I Possessed the Villain’s Childhood Friend – Chapter 117

〈Aike Akses. I want to talk to you once again.〉

That was clearly Dait’s voice.

“Once again?”

Sofia and Leon looked at me, puzzled by what that could possibly mean.

Reina, too, silently conveyed her wish to understand the meaning behind it.

“…When I returned to my family home, the leader of Avatarara, Dait Chernobog, came to see me.”

I quietly explained what had happened back then. Of course, I kept the fact that I wasn’t the real ‘Aike Akses’ to myself.

“He invited me to join Avatarara, and I declined.”

“…If that’s true, then I have no idea what that guy, the leader of Avatarara, is thinking.”

〈You probably know, too.〉

Everyone expressed their doubts, but Dait continued in a tone devoid of any emotion.

〈I alone understand the anguish you carry, the secret that you hold.〉

Dait still thinks that I returned from the future to the past like him. In other words, he cannot understand the anguish I faced.

〈Even if you don’t have such thoughts, you must have questions for me.〉

However.

〈The choice is yours. If you choose to come with those who are there, I will welcome you with all my power as the leader of Avatarara.〉

As Dait had said, I did indeed have questions for him.

〈But if I think about it, you will likely come alone. …I will be waiting, Aike Akses.〉

After that last statement, Dait’s voice faded away.

Looking around, I found that everyone was staring at me.

“What are you thinking, Aike?”

“…Do I have the right to choose?”

The opponent is Avatarara, an organization causing chaos in the Empire. Even if the leader of such an organization requests a conversation, I doubt Leon, as the Crown Prince, would have any reason to accept.

That chance for resolution had long since passed.

Nevertheless, Leon remained silent, looking at me as if he was entrusting the decision to me.

“…Miss Sophia.”

“Yes, Aike-sama.”

“Can you at least heal me enough to fight once more?”

Of course, Dait said he wanted to talk to me. But my intuition screamed at me. If I were to seek him out alone, it would ultimately end in a fight.

“…Understood.”

Sophia placed her hand on my back again. A warm light enveloped me, and the trembling throughout my body gradually ceased.

“From now on, I will forcibly cover the wounds on Aike-sama’s muscles, bones, and magic circuits with my magical power. Then, for a while, you should be able to move as usual.”

However, Reina interjected.

“This is merely a temporary measure. Ultimately, if you do end up fighting, my magical power will gradually wear away, so you need to settle things before that happens. Do you understand?”

“Understood.”

As those words escaped my lips, Sophia, who had removed her hand from my back, looked quite exhausted.

“Miss Sophia, are you alright?”

“Oh, Reina. I’m fine. I just used too much magical power at once, so I’m a little tired…”

Originally, this was not my place to fight. It was Sophia and Leon’s responsibility to conclude the discussion.

Yet, I couldn’t suppress my personal ambitions.

“Aike. If you’re the leader of Avatarara, shouldn’t you take this?”

Leon lightly tapped the Holy Sword.

But I shook my head in refusal.

“It’s fine. I want to settle this using my strength, at least in the end.”

I quietly drew Neia from its sheath and ran my fingers along it.

Five years ago, at the Martial Arts Tournament held in Heros. After reaching the finals, I went to Vulcanus to obtain this sword.

A weapon that would never break, Neia, the Holy Blade.

Just because it doesn’t break doesn’t mean I neglected its maintenance for a single day.

Nevertheless, the training and battles I had endured thus far must have been tough, as Neia looked much more rugged than when I first received it.

But that was the most certain proof of my efforts until now.

If I were to cast that aside and push forward, victory would surely be impossible.

“Huh.”

I swung Neia lightly, but felt no awkwardness at all.

Even the creaking sound I had heard just moments ago.

It must surely be thanks to Sophia’s unreserved support.

“Thank you, Miss Sophia.”

I inclined my head slightly in respect to the seated Sophia, then gazed toward the dark corridor.

If my memory serves me right, at the end of this corridor lies a great door.

Dait would be sitting on his throne in that room, awaiting me.

“I shall return.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

And lastly, I called out to her.

“Reina, I have something I want to say for a moment.”

★

“Hah.”

Once Aike and Reina completely disappeared from sight, Leon let out a sigh.

Leon understood too.

Logically thinking, there was no meaning in a situation where the leader of Avatarara and Aike would talk alone.

But that didn’t mean it held no significance for Aike personally.

‘I alone understand the anguish you carry, the secret that you hold.’

Leon recalled Dait Chernobog’s earlier words.

He had already noticed that Aike held some kind of secret long ago.

He had assumed that Aike’s desire to go alone this time was to resolve something related to that secret.

“How regretful that we didn’t hear him speak and ask for help.”

Of course, there were questions.

Aike was certainly hiding something that he hadn’t revealed to Reina either. Why did the leader of Avatarara know of it?

Depending on the circumstances, it could be a secret that would concern the Empire’s well-being.

However, Leon said nothing about it.

He held a firm belief in Aike as a friend, even more so than any suspicion.

“…Huh.”

After having sat down to rest, Leon gazed at Rex, who stood with his eyes closed.

The last exchange they shared.

He had clearly struck with a sword forced into an unstable stance.

Even having deflected it, Leon’s right arm continued to tremble incessantly.

He had received an attack far heavier than that head-on for nearly ten seconds.

“It’s hard to keep up, really…”

It was only natural for Leon to express such lament.

“Hah.”

For the first time in a while, he quietly recalled the memories of that day.

