WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 102: Drama (3)

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"I will..."

I tried not to stutter as I spoke.

"I plan to stay by Lady Silver Lily's side for a while."

Silence.

"...That is truly incomprehensible."

Lady Goldencup's eyes, raised at the corners, froze. Was it because her emotions had frozen? Even the Crown Prince felt the chill in her voice and stopped in his tracks.

"I asked you to come with me, Butler. Showing off my wounds is not to my taste, but I even endured a little humiliation to free you from the Lady's control."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"And yet you reject my request?"

A bitter taste rose in my mouth.

It's hard to tell if this is my conflicted feeling of losing the Heretic Inquisitor or the rebellious spirit of a butler who's refusing his original master's request. Either way, it's painful to look into those blue eyes, now belonging to Goldencup.

[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 42%.]

So I averted my gaze, bowing my head.

"I'm sorry."

"......"

"I still have things to do."

"A convenient excuse. Could it be that the Butler is simply enchanted by the Lady?"

I remained silent. "Ha," Goldencup laughed mockingly, not at me but at Lady Silver Lily.

"Understood, Lady. I don't know what grand scheme you might be plotting this time, but our friendship, between me and the Butler, will not waver. Please take good care of my Butler."

"You are free to delude yourself. Get lost, Baroness."

"Yes. I'll get lost."

Lady Goldencup, still in the Prince's arms, reached out her hand. She caressed the Prince's cheek, whispering, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Would you get lost with me, Your Highness?"

"Ah. Aaah."

The Crown Prince blushed.

[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 43%.]

The two left with the guards.

The disturbance past midnight thus came to an end.

3.

The garden quickly became tranquil.

"Lady..."

The servants sadly worried about their master. Though the Ivansia's had initiated the expulsion, the atmosphere seemed as if they were the ones expelled.

"It's late."

Lady Silver Lily spoke.

"You've worked hard. You may go in now."

"What will you do, my Lady?"

"I'll watch the flowers here for a while. I wish to be alone, so everyone leave."

Lady Silver Lily, in her nightwear, gazed up at the night sky. She blended into the darkness as if born from the night. The servants, unable to disobey their master, returned to the residence.

"Lady."

Only I remained to approach her.

-Zombie. Look at her now! She's weakened! Can't you see the pitiful atmosphere? She looks emotionless, but she's vulnerable. Good for us! Crisis is an opportunity! The goalie's gone. It's already hard enough to romance a high-level player, so go for it now.

'Be quiet.'

The ghost was consistent, consistently failing to read the mood.

"You should rest too, Butler."

"I am perfectly fine even after staying up for a night or two. Aren't you the one who is tired, Lady?"

"I want to deny it but... Yes, a bit."

Lady Silver Lily sighed.

"It's already the 14th time. For 140 days, I've tried to correct the Crown Prince. Even if I accept that my love won't be fulfilled, the Prince will ascend to the throne. If I don't at least hold him back, the country's safety will be in jeopardy... It's hard."

"You're not alone anymore."

There was more than one returner in the world. That was what I meant.

"I'm here. Just having one person who understands you by your side, a person can endure anything."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, surprisingly."

Lady Silver Lily turned her gaze from the night sky to me.

"You're making one mistake."

A mistake?

"I repeat the final ten days. You return to a day before when you die. It seems like we're sharing the same cycle of return, but in reality, we aren't."

I let her continue. Our conversation was probably being broadcast to the people in the tower.

Even so, it's okay.

I've already decided to go to the next round.

"Butler, one of us will [return first]."

Lady Silver Lily bent down.

"If I return first, you will forget the current life. If you return first, conversely, I forget. Someone's time is consumed by the other."

Swoosh, swoosh.

She drew parallel lines in the dirt with the cane.

"We are parallel lines that will never meet."

My heart twinged.

"I can understand you. You can understand me. But that's it. We can't live together. You can't take responsibility for me, and I can't take responsibility for you."

Lady Silver Lily's voice was calm.

"Your confession about wanting to share the same time as me was passionate and beautiful. But it can't become reality. Perhaps that's why it sounded more beautiful."

"What if it could happen?"

I looked straight into Lady Silver Lily's eyes.

"If? There's no if."

"I keep my word. Always. I didn't propose using things I can't do just to win over your heart. I'm not the type to inflate empty words like a balloon to attract people."

"......"

"If I can help you escape these eternal ten days, if I do help you, what will you do?"

A night bird cried out.

"...How presumptuous. I am enough for my life."

"You might think so. So do I. But I want to help you. Is it arrogant to want to help the person I love? Then I'll gladly be arrogant."

Lady Silver Lily closed her lips. She, too, in her own way, was trying to help the Crown Prince. Whether she admits it or not, we are similar.

"What do you want from me?"

"Be with me until this world ends."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

After seeing the Heretic Inquisitor reach 100% immersion, I realized the trick to breaking this stage. It's a bit unconventional and tricky, but... it might be possible.

As long as I keep my wits about me.

"And if you could, make me like you more. If I could be so enchanted by the Lady that I can't escape, that would be perfect."

"You're asking me to do that?"

"It's fine. I'm an easy man. Just holding hands with the Lady makes my heart race."

Lady Silver Lily looked at me as if I were shameless.

"Bold... Fine. I did say I'd teach you love, so I should be responsible for that."

Lady Silver Lily took my hand. It was soft. Her bare hand wrapped around my right hand. I remembered her applying perfume last night, and my heart fluttered.

