably calm, but the warmth that had filled it moments earlier was gone.

Erza stared at her.

Sister Mary slowly rose from beside the bench while her violet aura continued gathering around her. There was still a pleasant smile upon her face, yet somehow that smile only made the anger beneath it considerably more frightening.

"The one who did something wrong..."

Her eyes narrowed.

"...was that idiot."

Erza suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"Sister Mary."

Mary calmly adjusted her clothes.

"I believe I need to have a conversation with the boy I raised."

The coldness in her voice made even Erza hesitate.

"Sister Mary, wait....."

But the Holy Saint’s smile only became gentler.

"A very long conversation."

To be Contiuned....