Letia’s smile made Red lose himself for a moment, but it only lasted for a brief while before she reverted back to her usual lazy, salted-fish self.
“But honestly, asking you this question—it’s not as complicated as you might think.”
“Hmm?~”
“I’m just bored, wanted to hear something amusing. Did you and Liz ever have any unhappy moments in the past? Tell me, cheer me up?”
To be honest, after hearing Letia say that, for a split second, Red felt that Letia and Litt had become the same person.
Especially since the two looked somewhat alike, the feeling was even more pronounced.
But it was just a fleeting moment.
As soon as Letia slipped back into her carefree, salted-fish mode, the feeling vanished completely, making Red wonder if he was imagining things.
“Tsk… Suddenly I don’t really feel like talking about it, what now?”
“Come on, come on~”
Letia spoke in an affectionate tone, acting like a clingy girlfriend:
“Tell me, and you’ll get a reward.”
“Heh, more like you’re rewarding yourself, aren’t you?”
Red saw through her little game at a glance, the corner of his lips quirking up helplessly with a hint of indulgence.
But after a moment of silence, he still let out a soft sigh and began to speak.
“My parents… They were once Nobles. But, the kind that had long since fallen, left with only a hollow title among the Knight Class. To call us Nobles, our situation was really no different from commoners—maybe even more dire.”
“By some… pure chance, I met Liz. Almost at the same time, my father passed away… My mother chose to leave. Overnight, I became a true orphan.”
“At my lowest point, it was Liz… who reached out her hand.”
Red’s voice carried a kind of pure, almost devout gratitude.
“We naturally ended up together, relying on each other. She was ambitious, determined to become a true, respected knight, while I…”
Red gave a self-mocking smile and continued, “I was just her unremarkable little follower, handling all her chores, quietly watching her work hard. It’s always been that way.”
“Until one day, I got my hands on teaching materials about the Great Magician of Creation. With no one to teach me, I fumbled my way through, poring over the books by lamplight, failing over and over… but somehow, I really did manage to find my way in, and became a Great Magician of Creation. And Liz, thanks to her talent and hard work, successfully became an official Hero.”
“After that, she excitedly pulled me along to form the Hero Party, which is now Dawnblade.”
“Even though our roles changed, it seemed like my place at her side never really did. I was still the one looking after her daily life, taking care of all the little things. To be honest… I used to fantasize about staying by her side forever, even if it was only as a servant. But what happened after that… you already know.”
“She seemed to change, becoming harsher and harsher, her eyes filled only with the desire to win, and it seemed like she’d forgotten the promises we once made. My fantasies… were just fantasies in the end.”
“And later… On the Twenty-Third Floor, in that moment between life and death… I saw her face, so cold it was almost cruel, and heard her merciless rebuke… In that moment, everything that had supported me… seemed to collapse in an instant.”
“So… I chose to leave.”
A long silence stretched out.
Red closed his eyes, as if sinking into endless darkness.
After a long time, he spoke again, his voice low and almost self-deprecating.
“Letia… Do you think, maybe from the beginning, the ungrateful one who broke their promise… was me all along?”
Red tossed the question to Letia, but after waiting a long time without hearing a response, he could only turn his head—and that’s when he suddenly realized.
Letia, at some unknown point, had already drifted off to sleep, her breathing soft and rhythmic, her little face completely defenseless, looking incredibly cute.
But… after confirming that she really was asleep, Red suddenly felt all his strength leave his body, a strange emptiness and speechlessness rushing in.
It was like after getting off to a photo, only to realize, on closer look, that the photo was Tos in a dress.
A feeling that’s impossible to describe.
“Forget it, forget it. She probably just wanted to hear something fun anyway.”
Red lay down as well, closed his eyes, and prepared to sleep.
But, it had to be said, after pouring all that out… his heart felt a lot lighter.
Inside the pitch-black tent, it grew incredibly quiet.
Who knew how much time passed before, in the darkness, Letia opened her eyes.
She stared at the already sleeping Red over there, making no sound at all.
In fact, she hadn’t actually fallen asleep just now, and had truly listened to every word Red said.
But why didn’t she choose to comfort him or reply?
Because she was “Letia.”
Healing hearts like that should be “Litt’s” job.
But… looking at things now, Red’s psychological issues seem pretty serious too.
No wonder, in the Original Work Plot, he didn’t accept Litt’s kindness, and instead chose to keep avoiding her.
Looks like it’s because of Litt’s identity.
After all, based on what’s known so far, the Main Character Litt has quite the background.
Red must know that too.
But how should this be solved?
Letia closed her eyes.
As she kept thinking…
She fell asleep.
“Hey, wake up.”
Half-asleep, Letia felt someone shake her gently.
After sleeping soundly for the first time in a long while, and not having any nightmares, she actually didn’t want to get up at all.
She even wanted to sleep a bit longer.
“Stop sleeping, it’s time to work.”
After being shaken again, Letia could only slowly open her eyes.
She looked drowsily at Red in front of her, then rolled over and muttered,
“Last night… was too exhausting, let me sleep a bit more.”
After speaking, Letia rolled over again, closing her eyes, mumbling as she did.
“And it hurts a bit…”
She was referring to how she’d knocked out too many people last night and her muscles were sore.
Red suddenly felt a strange chill envelop his body, as an icy cold hand landed on his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw Tos, transformed into a demon, looking at him with a wide smile.
“No! She’s sore all over because she was treating the Injured last night, not because of what you’re all thinking.”
Red took in a sharp breath.
If he didn’t wake Letia up to explain things right now, he felt like he wouldn’t live to see the next sunrise!
“So hurry up and get up and explain already!”
He shook Letia with all his might again, and the girl was finally forced awake.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she glanced at Red, then at the twisted face of Tos behind him…
Wrapped in her blanket, she felt around under herself, seeming half-awake, half-asleep as she spoke.
“Red… did you see my fat… ci?”
“I think it’s missing.”
“Hiss~”
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