"Is this enough?"

[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 44%.]

My face heated up.

"Yes. E-enough."

"My. It may not be my place to say this after I was the one who charmed you, but aren't you a little too innocent? How did you manage to survive in this harsh world?"

"I died. A lot."

"......"

"Does showing such a weak side make the Lady's heart flutter a bit? I read in a magazine once that sometimes acting weak works wonders."

"Ha."

Lady Silver Lily scoffed. Though her eyes did not smile, the laughter was still laughter. She must have been quite upset due to the Crown Prince's folly. If it lightened her mood even a little, I was glad.

"A child who has known love for only one day dares pick a fight with me?"

"Watching you fight Goldencup earlier taught me something. You are wise, Lady, but when someone provokes you, you never let it pass quietly. Is it your pride? Even when it costs you, you crush the provocation. So I wanted to provoke you too."

"...Quite astute."

"Should I provoke a bit more?"

"Try it. If you dare."

We were close to each other.

We became closer.

Our shadows overlapped.

Neither of us intended to back down.

"Lady, you speak of yourself as a master of love, but is that really the case? Isn't it just as important to be loved as it is to love? Loving the Crown Prince and drawing his love are both crucial. However, you failed the latter."

"Hmm."

"In that sense, maybe Baroness Goldencup understands love better than you. After all, she's receiving love from the Crown Prince. If it's about who excels in love, surprisingly, Goldencup might be the superior one."

"Oh?"

"You know how to love, Lady. But you don't know how to be loved. At least not better than Lady Goldencup. So..."

Then.

"So?"

Lady Silver Lily's hand gripped my chin.

"......"

"Keep talking. Your voice isn't unpleasant to hear."

[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 45%.]

"...So it was only natural for Goldencup to steal the Crown Prince from you. You should have studied the prince's tastes and interests more carefully and..."

"Your teeth are really white."

"...made your move. But you did not. You let your guard down. So you must bear part of the responsibility for Goldencup running wild like this."

"Your tongue is red and pretty."

Lady Silver Lily pulled my chin closer.

Her gaze lingered inside my mouth.

"Why did you stop talking? If you close your lips, I can't see your tongue. It's interesting to watch. Keep talking."

"......, ........"

"Are you surrendering?"

"Yes....."

"[If I could be so enchanted by the Lady that I can't escape, that would be perfect.]"

Those were my words just moments ago.

"Choosing only the most terrifying words to say. How fearless you are. I'm not sure what brilliant plan you've come up with, but you really are bold."

Lady Silver Lily pulled my chin even closer.

I felt like I was being drawn in, as if I had lost gravity.

"14 rounds have passed, so maybe I should experience some deviation too."

"That means...?"

"Treat a bastard like a bastard. That is my law. Thinking over what happened tonight, His Highness seems to have been rather too much of a bastard to me. I cannot simply go on taking it."

My heart pounded.

Could it be?

"Have you finally decided to give up on the Crown Prince?"

"No. My heart has become a constellation fixed in the night sky. How could I?"

"I am only thinking of becoming a bit too much of a bastard myself," Lady Silver Lily whispered.

A bit too much of a bastard.

Only Yoo Soo-Ha's obnoxious face came to mind. Whenever I heard the word bastard, I automatically thought of Yoo Soo-Ha. But becoming that kind of bastard was no easy matter either. What did Lady Silver Lily mean?

"An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth."

Lady Silver Lily's index finger brushed my lower lip.

"Starting today, I'll have an affair with you."

"......"

Uh.

"Do you love me?"

"No."

"Do you have even a slight intention of dating me?"

"No."

"Then why..."

"But you are Goldencup's cherished butler. Using her words, the only butler and childhood friend. If she hears that you're dating me, I wonder what face Goldencup will make. The Crown Prince will surely be startled too."

In other words.

"You're pretending to date me just to spite them...?"

"Why?"

Her breath came closer.

"Is that disagreeable?"

I could not answer. Thump. I could not think of anything to say. Thump. My heart was so insanely loud that I felt dizzy. I mean, she was my love. My first love. Thump. To do it this way... An affair should be a little... There should be something more romantic.

"Sit."

I carefully sat down in the garden. The moon was hidden by clouds, casting darkness. It felt like kneeling in a bottomless swamp.

The level of our gazes had been reversed.

"I'll give you a choice."

Lady Silver Lily looked down at me.

"If you dislike my offer, close your eyes tightly. I'll quietly disappear before you open them. But if you accept my proposal to pretend to be lovers, if you want to play this act until this life ends---"

The red moon in the night sky was obscured.

More crimson than the moon, her eyes were right before me.

"Say my name."

Her name.

I...

"Raviel...."

Wait.

"Raviel Ivansia."

Why are my lips opening?

"Yes. Do you remember the first lesson I gave when I said I'd teach you love?"

"Love begins with experiencing a bastard..."

"Well remembered."

Lady Silver Lily's hands covered my cheeks.

And.

"I shall be your first bastard."

The moon swallowed the flame.

"......"

The scent of lilies.

Soft and sweet.

A deadly, intoxicating fragrance.

[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 50%.]

Breathless.

Beautiful.

-Both are crazy and fit each other well. After all, how could you possibly date a normal person? Birds of a feather flock together, an eternal truth. The voice of the ghost echoed from afar.

-Congratulations on Day 1 of your relationship, little bird.

Magnolia leaves fell around us.

-Even though it's just an affair.

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