Chapter 177: Response

POV Eliza

Shortly after the break, we set off again. Unfortunately, that gave me even more time to think, and that turned into a problem for me. With every hour we spent on horseback, I became more insecure and anxious. If I had sensibly communicated my feelings to Betty that evening—even though they were just beginning to develop—we very likely could have become a couple. But I was a coward—a very big coward, in fact. As a result, I became very quiet and withdrawn. It even led to me not going into the tent to sleep that night.

I was understandably tired the next morning. Duke and Bishop looked at me questioningly for a long time, but said nothing. Betty didn’t seem to have noticed anything. Apparently, she’d slept deeply. She didn’t say anything to me either, but she was in a very good mood. She started talking to Hattar again, and slowly I noticed how Hattar was becoming friendlier toward her. Her falcon came over as well.

Around noon, after I still hadn’t spoken to Betty, Bishop rode his horse up beside mine and spoke to me.

“Tell me, Leo, has something happened to Betty?” Bishop

“W-why?” Eliza

“I don’t understand your behavior. Betty seems really happy, so I’m assuming your conversation went well. Plus, she was bright red when she came back to camp and stammered that she’d done it. But you’re reacting completely differently. You’re distant, withdrawn, and silent. What’s going on?” Bishop

“Sigh. How should I put this? I’m scared and I’m a coward. On the one hand, I’m glad she has these kinds of feelings for me. But I don’t know how to handle it. I’m not going to hurt her feelings by saying I don’t deserve her. I’m not that stupid or insensitive. On the other hand, I’m now forced to make a decision. It seems I’m not ready for that yet. Pretty uncool of me, right?” Eliza

“I can’t quite understand your fear right now, but I respect you. Talk to Betty about it, though. She’ll surely give you the time you need, but don’t leave her in the dark. She definitely doesn’t deserve that. The atmosphere right now is awkward. Bishop

“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks for snapping me out of my lethargy.” Eliza

“Anytime.” Bishop

That evening, I sat down next to Betty. She looked at me questioningly.

“Do you have a minute?” Eliza

“Sure. What’s up? Should we step aside?” Betty

“Yes, please. I just wanted to let you know that you’ll have to wait a bit for my answer.” Eliza

“What answer?” Betty

“To your confession.” Eliza

“Oh, right. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting an answer. Although, no, that would be a lie. Of course I was hoping for a positive answer, and I’d love to have it as soon as possible. But I don’t want to rush you. As long as you don’t turn me down outright, I’m satisfied for now.” Betty

I looked at her intently, straight into her face and into her eyes. All I could see in them was open affection.

Eliza, you coward, do something. Take action and don’t overthink it for so long. You’re overthinking the whole thing. Do you like Betty, yes or no? If not, then tell her straight to her face. But you know that’s not true. You have feelings and you just can’t handle the fact that, for once, someone has confessed their feelings to you. Are you such a wimp?

“Leo, are you okay? I like it when you look at me, but when you stare at me like that, it makes me feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.” Betty

“What? Oh, right, sorry. That wasn’t my intention. Betty…” Eliza

“Yes?” Betty, suddenly sitting very upright and visibly nervous. Her tail was wagging wildly.

“I’ve come to a decision. You know I tend to overthink things, and that’s what I’m doing right now. That’s why I want to listen to my heart for once instead. I can’t deny that I, too, feel something when I’m around you. Affection. A slight flutter in my heart. A smile when I look at you. That's why I'd like to give it a try. Let's explore my feelings together and see how they develop.” Eliza

“Really? No kidding? You're not messing with me, are you?” Betty

I shook my head and tried to reach for her hand. But instead, Betty quickly leaned forward and hugged me tightly. I could hear her quietly crying into my neck. I assumed these were tears of relief this time.

After a few minutes, she leaned back and looked at me, beaming with joy. In the background, the sun was slowly setting on the horizon, bathing the surroundings in a soft light. Betty stood out like a freshly bloomed flower, radiating a magnificent glow. She looked so beautiful in that moment that I wanted to keep that image in my memories forever. My heart was beating much faster, and I felt that I had made the right decision.

We both walked back to camp, holding hands, and saw the two men greet us with smiles and a knowing silence. I was reserved, but Betty beside me was beaming as brightly as the evening sun.

During the night, I woke up briefly because I felt something on my back. I recognized Betty by her breathing. She must have turned toward me and crawled over to lean against my back. Was she whimpering softly? Was she having a nightmare? I’d never noticed Betty having nightmares before.

What had triggered it? She should have been happy, now that her confession of love had been successful. Or was it something else? Something deeper?