‘I won, Reina.’

Five years ago, at the Martial Arts Tournament in Heros, Aike had fought against him.

In a fight that anyone could see was hopeless, he had ultimately claimed victory, raising his thumb to Reina.

It was undoubtedly the most beautiful sight Leon had seen in his life.

The firm will to never give up, despite acknowledging his weaknesses and accepting the odds, was truly stunning and radiated from him.

“So, don’t lose. Come back, Aike.”

Leon thought that there were no miracles in this world, and he still believed that.

Thus, the path Aike had carved out for himself, from his debut in the social world at the ball to now, was not a miracle at all.

It was undoubtedly the result of his continuous efforts for the sake of precious bonds.

‘After all, imagining a future where everyone is happy is what matters most.’

“In that future, you must be there.”

With that thought, Leon smiled.

★

“…Is this it?”

At the end of the corridor stood the huge door, waiting for us.

Emblazoned in the center of the door was the symbol of Avatarara—a snake strangling a lion amidst thorny vines.

“Aike, are you really okay?”

Reina, who had followed silently until now, asked with concern.

It was fair enough. Considering what Sophia had said earlier, it was only natural.

“If I said I was fine, it would be a lie, but this is definitely the last battle.”

But I couldn’t back down.

As Dait had said, I had questions for him, and he must have things he wanted to say to me too.

“…Alright. Then what did you mean when you said you had something to say earlier?”

Right. I hadn’t brought Reina here to seek concern, but rather because I had something to say.

And that was related to the secret that might shatter the relationship we had built up until now.

‘How does it feel to be deceiving everyone around you?’

‘If what the prince said is true, then you are Aike Akses, but you’re not Aike Akses, are you?’

‘I alone understand the anguish you carry, the secret that you hold.’

“Reina, do you remember what I said last year?”

“Last year’s conversation?”

“On my birthday last year, I mentioned I was hiding a very important truth.”

It’s terrifying.

The fear that Reina might despise me after learning that I’m not the real Aike Akses is overwhelming.

But if I continue to hide this truth, I know I will surely think my relationship with Reina is a lie.

And that was something I hated more than the idea of being despised by Reina.

I wanted a genuine bond, even if it meant fighting.

“I am…”

Telling the truth was, indeed, a frightening experience.

“I am….”

Well, I had been deceiving Reina and everyone for the past five years.

To be able to speak about it so casually would indeed be odd.

“I am not Aike Akses…”

“It’s okay, Aike.”

And just like that, Reina interrupted my words without any hesitation.

“I told you back then, right? No matter what happens, I won’t be disappointed in you. If you were hiding something from me, I believe there would be a valid reason.”

“No. That’s not what I want to say…”

“You saved me. You fulfilled my wish. You saved Anna. You protected us when everyone fell. You persuaded my father and defeated Crown Prince Leon in a duel. Despite the hardships, you’ve persevered and continually strived… And you promised to be my knight. Aike, you are my lifelong benefactor.”

“So, what I want to say is…!”

And what followed was.

“Even if you’re not Aike Akses, I still like you.”

I came to a halt, my thoughts stopping in their tracks.

★

If I were to be asked when I began to notice even a little, I would undoubtedly reply that it was from the very start.

The awkward treatment he suddenly began to show me, the respectful language he used towards the servants, the interest in reading that he had previously shunned—I would have felt something was off if I didn’t notice any of that.

However, I certainly didn’t think he was someone else at first.

I merely wondered, what could have happened?

I hadn’t really held on to any certainties.

In fact, it was only recently that I fleetingly considered that it could be so.

But does that really matter?

The fact that he saved me does not change.

Neither does the fact that he saved Anna, protected us, persuaded my father, or defeated the Crown Prince.

The fact he worked tirelessly for me won’t ever become a lie.

The promise we made when we were young may be merely a figment of his memory.

Even still, he promised to be my knight.

Isn’t it all the more strange to say not to like someone like that?

“I don’t like Aike Akses, the second son of the Akses Duke House. I like you, the one standing here right now.”

“Why…?”

But he still seemed unable to believe it, his eyes still quivering.

Then there was no choice but to directly show him my feelings.

“Aike.”

I gestured for him to lean down.

Then I gently grasped his neck from behind and pulled him forward.

“What?!”

As our bodies came into contact, our lips met.

After the fierce battles, his appearance was in disarray, the atmosphere was grim, and there was even the scent of blood lingering in the air.

Yet I didn’t care about any of that.

His lips, which were the first to know mine, were…

“Surely, this shows it’s not a lie, doesn’t it?”

Far softer than anything else.

“I like you.”

“Reina…”

“So I hope you’ll tell me your real name.”

This was a desire.

A desire to be the only one to know his singular secret.

And he quietly nodded.

“Once everything is over, I promise I’ll tell you, no matter what.”

Before I knew it, he had returned to the eyes that I had come to recognize.

The reassuring gaze, seemingly indifferent, yet pure and gentle.

I truly liked him so much.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

I couldn’t suppress the smile that slipped out.

★

“Looks like you came alone after all.”

Inside the room, Dait sat alone on the massive throne.

“I thought that was what you wanted.”

“Then have you thought about what I said earlier?”

“About how only I can understand my secrets and anguish, that, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, but I must refuse. The reason I came alone is to ask a question.”

“…Alright. Then shall we begin the conversation?”

Dait’s lips curled into a sinister smile.

“I’m ready whenever you are.”