CH 66.1

The smile disappeared from Frillite’s face.

“Why should I do that?”

“Well..?”

“I asked why. Don’t make me ask twice.”

Her voice was frigid cold. Her face was expression-less, but her eyes were hiding a snowstorm within.

Lorian was perplexed.

The words he had uttered were a bit out of line, he had expected a certain amount of backlash. But he did not expect that she would react so strongly.

‘Are they already close to that level…’

He was glad that he hadn’t delayed any further.

“Well, then please excuse me. I had tried not to sound harsh.”

Lorian groaned, refining his set of words inside his head.

He then spoke in a voice as soft as possible, for him.

“Cloud is a Hero, yes. But we are fundamentally different.”

“What do you mean by being different?”

“Class. In short, the environment we belong to is different.”

He was a commoner without origin.

He was of humble bloodline.

No such direct words were used. Regardless of what Lorian actually thought, he knew better than to say a word that she wouldn’t like.

“Look at him.”

Lorian pointed towards Cloud, surrounded by the citizens. The square still had a friendly atmosphere.

“It is a delightful sight, indeed. A hero calming the citizens who have been harmed by monsters, it’s good, right? Perhaps those citizens will get some comfort from that, too. So I will not deny that he is a great warrior. But.”

Lorian narrowed his eyes.

The reason the cloud was launched earlier was to say this.

“He is disqualified as a noble.”

“…”

Frillite clasped her arms together and lifted her chin.

At the signal to continue speaking, Lorian gained confidence and continued to speak with same momentum.

“Think about it. What is a noble? In other words, it means being a ruler. It means not to be a person who cares about every single commoner, but a visionary who stands tall over them.”

Lorian pulled up the hand that was pointing at Cloud.

“Of course, even if you are a ruler, you can pay attention to each and every commoner. You can hear masses say that people like him become good rulers. But he will never be a good one.”

A ruler is a being who reigns and a being who rules.

A ruler must be able to see the future.

If he forsakes the future because he is afraid of some sacrifice, he will be buried in the present.

“Frillite. You and I were born as rulers. We were different from people like Cloud and Gis from birth. I was just saying this out of fear that hanging out with Cloud would undermine your identity as a ruler.”

After Lorian’s words were finished, Frillite remained silent. He knew that she was taking his words seriously and that made him elated.

But it was an illusion.

After a while, Frillite’s forehead had a tic.

“Lorian, do you see me as a fool?”

“Huh..?”

Lorian was stunned.

How did she took his words for her to come to such a conclusion?

Was she misunderstanding something?

But Lorian was given no time to explain.

Frillite continued without stopping.

“I, Frillite de Perdiac, understand my position, role, and responsibilities as a hero and as the next head of the Perdiak family. But you think I’m going to ruin it all because of my personal feelings. What does this mean if you don’t see me as a fool?”

“No, no. That’s not what I meant…”

“Stop making excuses!”

Frillite’s wrathful shout resounded loudly.

The citizens around her looked at her in shock, but she didn’t mind them and stared at Lorian.

“Listen carefully. Frillite de Perdiac is a hero, and if she had to sacrifice for the peace of the continent, she would gladly lay down this one life. If she had to make some sacrifices for her estate as the next lord of the Perdiac’s, she would. If you have understood what I have said, get out immediately.”

Because she didn’t want to see him anymore.

While Frillite was furious, Lorian was greatly agitated.

Because it was the first time he had ever seen Frillite get so blatantly angry. H-How he was going to fix this? That alone made Lorian feel like his head would explode.

“Frillite, I had no intention of demeaning you. I was just worried, so please release your anger. I apologize for my mistake.”

Lorian apologized in the most courteous manner possible.

Of course, there was no way that Frillite’s anger would be resolved with just a single apology.

Her anger was for the insult to her values, the insult towards Cloud, and her displeasure towards a third party for trying to take away her first friend from her, and so on. It was a collection of complex emotions.

Contrary to her heart, however, Frillite sighed deeply and accepted his apology.

She also wanted to maintain an amicable relationship with other heroes, though both her mind and heart wanted something else.

“Thank you for accepting my apology. But I want you to reconsider what I told you earlier.”

“Lorian, you are..!”

“Not for the same reason!”

She stretched out her hand towards her sword, she was losing her cool, and Frillite wasn’t taking it any longer. Lorian almost lost his control and hurriedly waved his hand like a snobbish brat.

“Won’t there be rumours when a man and a woman get together too much? Then Frillite, it will become a problem during the time of your marriage…”

“I don’t know why you worry so much about my marriage. Let them create as many rumours as they want.”

Frillite interrupted him and spoke as she sheathed her sword. Lorian joked to try lighten the atmosphere.

“So you don’t worry about rumours… You are strangely confident. You don’t even want to marry Cloud, do you?”

“…”

Frillite did not answer.

Lorian’s eyes twitched at her silence.