Chapter 33: The determination to live
The moment when the fist is about to hit me.
The earth-shaking, fierce roar echoes throughout the classroom.
“At the same time, an object that looks like the door of the classroom is blown away and hits the person standing in front of me with force.”
“Gyaa?!.”
The person who was trying to swing a fist at me screams and falls to the ground.
Bright light shines into the dim classroom, and I squint my eyes due to the glare.
In the midst of the dust, Edward-san was standing at the entrance with one leg swung out.
(Could it be… did he kick the door open without the key…?)
As I looked towards the entrance in disbelief, the campus guards rushed into the classroom in an avalanche.
In the midst of the people being captured one after another in the classroom, one of the aristocratic brats at the edge of the classroom shouted.
“What’s going on?! Why are the campus guards…?!.”
The people who were restraining me also tried to escape from the guards and roughly let go of me.
My body, which had sustained injuries to the point where I could no longer support myself, collapsed and fell due to gravity.
In the midst of all this, a figure approached me.
As that figure approached me with no hesitation, like a bullet, and caught my body just before it collapsed, I looked up at the person’s lapis lazuli eyes with confused eyes.
“Leah, don’t talk.”
If I tried to speak with my uncooperative mouth, blood vomit would spill from the edge of my mouth.
“Don’t force yourself to speak. The doctor will be here soon.”
His manner of speaking was unnaturally calm, and it was clear that he was trying to forcibly calm his own heart in order to reassure me. In fact, his feelings could not be hidden from his face.
“H-How.”
Although it was a short word, I think he understood what I wanted to say. As he lifted my hand, he opened his mouth.
“I was talking to the linguistics professor when the history professor came to visit. The history professor said he had no recollection of calling me. So I searched every nook and cranny of the school… I’m glad I found you. Really, I’m glad.”
As he said this, he tightened his grip on my hand.
Even as I listened to his words, my head was filled with questions that kept spinning around.
(Even though I thought I was protecting him, I ended up being protected by William-sama instead. It’s my fault that William-sama was exposed to danger. And the foreign element in the story… was me)
“Ha, hahaha.”
I couldn’t help but let out a dry, ridiculous laughter.
“It’s a knight’s duty to protect you, but if I’m the one being protected, then I’ll be disqualified as your knight, won’t I?”
The words just spilled out of my mouth.
William-sama’s eyes widened for a moment before his face twisted.
“Don’t… don’t say such sad things like [you’re disqualified as my knight]…”!!
His eyes, which were fixed on me with a painful expression, were turbulent like a stormy sea.
“You told me before that [I don’t need any other lords besides you]. That’s how it is for me too. Even if I have more subordinates in the future, you are the only one who is my dear knight… the only one…!!”
He tightened his grip on my hand even more.
“You are an irreplaceable and important person to me.”
He closed his eyes as if praying and pressed his lips to the back of my hand.
As I witnessed his intense emotional outpouring,
I was surprised to realize that my existence in William-sama was much larger than I had thought.
(I never knew he cared about me this much)
At the same time, I became aware of my own weakness.
(This is no time for weakness… If I’m a foreigner in this story, there’s no turning back now…)
I clenched my lips as if scolding myself for my dependence.
(Until now, I thought it was okay for me to become anything, even if it meant offering my own body, as long as it was for the sake of protecting William-sama…)
As I looked at William-sama’s face, I narrowed my eyes.
(But that’s no longer possible. Now that my existence has deeply penetrated into William-sama, I don’t know how much damage my death would do to William-sama’s spirit. I have to do whatever it takes to survive, in order not to hurt William-sama’s heart)
For that, I have to be strong.
My body, my heart, and my mind.
(Protect. I’ll become stronger than I am now and protect William-sama’s body, William-sama’s heart)
At that moment, loud footsteps approached from the hallway.
“Leah, the doctor has come!!”
William-sama, who was looking towards the entrance, told me.
As I watched William-sama, who was trying his best to smile at me to encourage me, despite suppressing his intense emotions, I made a new resolve.
