Little Tyrant Doesn't Want to Meet with a Bad End Chapter 348: The Knots in Our Hearts

Under the moonlit sky, Nora continued looking at Roel with the same faint smile she had looked at the night sky with, but her smile was starting to look strained.

A few steps away, Charlotte froze in shock. Her face slowly turned grave, and she solemnly lowered her head. Without a word, she walked to Nora’s side and confronted Roel too.

Roel’s eyes quivered in the face of their confrontation. He squeezed out a smile.

“What are you saying, Nora? We are…”

“Lovers. We have been since we were nine. We have never said it explicitly, but you should be aware of it.”

“…”

Nora’s calm response rendered Roel at a loss for words. Seeing this, she sighed softly and continued.

“You should have been somewhat aware of it, but you turned your eyes away. I can understand where you are coming from. Our identities complicate things, and there are many things to consider. I have never blamed you for that, and I’m willing to give you time and space to think things through.

“But what happened this time… is beyond what I can tolerate.”

Nora’s eyes reflected a hint of disappointment, and Charlotte averted her head away to conceal her sorrow.

Nora and Charlotte were born with a golden spoon in their mouths, blessed with lofty backgrounds, outstanding looks, and superior talents. Countless men wooed them in hopes of taking their hands in marriage. It was beneath them to fawn on a man.

But their bond with Roel didn’t come easy and their feelings for him ran deep. To some degree, they had even suppressed their egos and implicitly permitted the existence of others in this relationship.

But things were different this time.

Nora tightly clenched her fists and spoke frighteningly heavy words.

“I can tell that you are under the side effects of the Witness State and are in a powerless position right now. This is not the first time something like this has happened, but unlike then, you made the decision to leave us this time around… am I right?”

“!”

Roel jolted upon hearing those words.

The answer was already made clear through his reaction. Charlotte's heart lurched out of despondency, and her eyes moistened.

This matter had been a thorn at her heart for some time now. She had seen Roel and Lilian embracing on the balcony, and no matter how she looked at it, it didn’t look like Lilian had coerced him into leaving their side.

If so, this act was, in essence, no different from elopement. Just thinking about the connotations frightened her.

“What reason do you have for leaving us to escape with that woman? You should know full well what your actions signify. I want to know what you’re thinking. I’ll reconsider our relationship based on your response.

“You need not worry about the implications. I won't allow this matter to undermine the alliance between our houses. After everything we have been through, even if we can’t stay by each other’s side anymore, we can at least remain friends…” Nora said with a gentle voice.

Yet, those words sounded freezingly cold to Roel. He looked at the two women before him and suddenly felt a tight clench in his heart. The feeling that he was about to lose something he held dear filled him with terror.

He finally understood what kind of situation he was in.

I have really hurt their hearts. I-I need to quickly explain it to them!

“I-it’s not what you think. Senior and I are bloodline kin; that’s why…”

“Bloodline kin? That explains why that woman is so protective of you.”

Nora nodded her head in realization, but her expression didn’t change in the slightest.

“But Roel, that only explains why Lilian helped you. It isn't a reason for you to abandon us. Are you pushing the problem onto her?”

“N-no, it’s due to the bizarre side effect of my condition. It regresses time for a person, and it can put you on the spot if your family members learns about it. So… so…”

Roel’s voice trailed off as he suddenly realized that there was something very wrong with what he had just said.

As if answering his premonition, the two women stared at him with horrified faces. There was a long silence before Nora encapsulated what he had just said with a quivering voice.

“You’re worried that Charlotte and I will betray you for our family members if we learn about your ability to regress time. In other words… you don’t trust us?"

“D-darling, is that really what you think?”

By this point, Roel had become so flustered that he couldn’t string his thoughts anymore. The strained smile on Nora’s face finally faded altogether. She glared at Roel with indignant eyes.

“My grandfather might be getting old, but you should never forget that we are the Xeclydes! Tampering with one’s lifespan is a blasphemy to Sia. Neither my grandfather nor I will stand for that!”

“My father and the other elders of the Sorofya House might soon reach the limits of their lifespans and pass away, but that’s the decree of fate. Darling, did you think that I would emotionally blackmail you into saving them?

“No, I-I…”

Faced with their infuriated outburst, Roel's face turned pale. He wanted to explain that it wasn’t what they were thinking, but his mind had stalled to a halt. Words were failing him.

His lack of response extinguished the final glimmer of hope in Nora’s eyes.

“You have really disappointed me, Roel.”

“N-Nora?”

“I’m sorry… but let’s end it here.”

“W-wait!”

Horrified, Roel rushed forth to grab Nora’s hand, but the latter took a step back before turning around to leave him. Charlotte hesitated for a brief moment, but she eventually wiped off her tears and walked away too.

Watching as the two women got further and further from him, Roel suddenly felt suffocated. Unbearable sadness assaulted his mind and stung his nerves. Even his stalled brain was able to comprehend what had happened under this intense stimulation.

I have been dumped.

Some said going through a breakup felt like dying, but Roel thought this was much more frightening and painful than death. Even the terrifying assault of the Magician King was nothing in comparison to the heart-wrenching pain gripping him.

I can’t lose them. No matter what, I don’t want to lose them!

Ironically, it was only at this moment that Roel was starting to understand his own heart.

Did he distrust Nora and Charlotte?

Definitely not. In the first place, he had never thought that it was a big deal to tell them about it. So, what was it that prompted him to leave with Lilian without informing them?

Fearing that news might leak out?

Possible, but he could have also explored safer ways to relay the news.

The truth was that he could come up with countless self-justifications why he made that decision, but there was something deeper that prompted him to go with Lilian’s decision instead of searching for an alternative.

