Chapter 20: A Flower In Each Hand

Yelena Frost had been feeling confused lately, her thoughts constantly drifting to the girl named Sian. She had given up on everything after hearing that she was terminally ill.

After all, she only had a few years left to live, so things like friendship and love were all meaningless.

So avenging her parents was the most efficient thing to do. She had strange feelings that she couldn’t name, constantly churning in her heart. But Yelena, who had lost her emotions, couldn’t define what this feeling was.

Therefore, Yelena was reluctant to face her heart properly.

Humans are creatures that naturally dislike the unknown. That was true for Yelena as well.

The only difference was that, unlike others, Yelena gave up on understanding the unknown instead of trying to understand it.

There must have been many reasons, but there was one certainty in Yelena’s heart.

Sian, a Stigmata user, would live much longer than her, who was terminally ill. So, Sian wouldn’t leave her.

Since she would be with her for the rest of her life, it was okay to postpone these useless worries a little. That’s what she thought.

Until suddenly, a girl named Regina Strelachia appeared next to Sian.

“Still, now that I’ve entered the academy, I have two friends, so I’m not lonely anymore.”

“Do you like, cute friends, Sian?”

“Um…I guess so?”

Yelena remembered Sian’s expression as she talked about Regina.

It was the look of a pure girl, as if she were looking at something lovely. Had Sian ever shown that expression to her?

She suddenly became anxious.

If she lost Sian’s side to this girl, wouldn’t the attention Sian gave her gradually fade away?

Like the people who abandoned her in the past after her parents died and her succession rank fell.

Then, would she be alone again?

Always wielding her sword alone, eating alone, taking classes alone, and spending the rest of her time alone, lonely…

“…That, I don’t want that.”

Yelena murmured so that no one could hear.

She had lived well alone for the past eight years. But now that she had met a friend, now that she had met a friend who understood her broken heart and could clash swords with her.

She could never go back to the way things were before.

So, Yelena threw away her usual ice princess mode. Smiling, she held Sian’s arm and said.

“Hello. I’m Yelena Frost.”

“Ah?!”

At Yelena’s sudden skinship, Sian’s body flinched. Because Sian had rarely even held hands with a girl.

Sian’s amethyst eyes trembled at the physical contact, a type of contact usually reserved for lovers.

The soft texture of Yelena’s skin, felt through the thin uniform, made her think strange thoughts.

So, Sian didn’t understand why Yelena was suddenly acting like this. No, she didn’t have the time to understand. How could anyone maintain their sanity when their favorite character was holding their arm in reality?

“Y-Yelena…?”

“Hmm?”

For some reason, Yelena’s voice was softer than usual. Throwing away her ice princess mask, Yelena drew closer.

In fact, Sian didn’t dislike this side of Yelena, and she just smiled.

“…”

“…”

And. Regina Strelachia felt a primal anxiety at the sight of the two.

Why hadn’t she thought of it before? Even if she was the only one for Sian, Sian could have other friends.

To her, Sian was the only hope that had come in hundreds of regressions. But to Sian, she might just be a friend who needed a little attention.

Regina’s hand, hidden under the blanket, began to tremble slightly. That place is mine. Why, why is Yelena Frost…!

Regina knew Yelena Frost well. Having regressed 999 times, she couldn’t help but meet the girl, even if she didn’t want to.

Yelena, who always wore an icy expression and seemed to have no interest in the world, why was she clinging to Sian with that expression?

“Ugh, but why are you suddenly holding my arm…?”

“Hmm, usually friends hold arms like this, right?”

“Ah, I guess so…?”

“That’s why I did it. Why, do you dislike it?”

“Ugh…it’s not that I dislike it…”

Yelena Frost’s active interaction was something she had never seen in her past life.

Maybe that was why. The embers of anxiety in Regina’s heart began to grow little by little.

Yelena Frost was an attractive girl, recognized by everyone. If Sian fell for such a girl, then she would be pushed aside, and there would be no one left in this world who could understand her…

“That, I don’t want that…!”

Regina murmured quietly, closing her eyes tightly and hugging Sian’s waist, purposely making a cute voice.

“Ugh?!”

“I, I was a little lonely…Sian…”

At Regina’s small body hugging her, Sian let out a foolish groan and trembled.

Objectively speaking, both Yelena and Regina were in the realm of beautiful girls. Moreover, they were beauties that most idols from her past life couldn’t even compare to.

For Sian, who had no experience with love or even female friends in both her past and present lives, having two such girls clinging to her was too harsh.

Perhaps that was why Sian couldn’t notice the strange atmosphere flowing between Yelena and Regina.

“W-wait, a minute? Both of you. No, both of you…? Anyway, calm down…”

Was this what they meant by ‘a flower in each hand’?

Thinking such useless thoughts, Sian cursed her own uselessly good senses.

The senses of a gold-badge adventurer were generally excellent.

The reason was simple. Most adventurers with poor senses were injured or died before they could reach the gold badge.

Because of that, Sian’s senses were good. If she was in close contact with someone, she could tell what was beyond the thin uniform.

“Sian.”

“Y-yes?!”

My ears, red like a ripe apple, heard Yelena’s voice. A much softer voice than usual.

More like a mature older sister than an ice princess. While thinking that even that side of Yelena was nice, I fiddled with my fingers.

“Just call me comfortably too. If it’s hard to call me separately.”

“Ah, um…but…”

“What. Do I look like some kind of old fogey who discriminates based on status?”

“That’s not true either…ugh, I don’t know. Okay. Yelena.”

As Yelena finished speaking, Regina, who had been quietly nestled in my arms, spoke in a small voice.

“Um…can, can you stay with me for a little while…? The nurse said…my body hasn’t fully recovered yet. Ah, it seems I overdid it when we were fighting the lich…”

“Ah, yes. Of course. That was my intention in coming here anyway.”

“Hehe…”

Regina’s smiling face was so cute that it was detrimental to my heart. So, I unconsciously stroked Regina’s head.

Then Regina enjoyed my touch as if she liked it. For some reason, even though her hair looked like a bird’s nest, when I touched it, it was as soft as Yelena’s well-groomed hair.

While feeling Regina’s hair, Yelena’s voice could be heard from the side.

“Sian.”

“Ah, um…Sian…?”

Not to be outdone, Regina’s voice could also be heard from within my arms. For some reason, the two girls clinging to me seemed to be slightly competitive.

“Ugh, w-wait a minute…!”

Caught between the two girls, I carefully pushed them away and recalled the purpose of calling them.

I just wanted the two of them to get along, but for some reason, they were strangely clinging to me and not talking to each other. I thought about the reason for their awkward expressions, and I could soon roughly guess why. Maybe they were just awkward with each other.

Both Yelena and Regina were girls who were not used to dealing with people. When such girls met someone new, maybe they were trying to get along through me.

Coming up with an answer that was far from the correct one, I sat next to Regina. Then, naturally, Yelena sat next to me. Sandwiched between the two girls, I tried to keep my composure and introduced Yelena and Regina to each other.

“This is Yelena Frost. Regina, you know her, right?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard a lot about her…!”

“And this is Regina Strelachia.”

“Hello. I’m Yelena.”

Yes, as I expected, the atmosphere seemed to loosen a bit when I introduced them.

“I’m going to go out for a while because the nurse called me. You two can talk a lot.”

So, I left the two of them to talk to each other and stood up. The nurse had said that there were some final checks to be done, so I should go when I had time.

Well, both Regina and Yelena are good friends, so nothing will happen while I’m gone.