Di Qi Ju:I can tell you what you to know but you must agree to my condition first.
Hilda Karlyle: Ah, what condition could you possibly have?
Di Qi Ju: This matter has nothing to do with Naysis Ferne. She must’ve inadvertently been implicated in this situation so just give me some time to clarify this matter with her and I’ll relay the details back to you.
Hilda Karlyle: So you’re saying, “Don’t hold her accountable?”
Di Qi Ju: …that’s right.
Hilda Karlyle: …do you think that’s possible?
Di Qi Ju: ……
Hilda Karlyle: No matter what reason a person had for breaking the divine order set by God, even if that person was ignorant of that fact, that doesn’t mean that he or she can completely escape the legal responsibilities.
Hilda Karlyle: Besides, I don’t see her as a completely passive victim either.
Naysis Ferne:……
Di Qi Ju: Why?
Hilda Karlyle:Think about it for a second. From the very start of the battle till the end, what was her behavior like?
Hilda Karlyle: There was something motivating her; clearly she was filled with the desire to attack you and vent her emotions.
Hilda Karlyle: I just don’t see any circumstance that could possibly exonerate her.
Hilda Karlyle: Putting aside the matter of the ring’s connection with you for now, just based on what happened, aren’t you’re the victim here, Di Qi Ju?
Hilda Karlyle: As the victim, you wish to plead for your assailant, are you sure you aren’t mad?
Di Qi Ju: Stockholm syndrome…just kidding, of course it’s not that.
Hilda Karlyle: Huh? What syndrome?
Di Qi Ju: Nothing…but all you have to do is listen to my explanation and you will understand as well. There’s no need for Naysis Ferne to undergo an investigation in the Divine Hall.
Di Qi Ju: All you have to do is your focus your efforts on me, I can shoulder all the responsibility for her.
Di Qi Ju: The answer which you seek, I have it here with me.
Hilda Karlyle:…
Hilda Karlyle:……
Hilda Karlyle: I don’t think you have the capital to make that call, Di Qi Ju. In fact, I have some doubts regarding you as well.
Hilda Karlyle: You aren’t able to give me the answer I seek and I ended up having to act as well.
Di Qi Ju:—!?
Having to act…what did that mean? Was my test a part of her scheming as well?
Hilda Karlyle, don’t tell me you were planning to settle that matter with Poppy privately from the start?
Was the whole point of the test to stall for time or perhaps to achieve some other objective?
The look I got from her pupils ,hidden amongst a bunch of broken up bangs, seemed to indicate just that.
It was as if she was gazing down upon me from a position of power; as if she had been in control of everything up till now. It was as if her determination wasn’t something that could be changed and my words were nothing but feeble attacks.
Hilda Karlyle, you…
…you bit*h!!
Hilda Karlyle: There’s no need for any further discussion, she’s coming with me for now.
Hilda Karlyle: Of course, your turn will come soon, Di Qi Ju. It’s just a matter of order.
Hilda Karlyle: —let’s go, little Princess. Within the Divine Hall, all life is equal so don’t try to put on airs there.
Hilda Karlyle:…Conney isn’t here, huh. I guess I’ll have to escort you there myself.
Di Qi Ju:……
I slowly lowered my head and released the arms which were latched onto Naysis’ shoulders up till now.
Naysis Ferne: Huh? Di Qi Ju…
Hilda Karlyle:Don’t worry, Naysis Ferne, I feel the both of you will be seeing each other really soon, there’s no need to fuss over a moment of separation.
Hilda Karlyle: If the investigation is really able to exonerate you, then there’s no need for you to be so anxious as well.
Hilda Karlyle: I’m just eliminating the factors that might threaten the order of the Divine Hall and the human world. Treating me like the bad person here, that just makes things very awkward for me.
Naysis Ferne: Di Qi Ju—!
She did her best to lean towards me as if I was a lifeline of sorts.
Naysis Ferne:—I don’t want to go to the Divine Hall!
Naysis Ferne: That place belongs to that ba*tard Westrealm, there’s no way anything good will happen at such a place!
Naysis Ferne:Don’t let her take me, Di Qi Ju…Di Qi Ju! I still have a lot of things to say to you!
Di Qi Ju:……
Di Qi Ju:Just leave with her, Princess Naysis.
Naysis Ferne:…eh?
Di Qi Ju: Didn’t Sir Clergyman say so herself? We will see each other real soon.
Di Qi Ju: We can talk about all that when we meet again.
Di Qi Ju: …I’ll take care of this problem, don’t worry.
Naysis Ferne: You…
I shut my eyes tightly and tried to clear my head of distractions.
As their footsteps disappeared into the distance, the last bit of distraction was finally purged from my mind.
……
……
Hilda Karlyle: —hng!!