That’s when I remembered our conversation by the stream, when she confided in me about her history of sexual abuse. That had to be it. Poor Betty—but now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for her. Now was the time to act. So I turned around and took her in my arms. Then I gently stroked her back with my hand. Her whimpering grew quieter and her breathing calmer. Still, it took over an hour before it stopped and I, too, could finally fall asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, Betty was already gone. She had slipped out of the tent unnoticed. My hearing was good, but with Betty, it often failed me. I wondered why. I left the tent and looked around. It was already quite warm, and the light breeze offered little relief. Betty was sitting by the campfire, handing out breakfast. She heard me and looked at me. Then she smiled and held out a steaming bowl to me. It was the usual grain porridge with some chopped fruit. Simple, but nutritious. We exchanged only a few words before moving on. Because of that, I couldn’t bring up the nightmare, but I was sure it was for the best. I resolved to do my best to make sure her nightmares stopped.

I just had no idea how to go about it yet.

Over the next few days, Betty often sought my company—at camp and while we were riding. We chatted about all sorts of things, most of it trivial. The main thing was that we were close to each other. But starting on the third day, I noticed her glancing at Hattar more often while we were out. She seemed restless. Personal space in a relationship was important to me, and I could never understand couples who stuck to each other like glue every day, all day long. We both had lives before this relationship, and you shouldn’t give that up. So I put on a smile and spoke to Betty.

“Go ahead and ride over there. You want to keep talking to him, don’t you?” Eliza

“How do you know that?” Betty

“I can tell just by the way you’re acting. Come on now, we have plenty of time in the future.” Eliza

“Okay. See you tonight by the campfire.” Betty

At that moment, I had no idea just how wrong I’d be with that one line.

Hartdome City

POV Cornelius

The situation in the city grew more tense with every passing hour. The incident involving the labyrinth had caused widespread unease. We were even questioned again, but since we hadn’t done anything, they couldn’t pin anything on us. Unfortunately, this forced us to temporarily halt our search for the dark elf woman—much to Ansgar’s chagrin, as he was visibly growing more tense. By the end of the next day, his patience had finally run out.

“I’m going back out to search. I’ll go crazy if I keep sitting here staring at the ceiling.” Ansgar

“I’ll help you. Let’s go back to the original plan and ask around at the city gates. I’ll go east and you go north. Tomorrow we’ll search for the other two days at most, if we don’t find anything today.” Cornelius

“Finally, a reasonable plan. Let’s go.” Ansgar

He stormed out of the room and was gone. I turned to Eli.

“Where’s your brother?” Cornelius

“He’s researching whether there are other ways we can improve our class. So far, we only know of the option that requires 10 development points if we don’t want to suffer any other drawbacks. He refuses to admit that we shouldn’t have to go through the ideal development paths to move forward.” Eleonore

“I think that’s a great idea. It’s frustrating to me, too, that we’re not making any progress right now. We do have two classes, but we’ve hit the level cap on both of them. So gaining more EXP wouldn’t do us any good, even if the labyrinth were still open. We don’t get any development points in this labyrinth either, and the next dungeon is about multiple weeks away to the east. The one in the south is about the same distance away, but it’s right in the middle of the desert. To be honest, I’m not really up for that, and we’re nowhere near well-equipped enough for it either.” Cornelius

“Equipment is expensive, and we barely have enough money to cover our living expenses. The Empire’s support was really helpful.” Eleonore

“I’m not sure anymore if our escape was the right decision. Sure, we have our freedom now, but we’re also on our own. But we’re not destitute. We still have some money, but we have to be careful with it. Without the labyrinth, we can hardly earn any more here. It’s time for us to go somewhere else.” Cornelius

“The East sounds good—much better than the desert. I don’t want to go there.” Eleonore

“We’ll have to go there eventually. We still have our mission, but we can put off that dungeon until we’re strong enough to conquer it completely. I just want to go there once.” Cornelius

“I know. You and my brother have told me that several times, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. If my brother is better at ice magic, he’ll surely be able to keep us cool, even though it’s a desert. I don’t want to go there until then.” Eleonore

“It’ll be a while before we’re ready. Let’s take care of the dungeon in the east first, after we’ve helped Ansgar. The dungeon in the east is the Wind Dungeon. We probably won’t encounter extreme temperatures or anything like that there. We also know that a city has sprung up around the dungeon, which is even home to the most famous magic academy in the country. The more I think about it, the more interesting it sounds. Javier wants to go there anyway, and we’ll get Ansgar to come along too. But first, we have to find the dark elf. “I’m heading out now, Eli. See you later.” Cornelius

“Take care of yourself, Corni, and don’t pick up any new women. Otherwise, I’ll get mad.” Eleonore

“I won’t. I’ve got you, after all.” Cornelius

With a charming smile—the one I’ve always used to calm and charm Eli—I left the room and headed toward the East Gate.