Chapter 185 A Princess' Tears



"Mm. "Elisa nodded. "With the Corruption, being stuck in that Dungeon, and a half dozen other things, it might be hard to think of me as a Princess, but-"

"I believe you." Mark interrupted.

"Thanks." A low voice. "If that's the case, then..." A Timeworn Elven Dagger spun.

'Huh-'

The next second,

Blitz-

Elisa stood behind the seated Mark.

Every cell in his body screamed at him to jump away.

She slowly lowered the raised Dagger until it kissed Mark's right shoulder.

"Never do-"

"Don't interrupt."

Elisa raised the Dagger and moved it to his left shoulder.

"Monster, I hereby pronounce you my Knight."

She took a step back, and Mark turned around.

Elisa was smiling.

"Don't do that again."

He wasn't.

"Your muscles twitched. Bet you had to fight against every instinct of yours not to move away, huh?"

"Do that again and I won't fight them at all."

"Think you can defend?"

"The best defense is offense, right?"

Elisa chuckled.

"After I just made you my Knight?" Mark remained silent. "Okay. Sorry. That was a bad joke. Won't do it again."

Mark stroked the Moonlit Feline's fur, before pushing himself off the ground.

"Guess my humor isn't very... Princess-like." Elisa's tone seemed apologetic.

"It really isn't." His was cold.

He started walking away.

She followed him, staying a couple of steps behind.

Krista walked by Mark's side.

"You're are mad about it, huh?"

He remained silent.

'Mm...' 

A peculiar sense of distance ruled the space between Mark and Elisa.

Whenever, one way or another, they seemed to get closer, one of the two would act in a way to conserve that distance.

Neither did that on purpose or even consciously.

Yet, they preserved that distance between them.

Perhaps because each had been alone for a long time?

Or perhaps, it was simply because one was a Monster, and the other wasn't one.

"It's getting dark." Elisa noted after a while.

"Is it?"

"You can't tell?"

Elisa walked a couple of steps behind, fidgeting with her fingers.

His silence seemed to weigh a lot.

"Oh."

Elisa stopped.

"What is it?" Mark asked without stopping.

"We're out. Or rather... Close."

The next second, Krista suddenly forward.

"Where are you...? Hey!" The Monster followed the Moonlit Feline.

And Elisa watched them go.

She took a deep breath in and let out a sigh.

Took a step forward before stopping again.

'Just when he agreed to accompany me there too...' Elisa scratched her head as she raised her gaze towards the sky. A sky that couldn't be seen, hidden by the snowstorm. 'I can be pretty dumb, huh?'

She directed her gaze forward.

They couldn't be seen anymore.

Using the Wind the channel her Mana, finding their position wouldn't have been a difficult task at all.

Still, she remained in the blizzard for a bit.

Standing, and unmoving.

"Is there even someone waiting for me out there?" Elisa whispered.

Her eyes widened, as if her own sentence had surprised her.

Kidnapped, poisoned, trapped, imprisoned, forced to see those she knew lose their minds, forced to see them die...

But now, she had left.

She had escaped.

The nightmare had ended.

Elisa clenched her teeth.

The nightmare had ended.

Why didn't it feel that way then?

Argh-

An ice pick headache.

"Why..." She whispered, her voice weak and feeble.

Argh-

"Why can't I remember... My time before... My time... In the Elven Forest... My time..."

Guess my humor isn't very princesslike-

It really isn't-

"As a Princess?"

It wouldn't let her remember.

Serene days, calm and peaceful?

There's no way the Corruption would let her remember that.

...

"That's why you were running?" Mark asked.

In front of him, the Moonlit Feline was enthusiastically scratching and piercing with its claws.

"A dead tree... Elisa could sense it all the way from over there?" He whispered.

Decrepit, the tree stood.

Its wood had grown dark, full of cracks.

Its branches frail and thin, lacking the leaves that would have given it the expected imposing stature.

'Dead. Mm... I guess that's to be expected in the middle of this blizzard.' The wind moved and a dead branch fell to the ground, startling Krista. 'Still, first sign of life since exiting the Dungeon. That's good. Might find some Monsters soon.'

An idea passed Mark's mind.