Just as we left the Grand Coliseum, Hilda Karlyle, who was still in the midst of dragging away Naysis Ferne, suddenly froze on the spot.
Blinking furiously, she scratched her head in confusion as if it could clear up her mind.
Hilda Karlyle: …hmm?
Hilda Karlyle: What am I…
She wiggled her fingers around and found to her surprise that she was still holding onto Naysis’ wrist.
Hilda Karlyle:…Naysis Ferne?
Naysis Ferne:……
Hilda Karlyle:Little Princess, why are you still following me?
Naysis Ferne:…what?
Hilda Karlyle: Be on your way now. You’re clearly just a little princess so what were you thinking when you decided to fight in the Grand Coliseum like that? Did you even consider the image of the Reitdarke royal family when you did that?
Naysis Ferne:…what???
Naysis’ eyes opened wide in shock and as gazed at the clergyman slack-jawed.
Naysis Ferne: Aren’t we…weren’t you going to bring me to the Divine Hall?
Hilda Karlyle:Divine Hall? There’s no need for that, didn’t we already determine that what happened just now was simply a misunderstanding? Don’t worry, I’ve got the gist of the situation.
Hilda Karlyle: That’s that for now. Next time, don’t create such a frightening toy.
Hilda Karlyle: The ironclad order of Westrealm must be maintained after all. Even if you have the right not to believe in Westrealm, you should at least know the importance of maintaining order.
Hilda Karlyle: Here, I’ll return your toy back to you. That’s all then, farewell.
Naysis Ferne:…….
After shoving the ring back into Naysis’ hands, she promptly strode off leaving a thoroughly bewildered Naysis Ferne standing there in a daze.
Exactly what happened there?? She had no idea at all…
Di Qi Ju: How about I explain the situation, Princess Naysis Ferne.
Naysis Ferne: …Di Qi Ju!
Having rushed to her side, I extended my hands to try and ruffle her hair, lips smiling as I did so. Yet, just as I was about to do so, I hesitated.
Thinking back to the time we met in the National Fragrances, I attempted to do such a thing as well but she nimbly avoided my hands.
‘She’s probably still not used to someone doing that to her, huh. This time as well…’
Naysis Ferne:…
However, she didn’t avoid my hands. Even when my fingers were merely centimeters away from her crystalline blue hair, she still didn’t try to distance herself.
She merely bit down on her lips gently and gave me a pitiful look as if I had wronged her.
Naysis Ferne: Go on then! Stop beating around the bush and tell me already!
Di Qi Ju: Oh, oh…right.
Di Qi Ju: Truth be told, I made a wish to Westrealm just now.
Naysis Ferne:…what wish?
Di Qi Ju: “Make the clergyman Hilda Karlyle believe that whatever happened in the Grand Coliseum was nothing but a misunderstanding” something along those lines.
Naysis Ferne: Huh? How is it even possible for a clergyman to be affected by such a wish?
Naysis Ferne: Because I invested 100 wish points into it.
Naysis Ferne: 100 wish points…
Di Qi Ju: If I invest one hundred points, the wish will undergo a transformative change, even a clergyman should have trouble resisting such a wish then.
Di Qi Ju: Besides, the contents of the wish weren’t even that complicated in nature, it was merely to forget a small matter that happened today.
Naysis Ferne:You…how do you have so many wish points?
Di Qi Ju: Didn’t you hear what the clergyman said just now? She said that the ring stole 3200 of my wish points, compared to that, 100 wish points really isn’t much.
Naysis Ferne:……
Di Qi Ju:—Ah right, there’s still one more matter. Right before I left the Grand Coliseum, the Three Battles committee had already come to a decision regarding our match.
Di Qi Ju: You…because your actions impinged on the order of the Divine Hall and that resulted in you being taken away for questioning, they decided to judge the match as your loss in order to look after the religious sensitivities of the faithful in attendance.
Di Qi Ju: I’m truly sorry about that, Princess Naysis.
Naysis Ferne:…..
Naysis Ferne:I’ve lost?
Di Qi Ju:Looking at the outcome, yes.
Naysis Ferne: …Di Qi Ju.
Di Qi Ju: Hmm, what’s the matter?
Naysis Ferne: If you don’t like me, couldn’t you have just done that from the start? All you have to do is repeat what you did to that clergyman to me as well.
Naysis Ferne: I would have completely forgotten about a person like you and you wouldn’t have to be bothered by someone pestering you all day as well.
Naysis Ferne: Why…didn’t you do just do the same to me?
Di Qi Ju:I guess you’re right about that. If I had directly wished for that outcome, as long as my wish points were enough, it would’ve been granted. In a sense, everything could be solved just by doing that.
