Dear Isolde.
It's been four years since I last saw you, hasn't it? By now, you must be a beautiful young woman just like your mother used to be. I'm doing well, so there's no need to worry. If we're talking about the day I die, that's probably still a long way off.
I would have stayed in Milishion to see you again and check on your progress after your few years of traveling, but some important matters came up that forced me to leave in a hurry.
I heard you went through a fierce battle with the strongest swordsmen on the Demon Continent? Even clashed with the Immortal Demon King. I reckon you've improved a lot and must be close to reaching the second secret technique by now.
Recently, I arrived in the Dragon King Kingdom and was lucky enough to spar with the Death God. That guy is exactly as strong as the rumors say. His personality is a bit more laid-back than I thought, though. I've set up an appointment for you to have a practice match with him. I think even with the skills of a Water Emperor, you might still lose to him easily, but try not to make me lose face, okay? At least hold out for three rounds.
By the way, he's quite similar to Atur, really likes cooking, but I advise you not to eat it. It's not poisonous, but it's incredibly weird; you'll understand when the time comes.
And speaking of that brat.
First off, I want to congratulate you on getting together with Atur. I've seen how well you two matched since you were kids, so it's not surprising you ended up together. It's a shame I can't be there for the wedding. I'm giving you two a two-year deadline to give me my first great-grandchild, you hear? Boy or girl, I'm not picky. All I need is for the two of you to be happy together.
However, when I ran into Paul, I heard some rather strange stories about Atur already having some fiancée. The young lady from the major noble house that he occasionally mentioned in his letters to you a few years back. I hope this is just a misunderstanding. But if it isn't, I give you permission to just kill him. I won't allow any bastard to dare play with my granddaughter's feelings.
Just kidding, don't chop him up.
Leave him to me.
I'm kidding again. Don't say anything or that little punk will run away. I know he's still terrified and hiding from me. I heard somewhere he became a Demon Dragon King or whatever; probably just messing around with random nonsense instead of bothering to train his swordsmanship. Whenever I see him, I'm definitely going to give him a beating.
I actually don't think that kid is capable of lying to you. And he seems to be a responsible one. So there's a chance this is a misunderstanding or something. If that's true and there's really nothing between you two, then maybe it's time for you to come back. You've already found Atur, right? That means your objective is complete; now it's time to resume your original goal.
Return to the Royal Capital, Isolde, and fulfill your duties to the Water God Style.
Signed.
Water God Reida Reia.
...
It had been four days since Isolde arrived in Milishion and received this letter from Paul, Atur's uncle.
She had barely just met him and immediately understood that this was a natural-born lady-killer; it was no wonder he had two wives. Honestly, she was surprised he only had two. Just looking at the way young girls, and even married women, looked at him with such amusement was enough to understand.
Regardless, Isolde had promised Atur she wouldn't voice her opinions or interfere with Paul's family matters, so she wouldn't switch into her usual preaching mode.
Perhaps after four years of traveling, especially two of which were spent with Elinalise and encountering countless things on the road, the Water King had gradually stopped judging others so hastily. The lesson about listening to the situation and empathizing was something Isolde had deeply absorbed. She even started to know how to sympathize with the circumstances the other party was caught in.
Take Paul's case, for instance.
Word was that Paul had 'accidentally' gotten Lilia pregnant, so he had to take responsibility and marry her as his second wife. That showed he wasn't the type of guy to just shirk his duties and throw all the blame onto the woman like quite a few men out there.
In most cases of adultery, the fault is always entirely pinned on the woman. That's just how society is.
Thinking back on it, she didn't understand how that phrase 'accidentally' worked anyway. This wasn't a fairy tale where you just touch hands and suddenly have a baby. They were obviously a couple having an affair behind the first wife's back. Therefore, the responsibility belonged to both of them. Paul taking responsibility wasn't exactly some incredibly righteous act.
But whatever, Isolde had made a promise, she wouldn't judge. It's their family business. She told herself that.