He spent the next few seconds furiously dissecting his own head, trying to make sense of his own feelings. He instinctively knew that he only had one shot, and he had to find the most authentic answer within him to move those two. Otherwise, he could lose them forever.

And in this final struggle, he felt like he had finally grasped his truest thoughts.

“It’s because I was afraid that I'd lose you!”

““!!””

Roel shouted out the deepest feelings that had been buried so deep that he might not have even noticed it before. The moment those words were spoken, the two women stopped and widened their eyes in surprise.

“I think I finally understand why I didn’t look for the two of you. I was afraid. I have never felt so vulnerable before you. I didn’t want you to see me this weak. I was afraid of disappointing you. I was afraid that you would leave my side!

“We weren’t meant to be. I don't know how it happened, but none of these were supposed to be mine! I don’t know how I can keep you by my side, but I need to. I can’t let go anymore! That’s why I have to be strong! I need to be strong…”

Under the moonlight, the boy shouted with a lump in his throat. Before he knew it, his vision had already blurred and tears fell from his eyes.

Was weakness a crime? Probably not, but to Roel Ascart, it was.

He was supposed to be a dead man in the original storyline. He was only able to change his fate and win over the female capture targets because he had grown strong.

He had nothing special that justified the feelings that Nora and the others harbored for him. Quite the opposite, he was nothing but baggage to them with a multitude of enemies out there seeking to take his life.

And now, he had even lost the strength to protect himself.

He feared that his weakness would tarnish the image they had of him. He feared that their feelings for him would erode once they realized that he was nothing but a hassle.

Somewhere, in the recesses of his mind, he had thought that it was only a matter of time before they parted ways since they were never meant to be. He had never answered their feelings because he thought that these were transient. Buried within him was a self-defense mechanism that stopped him from getting invested with them.

Yet, as time passed, he found himself falling deeper and deeper for them. Before he knew it, he could no longer imagine a life without them.

“I don’t know how long I’ll remain in this condition, but if it persists, I might lose more than just my transcendent abilities. My attention span, my analytical ability, and my judgment; those could regress too. I can’t even control my own emotions now! I didn’t want you to see such an unsightly side of me, that’s why I chose to run away. I’m sorry!”

Roel wiped off his tears with both his arms as he bared everything in his heart.

Seeing such a Roel and hearing such words from him, neither Nora nor Charlotte could bring themselves to walk away anymore.

When Nora turned around and saw the bawling boy in front of her, she felt like her heart was going to melt. Charlotte even burst out crying on the spot. They rushed back to Roel’s side and hugged him tightly together.

“I’ve no idea why you thought that we weren’t supposed to be, but there’s one thing I do know: You are a fool!”

“I’ve known that darling is bad with matters of the heart, but I never thought that you would be so daft.”

While helping the boy wipe off his tears, Nora let out a helpless reprimand whereas Charlotte sighed deeply.

“You thought that I would think that you’re a burden and leave your side if you’re weak? It seems like you have forgotten my interest. I would love more than anything for you to be weaker than me!”

“Your strength might have been an impetus behind our relationship, but darling, I don’t like you because you’re strong. I like you because you were willing to risk your life to protect me even when you weren’t strong. That’s why I left the final seven-colored bullet for you. That’s how our relationship came to be. It has nothing to do with your strength at all.”

“I-I…”

Roel looked at the two women hugging him from both sides, and he suddenly found himself at a loss of words. His tears flowed out even more profusely than before.

Meanwhile, Nora and Charlotte were feeling touched for another reason.

“Still, you said it. It’s also the first time I’m seeing tears from you. You’ve done it, darling!”

“… Five years. I’m finally hearing those words from you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Roel in bewilderment.

Watching as Roel continued to wipe away his tears, Nora pinched his cheek and said.

“Did you think that I hadn't noticed that you were putting on a brave front all this while?”

“We did discuss this amongst ourselves in private. We thought that it’s unnatural how you have been bottling up your emotions and stress without venting them out, but we didn’t know how to talk to you about it. Darling, you look suave when you’re putting on a brave front, but I still like it best when you let it all out.”

“Feelings can only grow when both parties are willing to open their hearts to each other.”

“You all… I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Hearing their words of understanding, Roel earnestly apologized to them with a sniffle.

A smile finally reappeared on Nora’s face, and Charlotte wiped her own tears. They continued hugging him until their emotions slowly calmed down.

“I’ll magnanimously forgive you this once, but if you dare pull such a stunt once more, I’ll make sure that you can’t even find a place to cry!”

“In view of the special circumstances, I’ll overlook darling’s mistake this once. But only this once!”

The two ladies gave out stern warnings while heaving a sigh of relief too.

This relationship crisis was the first not just for Roel but for Nora and Charlotte too.

The two of them were also feeling deeply nervous about the issue. The feeling of being abandoned constantly stabbed at them like a thorn lodged in their hearts. They knew that it would become a major problem if they didn’t address it, but they had no idea what would become of their relationship if they were to raise the issue.

To be honest, Nora had raised this issue with the intention of just leaving Roel with a warning, but she ended up losing control of her feelings and demanded a break up. She simply had no experience dealing with such matters. She didn’t think that it would hurt so much to be distrusted by the one she loved.

Now that she had calmed down and was looking back on it, she felt spooked just thinking about what could have happened there. Charlotte felt the same way too.

After accepting his apology, they began patting the boy almost as if to vent their pent-up stress. Charlotte started poking Roel’s soft cheeks whereas Nora couldn’t resist the urge to play with Roel’s ears.

“… Is this how darling looked as a child? How adorable.”

“You look smaller than what I remember from our first meeting. Eight years old?”

“W-wait a moment, you two…”

After finally resolving the knots in their hearts, the two women began immersing themselves with teasing the miniaturized Roel. It was only when loud cheers started echoing from the distance that their teasing finally stopped.

The aurora had appeared.