Chapter 51: Realisation
Seraphine awkwardly scooched back from Nadia, who continued to stare at her intensely, anticipating her response.
"Meine... Dame?" Seraphine repeated, blinking in confusion.
Afterwards, that look of confusion soon turned into realisation.
"Meine Dame... wait, isn’t that what Hilda has been calling you?"
"It is. And that’s why I want to know what it means!" Nadia declared, clearly fixated on the phrase, "So if you know what it means, it would be of big help to me!"
She drew even closer towards Seraphine, startling the Transmigrator, who continued to scooch away — unnerved.
"Uhm... I do know what it is," Seraphine revealed nervously, "It means my lady or madam, I think..."
After a pause, the girl then added:
"And if I’m right, Hilda’s probably calling you my lady every time she says meine Dame."
"My... lady?" Nadia repeated slowly.
’So, that’s what it means...’
Nadia then began to mutter the translation under her breath, repeating it over and over until she could confidently remember.
And when she eventually did...
"Alright, I got it now... Thank you, Seraphine."
She moved away from Seraphine and sat back down.
Seraphine sighed in relief, freed from Nadia’s intense gaze. She had never gotten so stressed from simply translating something before.
’To think it was that important to her...’ Seraphine reflected.
Her ears then twitched at the call of her name.
"Seraphine, could you help me translate a few more words that she said?"
"Eh, s-sure..."
The Transmigrator then began to assist the Heroine.
There weren’t many words Seraphine needed to translate for Nadia, surprisingly.
And yet, by the end, Seraphine was able to sense a definite shift in the Heroine’s mood.
"I see, so Ja means ’yes’, and Erstaunlich means ’amazing’..." Nadia muttered under her breath with the side of her hand positioned over her lips.
Seraphine took a look at Nadia’s focused expression and couldn’t help but feel a sense of injustice.
The Heroine was so expressionless before, always sounding like she was uninterested in answering her questions. But the moment the topic shifted to something remotely related to Hilda, she became all expressive and keen!
It was unfair!
’They weren’t ever this close at this point in the story...’ Seraphine thought, feeling wronged while simultaneously resting the urge to cry inside.
’Although... it’s definitely not a bad thing for them to work together.’
If anything, it was rather ideal.
Seraphine then looked towards Nadia.
"Hey... what do you think about her? Hilda, I mean."
Nadia lifted her head and turned to Seraphine, who was now sitting cross-legged.
"Hilda...? Why?"
"Just wondering is all..."
"..."
The Heroine sighed and pulled her knees to her chest. She then fell into deep thought, shifting through her recent memories related to Hilda before coming to a conclusion.
"... She’s dangerous," Nadia mumbled before going silent.
When Seraphine realised Nadia wasn’t going to say anything more, she quirked an eyebrow.
"... That’s it?"
"That’s it," Nadia instantly responded.
Seraphine narrowed her eyes at the Heroine, unsatisfied with the answer she was given.
"Is that really all? You two look really close, you know, always sticking by each others sides," She stated, referencing how Nadia said the same to her with Callum, "If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought you two were—"
"Please, don’t..."
Nadia pinched the gap between her brows.
"If you’re thinking of something inappropriate, it’s not that. We don’t have that kind of relationship in the slightest. We barely know each other... and we’re not even friends."
’I knew that,’ Seraphine huffed.
"If it’s as you say, then why do you sound so hostile towards her?" Seraphine tilted her head, "If you two really don’t know each other, then there should be no need for you to be so against being close with her. After all, doesn’t everyone want to be friends with people from higher places?"
"Yes... but I can’t with Hilda," Nadia muttered before silently remembering the guilt she felt earlier. Her lips then stretched into a thin line, "Not now... at least."
Seeing the complicated expression Nadia was making, Seraphine couldn’t help but smile wryly, but also warmly at the Heroine’s stubbornness.
"And why may that be? She’s nice to everyone, isn’t she?"
"She’s... like that with everyone," Nadia muttered before adding, "As for why..."
After heavy consideration, she went on to explain what happened; from Ben’s injuries, to them hiding out in the house, then her fight with Hilda. She explained everything that had occurred, while making sure to leave out sensitive information, like the secret behind this exam.
She was afraid that if she told Seraphine that, the girl would secretly spread it around, leading Hilda to eventually catch on.
