Chapter 290 - Extra: The Life Of Mary X William

William was irritated to hear Seri intended to go back home while he and Mary were to go outside for a date. He whispered in frustration, "I said you can't take any breaks!"

Seri spoke sarcastically with her hands on her hips, "But what do you expect me to do?! Just follow you around?!"

"Yes." William answered with a deadpan expression.

Seri felt her face twitch in irritation, "You can't be serious."

"Just follow us around secretly. It's not like I can go out without a Knight watching me."

"Can't you just get someone else to do it?!"

"Are you disobeying a King's order?! Did you forget the punishment for that?" William slid his finger across his throat. 

Seri sighed, "Ugh. Fine."

He beamed, "Great! Stay close, but don't get caught by Mary."

William returned to Mary's side and helped her put on her cloak before the two of them left for the city. While they were on their date, Seri followed them secretly while grumbling the entire time. She too was in disguise since she was now famous in the Kingdom. Anyone who didn't know her before from her shenanigans certainly knew who she was now thanks to William. Not only was she the first female knight, but she was also the King's personal Knight. As a result, she was always at his side and even gave William advice. Seri had essentially became the new Simon.

However, no one needed to guess if it was actually her or not. There was only one person who had hair that flipped up unnaturally with peach-colored eyes. Whenever she went out, if she had to avoid attention, she would have to completely hide her hair and wear a veil over her face so no one could see her eye color.

Seri grumbled in irritation, "William only wears a cloak and no one can figure out it's him. Yet, whenever I wear one they know immediately! Ugh. Annoying veil. I am starting to feel like the Original Seri."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Seri jumped and nearly screamed from the sudden voice in her ear. She looked around rapidly, but could see no one around her. That could only mean one thing.

It was the Original Seri.

Seri frowned at the empty air, "Why are you still here? I already saved Mary so shouldn't you move on already?"

"How would I know? I have told you many times that I don't understand why I am still here either. Just because I am dead doesn't mean I suddenly know all the answers I didn't know before."

Seri turned away from the Original Seri's voice and watched as William and Mary continued walking together. She continued to follow them in secret as they moved. She whispered to the Original Seri, "By the way, how are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling? Isn't that a useless question? I can't get sick anymore."

"I mean about seeing Mary with William on a date."

The Original Seri spoke calmly, "I've seen them on many dates. This isn't very different from when that happened before."

"You can still feel something about it."

"Are you concerned about me?"

Seri puffed out her cheeks and forced herself to speak arrogantly, "I'm not concerned! UGH! I was just asking a question."

"Is this a therapy session?"

"Don't make fun of me."

"If it is, I should warn you. I don't have any cash on me to pay."

Seri mocked her with a strange face as she continued to follow William and Mary around. The Original Seri let out a hearty laugh as she watched. Even though she enjoyed teasing the one she knew as Leia, the Original Seri could also tell that she was concerned for her sake. Her voice was calm, "Leia. You don't need to worry about me. I am used to seeing the two of them together."

Seri frowned when she heard this. If it was her following Dante and Mary around, she probably would have turned into a vengeful ghost to haunt them. Seri sighed, "I can't help worrying. You never complain about it and can only follow others around. Why can't you be more selfish? Why can't you demand to be spoiled?"

"Hmm." The Original Seri's eyes flickered as watched the two on a date and pondered on the reason why she was so complaisant. Then, she watched as William bashfully held out a pastry to Mary who took it with a large smile on her face. The Original Seri soon found herself smiling as well.

She spoke with a meaningful look, "There was one point in time where I wanted to be more selfish. Sometimes I still have the feeling to separate William from her. However, I can never return back to the time when I was with Mary. Unfortunately, my time has passed. It was only by some miracle I was able to rewind time so that I could find a suitable candidate to take my place. It is true I was envious of you during the beginning. However, the more I watched Mary the more I knew it would be alright. She didn't need me in order to be happy."

"But what about you? Don't you want to be happy as well?"

"Happy?" She spoke in uncertainty as if she was asking herself. Her eyes never left Mary's, "I am not sure what the answer is to that. However, I don't feel unhappy. Watching Mary die before me was too painful to watch. After that, I stopped caring about little things like her and William dating or flirting. I only wanted to see her with a smile. I didn't care if I was the one who caused it or not. I became so desperate just to see her safe and unharmed." 

She then turned to Seri who still couldn't see her, "You will still watch over her in my place, right?"

Seri sighed feeling pity for the woman who would never put her own self before others. "A promise is a promise. I won't let a thing happen to her."

The Original Seri felt oddly relieved as she turned back to watch the two on a date sharing a piece of cake before ordering many more. She gave a faint smile as she watched the two of them together.

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-One year later- 

Seri reported back to the Palace at dawn just as she had been forced to do. As soon as Seri walked in the room, she was suddenly jumped by William. He grabbed her with determination in his eyes, "Seri! I need your help!"

Seri groaned at the mere thought, "William… I just walked in. Can't we have this conversation after you let me drink some coffee?"

"No time!" William grabbed her hand and ran to a more private room. He put his ear to the walls with a concentrated expression as Seri stared at him in disbelief. Then he turned to her, "Okay. We should be alone."

"Eh? Okay. But why are you dragging me to a private room? Did something serious happen?"

William looked at her with a grave expression, "I would say so."

Seri's expression grew profound, "Is it Simon again?"

"No! It's the nobles!"

"Wha- the nobles?!" Her face twitched, "I thought you said it was serious! I already told you I took care of the problem with them. They won't make petty complaints anymore."

"This is about something else!"

"Then what?! Just spit it out already!"

William looked away flushing with a bashful expression, "I… I want to propose to Mary…"

Seri nearly fell down. She shouted angrily, "Why would you make it seem like something so terrible is going on?! I thought it was a grave matter! My heart was going to give out!"

He clicked his tongue, "It is a grave matter!"

"It's not a grave matter!" She sighed, "Just ask her. Stop acting like a wimp."

William groaned, "It's not that. I can't even ask her since the nobles won't allow it. They are already giving Mary a hard time for just working in the Palace despite being a commoner. You can see all the hate surrounding her."

"Ah. I see. So you want me to convince the nobles to allow you to marry her? Is that it?"

William nodded quickly with stars in his eyes, "Yes! Please. If anyone can do it, you can."

"Fine. I will do this, but only on one condition." Seri gave him a wink, "You give Mary the best proposal in the world."

William froze, "H-How will I do that?!"

Seri's face twitched in irritation, "God d*mmit William. You are supposed to be the charming Prince character. It can't be too hard for you to come up with something!"

After being berated from Seri, William spent the rest of the day brainstorming the perfect proposal. He had been seeing Mary for over a year and he knew he wanted to make the proposal so grand that she couldn't possibly say no. However, he struggled to think just what this would be. Then, he was suddenly reminded of the day so long ago that was etched in his memory.

The day he was rejected by Seri and abandoned on that rock to watch the ocean by himself. The day Mary tried so hard to cheer him up with her puppets.

He closed his eyes as he recalled her words, "Don't you just love the sunset? When I was a kid, I used to climb to the roof just to watch the sunset over the entire city. To me, there was nothing more beautiful than that."