The lips parted and the intense kiss ended.
‘Flora’s lips… I want to feel them again.’
A longing that had bloomed somewhere quietly knocked on a corner of my heart.
It was still vague and ambiguous, but the light of that emotion definitely existed.
I wasn’t sure what it was, but I thought that if I was with her, I might be able to find out the identity of this strange and unfamiliar emotion.
I silently promised myself that next time, I would kiss her first.
A hardcover book lying on one side of the room caught my eye.
『The Record of the Demon King and the Hero』
The worn and worn edges and faded title seemed to tell the story of the time the book had passed.
When I carefully lifted the book, the old dusty smell tickled my nose.
After flipping through the book a few times, I glanced at Flora who was next to me and asked a question.
“Flora, you were the Demon King’s Army, right? What kind of person is the Demon King?”
Before I could finish speaking, I felt Flora’s purple eyes tremble slightly.
For a very brief moment, a faint shadow passed over her face.
A feeling of unease crossed my mind, as if I had touched something that should not be touched.
“The Demon King…?”
She pursed her lips as if choosing her words for a moment.
It seemed that her voice had dropped a bit from usual.
“Well… if I had to use a metaphor, it was like a giant storm. It had the power to sweep away and destroy everything.”
“An evil being.”
Flora’s answer was monotonous and short.
It felt like she was just touching the surface.
Her eyes were staring somewhere far away.
It seemed as if she had walked back into the past.
It seemed like she didn’t want to talk about the Demon King.
Why? Was it simple hostility, or was there something more complicated? I was curious, but I didn’t want to bring up the past that I didn’t want to talk about.
Flora suddenly grabbed my hand.
I felt a slight tremble in the tip of my finger.
She held me tighter and said,
“The Demon King… was a vicious and cruel being who only pursued his own desires. If he knew you, he would definitely try to destroy you.”
I could feel my voice trembling slightly.
It seemed that her feelings for the Demon King were more than just simple hatred or contempt.
It might be closer to a deep and intense fear.
“The days when I was called the witch of the Demon King’s army are all in the past. The most important thing to me right now is you, Peridot.”
Flora’s voice was low, but there was something sincere in it.
Her purple eyes were turned toward me, and her gaze seemed to contain only me.
It was an earnest and yearning gaze, as if a child lost in the darkness had found the only light. My heart was strangely full.
The center of her world was me.
I felt as if the dark and dark longing hidden deep in my heart had grown a little bigger.
It was like a flame slowly growing in the darkness, quietly but clearly devouring me.
Suddenly, the image of the warrior I had first met as a sponsor came to mind.
Armor shining brilliantly in silver, determined and unwavering eyes.
He held a shapeless blade called ‘justice’.
A firm will as if he could cut down all the evil in the world with a single stroke.
His presence was so strong that just standing next to him made me suffocate.
But When I thought that the blade called ‘justice’ could be pointed at Flora at any time, the warmth in my hand felt even more precious.
It was as if I was holding my only hope in my hand, and I didn’t want to let it go.
I held Flora’s hand even tighter.
Her hand was thin and delicate, but I could feel that powerful magic was breathing within it.
If it were me before, I would have just passed it by without a second thought, but now, each and every one of those warmths seeped deep into my heart.
To the hero, Flora was nothing more than a ‘remnant of the Demon King’s army’ that had to be defeated.
His blade, wielded in the name of justice, could never be merciful to her.
To Flora, the hero would be evil.
Because the existence that threatened her would be the blade called ‘justice’.
So then, what on earth is true ‘evil’ to me?
The cold heart embedded within me seemed to tremble faintly.
No matter how much the world Even if I cried out, there was only one thing that was precious to me.
Flora.
She was the only one for me.
No matter who tried to harm her, no matter what the reason, they would all be my enemies.
I held onto the warmth in my hand more tightly.
This hand, I will never let go.
Flora’s purple eyes next to me slowly turned to me.
Is it because I suddenly held her hand tightly?
She blinked slightly in surprise, but soon smiled calmly.