When Isolde herself saw the caring way Paul treated Lilia, his second wife, she also understood why Atur seemed to respect this man. At least the guy wasn't someone who viewed women purely as tools to satisfy his lust.
And it seemed both Paul and Lilia were working very hard to find Zenith, the poor first wife in this story. According to Roxy and Atur's observations, Paul looked much more haggard than before. He even showed signs of becoming a drunkard (like someone she knew). Luckily, having Lilia by his side, he seemed to listen well and was trying to live a healthier lifestyle. So Isolde could guess that they had a pretty good relationship with each other.
Although she found it a bit absurd because wasn't the first wife a follower of the Millis faith? And she heard she was the daughter of a major noble house in the Holy Kingdom of Milishion, not someone from Asura. How the hell did that work?
Ah well, their family business. Isolde reminded herself internally again.
That wasn't really an important matter anyway. After all, the reason she was sitting deep in thought at the dining table this early in the morning was a completely different issue.
And the person sitting across from her right now, Talhand, could see that clearly. The dwarf mage stared intently at Isolde. He could clearly see her pensive gaze staring off into nothingness, her fingers tapping on the table to a weird rhythm, and the way the Water King occasionally glanced toward the stairs as if expecting something.
After downing the mug of ale in his hand, Talhand finally had to speak up.
"So you're heading out tomorrow?"
"Yeah." Isolde replied, her eyes still looking blankly toward the stairs.
Talhand looked toward the stairs, seeming to think about something before asking another question.
"You're not going to tell Atur before you leave?"
"Huh?" Isolde was suddenly startled by the question. She looked at Talhand as if she'd seen something bizarre and furrowed her brows. "Tell him what? He knows I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Tell him that you love him."
"Pfft. Ack! Cough cough!"
Isolde choked on her own saliva. She coughed a fit, chugged her glass of water before taking a deep breath, sat up straight, and by some absolute miracle returned to her usual emotionless expression.
"Please don't joke around like that, Mister Talhand. If anyone hears that, they'll get the wrong idea."
"I know you're a smart and honest girl," Talhand replied. "However, you don't know how to be honest with your own feelings at all."
Isolde immediately brought a hand to her face, deliberately trying to hide her blushing cheeks.
"Is it really that obvious?" Her voice trembled.
"Clear as day," Talhand answered truthfully. "But Atur hasn't realized it yet, don't worry. When it comes to this stuff, for some reason, he's incredibly dense."
"U... um. If you say so..." Isolde nodded slightly, glancing once again toward the stairs leading to the inn room where Atur was sleeping soundly.
"So that's a confirmation, huh?" Seeing that, Talhand smiled faintly.
"..."
"It's true that when love strikes, even the smartest person becomes unimaginably stupid. Normally, you would have realized I was just fishing for an answer."
"Please stop teasing me..." Isolde covered her face in shame.
Besides, after everything that had happened, Isolde now clearly knew what her feelings for Atur were.
It was love, there was no mistaking it, not even off by a single millimeter. She had no idea since when she'd been like this, and she hadn't been certain about it for a very long time. The Water King had thought she cared about him so much because of their special relationship with each other, or, because they were around each other so much, it was natural to think about the other person often. Only for her to go to the Lighthouse Academy and meet the elf village chief's son, a boy so handsome words couldn't describe him, yet she didn't feel a single flutter in her heart. All she thought in her head was 'Atur's smile is prettier' and then her own heart skipped a beat.
Gradually, the frequency of nights she dreamed of the two of them being intimate became denser. Sometimes she would even daydream about holding his hand all day without doing anything else. Sometimes it was hugging, even kissing, and then even more than that.
If that wasn't love, what else could it be?
"Ugh, how did it come to this?" Isolde sighed, both hands covering her entire face as she let out that complaint.
If someone had told the Isolde of four years ago that she would fall in love with Atur, she probably would have laughed in their face. Because how could that possibly happen? Isolde was naturally strict and picky. If the other person wasn't perfect, she would never have romantic feelings for them. After all... he wasn't her type at all, not even a little bit.
