Just as there is cause and effect in all things, there is retribution for all cause and effect. That is the way of the world.
Those who toy with people’s hearts through lies will inevitably receive their karmic retribution someday.
The same was true for Hilde.
The excuse that she couldn’t accept Friede’s feelings because she liked ‘Friet’.
This was a deception without a single shred of sincerity. It was nothing more than a lie forcibly squeezed out to avoid this situation.
Since she distorted and deceived others’ hearts with false acting, shouldn’t the karmic retribution naturally follow?
Although Hilde herself hadn’t noticed yet, the retribution for that lie was already pressing down on her fate.
No, it was pulling her.
A future she couldn’t avoid, or rather, one she had stepped into herself. Towards a life in a nest groaning under a crow’s belly.
It was such a fatal mistake.
Mentioning that she loved Friet in order to reject Friede’s confession.
Of course, this was a matter for future Hilde to take responsibility for.
When that time comes, she might regret today’s events, but at least in terms of avoiding this current situation, it was still a somewhat effective excuse.
Why?
“Um, Hilde. So, actually, I… Ah, aah.”
Obviously, because the current Friede was not in a position to reveal that she herself was Friet.
Friede, who had been overjoyed at Hilde’s confession that she actually liked Friet, and was about to reveal that her true identity was that very Friet.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop mid-sentence…”
“Ah, uuh. Well, I… it’s nothing.”
However, the moment Friede was about to reveal her identity, a realization that flashed through her mind like lightning firmly sealed her mouth.
‘No, wait. I can’t say this…!’
Friede suddenly realized what it would mean to reveal at this point that she was actually Friet.
‘I’ve been acting cute and pretending to be a stranger all this time, and now I’m going to reveal that I was actually Friet? You’ve gone mad, Friede. What do you think you’ll hear if you do that? Logically, there’s no way this could end well…!’
Confessing the truth at this point would literally be an act of suicide.
Didn’t we say earlier? That those who deceive others with lies will pay their karmic retribution. Friede couldn’t escape this truth either.
What had she been doing all this time?
Finding Brunhilde, who had left after saying harsh words, after desperately chasing after her… well, let’s say that’s fine.
Even that alone was actually a chilling sign of obsession, but if they had both liked each other, it could be wrapped up as a slightly heavy expression of love rather than obsession.
However, unintentionally using her return to her original body and name to approach her under the guise of a stranger and form a party again was undeniably deception itself.
Moreover, hadn’t she been acting as an introverted yet cute girl of the same age while harboring the shady motive of wanting to get closer to Brunhilde, thoroughly hiding her true nature?
If you ask whether her basement-dwelling gloomy appearance so far was all an act, that’s not entirely true, it was more like a 6:4 mix of her true nature and acting.
Well, what’s the point in arguing about what was her true nature and what was acting?
What’s important now isn’t the ratio of true nature to acting, but the fact that she gained Brunhilde’s favor by acting as a small, innocent adventurer girl.
Thanks to this, they had become close enough that things like lap pillows or head pats had become everyday occurrences… but isn’t that because she thought of Friede as a younger girl of the same age who was lying about her age?
Now, if she were to find out that this cute Friede was actually the person called Friet until a few months ago, what would Brunhilde think?
‘She wouldn’t be… happy, right? …No, she’d be angry instead.’
The deception and acting that had continued for dozens of days. The disappointment and anger would likely outweigh the joy of reunion. That’s how people are.
For this reason, Friede couldn’t even dare to confess her identity to ‘Brunhilde’.
Leaving aside the unprecedented public humiliation she would suffer, there was a chance that Brunhilde’s goodwill could turn into anger and contempt towards the person who had deceived her.
If an enraged Brunhilde were to fiercely demand to know if she had been deceiving and misleading her all this time, what excuse could Friede possibly make?
It was behavior that she couldn’t defend even with ten mouths, let alone the mere two she actually had.
The only thing she could do was to kneel down, beg profusely, and ask for forgiveness.
Even then, the chances of things being resolved smoothly were not very high, and instead, there was a high possibility of completely parting ways with Brunhilde.
