Afterward, our group delivered Eris to the town mayor.
The mayor was an Intermediate Noble who had attended Eris’s fifth birthday banquet, so he recognized her at a glance.
Actually, according to Rudy, Eris’s violent and barbaric personality was so famous in the Fithea Territory that she was known by almost everyone, making her very easy to identify.
The mayor originally intended to send an escort for Eris and Rudy’s return journey, but Rudy declined out of caution.
He simply asked the mayor to help notify House Boreas in Roa.
Instead of staying at the mayor’s mansion, we waited separately in a room at a nearby inn.
To prevent any accidents—such as the mayor being an accomplice to the kidnappers and targeting Eris and Rudy again while we were away—Lilia and I waited until dusk when someone from Eris’s family arrived.
Only after seeing that it was Ghislaine did we head back.
The moment Eris saw Ghislaine, she threw herself into her arms.
Ghislaine gently stroked Eris’s head; it seemed she was quite doting toward Eris.
“Thank you for what you did for the young lady.
I expect Philip will owe Paul a favor for this.”
“Please, don’t mention it.
Aren’t you also a friend of my father’s, Miss Ghislaine?”
“No need for ‘Miss,’ just call me Ghislaine.
Honestly, both you and Rudy are so polite; you’re nothing like Paul.”
“Haha, well, we are also Mother’s children, after all.”
“That’s true.”
Ghislaine smiled, her expression filled with warm memories.
Their adventuring days must have been very pleasant.
???
“Your name is Luna, right?” Eris walked up to me with her arms crossed, looking quite haughty.
“Yes.”
“Thank you for this!
My grandfather will surely reward your family!”
If only her attitude were a bit more grateful and her voice a bit quieter.
Rudy and I exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
It seemed this cute young lady had quite a nasty personality.
“Rudy, we’re heading back now.
Stay safe.”
Now that the sun was setting, I said my goodbyes to Rudy and planned to take the public carriage back with Lilia.
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.
And Luna, thanks for everything this time.”
“We’re family, so there’s no need for thanks.”
“Haha, true.
Oh, right, Luna—don’t try anything with Sylphiette while I’m gone.”
Sylphiette had already been unofficially chosen as a daughter-in-law by Paul and Zenith.
How could I possibly try anything?
Besides, Sylphiette wasn’t my type.
“I won’t.
Sylphie isn’t my type.”
“Then I’m relieved.
You and Lilia have a safe trip.”
Facing the sunset, we took the last carriage and slowly made our way home.
“Lilia, does your leg still hurt?”
“After Miss Luna’s treatment, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“That’s great.”
“By the way, Miss Luna, what did Young Master Rudy mean when he told you not to ‘try anything’ with Sylphiette?”
Ugh, that idiot Rudy.
He didn’t even try to hide those words from Lilia or the others.
I thought they would just take his comment as a joke.
What should I do?
Should I be honest with Lilia about my orientation?
Would she report it to Zenith and the others?
I figured the most I’d get was a lecture.
Lilia looked at me almost like her own daughter now.
Besides, I was still young; she’d probably think it wasn’t a big deal.
She might even think it was Paul’s fault—that his behavior made me lose interest in men—and blame everything on him.
“Um, Lilia, could you please not tell Father and Mother?”
“I’ll try.”
“It’s just…
actually…
I…
I like women…”
After whispering it with my head down, I peeked at Lilia’s expression.
Was it my imagination?
I felt like a white light flashed across her glasses.
“Lilia?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.
Since when have you felt this way?”
Huh?
There was no verbal criticism or attempt to correct my orientation.
What was with Lilia?
“Um…
I don’t remember.
I’ve just been thinking this way lately.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to marry a man, but I’m inexplicably interested in girls.
Am I weird?”
I tried my best to act innocent and ignorant.
I couldn’t exactly tell them that I was actually a man’s soul trapped in a girl’s body.
Lilia was silent for a moment, then she pulled me into her arms and gently stroked my head.
“I won’t tell the Master or the Mistress.
No matter what kind of person Miss Luna likes in the future, as long as you like them, I won’t interfere.”
Is this…
acceptance of my orientation?
I feel like I can’t see through Lilia’s thoughts at all right now.
But it didn’t matter.
Since Lilia accepted it, as long as I dealt with Paul and Zenith later, no one would oppose my lesbianism.
By the time we reached the village, it was completely dark.
Paul was on horseback, pacing anxiously near the village entrance.
Seeing us safe and sound, he also let out a sigh of relief.
“Did something happen?”
“We ran into Rudy in town today.
The situation is a bit complicated, so let’s talk when we get back.”
Outside the courtyard, Zenith was also waiting for us anxiously.
Just like Paul, she was relieved to see the three of us return.
