Only with Your Heart

I chose this path myself, so no matter how risky I find the journey, I can't be dissatisfied. Even if you get lost and get hurt, it's only your fault. The next morning when Luklov held me, I woke up. That was the first thing Thousand Cranes thought.

The bonfire was dull and nearly extinguished with the smell of ash in my eyes first.

The dry ground is exposed to morning dew, reflecting on the rainbow as the sun shines. Chizuru, who slowly woke up his shiny body, looked around... and nearly screamed briefly.

Because Luklov, with his stabbing sharp eyes, stared at Thousand Cranes from a few meters away. I'm leaning against a tree dressed up already ready for the trip, wearing a clasp (crunchy tear) that I should have taken off last night, holding my helmet by my side. The expression was so dark that it was gloomy that it emitted an awesome taste that it made me want to be frightened by accident.

"Oh... good morning... Ruklov"

Chizuru managed to say hello, but the reply was as if it were natural, no.

The woods, which bathed in the morning sun, were much more open than they felt in the darkness of the night, and the cedar trees, so tall that they could not see ahead, were diminishing. Instead, some trees with orange fruits are forested, giving a bright atmosphere.

It was a refreshing morning landscape, with the exception of Ruklov, which gathered heavy air.

I can even hear the little bird chirping from somewhere.

In the meantime, Chizuru corrected his posture and tried to keep as much majesty as possible by matching himself in front of his chest around the unbroken dress. But there were few parts that could hide how flashy he was torn, and Chizuru had to turn red and sit back with his lips chewed up all the time.

Luklov kept staring at such a thousand cranes to observe, but after a while he released a chunk of white cloth in front of the thousand cranes.

"Put this on."

Trying to spread the cloth that fell in front of Basari and Chizuru terribly, it seemed like the equivalent of a shirt. It was just a substitute for sewing two pieces of cloth together and drilling holes so my neck and arms would come out, but this is normal in this world.

Chizuru blushed honestly, "Thank you," and weaved his feathers from the top of the dress where his qualitative shirt was torn.

In the meantime, he returned to the outfit where his majesty as a person seemed to be preserved, so Chizuru stood up and reconfirmed his surroundings.

Like Ruklov, horses bracketed by nearby trees seem already ready to travel.

"Are you going now?

In response to Chizuru's inquiry, Ruklov nodded silently.

"Um... well, think you can take me too... okay?

With regard to the next question, Ruklov replied with a tremendous frown wrinkle.

"You don't want to go with me..."

A voice filled with anger that springs from the bottom of hell emanates from a dull knight with a righteous face. On the side is a shining armored helmet in silver, with a long sword shaking at the waist. A normal woman born and raised in modern Japan would undoubtedly make everyone tremble. Even Chizuru is no exception.

"I want to go." I want to go... but the... I already had sex... maybe they'll throw me away, I don't know. "

Luklov deepened the frown wrinkles further into the thousand cranes explaining them in various ways. If that's possible, though.

"Sekizu?

It's about sexual intercourse.

"Why should I abandon you for such a reason," Ruklov's lips were ironically distorted. "... that must be your eighteenth"

Chizuru couldn't find the answer to give back and took a breath.

Tomorrow, he may no longer be worried about being abandoned in this forest, but at the same time, it hisses through that he doesn't trust Chizuru at all and even feels angry.

Maybe I was staring at this one with a scary eye in preparation for the trip progression because I was surprised that Chizuru would be gone again?

If so, why?

He's not supposed to love Chizuru anymore.

Feeling the numerous doubts that floated in Chizuru's eyes, Ruklov took his back away from the tree he was leaning against and advanced one step forward.

"Before I take you back to my mansion, let me make a few things clear."

It was a mixed administrative tone of warning. Chizuru had no choice but to nod and waited nervously for the next word.

"I paid a fortune to take you away... I ask you one thing, have you always wanted to stay in that dirty settlement?

"Oh, no way"

"Then at least I saved you from the poor village. I'll let you live quite a blessed life in the mansion. Let's get one of the girls... but"

But?

"That's only mercy. It's not right as a knight to abandon an old acquaintance buried in a potato field"

Old, acquainted.

I wondered if a poison arrow had pierced my chest. Chizuru lurks his breath for a long time and ties his lips together. Ruklov went on to say the words in a quiet disturbance of her reaction like that.

"You will stay in my mansion for a while. If you want to leave after that, you can do whatever you want. Now it would be helpful if you could say a word or so."

Luklov's dark eyes capture Chizuru sharply. I felt as though I was being challenged.

No, you're not. Maybe Luklov's trying to figure out a thousand cranes.

Chizuru took a breath, correct his spine and confronted the knight.

"I'm not leaving. At least not while you don't try to force me out."

I don't know.

Ruklov snorts like a bruise.

"As long as your... don't get in the way, I'll stay. Because I'll never leave you."

Chizuru said back, the two were to stare at each other.

The sarcastic expression disappears from Lucrov's face, and he sees the whole body of a thousand cranes, one small head at a time, to be sure of every single one of their cells. Chizuru stared at Luklov in the same way.

Luklov, reflected in the light of the sun, did make me feel fourteen years old. Only a little white was beginning to mix in the glossy dark hair, and the unique skin tension and redness of the youth disappeared, making it the face of a dignified adult man.

If the rumors I heard from Drote were even partially true, the last fourteen years he has been across should have been full of difficulties and hardships.

But even his invisible past like that seemed adorable to Chizuru.

You should try to remember. Even when we first met, Ruklov didn't kneel so easily in front of Chizuru. During his one-year stay, nearly half of them were single-minded by Chizuru to Luklov. At least Chizuru thought so.

So don't give up.

"And let's get one thing straight, Chizuru"

The heartbeat of Chizuru, who was called by name and was in a hurry even if it wasn't, rang even louder. But Ruklov turned his back on Chizuru, and began to move in the direction the horse was waiting for. Over your back, Ruklov tells you.

"I don't love you anymore... Expecting some emotion from me is to stop it."

And slowly covered his head with the silver helmet he was holding.

Even as I tried to be patient, a glimmer of tears finally flowed down Chizuru's cheek. But Chizuru wiped it away with his back of his hand before Luklov could blame him. ─ ─ My mind is already set. I'm ready. Don't give up.

"I know."

And Chizuru replied. "I know, don't worry"

Like last night, the two began their journey across horses together. Luklov held the reins, and Chizuru was dressed to be held in front of his chest. So close, each other's minds are already, far away.

But when I went through the woods for a while, I could hear Ruklov, who had been silent for a long time, groaning pompously and briefly.

"... No, you don't know anything. Nothing."

and.