“…Good night.”
In the end, Friede had no choice but to retreat one step with a slightly dejected face.
Telling herself that while she would have to reveal her identity someday, now was the worst time to do so, so she had to hold back even if she wanted to reveal it.
‘In the first place, if I revealed my identity now, she might leave again.’
Moreover, there wasn’t just one reason to keep her mouth shut.
Not only Friede’s own karmic retribution, but also the situation the two of them were in was one of the reasons why Friede couldn’t rashly reveal her identity.
‘She said she had to leave Friet’s… my side reluctantly.’
Didn’t Brunhilde confess herself?
That she actually harbored feelings close to love for Friet, but had to suppress those feelings and leave due to various realistic issues.
And in Friede’s mind, there was only one reason that could have made Brunhilde feel she had to do so.
‘She said it was unavoidable. That’s… probably because I was too weak to be worthy of being called a hero.’
The fact that Friet at that time was so weak that he was openly despised as an ‘incompetent hero’. What else could there be besides that?
At that time, perhaps due to the mismatch between his body and senses, Friet’s abilities were only at the lower end of copper token adventurers despite bearing the grand title of hero.
Friede knew.
The reason Brunhilde had been active as a member of the hero’s party was because there was a separate goal that could only be achieved by doing so.
Hadn’t Brunhilde told her directly in the first place?
The reason she was trying to transfer to Gunther’s party was because she was convinced she couldn’t achieve her goal by Friet’s side.
Seeing that she had even left Gunther’s party and was now living as an adventurer hiding in the north, it seemed she might have given up on that goal entirely…
‘…It’s hard to say. Brunhilde never fully revealed her true feelings even once.’
She couldn’t be so sure.
When she didn’t even know what Brunhilde’s wish actually was, how could she know whether she had given up on it or just postponed it?
There was only one thing Friede could know.
If Brunhilde hadn’t given up on her wish yet, she might leave again the moment a way to achieve it appeared.
‘…So, not yet.’
She couldn’t reveal it yet.
Friede made this judgment. She judged and intuited.
To reveal that her identity was actually the ‘hero’ who had been called Friet, she first needed to instill trust in Brunhilde.
Unlike the incompetent hero days when she couldn’t be relied upon at all, she needed to convince Brunhilde that the current Friede had the strength and potential to fulfill her wish.
For that, there was still a long way to go.
Although Friede had experienced a dramatic increase in power upon returning to her original body, her skills were still only at the top level of silver token adventurers without the power of the holy sword.
You could say she was at the level of a newly appointed kingdom knight.
It couldn’t be helped.
To become stronger, one needs to continuously build up skills and capabilities through repeated battles against strong enemies, but until now, such opportunities had been rare.
So, she couldn’t confess her identity now.
To bind Brunhilde with expectation and hope so that she wouldn’t leave again, shouldn’t she at least have martial prowess not inferior to heroes of other countries?
Having made this judgment, Friede merely bid Hilde good night instead of climbing on top of her.
Desperately suppressing the rising regret and impulse with expectations for the future.
* * *
Is it that those who receive the hero’s engraving are also destined to have extraordinary luck?
The blessing called luck, which never seemed to smile upon Hilde, embraced Friede warmly, offering her a smile not once, but twice.
What does that mean?
Well, it just means her luck was really good.
Friede, who bid goodnight with a gloomy face instead of revealing her identity.
Friede didn’t know, couldn’t have known, but that judgment was close to a divine move.
If she had revealed her identity as the hero Friet, Hilde would have immediately thought of Kim Seung-woo, the protagonist of the original work, and fallen into a panic.
Thinking that Kim Seung-woo, whom she had been desperately trying to avoid, was now even changing into a girl’s body just to pounce on her.
It would have been an unfair accusation for Friede… well, since that was actually her purpose, maybe it wouldn’t be unfair, but for Hilde, it was only natural to think that way.
Even now, several months after being possessed in this world, Hilde still firmly believed that she had fallen into the world of a novel where Kim Seung-woo was the protagonist.