And in the event that this occurred, it could result in everyone’s lives being at risk, especially hers, which Hilda could trace back to as the leaker...
’So that’s what happened to Ben...’ Seraphine looked solemnly up at the ceiling, ’I guess it’s just fated for him to die in this exam... that’s just... wow.’
She couldn’t help but pity the poor man.
’As for the fight... that never happened in the original story.’
Seraphine tried to wrap her brain around that, but decided to leave it off for now, figuring there would be no point in knowing how, even if she managed to reach a logical reason.
’For now, I should help her out with this,’ Seraphine thought whilst looking over at Nadia, who had buried her face in her knees, still visibly saddened by the traumatic event. And a little resentful because of it.
’I think anyone with the slightest bit of empathy would be resentful in her place...’
Seraphine then sighed.
’But I should try my best to help her come to terms with it...’
"I don’t think Hilda was that much in the wrong for what she did... "
"Huh?"
Watching as Nadia lifted her head to look at her, Seraphine stiffened a little — now feeling the weight of what she said, pressured.
"Well, uhm... I mean, I can’t say for sure because I wasn’t there. But... Hilda did make a logical argument."
Seraphine scratched the back of her head sheepishly, averting her gaze from Nadia.
"If there really weren’t any medical supplies that had yet to expire, and no way for him to recover quickly, I think it would’ve been extremely... difficult for not only you guys, but also for him to keep on going together. And from how you described his injury... I think it would’ve been more like torture for him to keep on going, you get me?"
After a brief moment of hesitation, Seraphine glanced back at Nadia.
"I know you wanted nothing more than to save him, but sometimes life just doesn’t want you to get what you want — or let plans you’ve made for something special turn out the way it should..." Seraphine explained to Nadia, though it felt more like she was explaining it to herself.
"It’s a cruel and unpredictable reality, and I think someone like Hilda knows that more than anyone. And the fact that she tricked you into leaving, instead of letting you watch her put Ben out of his misery, was most likely her way of protecting you... just like she has been since you two met, right?"
"... You’re... right..." Nadia whispered, her eyes wide in realisation.
Now that she thought about it, Hilda really had protected her since the moment they met on this island.
From the moment she saved them, when they were on the run, to after the fight, when she was weak, to even now. There was not a single time Hilda hadn’t stepped in to save her. And even when she didn’t, she always did it for some kind of reason...
Nadia clutched her injured arm.
For example, in the morning, when Hilda refused to help them with Predicaments... it had to be because she wanted Callum and Seraphine to have more experience when dealing with Predicaments — evident by how the only support she provided was teaching Seraphine how to use a gun.
’Hilda has even gone out of her way to help me, even though it inconvenienced her,’ Nadia reflected; the most recent example being how she intervened with the conflict earlier.
Another time was when Hilda carried her, which, if she had to be honest... was the gentlest piggyback ride she had ever experienced.
Nadia buried her face into her knees again, still embarrassed by that. Then, along with her eyelids, her mood dropped a little, ’As for Ben... Seraphine was right as well.’
Even someone as stubborn as her, and optimistic as her, knew that Ben wasn’t going to make it without immediate medical treatment. But she still wanted to hold out hope that he would make it, even though that was just an excuse for her selfish need to try to save people.
Nadia let out a deep sigh of remorse as she hugged her knees.
In the end, she was the person she should have been angry at, not Hilda.
"I really am a bad person..." She whispered under her breath, which managed to catch Seraphine’s attention.
"You’re not a bad person at all!" Seraphine shouted, "I mean, even though you weren’t completely in the right, you still did it for an actual moral reason!"
Nadia shook her head slightly.
"It’s fine, you don’t have to comfort me Seraphine... I’m alright."
Seraphine then noticed that Nadia’s gaze was now focused on Hilda, who still continued to answer the questions of those around her, like some machine.
She noticed Nadia fall into some sort of silent trance, as though she was silently reflecting on her actions up until now.
Seraphine furrowed her brows when she saw this, sensing the dark, but serene air around Nadia.
She glanced between the Heroine and the German. Then, after a few moments, she came up with a good way to brighten Nadia’s mood.
"You know, the way you’re staring at Hilda makes it seem like you’re longing for her—"
"Huh!?"