Isolde liked handsome men, they had to be handsome. Their personality had to be mature and strong too. They had to be a swordsman, or at least reach the Saint Tier. Moreover, they had to be a follower of Millis, faithful to one wife, and willing to sacrifice their status (if any) for the future where she wanted to become the Water God. Whoever the Water God married had to give up their status and become a commoner, right? But most of those who had the capacity to be taught swordsmanship to reach Saint Tier or higher also had to be very well-off to afford it. That explained why her standards made it so hard to find anyone suitable.
Meanwhile, what about Atur? When it came to looks, the thing Isolde always prioritized above all else, for some reason, she only just now realized that Atur was strangely handsome. That incredibly pleasant face, the toned body, even that eyepatch of his made him look indescribably badass. As long as he wasn't bald, it really was like he'd stepped right out of a painting. No wonder women swooned over him in droves everywhere he went.
And his voice? Good lord, that voice drove Isolde crazy. His voice had just cracked recently too, making him sound very much like a man. Whenever he recited his mostly bizarre poems, he now looked like a true poet. Absolutely dashing!
He was also a follower of the Millis faith, although... Isolde sometimes wondered if he was truly devout. But the amount of time Atur went to church was even more than her own, so she had no right to judge. If compared, perhaps that teenage boy only went to church less than the actual priests.
As for the status issue, Atur was ready to throw it all away when he was only six. And from then until now, he hasn't shown a single ounce of regret about it. Isolde knew the teenager had beef with his dad, but for someone to just ditch all their privileges, suffer through god knows what, and never look back? Now that was truly rare.
As for being strong, he obviously blew Isolde's standards completely out of the water. The guy was an absolute monster. Everyone knew it; well, everyone except the idiot himself, probably.
Ah, no, rather, Atur did know he was strong.
It's just that he liked to claim he was weak. For some half-baked reason or another. That was a con.
Right, the biggest con was probably his flaky, hot-and-cold personality. In the past, Isolde would have found the weird things he did utterly freakish, but lately—probably because she was possessed by that demon called love—she actually found them bizarrely cute. And when he occasionally got serious? Oh lord, Isolde could only freeze and stare, her heart pounding like a damn drum.
Come to think of it, if you ignored his inherent flaws—like being a pervert, having double standards, and occasionally being way too much of a busybody—Atur was actually exactly Isolde's type. So spot-on that she had to wonder why the hell it took her this long to realize it.
Even though she always played it cool and calm around him, for the longest time now, she had felt a mess inside whenever she thought of the guy. There were times she didn't even dare look him in the eye, having to hug Larry just to distract herself from lunging forward and throwing her arms around him. Or other times, she had to literally recite holy scripture in her head to banish her impure thoughts.
And like it stated above, if that wasn't love, then what the hell was it?
Amidst that internal chaos, Talhand was the one to ask the next question.
"So you're just not going to tell him at all?"
"Of course not," Isolde replied instantly. She immediately launched into a sermon. "You know he already has a fiancée, right? How could I possibly do that? Followers of the Millis Faith must respect the relationships of others. What would happen if people called me a homewrecker interfering in someone else's marriage? I would be a laughingstock and live in disgrace for the rest of my life or even my descendance."
"Yeah, yeah, got it." Talhand nodded, clearly not understanding a word Isolde had just said. "You're just scared of getting rejected, aren't you?"
"..."
Isolde choked on her words, because she knew Talhand was right. And exactly because of that, she couldn't even argue; she could only sit there and glare at him.
Seeing this, Talhand didn't look bothered at all—in fact, quite the opposite. The dwarf mage gently swirled the wine glass in his hand, creating a tiny vortex that released the faint spicy aroma of Millishion's sour wine. He took a light sniff before continuing.
"If you don't say anything, you might never get another chance."
"I know..." Isolde mumbled. "But how am I supposed to say it?"
"First time I've ever seen you lack confidence like this." Talhand raised a surprised eyebrow.
