Chapter 96

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I've received various reports of typos, but I'll fix them all at once on a weekend when I have time, so please understand m(_ _)m

Lily lifted the door.

I met Lily's eyes, who so easily lifted the door that I had been struggling to open.

"…Nest?"

This was not the innocent voice of the Lily I knew, but a thin, hesitant voice as if she were holding back.

"…Ah."

The fact that I was the one making her like this made me feel awkward.

"…I'm sorry."

As I felt this way alone, Lily muttered softly.

"…Lily, I'll try not to be useless… so… so—"

—don't leave me behind.

Lily, with large tears streaming down her face, reached out to me.

But her arm was short, and she couldn't quite reach me.

However, Lily didn't try to get any closer, and her small hand still wandered alone in the air.

"…I'm sorry."

As Lily extended her hand and bowed her head, I could only apologize.

"I haven't been thinking about Lily properly."

I wouldn't have noticed if someone hadn't told me.

"Even when I tried to think about it, there were more things I couldn't understand."

No matter how much I tried to understand Lily's feelings, there were more things I couldn't grasp.

"If you can bear with such a useless person like me—"

I closed my eyes and extended my arm.

Slowly, bit by bit, I extended my arm.

"…!"

I felt something touch my fingertips.

Then I gripped it, as if to envelop it.

It was held in my hand without resistance.

As I slowly opened my eyes, I lifted my head.

There, Lily was looking at me, her head lifted just like mine.

I looked back into Lily's eyes and continued.

"Please stay with me, always, always—"

At the same time as these words, I squeezed Lily's hand with all the strength I could muster.

Lily lightly squeezed my hand in return and wiped away her tears with a smile.

"—Okay!!"

Lily's nodding face was probably the most innocent smile she had ever shown.

"…So, let's talk about what happens next."

"Okay."

I was about to start talking with the Demon King and the others.

"…Hmm…"

By the way, Lily was clinging to me and rubbing her head against me, just like before.

"Ugh…!!"

For some reason, Princess Parfait was looking at us with a resentful expression, but I'll ignore her for now.

"Anest, what are you going to do specifically from now on?"

The Demon King asked me with a slight smile.

"…I'm planning to return to the capital."

I'm already a bit behind schedule, so Esic and the others might be worried.

Aula and the others are waiting at the inn, so I should hurry.

"Hmm, that's good, but what do you plan to do with Lily?"

The Demon King put his hand on his chin and looked at Lily.

"Ah!!"

Lily, who met the Demon King's eyes, immediately used my body to hide from his gaze.

"…"

Please don't look at me like that, even the Demon King…

"Well, joking aside, Anest, are you going to take Lily with you?"

At that moment, the Demon King's wife asked a crucial question.

"…"

What should I answer?

Of course, I intended to take Lily with me, and she wanted to come too, but the Demon King and the others wouldn't necessarily allow it.

I needed to choose my words carefully.

"…Hmm…"

Perhaps worried that I suddenly fell silent, I met Lily's eyes, who was hugging me more tightly.

There were still some traces of tears, but otherwise, she was the same Lily as before.

I couldn't help but smile at this.

…Ah, right, the coachman's aunt taught me what to say in such a situation.

Her words, as an older person, were bound to be more correct than anything I could come up with.

I recalled what the aunt had said to me at the inn.

Right, what the aunt said was, surely—

"Father! Please give me your daughter—!!"