Di Qi Ju: Everything would proceed as I envision, and like a God, I could’ve gained everything I wanted…
Di Qi Ju:..however, I don’t want to do that at all. That would be completely meaningless.
Di Qi Ju: From the moment I came to this world, I already made my decision: my life, that’s something I would fight for using my own two hands.
Di Qi Ju:Using my own hard work to make a living for myself, that is the principle I’ve lived by till now.
Di Qi Ju:My wish was a simple one: “Not to die from any unexpected circumstances”.
Di Qi Ju:If I were to die like that, I would’ve let a lot of people down.
Di Qi Ju: …at least that was what it should’ve been. My wish should’ve only been to be “undying”, however…recently, I seemed to have gained a new wish as well.
Naysis Ferne:…what kind of wish?
Di Qi Ju: The wish wher “people that I care about would have a better life”…I guess?
Di Qi Ju:This isn’t the first time I’ve spent my wish points for others so there’s no need to mind it so much.
Di Qi Ju:Just take it as my thanks for all the admiration you heaped on me in the short time we’ve known each other.
Naysis Ferne:……
She lowered her head slightly, eyes fixed upon the floor.
The current Naysis…exactly what was she thinking of right now; what kind of reaction would she have?
Was she going to give me another thrashing like just now, or perhaps she was going to announce another duel with a righteous voice?
Given that she was just a 15 year old teenage girl, I could basically picture what she planned on doing already.
Naysis Ferne: …hands, how long do you plan on keeping them there?
Di Qi Ju: …eh??
Naysis Ferne: Aren’t you going to lower them?
Di Qi Ju: Err…
Di Qi Ju: I thought you hated having someone touch you like that.
Naysis Ferne:…it’s fine.
Di Qi Ju: Alright.
I gently lowered the hands that had been hovering in midair all this while and placed them on her hair. As I did that, her head seemed to turn towards me in response.
Up till now, I had never done such a thing with other girls of my age, the closest I ever came to doing such a thing with another woman was when I helped my mom tidy up her long hair.
Her soft silky hair seemed almost like a beautiful willow in season, gently swaying about while it gave off the fragrant, alluring scent of spring.
Naysis Ferne:Mhm…
It was merely a few ruffles but soon, she began to sway her head as well like she was trying to complement my rubbing motion.
Was it really that comfortable being touched like that? Perhaps, or perhaps not because soon after that, she quickly stopped her swaying and I stopped my ruffling as well.
Naysis Ferne: About that…I lost, didn’t I?
Di Qi Ju: Mhm.
Naysis Ferne: Looks like there are some words I can’t share anymore.
Di Qi Ju:…mhm.
Naysis Ferne: …hah.
Naysis Ferne: Such a pity.
Di Qi Ju:…I’m sorry.
Naysis Ferne: What are you apologizing for, I’m the one who caused you trouble here.
Naysis Ferne: …since that’s the case, I’ll hold up my end of the bargain as well.
She moved away from my hands and then turned her back to me.
Naysis Ferne: Looks like there’s no chance of us being together then, since I can’t explain myself anymore.
Naysis Ferne:Sigh—a suitable boyfriend is really hard to come by, I wonder if I’ll ever meet one I can properly interact with.
Naysis Ferne:I think it’s about time I become accustomed to such matters already, I should just treat it as punishment for blaspheming Westrealm.
Naysis Ferne: If there’s really no man out there for me, I guess I can consider finding a woman as well…
Di Qi Ju:…
That would really be bad…
Naysis Ferne:Time to return home then—Carmen’s been waiting for me for a long while now, your superior seem to be waiting as well.
Naysis Ferne: I’ve been a real bother to you this past week or so, Di Qi Ju.
Di Qi Ju:…
Naysis Ferne: Farewell.
Di Qi Ju:……
Even though it such a solemn farewell, she wasn’t willing to let me look at her at all. Was it her emotions that she was trying to hide from me, were they pouring out from her right now?
I wanted to confirm it myself but at the same time, I didn’t dare to see it with my own two eyes.
I guess letting it end like this is for the best…
I guess it should be like this…
……
But…
From the moment I decided to snatch her back from Hilda Karlyle, there was a force that seemed to grip down on my heart. It wasn’t the soft knocking of my ability but rather it was another similar kind of sensation, a sensation that seemed to continuously control my heart.
It wasn’t a harmful power but it was enough to change me.
Di Qi Ju:Hey—please give me a second.
Di Qi Ju:Errr–is it alright if I visit your home tonight, Princess Naysis?
Di Qi Ju: Mhm, regarding that ring, I think there’s still some things we need to have a discussion about.
Di Qi Ju:…is that alright with you?
Naysis Ferne:…huh?
This power, exactly whose wish ability was it?
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Footnotes:
Credits:
Special thanks to Kaung Thant Win Naing!!