"I don't like failing, it's just my nature," she clicked her tongue. "I can only be confident if I hold a guaranteed win. Who goes around doing things they know for a fact will fail? That's just stupid."
"This isn't the time to be so full of yourself, Isolde. You're the one who's been actively avoiding him these past few days, aren't you?"
"That's... because he's been so busy..."
"Right, right. You always have an excuse."
To be fair, Isolde's excuse was partially true.
The past few days, they hadn't had much of a chance to talk, mostly because Paul's party was swamped with the logistics of disbanding their search party. After all, they had been operating for four straight years; they had done their best and done everything possible for the majority of the people they could help. Now it was time to head home, rebuild their hometown, and live on as normal people.
Atur, never failing to bite off more than he could chew as usual, immediately jumped in to help. Rumor had it he was running himself ragged between the knights' orders, the adventurers' guilds, and even the prestigious Millishion Holy Sanctum for something involving Paul's two daughters. Word was he even met with the Pope's people yesterday. Isolde had no idea if that had anything to do with Paul's search party, but she didn't have the mental bandwidth to care.
That wasn't even mentioning his plan to head to Begaritt with Paul—partly to fulfill his obligations to Larry, the cat currently lounging on the windowsill, and partly to help rescue Zenith.
Meanwhile, Isolde was torn over whether she should heed her master's summons.
If she decided not to return and went to Begaritt instead, sure, she'd gain more practical combat experience, but she'd miss out on precious time to start her knight training.
But the real agony was that she didn't want to be away from Atur.
He was going to Begaritt, a continent said to be second in danger only to the Demon Continent. Even though Isolde believed Atur would be fine—he'd manage somehow, since he was brilliant and incredibly capable—just the travel and tracking down the labyrinth based on instructions would take a massive chunk of time. Then he'd have to actually fight. If it turned out to be some deadly S-rank labyrinth, it could easily take two, three, maybe even four years to conquer.
After all that time, what if he completely forgot about her? And what if he reunited with that Boreas noble lady and they just went ahead and got married? Then her first love, the most perfect boy to spend the rest of her life with, would just fade into the past.
In other words, Isolde was facing two difficult choices.
Continue on the path to becoming the Water God, or cling to the love of her life with zero guarantee of success.
Actually, no, the choice was way too easy. Isolde knew full well that becoming the Water God was the objectively correct decision. It had been her dream since childhood, after all, it was for her pride as well. Not to mention the fact that Atur was clearly still dead serious about marrying that girl named Eris.
Even if she tagged along after him, there was no telling if it would do any good.
Basically, she had lost this romantic race right out of the gate.
"Ah… mister Talhand. What should I do now?"
"You must be pretty desperate to be asking me that," Talhand replied. "You know damn well I'm going to tell you to just spit it out."
"I can't do that." Isolde shook her head vehemently. "He'll just say 'I have a fiancée' and treat me like a leper."
Unfair, she thought. Isolde was the one who was there first. She had found him first, at the dojo that day, and she had been the first one to see all the amazing things about him. Yet... yet somehow she ended up as the latecomer. It made absolutely no sense.
"Do you think Atur is the kind of guy who puts his obligations and promises above everything else?" Talhand asked further.
"You don't think so?" Isolde's eyes widened, a flicker of disappointment in her chest.
Meaning, Isolde would be happy if Atur chose her over someone else, but if the price was him becoming an oathbreaker...
"I think we men are creatures easily swayed by temptation." The dwarf rubbed his chin. "If you want a sure thing, why don't you just pin him down and make him take responsibility?"
"You sound exactly like Elinalise." Now the girl was glaring.
"That is exactly what she would say," Talhand admitted. "But it's not wrong. Paul married Zenith because he knocked her up. Same goes for that Lilia woman."
"True, but Atur isn't the type to just jump into bed with anyone."
If it were the him from back in the day, maybe. But after their time on the Demon Continent, Isolde had realized that Atur was a far more moral teenager than he used to be.
"Maybe, but if it's you, he'll agree. Atur likes you, after all."
