No Need For Regrets

Chapter 51

“Vice-Priest…”

Seriniel’s lips parted slowly.

“Do you truly believe that God grants people’s wishes?”

She couldn’t reveal everything honestly.

The unjust death and resurrection, the events in those inexplicable dreams…

“So, do you think that even the most impossible things… could happen in reality?”

Johan remained silent for a moment. He seemed slightly taken aback by Seriniel’s unexpected question, lost in thought.

“…It might be uncomfortable for you to ask such questions to a Vice-Priest. If I offended you, I apologize.”

“No, it’s not about that. Please don’t worry.”

Johan waved his hand dismissively, still wearing his smiling face.

“My title may be Vice-Priest, but I’m just a creature of God like everyone else. So, I can’t give a definitive answer to the Lady’s question.”

“…”

“But seeing you ask such questions, it seems the Lady may have had such experiences.”

Is that so?

At Johan’s words, Seriniel quietly nodded.

“Many people come to the temple. I may not know what their wishes are, but I do know that they come with fervent hearts.”

“…And?”

“Among them, there may be fulfilled wishes and unfulfilled ones. But I believe this: among those countless wishes, at least once… there may be a time when God hears my voice.”

Johan smiled warmly.

“So, I’ve told the Duke the same thing. But he never paid attention, saying he doesn’t believe in God.”

…Then, was the wish I heard about something that happened on a day I didn’t know about? A day in the future.

But a day before I died, not in the past, such a day.

Maybe I didn’t even know it was possible. Lexion continued to fight, constantly wandering the battlefield.

“In any case, it may be the same for the Lady. Once in a lifetime, just once… a wish made with such poignant and earnest feelings may have been granted. That’s what I think, at least.”

“…What if it wasn’t my wish?”

“…”

“What if it was someone else’s wish? Could that still be possible?”

“Didn’t I just tell you?”

Johan spoke in a gentle voice.

“Once in a lifetime, just once. A wish made with such poignant and earnest feelings, even if it’s empty.”

“…”

“Perhaps, for someone, having their wish granted was salvation in itself.”

“…And perhaps, the fact that your wish was granted was a salvation for someone else.”

Johan stopped speaking and looked quietly at Seriniel.

She seemed confused, unable to believe it.

But Johan knew one thing for sure.

Perhaps the one who wished for Seriniel’s sake was none other than a nobleman who was endlessly affectionate but utterly clueless about how to express it…

“As I mentioned, I fought on the battlefield alongside the Duke since I was young.”

Johan spoke slowly.

“War isn’t as simple as one might think. I witnessed countless deaths before my eyes. I almost died myself several times, and the Duke was the same.”

“…”

“He was stabbed deeply in the side, bleeding profusely. He was shot near the heart with an arrow, wandered the battlefield with his head split open.”

Even now, he could see it in his mind’s eye. Lexion, standing helplessly amidst the dead on the battlefield, staring blankly at the sky.

“I continued to call the Duke out of concern, but he never responded to my words, only repeating the same thing with vacant eyes.”

“…What did he say…?”

“It was someone’s name.”

[…Seriniel.]

Lexion muttered Seriniel’s name, gazing blankly at the sky.

Even Johan had become accustomed to seeing the earring, familiar with one side of it that remained.

Lexion threaded the earring onto a string and wore it around his neck whenever he went to battle. And at such times, he would clasp the bloodied earring tightly in his hand and call out to Seriniel.

“I don’t know how you’ll take this, but I’m also aware of what the Lady has been through.”

Johan also knew what had happened between Seriniel and Calian.

“It might be impudent of me to say this, but I’ve considered such thoughts. Considering what the Lady has been through, if I were her, wouldn’t it be difficult to trust the Duke…?”

Seriniel didn’t respond. Johan realized that his guess was correct.

And…

“[I won’t beg for my life. It wouldn’t matter if I died tomorrow.]”

Seriniel’s mind wandered to the words Lexion had spoken in her dream.

“[But if she… If she were left alone at the end of the world. So when it’s difficult and lonely… grant her wish.]”

That fractured voice.

“[So that if someone asks if she’s happy again, she can confidently say yes, just like she did then. Even if it’s my share of what’s impossible. This is my first and last wish to you.]”

…Could that really be possible?

Could it be true?

For someone who had no connection with me. Someone I didn’t even have any contact with.

Even before getting married, I had forgotten what had happened at the party…

Could that have happened?

It didn’t make sense. Not at all. Seriniel knew nothing about Lexion before she returned to life.

Of course, she had heard rumors about Lexion that people never tired of gossiping about, but that was about it.

But how could that be possible?

Lexion’s gaze as he looks at Seriniel.

And Seriniel’s gaze as she looks at Lexion.

Though they saw each other in each other’s eyes, there seemed to be some sort of barrier between them.

So, like babbling in the distance…

Johan didn’t believe the notion that the two had already fallen in love.

Of course, it might be true for Lexion, but he would be considerate in his own way. Aware that Seriniel still didn’t fully trust him.

“Please don’t try to force anything. That’s not something even the Duke would wish for.”

He had been the one who quietly held Seriniel close for quite some time. Without expecting any reward, blindly devoted.

So, Lexion wouldn’t want Seriniel to accept him forcibly.

If he were someone who didn’t care about such things, he would have disposed of Calian Helcar by now in some way and taken Seriniel for himself. Ignoring her wishes entirely.

“Do as your heart desires.”

“As my heart desires…?”

“I believe without a doubt. The Duke will find a way to show his true feelings to the Lady, in whatever manner.”

[Then let’s make it conditional. As you said, in a year. If at that time you still feel that you can’t trust me in the least, then I’ll do as you wish.]

Why did that suddenly come to mind…?

Seriniel couldn’t understand.

“Someday, that day will come, won’t it? The day when the name the Lady calls out in her hardest moments becomes the Duke’s name. The day when the embrace she seeks in her moment of escape becomes the Duke’s embrace.”

“…”

“And perhaps… he’s doing it for that reason. Stepping forward in front of people, even this time.”

Such a day…

Perhaps it had already come.

Without me knowing.

Thinking of Lexion who would tightly hold me in his arms as I cried softly at the edge of the cliff, Seriniel gently brushed her hand.

“You may or may not be aware, but the Duke dislikes taking such positions due to his severe lack of social skills.”

Seriniel chuckled at Johan’s half-joking remark. Johan chuckled as well.

“…That was quite a long story. If you have any further questions, it would be best to ask the Duke directly. I also happen to be someone who knows the value of life.”

With that, Johan looked ahead.

Lexion was still buried in the bright spring sunshine and surrounded by children.

“Isn’t he a sight for sore eyes?”

Johan asked with a smile.

“Contrary to rumors, quite an affectionate person, isn’t he?”

“…Yes.”

That’s right.

With a short answer, Seriniel looked at Lexion with eyes brimming with countless emotions.

Lexion, who had finished playing with the children, was reading a storybook to the little girl waiting for him, approaching me and Johan.

For such a long time.