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Madan no Ou to Vanadis - Volume 18 - Chapter 1.3




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Only around a half koku had passed since the war council had concluded when Tigre visited Olmutz’s camp. She had told him that she wanted to see him after he finished his preparations to depart for his own journey.

──No, it was 「make sure to visit」, wasn’t it?

Recalling the almost unnaturally cold attitude of Mila back then, a wry smile crept on his face. Even for Tigre it was the perfect time, since he had wanted to talk with her as well.

Mila’s tent was obviously located in Olmutz’s army camp. After explaining that there were several issues he wanted to confirm about tomorrow’s march, Tigre got the guards to lead him to her tent. Him feeling cold around the nape was because the evening had already advanced quite a bit, accompanied by a sharp drop in temperature, or maybe because had a guilty conscience.

When he entered her tent, Mila was sitting on a carpet in a relaxed manner. She still wore her blue uniform and white ribbon, but she had removed her armor, including the breastplate. Her draconic tool ─ Frozen Wave ─ leaned against a wall, still gray.

“Welcome. Did you get everything ready for your trip?”

An iron kettle with steam wafting out of its spout, a bottle with black tea leaves, a jar with jam, and two silver cups were placed on the ground next to her.

“Yeah, just as planned. I’ll wait for dawn and then set off with Gaspal and the others.” Tigre sat down opposite Mila.

Since a thick carpet had been laid out on the ground with a bear pelt laying on top, he didn’t feel cold. The lamp hanging down from the ceiling illuminated both of them.

“Let me first treat you to some black tea.”

Mila prepared the tea for him with practiced movements, and after the jam had melted, she handed Tigre his cup.

“Drink it while enjoying the taste.”

Tigre thanked her, and lifted the cup, bringing it close to his mouth. Contrary to the tea Titta had brewed for them during the war council, this tea had an invigorating aroma that made him settle down. Once he took a sip, the heat and sweetness gradually permeated throughout his body.

“Strawberry jam, huh? It’s really been a long time since I last drank your tea.”

“The last time I brewed some for us was back when we were in the capital, after all.” Mila giggled while brewing tea in her own cup.

The two talked about trifling topics for a while, but around the time she had prepared a second serving of tea, Mila suddenly began to act very nervously. She started to say something, but then stopped before actually voicing it out, her cheeks red and her eyes wandering.

Guessing what was making her hesitate, Tigre was about to speak up in order to broach the topic from his side, but before he could, Mila lifted her face, obviously having made up her mind. Tigre put down his silver cup, and waited for her to speak.

“H-Hey, Tigre, it’s about that matter…”

Tigre wasn’t as dumb as to ask what she was talking about. Going by Mila’s behavior, it could only be related to her confession. The scene of that time had occupied a corner of his mind ever since he had been invited over. It was only after the battle against Ganelon had come to an end that Tigre had seriously brooded about the question how he should answer Mila’s feelings. Until then, to be honest, he didn’t have any time to spare a thought on that.

Now he was glad that he had handled it like that. Mila had confessed to him while being aware of Tigre loving Elen and Titta. That emotional resolve and power wasn’t anything he could have faced while being preoccupied with something else.

This wasn’t about their respective positions nor did it have anything to do with his lovers. Just, he’d put his feelings for her into words. It took some time, but he managed to be in time.

“I──”

“W-Wait a moment. Let’s do this after you come back from the capital.”

Getting energetically interrupted by her without having actually said anything, Tigre felt dumbfounded. He wondered what was going on. Once he took a peek at Mila’s state while being confused, he noticed that her face had terribly cramped up. He thought that she might be nervous, but it also looked like she was scared.

──What should I do? Should I postpone it to the next chance like she’s said? No.

Tigre breathed in lightly, and made up his resolve. I should go ahead with what I had intended to tell her. No one says that the tragedy that struck Sofy couldn’t happen to Mila or me.

Fixing his eyes on Mila, he slowly and firmly said, “I love you as well.”

Mila’s eyes widened with her face looking stunned. A short comment spilled out of her mouth, “You’re lying…”

“It’s not a lie.”

Confusion and anxiety welled up within Tigre. He couldn’t understand – why she had denied him, and whether something had changed in her feelings since the confession.

──Even if that might be the case, I can’t simply pull back here. If she says she doesn’t reciprocate my love, I cannot change it. But I’d hate for her to arbitrarily label them as a lie.

“I love you, Mila. I’m not saying that on a whim either. I remembered your words and thought about you, just to reach this conclusion deep down in my heart.”

Mila cast her eyes down. Wondering whether she was against it, Tigre straightened himself and silently waited for her reply. After a time of five breaths, Mila looked up to Tigre, her eyes red and moist.

“Tell me once more.”

Tigre blinked several times. He didn’t understand what Mila was thinking, but if she said that she wanted to listen to him, it was the best he could ask for.

“I’ll say it as often as you want. I love you, Mila.”


