Chapter 104 - Unwanted Feelings

Chapter 104: Chapter 104 - Unwanted Feelings

(A/N: Once we reach 200 Power Stones, the next Chapter will be released!)

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Meanwhile, in another wing of the "Great President’s Palace," Rin was helping organize the final details of the reception alongside Meredith, Ingvield, and Valerie. The hall was still bustling, with servants coming and going as they adjusted the decorations, arranged the furniture, and checked every detail before the guests arrived.

Rin let out a small sigh as she carefully placed a vase of flowers on one of the tables. After making sure it was properly positioned, she leaned slightly over the arrangement and brought her face closer to the flowers, inhaling their fragrance without any hesitation. The scent was soft and pleasant, reminiscent of a delicate combination of vanilla with subtle citrus notes. The unexpectedly pleasant fragrance brought a smile to her lips as she commented:

"Hmm... They really smell wonderful."

Valerie, who was arranging several other bouquets nearby, heard the comment and calmly replied, "They are known as ’Kiss of Sin.’ They are a type of lily that only grows within the territory of the H?angenti Family."

Rin raised her eyebrows slightly, turning her attention back to the flowers.

"Hm? Only here...?"

"Yes. The climate and magical properties of the territory seem to favor their growth." Valerie discreetly pointed toward the vase. "They also have a rather useful characteristic. They improve the quality of the air around them and do not require much care. And unlike ordinary lilies, you do not have to worry about them withering after a few days."

Rin remained silent for a few seconds, observing the delicate petals. Her gaze passed over the vase once more before returning to the rest of the hall.

"That’s really interesting..." She could not help reacting that way. Ever since arriving in that world, she had encountered countless things that seemed absurd when compared to the knowledge of her own reality. Even an ordinary flower could possess such extraordinary properties. Living in a world where the Age of Gods had never ended was undoubtedly far more fascinating than living in the modern world. And, obviously, she was not saying that merely because of a flower. What truly impressed her was the fact that something so mundane could possess magical properties that she would rarely encounter in her own world. A plant capable of filtering the air, improving its quality, and at the same time being practically incapable of withering was something that could probably be reproduced through modern science and magecraft, but it would certainly require a considerable amount of research and resources.....

Valerie nodded, seeming to notice Rin’s growing curiosity.

"And these aren’t even the only ones. There are several other flowers in the garden with even more impressive properties. Some can neutralize different types of poison, while others have healing effects or can accelerate the recovery of injuries. At least, that’s what I heard from Echidna....."

Rin remained silent for a few moments. Just hearing that woman’s name caused a slightly suspicious expression to appear on her face. She had already realized that Echidna possessed knowledge about that world that, in certain respects, seemed even greater than Alear’s own. Unfortunately, talking to that woman had always been an exhausting experience, mainly because she was simply far too frightening.

It was not that Rin lacked courage. The problem was that some people could only truly be understood after speaking with them directly, and Echidna was definitely one of those people. Ever since arriving in that world and beginning to live at Alear’s expense, she had tried to avoid prolonged contact with that "witch" as much as possible. The more time she spent around her, the stronger the impression became that there was always something hidden behind every word and every glance.

Even so, she could not deny that she wanted to learn more about the mysticism present within the territory of the H?angenti Family. After all, if those were merely some of the plants that existed there, Rin was beginning to wonder what other discoveries might be hidden in that place...

Meredith, who had been listening to their conversation, let out a small giggle upon noticing Rin’s expression and decided to take the opportunity to tease her:

"Looks like just mentioning Echidna was enough to scare you, Rin-san."

Rin immediately became slightly embarrassed, looking away as she felt her face grow warm.

"I’m not scared... I just think that woman is a little... too intense."

Meredith merely widened her smile, clearly amused by her reaction. Before she could continue, however, Ingvield gave her a calm look and intervened:

"Meredith, don’t tease Rin too much. You know she is just trying to get used to all these new things."

"I know, I know. I just thought it was funny."

Rin sighed inwardly, discreetly bringing one hand to her forehead. Naturally, Meredith had found exactly the point that bothered her the most and decided to tease her about it. She was already beginning to realize that living with those people might be just as exhausting as dealing with Echidna herself.

The hall remained busy as the four continued with the preparations. At one point, several servants began positioning a number of metal buckets near the tables. At the bottom of each container was a small magic circle responsible for continuously producing ice, allowing the drinks to remain perfectly chilled without the need for any external source of energy.

