Chapter 230:

Chapter 230:

Chapter 230: Please Stay By My Side

The hospital room was immaculate. Perhaps to reassure the patients, a calming cotton scent tickled my nose.

“...Did we win?”

It was Maiev who broke the silence first.

I quietly shook my head. No matter how much she had tried, I couldn’t bring myself to lie.

If Maiev had used black magic during the duel, the result might have been different, but since she had only utilized her blue mana, the outcome was inevitable.

Instead, I added a single phrase.

“But you didn’t lose either.”

“Didn’t lose....”

Maiev took the letter-shaped match list from my palm. When she confirmed the word “draw” written on it, a complex expression crossed her face.

“Well done.”

I praised her.

Even if Maiev had lost, I would have said the same thing. I had clearly observed her abandoning everything related to the Vampires.

But achieving a draw was truly fortunate.

“Well done, you say....”

Maiev repeated my words with a bewildered look.

She blinked awkwardly like a doll moving uncomfortably. Her eyelids went down and then up again repeatedly, revealing blue pupils each time, which felt distinctly awkward.

The red pupils were nowhere to be seen anymore.

...She was truly human now.

She wore something that might have been a smile.

“Is this a compliment? For me?”

I quietly nodded.

“Yes. You did well. I watched your efforts closely.”

“It’s strange.”

Maiev’s lips curled up slightly.

“I thought it wouldn’t feel real at all, but it does. I didn’t do it to be praised, but now that I hear it, it feels good.”

Raising a hand to slowly touch her cheek, Maiev had a sentimental look in her eyes.

I genuinely held her in high regard as well.

Not because she had achieved a draw, and not because she had displayed an incredibly high-level magic that no one could surpass. But rather....

Because her attitude was truly befitting of a magician.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“As a Vampire, this might be the worst condition ever.”

Maiev shrugged her shoulders slightly as if to show me. My face was reflected in her blue pupils.

Though her tone was light and self-deprecating, Maiev was undoubtedly shaken. It was understandable. She could never touch black magic again.

“From now on... I’ll never be a genius again, right?”

Maiev nodded to herself.

She must have understood well. Her body, having lost the concept of vitality, was quite fragile even among humans.

However.

“No.”

I confidently answered no.

“....”

A moment of silence filled the hospital room.

“No, it’s not a trivial matter...!”

Maiev’s face turned even redder. She continued speaking in a louder voice than before.

“What I mean is, please stay by my side!”

I didn’t fully understand her meaning and was about to ask for clarification, but she spoke even faster.

“I’m now an ordinary, weak human. I’ve abandoned my Vampire origins. I’ve given up on black magic.”

“You’re putting the responsibility on me when it was your choice.”

“It’s because you were the reason I made that choice. Ah...!”

After saying that, Maiev bit her lip, realizing her mistake. She had been glaring at me with a very resentful look, but now she couldn’t meet my eyes.

There were many moments of silence in the hospital room today.

Eventually, it was Maiev who broke the silence again. Her face still red, she waved her hands dismissively.

“Just pretend you didn’t hear that. Forget it.”

“I will stay by your side.”

“Yes. Please pretend you didn’t hear... wait, what?”

Maiev, who had been avoiding my gaze, quickly turned her head to look at me. Her eyes were twice as wide as usual.

With a slightly flushed face, she asked,

“What did you just say?”

I quietly watched her dumbfounded reaction.

Was it really such a surprising statement?

She had shown her determination to walk the path of a magician, so it was only natural and reasonable for me to refine Maiev like a raw gem.

“Uh... really? Just like that?”

However, it seemed she didn’t understand my words or their meaning, so I had no choice but to speak again.

“Yes.”

Although I couldn’t fully understand her feelings, I could somewhat guess.

Having abandoned everything that made her who she was, the path ahead must seem daunting. She tried to act cheerful and composed in front of me, but she was probably more anxious than anyone else.

So how could I not help her?

“Don’t worry and continue to focus on magic.”

“If I focus only on magic....”

“Yes.”

I nodded once more.

“As long as you don’t give up on magic, I won’t give up on you either.”

Maiev stared at me blankly for a while.

She seemed to want to say something. No, it looked like she tried to say something. She seemed to mutter something in the Vampire language, but only managed to mumble and couldn’t say it aloud.

“....”

After a long pause, she nodded.

“You promise?”

“Yes.”

“Even if I show terrible magic, even if the moment comes when I grow old and insignificant, as long as I don’t give up on magic, you’ll....”

She extended her hand to me, very cautiously.

“...stay by my side?”

I quietly took her hand.

It was a moment when only a few matches remained.