Chapter 344: Ch 343: I’m sorry
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When Melisa and I leave the house to take a little tour of the things she has accomplished, I see on my map that Beatrice’s blue dot is approaching me at full speed.
While I was talking to Melisa, the redhead preferred to stay outside the house to explore a little, taking advantage of the fact that no one could see her, but it seems she has already grown bored of that.
However, while Beatrice’s invisibility is a great advantage when it comes to going unnoticed, it can also be a disadvantage, as there is a person walking between her and me carrying a heavy ceramic jar in his arms.
And, judging by her speed, Beatrice is running towards me too fast to dodge the young man with the jar.
’Haa... but I’m sure she won’t be so foolish as to-’
Before I can finish my thought, an invisible figure collides with the young man carrying the jar, a few meters away from where Melisa and I are standing.
The container shatters into pieces on impact, drenching the young man and the invisible figure with its contents, which appear to be red wine, judging by the color soaking the young man’s clothes.
Beatrice’s soaked figure quickly begins to lose its invisibility.
However, before becoming completely visible, she manages to move at full speed and break both legs and an arm of the poor innocent man she collided with.
After three loud and terrible cracks, the man falls to the ground, howling in pain, not fully understanding the cause of his misfortune.
Then Beatrice’s face finally becomes visible, and I see that it is a mask of rage and hatred as she begins to move one hand to draw one of her daggers.
"STOP MOVING!" I order her, stunned by the former spy’s attitude.
’ - Damn you, fucking bastard! You’ve ruined the clothes Emir gave me. I’m going to... Huh? Why can’t I move?’
My words instantly stop the redhead’s movements, but the damage is already done.
"Benjamin!" Melisa exclaims, running towards the wounded young man as she pulls a sword from her storage ring.
"... Get away from him, you wretch."
But Beatrice is immobilized by my command, so it looks like she’s ignoring Melisa.
So the farmer raises her arm to attack Beatrice, who looks at her with hatred but is unable to react.
However, I step between the two women, stopping Melisa’s arm with my hand as I look at Beatrice with irritation.
"The girl is coming with me, Melisa. She can’t move because of my order. She’s my new slave..." I say, then look at the farmer and sigh wearily.
’This is turning out to be a looong day.’
At our feet, the young man from the jar writhes in pain as he cries in anguish over his situation.
"... Here you go. I imagine this will help this man’s recovery quite a bit."
After my words, I take several health potions and bandages from my inventory.
Melisa takes the items I offer her without saying a word and kneels next to the young man to examine his wounds, after which she begins to splint his legs with thin pieces of wood that she takes from one of her storage rings.
"I don’t like people who lose their heads to anger..." I say as I look at Beatrice angrily.
"... You are allowed to move again now, but I don’t want you to do anything stupid like that again."
’Haa...
It could have been worse...
At least she didn’t kill him...
Even so, I didn’t think she would have such an excessive reaction to something silly that she herself caused...
She’s much more mentally unstable than I thought.’
My words seem to hit the redhead like a bucket of cold water, and she instantly loses her expression of fury and falls to her knees, after which she moves to hug my legs.
"I-I’m sorry... I was wrong... I promise I won’t do it again... Don’t throw me away," she says, looking at me with tears in her eyes and a heartbroken expression.
’- I’m an idiot. I ruined it! Now he’ll surely not allow me to stay by his side.’
While Beatrice speaks, Melisa finishes splinting and bandaging the injured man’s two lower limbs with surprising skill, while authoritatively asking the people nearby to clear the area.
’Throw her away...
This attitude reminds me a little of Alessia’s...
She has shown this same contemptuous look towards herself more than once.’
As with my first girlfriend, Beatrice’s attitude both worries and angers me in equal measure.
No one should think of themselves as an object or something disposable.
"Throw you away? What are you talking about? It’s normal... Erm... to make mistakes..." I say, earning myself an irritated look from Melisa, who glances at me for a moment as she splints the young man’s arm.
"...and sometimes we can all lose control. Just don’t do it again, okay? You can’t go through life without paying attention to your surroundings. Especially when you have your skill activated."
’If she’s so clueless, how the hell has she managed to stay hidden for so long near us?’
Then two burly-looking women approach Melisa with determined steps, bringing a stretcher for the injured man.
The businesswoman finishes splinting his arm and makes the young man drink one of the health potions I gave her.
After that, with the help of the two women, she moves to the stretcher the poor wretch who is going to have to spend several days in bed simply for having run into the wrong person.