Ingvield approached one of the tables and began carefully arranging several bottles of wine, choosing only the finest among those available. They were extremely rare labels, belonging to some of the most expensive varieties produced in the human world, and even Rin, who was accompanying her to help with the preparations, immediately recognized that this was far beyond what anyone would normally find at an "ordinary" reception. In fact, some of those bottles were so absurdly expensive that their individual value probably exceeded all the wealth her family had accumulated over generations!

Rin stared at the labels for several seconds, trying to process that information. As a magus, she was accustomed to considering certain objects extremely valuable, but this was simply another level of extravagance. The most absurd part was that no one seemed particularly impressed. To Ingvield, those bottles were merely part of the preparations for the reception.....

Honestly, it was almost numbing. She began wondering how many other things in that palace possessed equally absurd values and how many of them Alear considered perfectly normal....

As she adjusted one of the bottles, Ingvield casually looked at Rin, who was still trying to process everything, and asked:

"Rin, have you thought about the offer Alear made? About officially becoming part of his nobility, I mean...."

Over the past few days, Alear had offered Rin an official position within his nobility, allowing her to become part of the H?angenti Family. To his surprise, and even to her own, Rin had not immediately rejected the offer. Instead, she had said that she would think about it before making a final decision. After all, although she still had her doubts, the idea had piqued her interest.....

Rin remained motionless for a moment before letting out a small sigh.

"...I haven’t made a decision yet."

The hesitation in her voice caused Ingvield to raise her eyebrows slightly, while Rin looked away. Deep down, her greatest difficulty lay in the attachment she still felt toward humanity. No matter how fascinating that world was, and no matter how distant her own had become, she was still a human magus. She had grown up believing that humanity should stand on its own feet, and accepting a position among devils would, in a way, mean moving even farther away from that ideal. She did not want to simply abandon her human side.....

On the other hand, it would be a lie to say that Alear’s offer did not tempt her. Becoming a Devil would mean abandoning some of the limitations she carried as a human and, at the same time, gaining access to True Magic!

Rin remained thoughtful for a few seconds before finally shaking her head.

"I’m still thinking about it. It’s not exactly a decision I can make just like that..."

Ingvield merely nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer, before returning to arranging the bottles on the table.

Shortly afterward, the four finished organizing that part of the hall and moved together to another area of the palace, where they found Mio sitting in the same place as before. She seemed somewhat thoughtful, but she soon noticed the group approaching and raised her gaze.

Valerie was the first to speak, looking around before casually asking:

"Hi, Mio. Shouldn’t you be helping Maria and Ravel?"

"Oh! Valerie." Mio seemed to remember the question before answering, "We already finished things over there. Maria was taken by Grayfia, who needed her help in the kitchen, while Ravel had to go to the Phenex Family mansion to pick up her parents and brother for the party. I believe the same happened with Echidna and Seekvaira, since I haven’t seen either of them anywhere..."

"That makes sense. Does that also explain why Alear isn’t around?"

"Hmm... Actually, I think he is probably talking with Archer-san right now..."

Valerie nodded, although a small expression of disappointment appeared on her face.

"I see..."

She then sat down in one of the seats near Mio. Meredith and Ingvield exchanged a quick glance before doing the same, while Rin, still curious about the conversation, eventually settled down with the others.

After thinking for a moment, Meredith finally commented:

"If she went to talk with Alear, could it be about that....? If so, it looks like Archer-san beat us to it, doesn’t she?"

All of Alear’s noblewomen, including those who would eventually become his wives, already knew that Nobunaga had feelings for him. It was difficult not to notice the way the Servant behaved in the presence of her King, even if she would never openly admit it. The problem was precisely Nobunaga’s pride. She could tease him, get close to him, and act as though she were completely in control of the situation, but acknowledging her own feelings was another matter entirely. For someone as arrogant as her, admitting that she had fallen in love with her own King would probably be much more difficult than facing any enemy. Likewise, they had all noticed that Nobunaga was particularly strange that day. Her behavior was different from usual, and this raised a fairly obvious possibility in Meredith’s mind: perhaps Nobunaga had finally decided to stop resisting her own feelings and taken the initiative to move forward with Alear....

Valerie lowered her gaze slightly, while Ingvield also seemed somewhat downcast. Rin immediately noticed the reactions of the two and frowned, not quite understanding what they were talking about.

"Beating you to it?"

Mio looked at Rin for a few seconds before calmly replying:

"It’s quite simple. I believe that, at some point, you will end up feeling the same way as you spend more time with Alear....."