"R-Really?" The Water King stammered, her face turning as red as a tomato—a rare sight indeed. But right after, she cleared her throat to compose herself. "But I can't, I don't want to put him in an awkward position."
From the very beginning, the young woman had no intention of fighting for it, regardless of how much the other girls at Necross Fortress had cheered her on. If Elinalise were here, the elf would have probably brainstormed a hundred ways to seduce the teenager for her. She loved him; that was the truth. She loved his weirdness and his stubborn perseverance. She even loved his utter sincerity towards other people. She knew for a fact that Atur would take responsibility if she told him she loved him, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
But at the very least, she wanted to speak her mind before it was too late—that was the agonizing part.
Right at that moment, Roxy, the Migurd mage, walked down the stairs with a massive yawn. "Yawn~ You two are up early?"
The mage hadn't even finished yawning before Talhand bluntly asked:
"Roxy, do you think Isolde should confess to Atur?"
Are you seriously asking it that bluntly, Talhand? Isolde glared at the dwarf, then shifted an embarrassed gaze toward Roxy, waiting for an answer.
"Eh?" Roxy was naturally caught off guard; who would expect their first question of the day to be this?
Still, Roxy could easily guess that Isolde was fretting over this exact issue. The mage had known Isolde was in love with Atur for a long time, after all. So she glanced back toward the stairs to double-check if "someone" was lurking nearby, then answered with absolute certainty.
"She should."
"See?" Talhand piled on.
"Hah…" Now Isolde was glaring at both Roxy and Talhand. "If you put yourselves in my shoes, would you two actually confess? Confess to someone who already has a fiancée? Would you really do that, Roxy? You too, Talhand."
"Well, um..." Roxy looked away.
Talhand scratched his beard. "Hmm..."
"And you two aren't even followers of the Millis Faith." For the first time, Isolde felt her blood boiling at her two comrades.
"But if that's the case, what are you going to do, Isolde?" Roxy had sat down by now, seemingly forgetting her initial intent to eat breakfast. "You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you?"
"Ah, yeah." Isolde nodded.
"And you're just going to leave without saying anything?" the mage pressed.
"Mm… Ye." Isolde answered, her voice dropping a little.
Isolde felt like she was just repeating the exact same conversation she'd had with Talhand.
"You're scared of getting rejected, right? Don't worry, Atur likes you too."
Yep, exact same conversation. Talhand even choked on his wine over there.
"I personally think... Atur doesn't have those kinds of feelings for me." Isolde rubbed her forehead.
"Eh? Why would you think that?" Roxy's eyes went wide.
At this, Isolde's face fell. "You can just tell by looking."
Isolde had, on a few occasions, felt Atur's "lecherous" gaze on her. Couldn't be helped, boys would be boys. But when it came to actual love, that was different. Atur thought about Isolde, wanted what was best for her, cared for her, but the Water King had never once seen that boy—the one bearing the title of Demon Dragon King—hold any romantic affection for her.
Not at all. Not once. Never.
WHY THE HELL NOT!?
Well, truthfully, he hadn't been like that with anyone else either, so Isolde felt a bit less pathetic about it—maybe. It was also entirely possible that he was still just a kid who hadn't thought far enough ahead to love someone seriously and just wanted to goof off and have fun.
Although the Water King herself wasn't entirely sure if Atur was really just an almost 15-year-old boy.
But setting that aside. Isolde figured that if she just threw herself at Atur, he'd probably nod enthusiastically, accept her as his girlfriend, and eventually marry her for real; Talhand was right about that part.
But Isolde's moral compass refused to do that—refused it utterly.
And yet, Talhand offered another brilliant suggestion.
"Everyone has their own way of showing affection. If you can't say it, want me to tell him for you?"
"Now listen here!"
Amidst that chaos, a voice no one expected to hear rang out.
"Morning." Atur had just raised a hand in greeting when his bright, sunny smile melted into utter confusion. "Um Isolde, why are you strangling Talhand?"