Mila lifted her face. Her cheeks were blushing. The Snow Princes of the Frozen Wave, who always tried to be a proud Vanadis, was nowhere to be found. Instead a normal girl, whose body was trembling out of sheer joy over her feelings having come through, was sitting there.

“It’s not a dream, is it?”

“If it had been a dream, I might have come up with far sweeter and better words.”

Mila sat up on her knees and leaped into Tigre’s chest. Tigre caught her delicate body, and gently hugged it. She relaxed her body, entrusting herself to him. Her weight and warmth felt pleasant to him.

“I had expected that I’d be turned down in all probability.” Mila admitted, her voice trembling faintly. The outer corners of her eyes as she took a quick peek at him glittered with tears. “I thought that I’d also be okay with being turned down. Because I’d be able to give up on you. Because I’d be able to tell myself that I had properly told you my feelings.”

So that’s what it was, huh? Tigre could finally understand.

“But, you allowed me to expect something, didn’t you?”

Just as she said back when she had confessed her feelings.

Tigre put some strength in the arms holding Mila. “Thanks,” he whispered close to her ear, “I’m happy that you harbored expectations for me, even if it might just have been one or two. And that I could answer those expectations.”

“Tell me,” Mila began with her face buried in his chest, “what do you love about me?”

“There are many things, but…first and foremost, it’d be your strict and gentle parts, I’d say.”

“Explain it properly so that I understand. No matter how long it might take.”

Being told so, Tigre reseated him. Mila wrapped her arms around him as if trying to stay glued to him.

“Can’t you let me see your face,” he asked, but Mila refused with silence as she pushed her face into his bosom.

Tigre regarded that action of hers as adorable. While looking at Mila’s head, Tigre put his feelings into words, little-by-little.

“When I met you for the first time, I thought you were arrogant. But I learned to understand that it came from your pride in yourself as Vanadis and your wish to be a proud Vanadis as you love your mother who used to be a Vanadis, and Olmutz where you grew up… I think it was around that time that I started to like you. I believe that being able to frankly state harsh things is the flip side of kindness.”

Probably out of embarrassment, Mila rubbed her cheeks against his chest as if trying to transfer the burning sensation of her face on to him.

“You see, I thought that you were unreliable when I met you for the first time. When I learned about the power of Tir Na Fal’s bow, I thought that you were able to fight recklessly because you had this weapon. But, after standing at your side, I understood that I had been mistaken. I’ll also say it as often as you want me to. I like you. I love you.”

The two hugged each other for a while but eventually Mila raised her face. Maybe because her feelings got elated by the words and warmth they had exchanged in addition to the joy over her feelings having reached him, her blue eyes were wet and tinged with a radiance.

“Tigre, tell me what part of my body you love.”

For an instant, Tigre pondered about it. For one thing, her words just now made him conscious of her body which she had been pushing against his for a while now. Compared with someone like Elen, Mila had a delicate body, with little to no fleshiness. However, her body contours definitely possessed a womanly allure. Her warmth, which got transmitted to him through his clothes, and the softness and youthful springiness of her modest chest were both more than enough to stimulate Tigre.

He thought that it’d be fine for him to phrase it out just like that. But, his reasoning got in the way. Maybe because Mila had sometimes done things like testing Tigre. So he overthought things, believing that he had to answer something appropriate rather than his own, unfiltered thoughts.

“Hmm, I’d say your trained warrior arms and legs.”

The sweet mood and smile vanished without a trace. Tigre immediately perceived that he had blundered. If he were able to hear the voice of her heart, 「You failed」 would have doubtlessly resounded in his ears, but what actually reached his ears was a thanks that sounded more like a blizzard turned into words.

“I’m happy. So you’ve approved of me as a full-fledged warrior.”

“Of course I also cherish you as a woman.”

Tigre tried to somehow salvage the situation. It was an effort resembling the pitiful work of repairing the edge of a huge, drilled hole, but apparently his sincerity still got through to her. Mila sighed very deeply.

“I’ll give you just one more chance.”

Mila quietly closed her eyes. Even Tigre wouldn’t be able to mistake this. He leaned his body over, and overlapped his lips with hers. It was a slow kiss as if they were transferring their affection and passion through their lips. The faint sweetness on their tongues came from the strawberry jam.

After a while, they separated. Seemingly basking in the lingering memory, Mila’s cheeks became bright red once more. However, her eyes didn’t only contain the gleam of a sweet lover, but also the hard fire of a Vanadis.

“Come back to me in one piece. Once you do, we’ll think about how we’ll be able to become happy.”

“Thanks. Mila, you too… Ah, right. I’d be happy if you could greet me with a smile when I return to you.”

Tigre gently clasped her hand. Currently, he was in a tight spot on how to even make his relationship with Elen work. He knew that his relationship with Mila would only add more problems to it. And since Mila was well aware of it herself, she had told him what she did.

The two kissed each other once more.

 

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————— End of Part 3 —————





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