"Yes," says Beatrice, still clinging to my legs with a dejected look on her face.
’ - He’s right. I was a fool... I let the happiness and excitement of having been one with him cloud my judgment... How could I have done something so stupid? What I did was a mistake worthy of a clueless brat. I am... I was a trained and skilled spy. Damn it!’
’Haa...
This isn’t the first time I’ve gotten the impression that this woman is pretty messed up in the head...
Am I being too hard on her?’
Then Melisa dismisses the two women with a few words, and they take the injured man to a nearby house, after which she turns to look at me with irritation.
"Emir, I think you owe me an explanation. Due to the situation most of the city is in, I have a group of people ready to help me in case of an accident, so fortunately it wasn’t as bad as it could have been..."
As Melisa speaks in the same authoritative voice she has been using to address those around her, she gestures toward the house where the injured young man has been taken, then points an accusing finger at the woman who is still kneeling, hugging my legs, and says "... But... What the hell were you thinking when you took that violent lunatic as your slave?"
"To be honest, I thought I’d rather do that than have to kill her..." I say quietly, mirroring her irritation.
Seeing my attitude and hearing my words, Melisa’s anger begins to deflate.
But my anger is directed at myself, not at her.
I don’t understand how I could have been so stupid as to leave Beatrice unattended.
"... Now I know I should have been more careful with her, knowing what I know about her. I was foolish to bring her with me. I’m sorry."
"No! Emir, it’s not your fault. I was the one who let my anger get the better of me. It just bothered me so much how that fucker dirtied the clothes you gave me," Beatrice says, mortified.
’- I’m such a disgrace... How can it be that on my first day as his slave, Emir has to apologize because of me? I can’t go on like this... I need to live up to the position he has given me by his side.’
"Haa... That boy is going to have to stay in bed for several days, even with the help of the potions you gave me. In any other case, a situation like this would warrant involving the knights..." she says to me in a soothing tone, ignoring the redhead’s words.
"... But I’m going to trust you if you assure me that from now on she won’t be a problem again."
"I promise..." I say with a worn sigh.
"... This woman is now my responsibility, and I can’t allow her to act the way she did today in the future. For now, I think it’s best for her and me to leave."
I am very disturbed and concerned by Beatrice’s words and actions.
Right now, I can’t afford to be distracted in a place where there are so many potential victims.
’I need to get her out of here...
My house in the capital is a much more controlled environment...
It will be much harder for her to do something crazy by mistake there...
Even so...
Just in case, I’m going to forbid her from harming the people in the house...
And the house itself...
Haa...
I didn’t think having her as a slave would be so problematic.’
"No... I... I didn’t mean to imply that... You don’t have to leave. You know my house is your house," says Melisa with a sudden sadness in her voice, as she reaches out one of her hands towards me.
"No. I do have to go..." I say, taking her hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze as I open an illusory door to my house in the capital.
The curious people watching the situation from a distance seem very surprised.
But for some reason, considering how they are looking at their neighbor while whispering, they seem much more surprised by Melisa’s reaction than by anything else that happened.
"... I’ll send Arya to you in a few moments."
"Ahh... I see. You’re coming back here with the elf," says the farmer, cheering up a little at my words.
"No. I think I have to stay close to Beatrice for now. Yes, that’s her name. At least until I know it’s safe to leave her alone without it posing a danger to other people..." I say, as I signal Beatrice to go through the illusory door.
The redhead obeys without question, looking very depressed.
"... And you will have to make sure that this poor young man receives the best treatment for his recovery. I will cover all the expenses. But don’t worry. I’ll be back here soon to finish what we left unfinished today."
"Okay," says Melisa with a sad smile, her head bowed, as she raises one hand in farewell while hugging herself with her other arm.
I have to go, but I don’t want to say goodbye to her while she looks so sad.
So I walk over to her and give her a big hug that lifts her off the ground, after which I start spinning us around and give her a quick series of kisses.
One on her forehead, one on her nose, one on each cheek, and I finish with a long kiss on her lips, which Melisa gives herself to body and soul.
"I promise I’ll come back to you as soon as I can, sweetheart," I say affectionately as I release her from my embrace and set her back on her feet.
"I love you, darling," says Melisa, now smiling happily with flushed cheeks and a voice full of devotion and affection that makes the people around us whisper to grow in intensity.
"I love you too," I say as I walk through the illusory door to my next battlefield.
’Haa... I still don’t know how I’m going to tell Alessia about Beatrice... I can’t wait for this damn day to end once and for all.’
