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"It's true. There is something bothering me. But I'm taking care of it! I'm going to go to your friends today to ask them to come give me a hand and take care of you two while I'm gone," I say in a hurry, before I realize what I'm doing.
Emir: !!!
'%&#c!&@¡$#/° STUPID HERO CLASS!!!'
' - I knew it! Master doesn't trust me anymore... and the worst thing is... after what happened, I'm not surprised... Still... Haa... I understand, but it still hurts.'
"Ah, so you can trust them! Delia and I have been worried about you for weeks, waiting for you to open up to us, but instead you'll go and talk about what's bothering you to other people," says Alessia, who is now starting to look really furious.
' - I don't really know who I'm more angry with, him or myself... this situation is so silly... This is so frustrating. Why the hell can't he be honest with us?'
"It isn't like that; it's just th-" I start to say, but Alessia is too elated to let me speak.
"THEN WHAT IS IT? I really can't understand you, Master. Do we look so stupid to you? Is that why you don't want our help?" says Alessia, jumping out of bed suddenly, in a fury, to head towards the balcony and stand with her back to us.
' - I need to clear my head... Master has always been like this... I shouldn't be surprised by his attitude.'
At Alessia's words, I gape at her for a few moments.
'Why is Alessia so angry? I don't understand... I'm... right now I'm too mentally exhausted to have this kind of conversation.'
But Delia is looking at me inquisitively, waiting with droopy ears for me to give a negative answer to Alessia's question, so I can't ignore my first girlfriend's words.
"What? no, of course not," I say, when I finally manage to mentally focus enough to give them an answer.
"Then why don't you tell us what's bothering you? You really don't trust us, do you? At least not for most of the important things. And now you don't even trust me to protect Delia anymore" Alessia says, turning around and I see her eyes start to water.
"That's not true...I didn't tell you anything...because... because..." I say, trying to come up with a good excuse, but my mind doesn't seem willing to cooperate.
'Shit... at this point... I guess I'll end up having no choice but to tell the truth.'
"...Because I'd rather just be the one worrying and shouldering the burden of responsibilities, and because I like to see you two happy and calm... Besides, Delia isn't the only one who needs protection."
' - Stupid overprotective Master... this is the last straw... do we really seem so fragile and helpless to him?'
"You don't have the right to decide that alone, Emir. We are a team, remember?..." says Delia, looking at me with the same firm conviction she always shows when talking about our relationship.
"...you told me so yourself. We must help each other through thick and thin. If we can't do that, what kind of couple would we be?"
"What do you mean Delia isn't the only one who requires protection? I don't need protection," Alessia says after a moment's pause, snorting in exasperation.
"Yes, you do... maybe even more than Delia... In fact, I should have thought about the possibility of hiring your friends many days ago..." I say, sighing, physically and mentally exhausted.
'If it weren't for the fact that I've been distracted by other things, and that tiredness doesn't let me think properly, the idea would probably have occurred to me much earlier...
I'm going to stop drinking the energy potions...
I'm starting to think that the smart clone was right to doubt my ability to not abuse them.'
After inhaling and exhaling several times, I finally decide to tell them the truth.
"... Okay, you win. I'm going to tell you what's been bothering me for a few days now and why I've been acting so strange... Haaa... but first I want you to go back to bed, Alessia. I think you should sit down to listen to what I'm going to tell you."
...
"This... This is a lot to process... I... am I a princess?" asks Alessia, looking at me in disbelief.
In the end I told them most of the information I got from Beatrice a few days ago, though I deliberately omitted how I got that information.
"Do you think I'd be able to lie to you about something like this?" I say, rubbing my forehead with one hand as I look at her with a smile.
' - Master has a point, I suppose... But at the same time... Does he really intend for me to believe that my lowly, small-town mother was actually the sister of a king?'
"No... I know you wouldn't... I... I don't know what to think about this... what you're saying doesn't fit with the image I have of my mother and I-" Alessia starts to say, but I interrupt her.
