Chapter 107 - So... Thank You

Mildred smiled bitterly, as though she thought my proclamation was ridiculous.

"How can I be perfect if you yourself said I have flaws?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well... flaws don't have to be a bad thing."

Mildred raised an eyebrow while smiling helplessly.

"Isn't the very meaning of flaw something undesirable?"

I waved my hand dismissively.

"No, no. I just mean it's not something to be ashamed of. Without them, you wouldn't be who you were."

Mildred sighed.

"I... I suppose."

She tilted her head to the side.

"Um, can we pretend that this never happened?"

I smiled mischievously.

"No!"

Mildred raised her hands up to shoulder level.

"Eh? B-But why?"

I crossed my arms.

"I've already accepted that it's a thing that happened!"

Mildred smiled sadly.

"Is that so?..."

I stood up from the chair and hunched over the desk. With a finger, I lightly poked Mildred in the forehead.

"It's because I don't mind."

Mildred blinked a few times in confusion.

"Ah... really?"

I nodded.

"Really."

A small sigh escaped me.

"...Let's go home."

Mildred nodded.

"Ok."

With that, the two of us made our way back to the palace. The sun began to set by the time we got back.

Mildred rubbed her eye with her finger.

"I'm quite tired... It appears my time for rest is going to be a bit early today."

I nodded.

"Alright. Sleep well."

Mildred let out a small yawn.

"Thank you"

With that, Mildred left for her room, leaving me alone. For a few moments, I was at a loss for what to do.

My first instinct was to go back and attempt to memorize the spell, but I told the others that I would join them to play around at some point. A fair bit of time had passed since then.

With light steps, I made my way to the courtyard. A light breeze coasted by, lightly pushing against the grass and leaves. There was nobody there.

I sighed helplessly before turning around to leave. It was rather silent all by myself.

"Eh? There you are!"

Ah, well never mind. I met eyes with Alyx, who seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see her.

She crossed her arms.

"And where were you all this time? We thought that you would be practicing your spells, but when we checked, there was nobody there!"

I scratched the back of my head.

"Haha... well I went out to do something with Mildred."

Alyx raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Eh? So you could spare some time for her, but not with us?"

I raised my hands as though I was surrendering.

"Look, I was trying to memorize the spells, but it got really hard and then Mildred said she had a way to calm me down and-"

Alyx raised her hand, making the stopping gesture.

"Alright, alright. I don't blame you or anything. Plus, it seems you at least tried to get to us."

An awkward smile formed on my face.

"Yeah, yeah. It's about the intention!"

Alyx rolled her eyes.

"And you fully intended on abandoning us to learn magic you can't even use."

My eyelid twitched. I pointed at Alyx accusingly.

"Y-You said you wouldn't blame me, that's not fair!"

Alyx rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Haha, that is true."

I gasped exaggeratedly.

"So you're a liar!"

Alyx swatted away the finger I was using to point at her.

"It doesn't count, it was a joke!"

I scratched the back of my head.

"Haha. Well, what are you doing here anyways?"

Alyx sighed.

"I was trying to be a little like you and study my spells."

She raised the spellbook in her hand to shoulder level and waved it around a little.

"The only problem was, it felt a bit suffocating staying in my room the whole time. I thought going to the courtyard would be a good change of pace."

I nodded a few times.

"Ah, you have fun with that then."

Although my foot was raised in the air, ready to take a step, it froze. Alyx grabbed my shoulder with a devious smirk.

"But not now!"

I turned to her with a bit of incredulity.

"Ehhhh?"

Alyx shook me a little.

"Now, I'm waiting for an apology!"

I pointed at her accusingly once more.

"You're clearly blaming me!"

Alyx cleared her throat and held her spellbook over her heart shamelessly.

"These are two different things! You are obligated to apologize whether or not I forgive you!"

I raised my hands in the air as though surrendering once again.

"Gah, ok, ok! I'm sorry."

Alyx let go of my shoulder and smiled to herself.

"Heh. That's better."

A long sigh escaped me.

"Haha, I honestly didn't expect you to be someone that would enjoy teasing others."

Alyx shrugged her shoulders.

"The more surprising thing is I hardly knew that I would either!"

My eyelid twitched.

"Eh?"

Alyx poked my forehead.

"Something about you just seems so pathetic. Perhaps that's why."

The corner of my lip twitched.

"Why you..."

Alyx burst out into laughter.

"Calm down, calm down. It was just a joke!"

A small sigh escaped me.

"I guess it's my fault for coming to conclusions so fast. But still, it's hard for me to imagine that this is actually you."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"If anything, I thought you were going to be more serious or become super naggy."

Alyx rolled her eyes.

"Well of course I'm not going to act the same to a stranger and someone I know."

I tilted my head to the side.

"Eh? Why is that?"

Alyx raised an eyebrow.

"Are you serious?"

With a bit of awkwardness, I looked away.

"Well... yeah."

Alyx looked at me with suspicion, but didn't question me outright.

"How are you supposed to trust someone you've never met before?"

I furrowed my brows.

"Trust them with what?"

Alyx sighed exasperatedly.

"With who you really are!"

...Was I supposed to be hiding something?

It seems my method was wrong the entire time.

Alyx held her forehead with one head.

"Ugh. Let me explain it to you more. If you are with someone you don't trust, you put up walls to defend yourself. Once that changes to people that you do trust, you are willing to let those walls fall, because you believe that they won't hurt you."

I let out a small gasp of realization.

"That makes sense now."

Alyx raised an eyebrow.

"You must be pretty secluded to not know about that. It's almost like we were the first people you ever met."

My eyebrow twitched.

...Well.

I coughed awkwardly.

"So normally, you're not just super cold all the time. Instead, you play around like this?"

The corner of Alyx's lip twitched.

"Um..."

My mouth was slightly agape.

"What? Did I get it wrong again? I must be really bad at this..."

Alyx chuckled.

"No, no. It's just that I've never really had that many people to talk to."

She held onto a few strands of her hair and began twisting it.

"You see, for pretty much my entire life, the only person I could trust was Erin."

Alyx sighed helplessly.

"But at the same time, I was more focused on protecting her for all of my life. Although we had fun together, it was essentially to comfort one another."

I scratched the back of my head.

"Who were you protecting her from?"

Alyx smiled bitterly.

"...Far too many people."

Wow. Earth sounds like a dangerous place.

Alyx sighed.

"But here, nobody bothers us so long as we remain in the palace."

A small smile formed on my face.

"How sure are you about that?"

Alyx rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"I don't mean it like that. It just feels so surreal, suddenly living a life without having to worry about the future."

...That does sound pretty nice. Seems like I will have to work hard to see something like that.

So that we can all see that.

Alyx took a deep breath and brushed aside her hair.

"Haha, honestly speaking, I never saw myself becoming friends with you guys."

My eyes widened.

"Eh? Do we look that bad?"

Alyx burst out in laughter.

"You're misunderstanding. It's not you two in particular. It was the fact I never saw myself getting along with anyone else.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"At some point in my life, I accepted that it would only be Erin and me together."

Alyx twisted the end of her hair.

"But ever since you decided to bring all of our desks together when we first attended school..."

She smiled beautifully.

"...I was willing to open up a little bit."

I scratched the back of my head. Technically, Ned was supposed to do that...

"Haha, I'm glad."

Alyx tilted her head to the side.

"I suppose it has been far more freeing than I thought it could ever be. It was unbeknownst to me, but even with Erin, I was still trying to hide myself."

She giggled.

"So.... thank you for letting me be myself."