At this point, Liyami saw a fleeting expression of pain flash across Kolin’s face. Unlike the faint, almost imperceptible pain she had seen before, this one, though fleeting, was noticeably stronger.
“Fortunately for us, the three of us had sneaked out to play, so we didn’t run into that demon until we returned. My brother immediately made a quick decision, taking me and Eleanor and starting to flee, but how could three weak children outrun a powerful demon executive?
Just a few minutes later, we were cornered and forced into a house. That demon probably wanted to take the easy way out—he didn’t come in to kill us directly but instead destroyed the house, trying to crush us all beneath it.
But like I said before, we were lucky enough. No sooner had the demon collapsed the house than the Order of the Temple Knights, who had been tracking the demon executive’s trail, arrived in pursuit, killed the demon on the spot, and successfully rescued us from the rubble.”
The pain on Kolin’s face had become increasingly obvious, to the point where even Liyami could notice it without careful observation. And even though it was filled with pain, Kolin did not stop his story.
“But… the only ones who were lucky enough were me and Eleanor. It did not include the person who held us tightly beneath him, shielding us until we were discovered by the Order of the Temple Knights, and only then left at ease… my brother.”
At this point, Kolin had covered his face with his hands and did not continue. Although she didn’t know what expression his face made beneath his hands, it was definitely not a pleasant one.
Liyami did not try to make Kolin continue telling what happened next, but instead silently watched him. Occasionally, her mouth would open slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but soon closed again, as if everything had just been an illusion.
Liyami wanted to say something to comfort him, but didn’t know how. After all, her own background was not much better, and situations where she comforted others rarely happened to her. So, not knowing how to comfort him, she could only remain silent together with Kolin.
The silence between them lasted for a long time, until Kolin finally recovered, or perhaps he only then remembered that Liyami was still sitting in front of him, waiting for his next words.
Anyway, Kolin finally snapped back to reality. He looked at Liyami in front of him and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. After a short while, Kolin slowly said, “…Let’s stop here. There’s nothing much to say about what happened after.”
Hearing this, Liyami’s mouth moved, but Kolin spoke before she could make a sound. “I know what you want to ask. The reason I told you these things just now actually isn’t for any special reason. It’s just that when I was talking with Eleanor earlier, I remembered my childhood, so I simply… wanted to confide in someone. If it bothers you, then just forget everything I just said.”
As soon as Kolin finished speaking, Liyami fell silent again.
Actually, Liyami didn’t mean to say that. After all, although she wasn’t the most emotionally intelligent, she was still able to read the atmosphere. She knew that now was definitely not the time to ask Kolin why he did these things—that would be too tactless.
What she really wanted to say were a few words of comfort to Kolin, but after Kolin said that, Liyami gave up trying to comfort him. Not only did Kolin not need her comfort, but also she found that when the words came to her lips, her comfort was really too lousy.
Anyway, since Kolin had said so, she might as well take the out he offered.
That said, although Liyami had given up on comforting Kolin, keeping silent like this wasn’t good either. She was really fed up with the silence. So shortly after they fell silent, Liyami asked the question she now wanted to know second most.
“…If that’s the case, then what about the promise Eleanor mentioned? Did you two really have some promise?”
Faced with Liyami’s question, Kolin gave a wry smile, rubbed his head with his hand, and looked at a loss as to how to answer.
“…Regarding the promise Eleanor mentioned,” Kolin finally organized his words and answered Liyami’s question, “actually, I don’t know what it is either. Maybe I really forgot, but I’ve never had any impression of this so-called promise. Of course, it’s more likely because… ah, forget it. You don’t need to know that possibility anyway. Anyway, I definitely never made any such promise with Eleanor. Does that put your mind at ease?”
After hearing Kolin’s words, although Liyami still had some doubts in her heart, since Kolin had no intention of continuing, it was better for her not to ask further for now.
With that, the scene fell into silence again, until after sitting for a while, Kolin stood up again. As he stretched his body, he said, “Alright, it’s getting late. Time to head back to the villa. If we don’t go back for so long, they might get worried! We can’t let them waste their energy for nothing! Let’s go! There’s no point in sitting here any longer. Time to go back!”
Having said that, Kolin prepared to leave from behind the large rock and return to the villa.
Seeing this, Liyami didn’t want to stay any longer either. She stood up, ready to return to the villa with Kolin. But at that moment, Kolin’s forward movement stopped. He didn’t turn back, just stood there.
Just as Liyami’s confusion was about to rise, Kolin’s weak voice reached her ears.
“…Regarding that matter, I hope you can give me a little more time. I already… have some ideas. It shouldn’t be long before I can give you a definite answer. I hope you can wait a little longer until then.”
Kolin’s words made Liyami’s eyebrows rise slightly. She didn’t expect Kolin to choose this moment to mention that matter. She had deliberately not brought it up. Although Kolin still only asked her to wait, he also said it wouldn’t be long. So far, Kolin had rarely gone back on his word, so Liyami trusted his words.
“Alright. Although I am a bit anxious, since you said so, I’ll wait a little longer. We have plenty of time now, don’t we? I hope by then you will have truly figured out how to reply to me!”
Hearing this, Kolin let out a sigh of relief. He no longer stayed rooted to the spot but turned and returned to the villa without stopping.
Liyami watched him from behind, until Kolin had walked far away and even his figure became somewhat blurry. Only then did Liyami slowly move, following the footprints he left behind, and returned to the villa together.