The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 327

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Special Side Story, Chapter 11
…Perhaps that’s how it was.
Memories of a desolate childhood had turned the arrow back upon myself. It was an environment where self-affirmation became nearly impossible.
I don’t deserve to be loved.
So I’ll fail at loving someone too. That’s just how I am….
Yet despite that, failure terrified me, and abandonment terrified me even more.
Perhaps the matter of children was merely a small trigger.
‘What if I show my inadequacies in married life and disappoint Rubian?’
It seemed unbearable.
He was simply afraid—afraid that his deficiencies would be exposed and Rubian would abandon him.
Rubian suddenly smiled softly.
“But… honestly, it doesn’t matter if you’re lacking or imperfect. You don’t have to be the best.”
“…Why?”
“Because I’m not perfect either?”
“….”
“I have so many shortcomings. I hate admitting it, but I can’t do anything physical, I have no manual dexterity… and cooking, well.”
Rubian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Thank goodness I lost those memories.”
Even dirt would taste delicious if made by those hands, but Kalid held his tongue.
In truth, Rubian suddenly pulled him into an embrace… leaving him no room for further thought.
“So don’t overthink it, Kalid.”
“…So, we should live together, both of us a little lacking, rubbing along as we go? Even if I… have no memories?”
“Yes! I’m confident I’ll love you no matter which Kalid you are!”
“….”
Rubian nuzzled her face against his waist as she clung to him. It was an intoxicating warmth.
“We’re both a little lacking in different ways~ what you don’t know~ what I don’t know~ we just fill in the gaps for each other as we live, right~”
Her words trailed off playfully, as if to reassure him.
Just then, sunlight streaming through the window gently caressed Rubian’s cheek.
How did… how did someone like you come to me?
Kalid gazed down at his own hands.
Somewhere along the way, his hands too were filled with warm light.
I had lived without knowing what it meant to be loved. Not a single day had passed without thoughts of death.
Life was always falling.
Being pushed down into darkness, such profound darkness.
But now I stood beneath the light.
When I reached out my hand, there was someone who would grasp it without any conditions.
It wasn’t only this woman.
‘Those people of the Zebert Duchy too.’
Surely… I felt they would do the same.
What they had shown me was certainly another form of love.
‘Thanks to Rubian.’
Thanks to her extending her hand to me as I sat in darkness.
“Why are you bound there?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Do you want to leave?”
“If I say I want to go, can I actually leave?”
“Yeah.”
Because of you, I learned what light was.
You became the only thing I clung to in a life I was indifferent about losing.
Kalid reached toward Rubian as if enchanted.
He took the small ring she had been fidgeting with and slipped it back onto her ring finger.
For some reason, emotions surged up overwhelmingly.
The anxiety subsided, and it felt as though the wounds that had ached were beginning to heal.
“…That promise has no takebacks. Absolutely none.”
“Of course!”
Kalid gazed at her intently for a moment, then cleared his throat with a soft sound.
“…So. Um.”
“…?”
“Perhaps you’re hearing this for the second time, but…for me, it’s the first.”
“….”
“…Will you marry me?”
In that moment, Rubian blinked in surprise. Then she spoke.
“No way, I hate it!”
“….”
Huh….
Wait… so.
…what?
“…?”
Emotions came crashing down.
Kalid suddenly pulled Rubian away.
“But you said you would.”
“Ah, that’s….”
Rubian scratched her cheek.
“Now that I think about it carefully, marrying someone with the mental age of a fifteen-year-old is kind of….”
Wow, that was the reason?
“I see.”
Kalid steeled his resolve with fierce determination.
‘I will definitely recover my memories.’
By today. No, right now. Absolutely.
Throb, throb, throb, throb, throb.
The headache returned.
Rather than standing around uselessly, the two of them made their way toward the Hilltop Manor.
It was an adorably charming two-story house.
A home where everything came in pairs.
“Is this the place you prepared for me to hide when I want to escape?”
“…Yes.”
“Since I do so many things… you said I’d eventually burn out. Whenever I suddenly lose the desire to do anything and want to abandon it all, I should come here and hide away. Where no one can find me.”
Rubian giggled softly.
Kalid laughed along halfheartedly before stopping.
His headache had been severe since earlier, and besides, that man’s dark intentions were painfully obvious.
