"..."
"Okay."
Clementine seemed a little anxious.
Still, she slowly opened the door, revealing the inside of the hut.
It was... cozy?
There was a small kitchen and dining table.
A single bedroom with a large bed.
And of course, a bathroom.
It didn’t look that bad.
But...
Clementine’s eyes widened as she ran in front of me and grabbed the pair of see-through black panties that were hanging on her doorframe, then tossed them inside her closet.
The closet suddenly burst as all sorts of clothes flew through the air.
Erotic outfits, regular clothes... see-through bras.
Half of this stuff I’d never even seen in my entire life.
But before I could get a better look, Clementine abruptly slammed the bedroom’s door shut.
I heard rustling from the inside, and after just a few minutes, she stepped out.
With her cheeks slightly flushed, she coughed and met my gaze.
"Sorry for the mess."
Uh-huh.
"Don’t worry about it."
After all, we had already lived together before.
She was a little clumsy.
After taking a shower, she almost always forgot to wash and fold her clothes, so I did everything for her.
It was funny seeing her in the morning wondering how her clothes magically reappeared in her wardrobe.
Still...
"Coffee?" she offered.
I simply nodded, and the two of us walked into the kitchen.
From the looks of things, she bought all sorts of inventions, and honestly? They weren’t that bad.
She had a coffee maker, and even a small working oven.
It almost reminded me of modern times.
Clementine fixed the two of us some black coffee, and when she was done, the two of us sat down at her table and began sipping our coffees.
I took my time.
She did as well.
As always, from her subtle glances and her fidgeting hands, I knew she was curious.
So instead of waiting for her to ask me some questions, I decided to be upfront with her about everything that had happened.
I told her about the project and everything that I had gone through.
Then, I told her about the plan and how I wanted to disappear.
And lastly, I told her about my peaceful life as Mikael, and how I’d spent the last few weeks searching for her.
When I was done, we simply stared at each other in silence.
All of a sudden, tears began to roll down Clementine’s cheeks.
I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out.
Instead, I walked over to her and embraced her warm body in my arms.
She was shaking, and her heart was beating so fast.
...She felt so fragile.
I was starting to get emotional too, because never in my life did I expect to have someone who would care so much about me.
Someone who would cry on my behalf.
Why do I keep hesitating?
It was almost like I was purposefully holding back my feelings, keeping her at arm’s length.
But I couldn’t do that anymore.
I liked her.
No...
It was more than that.
I embraced her even tighter.
She buried her head into my chest and clung to me tightly.
Pausing for a moment, I gently picked her up in a princess carry.
Clementine immediately froze and stared back up at me.
But I just gave her a warm smile and took her to her room, then placed her on the bed.
I lay down right beside her, and then, while staring into her wide obsidian-colored eyes, I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her in close.
With our faces mere inches apart, I relaxed my body and got comfortable.
"How about you?"
My expression softened.
"What did you do after leaving Aldraazan?"
Hearing my words, it looked like all her worries finally faded away.
She stared at me for a moment, then let out a chuckle and burrowed her head into my chest once more and embraced me tightly.
Oddly enough, she began to sniff me all over before finally glancing up at me, her usual warm smile the one I remembered from before.
It was as if I had never left, and I loved this feeling more than anything.
So when she finally warmed up to me and snuggled in my arms, Clementine finally spoke.
"Honestly... I didn’t know what to do with the money you gave me, since when I tried to buy myself some food, they called the guards on me because they thought I was a thief, so I ran away."
Haha...
Yeah.
That might be my fault.
I did give her a lot of money and barely any change.
Still, she went on to say how it took her nearly a week to exchange the platinum into gold.
She bought clothes and food, and she accidentally bought an inn.
That didn’t set her back much though.
"I got bored of living in a bustling city, but when I decided to move elsewhere, I heard about your death."
She shook a little.
"I didn’t think you were gone at first, but that thought always lingered in my mind. The noises of people, the brightness of the sun... I decided to run away from it all."
I should have communicated with her earlier.
If I had, she wouldn’t have felt this way.
Even so, her expression softened slightly.
"I found a forest, and after chopping a few trees around me, I began building a house. I hunted for food, and I occasionally went into nearby villages to get some necessities I had no clue how to make at home."
Total freedom.
"Though, with me practicing singing every day, some people eventually found me and spread some weird rumors. People began flooding this whole forest and looking for me, so I sealed it away with thousands of Soul Weapons."
And that’s also how I found out about her.
In a way, her seal worked better than anticipated.
Even I couldn’t find her.
But as I began to wonder about something, Clementine chimed in as though she had read my mind.
"When there’s a full moon, I dedicate a whole night to singing, because when I was crowned as the Siren Queen, it was a full moon. In a way, that probably weakened the seal a little. It also allowed me to finally feel your presence."
Huh.
So a tradition.
Kind of like my monthly good deed goal.
Just a bit more personal.
Anyhow, I finally felt at ease.
The person I liked was in my arms.
I was away from the main character and most of the danger.
It was peaceful.
I loved peaceful, and I also loved the person I shared that peace with.
We snuggled in each other’s embrace, and soon enough, the two of us drifted off to sleep.
I really hoped that peace would last.
Really.
But as I felt my consciousness drifting elsewhere, I quickly opened my eyes, finding myself in a completely pitch-black realm again.
I recognized this place.
This was the same place I had seen right before I was teleported into the Dark Forest.
And as I glanced around, I soon spotted the same shadowy figure as last time, with its hollow white eyes staring directly at me.
So much for peace.
But then again, I was in the world of All Routes Lead To Death!
It was impossible to live peacefully.
"..."
"What do you want from me?"