He didn't want to go through with it but,

[Your Title "Devourer" is looking at you.]

'Tsk. Okay, fine.'

Mark wrapped his right hand around the frail treetrunk and stole a piece of it with ease.

Crunch-

Crunch-

Crunch-

"Gross. Feels like eating dust."

[Your Title "Devourer" sneers.]

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" chuckles.]

Mark's eyes narrowed as he stared at the messages for a bit.

'Still, even a dead tree has some Mana inside. That's interesting. Guess I should ask about it. Can't ask Nia anymore, so the only I can-'

Krista rested her paws against Mark's knee, interrupting his thoughts.

Her gaze went from him to the area they had come from.

"Want to go check on her?"

The Moonlit Feline nodded and stared at him.

Mark sighed, and Krista started walking in Elisa's direction.

He followed her.

...

'The Elven Forest... The Elven Forest... The most beautiful place... The Elven Forest... Why can't I...?'

"FUCK!" Elisa shouted.

With her knees on the ground, she hit the snow-covered floor with a clenched fist multiple times.

Elisa let her left elbow fall to the ground.

"What's the point if I can't remember...? What's the point... If there's no one there for me...?" She whispered, her face inches away from the ground.

Veins appeared over her neck as she tried to remember.

As she fought against it.

"Why..."

Pain like she had never felt before.

"That white-haired fucker... The only one... The only thing I remember. It's him. That's the only way it would make sense. He's the one who... The one cursed us."

Elisa fought against the Corruption.

And the Corruption fought back.

"Kill him... Go back... Kill him... Go back. What the hell..."

Tears flowed, fell to the ground, and become one with the snow all around her.

"Am I supposed to do?"

Elisa's body froze.

She couldn't see them yet, but she could sense them approaching.

After hurriedly standing up, Elisa wiped her tears as fast as she could.

They walked closer.

She could see them.

Elisa thought that they probably could see her too.

A stubborn tear made its way down her face.

She decided not to wipe it off and let the blizzard take care of it instead.

The motion of wiping tears usually gave out more than the sight of a lonely tear, was that tear to be noticed in the first place.

And Elisa was convinced it would go unnoticed.

How could it be noticed after all, when it was a Monster approaching?

A Monster just like any other.

A Monster on the same side as-

"Elisa?"

Her heart shook.

"Can you hear me? Or is this another not so Princess-like joke?"

Something was bubbling inside her.

"Elisa?"

She broke.

Her knees hit the ground, and she sobbed.

Elisa.

Her Name.

A Name she, for a long time, hadn't heard.

A Name she, for a long time, was convinced would never hear coming from someone else.

A Name she, long ago, had obtained from those she loved.

Mark and Krista looked at one another for a bit.

The Moonlit Feline's eyes narrowed.

"Why are looking at me? I didn't do anything." He whispered.

Krista's eyes narrowed further, before turning towards Elisa.

The Moonlit Feline ran towards her.

Blinding light-

A second later, Elisa's back lay against the cold snow.

Standing over her was a white-furred Lioness.

"Stop... Hey... Stop..."

Mark watched the two from afar.

'The same thing again, huh? Tsk.'

He watched, as chuckling slowly infiltrated Elisa's crying.

'I can imagine. Losing everything you hold dear, being held captive, poisoned...'

Mark remained unmoving. His eyes seemed distant.

'Forced to watch those she knew die... Forced to cooperate with the one who killed them... Honestly, I don't even understand how she could forgive that. Or, I guess, moved past it.'

He sighed internally.

'Makes me feel bad for her.'

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" nods.]

'I don't like that.'

[Your Title "Devourer" nods.]

'I shouldn't feel bad for her. I'm a Monster after all. No, I guess...'

Mark raised his gaze for a bit.

'I don't want to feel bad for her.'

[Your Title "Devourer" nods.]

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" nods.]

The Princess wept and wept.

The Moonlit Feline, in her Lioness Form, licked her tears over and over again.

They were salty.

'A Princess' Tears...'

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" is looking at you.]

[Your Title "Devourer" is looking at you.]

'Think that would sell well in this world?'

[Your Title "Devourer" wheezes.]

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" rolls its eyes.]