So, if Friede revealed her identity, Hilde would naturally have no choice but to tremble in shock and fear and act like a madwoman.
From Hilde’s perspective, it would mean that everything from her virginity to her heart was in danger of being toyed with and taken by the Korean psychopath in front of her.
However, instead of confessing her identity, Friede closed her mouth with a bitter face, which gave Hilde a feeling of sympathy rather than fear.
‘Uh… hmm… did I go too far? I didn’t think she’d be so discouraged…’
Friede herself didn’t realize it, but how pitiable her expression must have looked. Even Hilde momentarily felt sympathy.
‘What if she leaves the party like this…? That would be troublesome… and a bit pitiful too. Then, should I comfort her a little bit?’
That was Friede’s second stroke of luck.
‘Yeah, let’s do that. That much should be fine…’
Hilde, watching Friede’s back as she returned to the bed, unconsciously got up from the sofa and approached Friede.
“…Wait a moment, Friede.”
And then.
Grab.
She lightly grasped Friede’s wrist as she was about to turn around at Hilde’s call, then pulled her up and hugged her lightly, throwing herself towards the bed.
“Huah…?!”
The blanket and bedding lightly bounced under the weight of the two. Friede’s surprised exclamation tickled Hilde’s collarbone as she gently embraced her.
“Hee, Hi-Hilde? What are you suddenly…?!”
Friede was utterly shocked. In an instant, she found herself thrown onto the bed with her face buried in something soft.
A strong lemon scent penetrated from the tip of her nose to her brain, and their touching skin felt as hot as if burned. She couldn’t gather her thoughts.
Hilde burst into laughter seeing Friede’s face, completely different from just before, and moved her body slightly to the side to take a position good for lying closely together.
“Well… just for today, shall we sleep like this as a special case?”
She whispered into Friede’s ear, which had turned bright red, explaining why she had suddenly hugged her and thrown her onto the bed.
“Uah, hu, heeuu, wh-whaat…?!”
Just for today, as a special case, it’s okay to sleep together like this.
For Hilde, it was quite an impulsive decision.
If she hadn’t been drinking. No, even if she had, if she had maintained her composure as usual, she would never have put it into action.
But perhaps due to Friede’s unexpected confession of affection?
The effects of alcohol, which would normally have settled gently, were now surging through her quickened bloodstream due to her bewilderment, thoroughly dyeing her mind with intoxication.
‘This much should be fine, right…? It’s not like I’m trying to do anything weird, just comforting her by sleeping together for one day. Yeah. It should be okay.’
To the extent that she had now surrendered herself to impulsive sympathy instead of rational judgment.
Therefore.
“Let’s call it a comfort just for tonight… I can’t accept your feelings, but still, sleeping together like this is fine.”
Hilde looked at Friede with a face reddened by alcohol and chuckled, then spread out the blanket that had been pushed to the side and gently covered both her and Friede’s bodies.
Whispering that this was just a comfort for one night, and not ‘that kind’ of comfort, but purely just lying down to sleep together, so she shouldn’t misunderstand.
“So don’t make that expression. It makes me feel gloomy too, you know?”
“Hueeauuu…”
Friede couldn’t answer. Or rather, it would be correct to say she didn’t have the presence of mind to answer.
Because through the two thin layers of cloth, the soft yet elastic sensation of skin was enveloping and gently pressing against her entire body.
Mingling scents. Clinging sensations. Their body temperatures heightened by alcohol. It was too stimulating for a country-born virgin who had never experienced romance.
Far from being able to sleep, she felt like her face might explode.
Friede trembled slightly at this unexpected sudden reward she couldn’t have anticipated, and tried to calm her wildly beating heart by squeezing her eyes shut and taking deep breaths.
Each time she did, the strong lemon scent would rush in, causing the opposite effect rather than calming her down.
“Mmm…”
Hilde, on the other hand, perhaps unable to overcome fatigue and the effects of alcohol, fell asleep almost immediately after hugging Friede like a pillow.
Leaving behind only Friede, who was set to spend the night wide awake until dawn.