"That may be due to the Blood Seal you possess. I'm pretty sure it may be altering your memories of her," I say, revealing another piece of information I got from Beatrice.
"Right, but we can't be sure of that... I mean you are asking us to blindly trust you or... the person you got that information from. I don't know, Master..." says Alessia, looking at Delia, silently asking for her opinion about what I told them.
But Delia seems to be completely in shock at the moment and looks toward an indeterminate point in the room without paying attention to either of us.
"... Haa... This is something really crazy... I want to believe you, but at the same time I find it completely implausible... What proof do you really have that this information you obtained is correct?"
"I can remove the seal if you want. That would bring back your memories, and you'd see that I'm not lying." I say, averting my gaze.
It pains me that Alessia doubts my words so much, but she has every reason to.
I've always kept some things from her, and what I'm telling her goes completely against the things she remembers from her childhood.
Memories that are fundamental for anyone…
I imagine it's as if, someday, someone will try to convince me that what we live is not reality and that this is all just a story written by a random person.
It sounds ridiculous.
And it's unbelievable.
"Why didn't you say so before?! Take it off!" says Alessia quickly, as a flash of emotions passes across her face.
' - Always keeping things from me... If he's always been able to take off this Blood Seal I have from me, why the hell did he keep that information to himself? That's not something he should decide on his own; it's MY life that is affecting that damn seal!'
"I can do it... But I don't know if having your memories back would be a beneficial thing for you. Your mother sealed them for a reason..." I say, sighing.
"... And I imagine it's a good reason."
"I don't care. My mother is dead, and whether or not I have my memories of her can't change that fact..." says Alessia stubbornly.
"... But I want to at least be able to remember her as she really was, regardless of whether she believed that to be a good or bad thing for me."
"Ok..." I say, sighing again.
'I'm really too mentally exhausted for this kind of talk...
If my mind was a little clearer, I'm sure I'd come up with more arguments to convince Alessia not to remove the Blood Seal...
What if the Blood Seal is actually protecting her from some kind of traumatic memory?...
I don't want to be the one responsible for her reliving that experience...
Haa...
If only my head would stop hurting for a few moments, maybe I could think of something.'
"... I'm going to need a few seconds to do it."
"Alessia! I don't think you should doubt Emir's words. It seems kind of unbelievable to me too, but I always knew you had to be someone exceptional, being Emir's first wife..." says Delia in a rush when she finally comes out of her introspection.
"... But a princess! I would never have imagined it. I don't mean that you don't look like one, of course, but I- ohh, sorry."
But then she realizes the situation, blushes, and falls silent again.
However, now at least she's looking at us instead of at the walls.
Alessia makes no comment at Delia's barrage of words and simply looks at me with intense anticipation.
'I'm never going to get tired of how adorable Delia is... Let's see...'
[Blood Seal Lvl 33] [1|3]
[Blood is absolute. It is a river that leads to the soul. That being the case, controlling the blood can control the soul]
[Improvements 1 of 3]
[To upgrade to the next level, you need the following materials: (A drop of Zael's blood) (A King Serpent's tail) (Two Safir's feathers)]
'Remove materials.'
[5 points are required to make changes]
[Note: Points will be lost forever. Only Alessia Addari points are allowed]
[Do you really wish to remove this seal?]
"Alessia, are you ready?" I say, still unsure whether what I am doing is right.
'I remember the times when 5 stat points seemed like a lot to me, and I thought it was a waste to use them to remove the seal...
Now we get them easily, and anyone would think that everything should be much simpler for us…
Haa…
But there are wounds that cannot be completely healed...
No matter how many points we have...
I just hope I'm not making a terrible mistake'
"Yes, Master," she says, with an expression of deep concentration.
'Yes, remove the seal'
Then the seal disappears, using as payment some of the free points that Alessia has and that I had not yet added to her stats.
[The seal is now removed, and you obtained [A drop of a loved one's blood] [A Mermaid's tear] [Three Death's chains]]
As soon as the seal disappears, Alessia's body staggers, like that of a puppet whose strings have been cut, and she falls unconscious on the bed.
'F*ck'