The gale vanished without a trace. In front of the blonde girl, a white flower bent its stem.
"…"
Ais sat curled up on the grass, staring blankly at that beautiful flower.
It was as if the flower were reproaching the blonde girl for her violence, filling little Ais with guilt.
Had she done something wrong?
Would Bell hate bad girls?
He and Lefiya had attacked her together…
"Uu…"
Little Ais let out a whimper of resentment and shame in place of the blonde girl, whose lips stayed tightly shut.
Sunlight poured down, and the white flower was covered by someone's shadow.
Ais did not look up. She did not need to look to know who it was.
The boy had said he would come back here, so Ais had waited here. That was all.
"Ais-san."
Bell looked at the blonde girl, who was curled up like a hedgehog, her lips pressed into a tight line.
The moment his voice reached her, Ais fluttered her lashes, as if she wanted to sneak a glance at him. But her eyes wavered, and she quickly lowered her head again, burying her face against her knees.
"…"
Bell had the strange feeling that he was dealing with a child.
He had no intention of lecturing Ais from above. Instead, he slowly moved closer and sat down beside her.
Warm sunlight fell over them both, wrapping them in a calm like the quiet after rain.
After a moment of silence, Ais was ultimately unable to endure the situation any longer. She was the first to break the stillness, rubbing at her blue stockings as she spoke.
"Bell… say something…"
There was a trace of grievance in the girl's voice.
Bell looked out at the same scenery as Ais and replied softly, "It was wrong of me to fire Magic at you just now, but why did you summon that gale, Ais-san?"
Although Bell could guess the reason, he still wanted to hear the full answer from Ais herself.
The same was true of his silence just now. The boy wanted to speak with her as an equal, not scold her for her natural behavior. If Bell had simply led with that same question, Ais would have felt as though he were accusing her.
Bell did not know who he had learned this peculiar way of comforting children from.
Somewhere in the sea of his memories, there seemed to have been an exceptionally gentle woman who had treated his younger self in the same way.
The same silence, the same stillness.
What had he been sulking about back then?
Had he made up with that person?
The memory had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only this way of comforting someone.
Because of his old headache, Bell did not think too deeply about the details. He simply looked at the white flower in front of them and quietly waited for the blonde girl's answer.
"I don't know either… I didn't mean to…"
Ais's voice was very soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing the bent white flower.
Little Ais inside her heart abandoned her baseless complaints after just one sentence from the boy and, with tears streaming down her face, desperately tried to win him back.
If Bell came to hate her because of this, the mere thought made Ais tremble inside.
"Bell, I'll apologize to Riveria and the others… and I won't trouble Aki anymore… Please don't hate me… If I didn't have Bell, I…"
Ais completely let go of her temper. Her voice, usually so flat and quiet, grew more and more urgent.
Only now did Ais understand. Whether it was the turmoil of suspecting the boy had lied or the sting of seeing Aki and Bell being intimate, none of it compared to the fear of being hated by the boy and separated from him.
Little Ais smashed the sign she had raised earlier to pieces, crying as she begged the boy for forgiveness.
"Ais-san, we were all at fault for what happened just now. I won't hate you, so please take your time and tell me what you're thinking."
Bell moved a little closer and added gently, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay by your side, Ais-san."
"…"
Ais let out a breath of relief, and the focus of her golden eyes drifted slightly toward the boy.
She seemed to be sorting through the tangled mess in her heart. Only after a long while did she slowly speak.
"I don't want to see Bell doing this and that with other girls… It feels like my chest keeps hurting…"
Ais revealed what was in her heart.
She had never been like this before.
Seeing Bell go on a date with a girl from the tavern had not stirred much inside her. Watching Lefiya flirt with the boy had not brought out many strange feelings either.
All of that had changed during the Dungeon trip a few days ago.
When Bell, wrapped in the Gale, charged alone toward the Black Goliath, Ais had overlapped the boy's figure with the young man from her dreams.
Ais knew that, at that moment, something in her heart had quietly changed.
But the warmth Bell gave her was completely different from the young man in her dreams.
"When I'm with Bell, my heart feels restless… but after we part, it feels empty…"
Ais tried to describe what she felt.
There was a warm emotion that burst from her palm and heart whenever the two of them touched, spreading through her entire body.
Ais knew it was called shyness, but it was not ordinary shyness. At least, she had never felt this strange emotion when bathing with Lefiya and the others.
"I heard from Elfy that Bell just told Riveria you liked me… I thought it was a lie to please Riveria, so I ran over… But when I arrived, I saw you and Aki over there…"
Ais's voice cut off abruptly, as if she had no desire to recall the shameful things the Catgirl had done.
Doubt, disappointment, possessiveness. All of those things piled together, and that was why Ais had called forth the gale.
"…"
Bell quietly listened to the girl's true feelings.
In the end, the source of this whole commotion was still that talented girl skilled in fire magic.
Still, misfortune had turned into fortune for Bell. He had used this chance to test [Argo's Ship], and had also learned what was in the blonde girl's heart.
"Actually, I wasn't lying. I really like Ais-san."
Bell answered her frankly.
Once upon a time, the two of them had already had a similar conversation.
But this time, Ais gave no response.
"Ais-san?"
Bell softly called her name.
"…Say it again."
Ais squeezed the whisper from between her lips.
It sounded like a child's selfish request, yet also like an order from the Sword Princess.
"Ais…"
"The part before that."
Bell was cut off halfway by Ais.
"I really like Ais-san?"
Bell gently did as she asked.
"Again."
"I really like Ais-san."
"Again…"
"I really like…"
Sunlight fell on the white flower, as if it were blooming into a smile in the girl's place.
The two of them repeated the same words several times.
When shadow covered the white flower, Ais was finally satisfied.
She blinked and said softly, "I'm fine now… and I won't stop Riveria… Bell, go find her. You two are going to k-kiss… right?"
Hearing that, Bell immediately furrowed his brow.
"Huh?"
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