She paused briefly, looking at the other girls before continuing with a serene smile:

"We all love Alear. Each of us found something different in him, but in the end, our feelings led us to the same place. He became someone we want to protect, someone we trust, and above all, someone with whom we want to share our lives. No matter how many differences there are between us, I think that feeling is one of the few things we can all understand in the same way."

Valerie nodded discreetly, a gentle smile appearing on her lips.

"That’s exactly how it is."

Ingvield agreed as well, while Meredith merely let out a small laugh and shook her head.

"I couldn’t agree more."

Rin was left completely speechless for several seconds, her gaze shifting between them. She had not expected the answer to be so direct, much less for all of them to agree so naturally. Her expression soon twisted into a mixture of disbelief and indignation, as though the idea were simply too absurd to even consider.

"You... all of you? And how would I ever fall in love with an idiot who can’t love just one woman...?"

Although she had not actually expected an answer to her question, Rin was so surprised that she ended up losing her balance and falling out of her chair when a voice suddenly emerged beside her. Maria had appeared out of nowhere without any of them noticing her approach, and she answered with the utmost naturalness:

"Uawa, that’s very simple, Rin-san~. It’s the instinct of any capable woman who isn’t satisfied with her current lifestyle...."

"...So, you managed to escape?"

"How cruel, Mio-sama! Do you know how difficult it was to escape?! You could have helped me avoid being taken there in the first place!"

Rin got up from the floor and remained silent for several seconds, staring at Maria with a deeply disturbed expression. She did not even know where to begin responding to that statement, especially because Maria had said it with an almost frightening level of naturalness.

"...What exactly do you mean by that?"

Maria blinked several times, as though the question were completely obvious, before tilting her head slightly.

"You place far too much importance on your emotions, Rin-san, allowing them to deceive you with thoughts and aspirations that do not always have a basis in reality. Of course, your feelings cannot simply be ignored, but attraction does not depend solely on them. It is also influenced by appearance, abilities, and, above all, the way someone is able to keep up with what you wish to achieve....."

Rin remained silent, still trying to understand where Maria was going with this.

"From what I have observed, you are a woman who wishes to bring about great changes in the world. Therefore, you will inevitably find yourself attracted to someone capable of understanding that burden and perhaps carrying it alongside you, like Alear-sama. The problem is that you seem determined to make this far more complicated than it really needs to be.... Love is not a permanent force that must serve as the framework for your entire life. It can exist when you wish to express it, disappear for a while, and take on different forms depending on the circumstances and needs of the people involved. What matters is not allowing an idealized idea of love to prevent you from recognizing what you truly desire...."

"If you allowed an idealized idea of love to prevent us from following our own feelings, probably none of us would have been able to remain by his side. And when we finally accepted that, the love we felt ended up changing in a way that is difficult to explain. There is nothing wrong with accepting that the person you love also loves someone else. On the contrary, you can simply wish for them to be happy while simultaneously wanting to share that wonderful feeling with other people who love them as well. But that is merely my perspective as a Succubus. What I truly believe is that you were simply raised within a predominantly monogamous culture and ended up viewing love through that same perspective. In the Underworld, polygamy is completely normal. And considering that the same is true throughout much of the supernatural world, perhaps you simply need to realize that there are other ways to love besides the one you were taught to consider the only possible one...."

Upon hearing Maria’s words, Rin’s face took on an extremely skeptical expression as she stared at the small silver-haired girl. Although she recognized that there was some logic to her words, she still found the idea difficult to accept. After all, she had encountered polygamy before. Among the magi of the Clock Tower, for example, political marriages between old families were hardly uncommon. But to Rin, those relationships had always been connected to family interests, alliances, and the preservation of bloodlines, not genuine feelings.

She was not a purely emotional person and had always considered herself quite pragmatic, but turning that kind of relationship into something based on affection still seemed strange to her. Perhaps she would have to get used to it if she truly decided to remain in that world, especially if she intended to become increasingly involved with supernatural society.

But falling in love with Alear...?

Just considering that possibility made Rin’s cheeks burn. For a moment, her mind began imagining things she definitely should not have been imagining, causing her to immediately scold herself.

"Bad Rin..." She shook her head vigorously, trying to drive those thoughts away before they went too far. Then she quickly stood up, straightening her clothes while avoiding looking at any of the girls.

"I... I’m going to take a walk."

Without waiting for a response, Rin walked away hurriedly, disappearing down the corridor.

The girls of Alear’s peerage remained silent for several seconds, watching her leave....

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(A/N: What if I told you that, for the price of a cup of coffee, you could be 35 Chapters ahead of the story? We’re starting Volume Two there! It focuses on the human world, no more politics! There’s much more action!

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