Flora’s smile was calm and warm like a calm lake.
That one smile slowly calmed the anxiety and confusion that had been building inside me.
I reached out and stroked Flora’s face without saying a word.
The moment my fingertips touched her soft cheek, I felt a sense of caution, as if I was handling the most precious treasure in the world.
She closed her eyes tightly and accepted my touch.
The moment I stepped out into the garden through the shutters on the study, the warm air enveloped my face.
Instead of the smell of old books that filled the room, the thick scent of roses tickled my nose.
My footsteps led me to a garden dyed red at sunset.
The roses that had received the evening sunlight were emitting ecstatic colors as they held their last light.
I once simply passed by this scenery without paying attention.
To me, the world was nothing more than a colorless emptiness.
Flora, who had been quietly watching me from the side, whispered softly in my ear.
“In the past, my only joy was tending to this garden.”
I looked at the roses dyed red under the sunset and thought they were beautiful.
The intense red color. That color was just like Flora.
“It’s really beautiful. Just like you.”
I never imagined that such words would come out of my mouth.
Flora’s eyes widened in surprise, and she smiled the happiest smile in the world.
That smile was bright enough to make even the light of dusk pale.
“You said I was pretty…? Peridot, I’m so happy.”
Flora grabbed my hand and rubbed it against her cheek.
The warmth from her cheek strangely tickled my heart, and the corners of my mouth went up.
The scent of roses that filled the garden became even stronger.
I stopped in front of a rose bush, guided by Flora’s hand.
The red roses seemed to burn like flames.
Flora picked the most desirable rose, and carefully placed it behind my ear, smiling.
When her fingertips brushed my earlobe, my body flinched.
The breath touching my ear felt thicker and hotter, and my face felt hot.
“You look great together, Peridot.”
Flora cupped my cheeks with both hands.
It was a delicate and soft touch.
Her face gradually came closer.
I naturally closed my eyes.
And then her lips touched mine.
It was a short but sweet kiss.
When our lips parted, Flora smiled.
Her appearance was as dazzling as sunlight.
I hugged Flora’s waist.
A rose dyed red under the sunset, and a woman with an even more intense red.
The world was no longer colorless.
The intense color that was her was coloring my world colorfully.
Rather than being afraid of this change, I was excited.
I felt that I would be able to discover more colors if I were with Flora.
Our lips touched again.
I was happy.
I wished this moment would never end.
Flora’s trembling was transmitted through our lips that were touching.
We hesitated to go deeper and did not delve into each other.
Her I could tell that she was feeling the same way as I was.
Her lips parted, and I slowly opened my eyes.
Flora’s face was right in front of me.
Her cheeks were flushed and flushed, and her eyes were trembling with joy and overwhelming emotion.
Her gaze looking at me was as longing and earnest as if she was looking at the most precious treasure in the world.
I walked slowly.
The soft touch of the dirt road, the warm evening sunlight, and the smell of grass and dirt were all mixed together.
The mountain peaks visible in the distance along the forest path were dyed a pale purple.
I took a breath and realized.
How vivid the joy of being able to breathe was.
How happy I was to be alive.
“Flora.”
I opened my mouth, looking into her eyes.
“Someday… if the evil deeds you committed come upon you and bring about your end…”
For a moment, my throat became choked up and I stopped talking.
The fear that the evil deeds she had committed in the past, might come back to haunt her one day weighed on my heart.
But something even greater was filling me.
“I will always be with you.”
I whispered with all my heart.
“No matter what your end will be, I will be with you. Even to hell.”
Flora stopped walking.
Her purple eyes stared at me.
They were a mixture of emotion, sadness, and longing.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Peridot…”
Her voice was trembling.
Flora stretched out her arms and hugged me.
It was a suffocatingly intense hug.
“I… I…”
could not continue her words, and with trembling hands, she hugged me even tighter.
Conveyed her warmth and trembling.
‘Yes… I will go anywhere with her.’
She swore that she would fall together, even if the end we fell was hell.