From the Tip of the Tongue of the Lowliest Maid - Chapter 6
Even now, she could vividly recall the pain of that day.
The feeling of flesh burning, of bones melting.
Though it had been more than ten years, the pain from that moment remained so vivid… was it a hallucination, or something else?
She lifted a hand and brushed her shoulder.
At her fingertips, she could feel the bumpy texture of the scars.
‘Am I… still hurting?’
She, soaked like a drowned rat after being shoved into the water by the crowd in front of him
The violet eyes of Theogrim as he looked upon her in that wretched state.
And eventually, the sight of that high, pure back of Del Rose turning away from her.
Tears welled up in Arzeletta’s eyes.
Her large, clear eyes quivered as though the tears might spill over at any moment.
It was only natural.
‘Because Lord Theogrim is everyone’s hope.’
He couldn’t possibly have dismounted just to care for someone like her.
Even she would have done the same.
The great Del Rose, from the start, might not have even considered someone like her—a maid covered in dark scars.
It was possible that something like that, which had happened over ten years ago, had already been forgotten.
The fact that Theogrim sacrificed himself to save Arzeletta was simply due to his overflowing altruism. It was not special. It wasn’t something he did only for her. Even if it had been someone else, not her, the great Theogrim would have saved that person.
Cherishing that moment as something special, considering this miserable life he gave her as something sweet.
Offering him that ‘one and only prayer.’
Even being grateful for the wound from that day… all of it was hers alone.
“Fufu.”
Arzeletta both laughed and choked up with tears.
The sun rises and sets. Water flows, birds fly. She is not special to him. The fact that she had to remind herself of something so obvious made her feel so pathetic that she laughed.
“…He was so magnificent.”
The back that grew distant from her was lofty, strong, and beautiful.
No one in the world could help but revere him. He would undoubtedly become a beloved leader.
That would be enough…
“It’s alright.”
Pressing her heated eyes firmly with her hand, Arzeletta picked up the laundry basket left on the ground. Violet clouds brushed against the moonlight.
It was the moment when the faint darkness cleared and the white moonlight was revealed.
“……!”
Holding the basket, Arzeletta froze. Her mysterious light green eyes widened.
Theogrim was there.
Among the fluttering laundry caught in the wind, beneath the pale wavering moonlight.
Arzeletta looked up at him in surprise. At him standing silently, at the beautiful white attire no different from what she had seen earlier in the sunlight today, at his dignified figure.
And at his beautiful violet eyes, heavier than the night sky itself.
Arzeletta swallowed dryly. She held her breath as she looked at Theogrim’s violet eyes, as if they might spill over with tears at any moment.
He, who had been looking at the ground like a sinner, slowly lifted his head.
Even under the moonlight, the scar etched on his face was so distinct.
“…Rzel.”
After a long silence, he finally opened his mouth.
As though it were a word too difficult to say, as if he were about to utter something he mustn’t, the word Theogrim spoke was her name.
Arzeletta straightened her back. Her neck, her spine, even her shoulder disfigured by fire.
Even though she had thought he couldn’t possibly have forgotten her name, now that she knew he hadn’t, her eyes burned with emotion.
Rzel. It was the secret name Theogrim used to call her by, back when Arzeletta was still a girl.
“Rzel, I…”
The young man’s voice trembled painfully. Arzeletta held her breath as she met the gaze of this beautiful being, one who seemed as though he ought to be revered in the realm of gods, as he looked at her with such sorrow.
He was feeling guilty. For having left her behind today in front of so many watching eyes.
Arzeletta shook her head. She even managed a faint smile. With a face as if gazing at something radiant, Arzeletta spoke.
“It’s alright.”
“Rzel.”
“Truly, I’m alright.”
As she forced a smile and nodded, Theogrim firmly shut his lips once more.
“If you had turned your back on those people and come to me… I think I would’ve gone through something even harder.”
“……”
“So it’s alright.”
Theogrim, who had stood like a rock, moved.
Though he stepped just one pace closer, Arzeletta did not back away.