After returning home, I first checked on the sleeping Aisha and Norn.
The two little ones were sleeping soundly.
Next, after praying to Saint Millis with the family, we shared a dinner that had gone a bit cold.
I then told Paul and the others everything that had happened in town.
When Paul and Zenith heard that Rudy and I were in danger, their spoons stopped in mid-air, and they stopped eating, both wearing expressions of deep concern until I finished the story.
“Although Rudy’s initial intention was good—pretending to kidnap the young lady to correct her personality—he was used by someone with ulterior motives.
Fortunately, it was resolved without further incident.”
The couple was silent for a moment, followed by Paul’s laughter.
“Ha!
As expected of my son, to be able to perfectly resolve such a thorny issue!
I bet Philip’s expression is quite interesting right now.”
“Dear, Rudy and Luna were both in danger!”
Zenith was a bit cross.
Paul was indeed a bit thick-headed; his first response wasn’t concern for our safety, but praising Rudy’s handling of the situation.
But I understood that Paul was just using his own way to comfort me and lighten the mood.
If he wasn’t worried about me, he wouldn’t have been waiting on horseback at the village entrance late at night for Lilia and me.
After dinner, Lilia gave a deep bow to Paul and Zenith.
“This incident was all due to my failure.
Please punish me, Master Paul and Mrs.
Zenith.” Lilia was being far too self-critical.
It clearly had nothing to do with her; she had a leg injury and couldn’t have done much anyway.
“Oh, Lilia, don’t be like that.
This incident has nothing to do with you.”
“That’s right, this has nothing to do with Lilia.
It was entirely a problem caused by Philip’s side.”
Only after repeated persuasion from Paul and Zenith did Lilia stop insisting on being punished.
I felt Lilia was really making a mountain out of a molehill.
???
After dinner, I called Paul aside privately.
“Dad, I have something I want to tell you.”
Seeing my serious expression, Paul sat down to listen quietly to my confession.
Rudy never confided his troubles to Paul.
I felt I was doing better than Rudy in this regard, at least giving Paul and the others a real sense of fulfillment as parents.
“Go ahead.
No matter what troubles you have, Luna, your father will listen.”
“Um, actually…
actually, I killed someone today.
That person was going to hurt Rudy, and I had no choice…”
Paul’s expression didn’t change, but I saw his finger twitch slightly, indicating that he was still shocked internally.
Actually, asking him about this wasn’t just to provide him with emotional value; I was also somewhat confused myself.
“Then…
do you feel unwell, Luna?” Paul’s voice trembled slightly.
He was probably afraid I’d be left with some psychological trauma.
I shook my head.
“No, I didn’t feel afraid, nor did I feel disgusted, and certainly not excited.
It just…
just felt like doing something very ordinary, like helping out with chores at home.”
Paul was silent for a moment, then he walked over and squatted down, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking me straight in the eye.
“Listen, Luna, your motive for killing was to protect your family.
I am very proud of you.
That you weren’t afraid shows you are brave; that you didn’t feel excited shows you are a good child.
So don’t feel any guilt.
I have also killed people in the past to protect your mother and my companions, but I have no regrets because I know that if I didn’t kill, I would die, and I wouldn’t be able to protect the people important to me.”
Paul was a veteran of the world.
He told me many stories of times he was forced to kill in the past, essentially telling me that killing is neither shameful nor something to be praised.
That I didn’t feel excited meant I wasn’t a bloodthirsty person, which greatly relieved him.
“Thank you, Dad.
After talking to you like this, I feel much better.”
“Hmph, despite how I look, I’m a veteran adventurer, you know.”
I had heard Paul and Zenith say they were part of an S-rank adventurer party, each of them being S-rank Adventurers.
They were top-tier Adventurers and must have experienced many dangerous situations, including killing.
That’s why Paul could have such a unique insight into the matter.
Being comforted by Paul like this made me feel much better.
At least I didn’t feel like a cold-blooded killer freak.
However, what I didn’t expect was that after Paul finished his psychological counseling, it was Zenith’s turn.
She must have heard about the killing from Paul.
In the eyes of the emotionally expressive Zenith, my seven-year-old self must have suffered a severe psychological blow by killing to protect my brother.
So for the next few days, Zenith was always holding me in her arms, silently comforting me, or taking me to pray before the statue of saint millis, asking Lord Millis to punish the sinners and protect my pure heart.
By the way, that statue of saint millis was the one I made for Zenith out of glass.
If I had a good wand, I could try making a more beautiful ceramic statue of saint millis for her.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a good wand for now, and the Human kiln is currently flirting with the young lady in Roa, so such things have to be put on hold for now.
I hope you’re enjoying the fanfiction so far!