Unpopulated, privately owned land.
According to the fragmented memories surfacing, magic was the only way to approach this place. Knights were stationed all around to control access.
An empty expanse with only flowers scattered about.
A small house situated in the very center.
It certainly… looked perfect for hiding something.
‘Like a lover too precious to show others.’
“Tada! This is the bedroom! Isn’t it amazing?”
Look at this.
The bedroom was practically a palace.
Lavish enough to stay comfortably for days on end….
‘Perverted bastard.’
Yet Kalid willingly decided to play along with that pervert’s desires.
“I’m suddenly sleepy.”
“Huh?”
He sat on the spacious bed and spoke.
“It’s strange—I feel so drowsy.”
“Really? Then you should take a nap…”
“We’re doing this together too, right?”
Before Rubian could say anything, Kalid gently pulled her hand.
Thump!
The two of them lay facing each other.
Kalid gazed at Rubian, who rested her head on her own arm, while habitually toying with her silver hair scattered across the blanket.
“What are you suddenly…!”
“…How did that man do it in moments like this?”
“What?”
“After this.”
Kalid had already climbed over Rubian’s body and whispered.
His gaze was enigmatic. Rubian momentarily couldn’t tell if the one before her eyes was the young Kalid or the adult Kalid.
“Tell me. I really don’t know.”
“…Hey…!”
Rubian let out a groan and tried to push Kalid away.
“You can’t do this to me!”
“….”
Her refusal carried no real force behind it.
He watched as her neck flushed crimson, feeling somewhat anxious at the sight.
And yet… she wasn’t running away, claiming she hated it.
What should I do now?
‘…I want to make her feel even better.’
But I don’t know how to do that.
Honestly, my body remembered the impulse.
But….
Could I touch where I want to touch now, kiss where I want to kiss? What if she hates it?
“Come to think of it, honestly, marrying someone with the mental age of a fifteen-year-old is a bit….”
‘Would what he’s doing be… acceptable?’
Should she refuse, or accept it quietly?
‘I want to know.’
Where on that small body would she like to be touched?
‘I want to make her feel good.’
I hoped she would be as happy as I was today.
But I had neither her permission nor any information about her body.
Kalid prayed desperately for the first time.
Truly, desperately….
He thought he wanted to recover his memories.
In short.
‘I need to kiss her, so give me back my memories.’
That was his wish.
And that command….
Absurdly, it worked.
“Ugh.”
A massive, tidal wave of a headache swept over him.
“…Huh?”
Meanwhile, Rubian felt something was off.
It was the first time physical contact with Kalid felt this awkward.
Perhaps it was because she could sense him pretending not to be himself, tensing up. Or maybe his excessive caution had transferred his nervousness to her.
That was when it happened.
“Ugh.”
Kalid’s head dropped suddenly.
With his face buried beside her ear, he let out a short groan while scratching his neck. Thick veins bulged on his forearms as he struggled not to put his weight on her.
“Hey! What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Ah….”
“Kalid!”
“….”
“This won’t do. We need to head back home soon…”
At that moment, Kalid pushed himself up.
“…ha.”
His low breath brushed against her ear.
“I’m fine.”
Rubian felt a slight disappointment.
She’d wondered if his memories had returned, but his manner of speech remained unchanged.
“Hmm. Did I overexert myself by borrowing your mana? Come on, get up. We should be heading back soon….”
In that instant, long fingers tapped against Rubian’s cheek.
“What comes next.”
“Hmm?”
“You asked me to tell you what we did after that….”
Why did his eyes suddenly take on that look?
This was the gaze I’d only ever seen in the adult Kalid.
Without warning, his lips brushed against my forehead and withdrew.
“Your forehead? Did I kiss you like this?”
“…what?”
“And then what comes next.”
“Ah….”
“Quickly. Rubian. After your forehead.”
“Y-your cheek?”
At the provocative whisper that fell directly into her ear, Rubian’s eyes began to spin.
Kalid let out a soft laugh before immediately biting down on his own lip.
“You’re lying.”
“Don’t tell me your memories have…!”
No, so suddenly like this?!
Rubian asked with widened eyes.
But no words escaped her lips. As if he’d been waiting, Kalid swallowed them all.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————