I Was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but That World Is at Peace

Chapter 1944: Illness' Consultation ⑤

After listening to my words with a smile, Illness-san quietly closed her eyes. Somehow, it felt like she was gathering her thoughts.

If that's the case, talking to her now would just be a hindrance. Thinking that, I quietly sipped my wine and waited for Illness-san to finish organizing her thoughts.

Just like that, after a while…… perhaps about 5 minutes, Illness-san slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

Her gaze wasn't the usual unfocused one, but a serious one with her beautiful eyes fixed on me, to which I couldn't help feeling captivated.

[……I may have been overthinking thiiiings.]

[Overthinking?]

[Yeeees. To meeeee, my feelings for Kaito-sama were speciaaaaal, something I hadn't experienced in the past tens of thousands of years of liiiiiife, so I believed that if I were to put those feelings into wooooords, they had to be just as speciaaaaal.]

From what I've heard from Frea-san, Illness-san had apparently been well-known in the Demon Realm even before the Six Kings system was established, so she must have lived for at least 20,000 years.

For Illness-san, who had lived that long, these newfound feelings must have indeed been very special.

[That's whyyyy, I had been having second thouuuughts. What word could I call iiiiiit, how can I convey such a feeliiiiing…… but after confiding with Kaito-samaaa, I realized I had been mistakeeeen.]

[You mean, there's no need for special words?]

[Yeeees. I beliiiiieve it's better to keep it simple rather than overcomplicate thiiiiings. Without unnecessary embellishmeeeeents, I decided to just express my feelings honestly.]

Thereupon, pausing for a moment, looking straight into my eyes with a gentle smile, Illness-san spoke.

[……Kaito-samaaa, I love you. I love you from the bottom of my heaaaart. That's why, wanting to see you happyyyyy, I devoted myself to youuuu…… and more than anythiiiing, standing by your side, I want to share such happineeeeess.]

[……Illness-san.]

[Because I like youuuu, I want to be by your siiiiide. Because I love youuuuu, I want to devote myself to youuuuu…… Such simple words are enough to express my feeliiiiiings.]

As Illness-san said earlier, there were no embellishments in her words, just straightforward feelings. Because of this, her feelings were conveyed to be very strongly…… How should I say this…… It made me really happy.

[Illness-san, I'm really glad that you were assigned to me when I came to this world. I could tell now that it was because of my Sympathy Magic…… but back then, there were times when I could sense that the people at Lilia-san's mansion were unsure how to interact with me, treating me with fear and trepidation, and while I knew it couldn't be helped, it still left me with an indescribable feeling. But from Illness-san, I never felt that atmosphere at all…… being with you really put me at ease.]

Now, I'm acquainted with almost everyone at Lilia-san's mansion, and I even go shopping with some of them, but in the beginning, I truly felt a bit uncomfortable around them.

Yes, I understand that they didn't know how to interact with me, an otherworlder man in what had been essentially a men-prohibited environment, and I was also being strangely reserved…… making it so that we're both being overly considerate of each other.

However, thanks to Luna-san, Sieg-san, and most importantly, Illness-san, it never became a major source of stress.

[In that sense, I'm really grateful to Illness-san, and I've always had favorable feelings for you. But well, how should I say this…… Illness-san has been a woman I've admired, a kind and mature lady, so I always thought somewhere in my heart that you wouldn't see me in a romantic way, so today's conversation surprised me…… but I'm honestly happy…… Ahh, sorry, I started rambling about.]

[Kuhihi, in my case thouuuugh, hearing Kaito-sama earnestly telling me how you feel makes me happyyyyyy.]

[Ahaha, thank you. But yeah, let's keep it simple here…… I also love Illness-san as a woman. So, errr…… Once again, I will be in your care.]

[Kuhihi, yeeees. Same heeeeere, please allow me to stay by your siiiiide.]

Yes, I certainly was surprised by the content of the consultation, and I was also surprised at how quickly she managed to gather her thoughts and convey them in words……. but seeing Illness-san smile so happily…… I'm really glad we got to convey our feelings like this.

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<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [……!?]

Makina : [Ah, her eyes rolled back…… Could it be that because of the previous chapter, thinking it would be a while before they became lovers, she let her guard down and was caught off guard?]