Chapter 64
“Are you jealous of me too?”
“If Leo had been chosen instead, it would have been hard for me to accept because it would mean that the gods recognized him as better than me. But with you…”
“Because you acknowledge that I’m ‘better’ than you, it’s okay?”
Objectively, Aaron was much more suited to being a hero. Nancy secretly believed that if the gods hadn’t made a mistake by briefly looking away, Aaron would have been the chosen hero.
He was devout, fought well, and never sought rewards from others. He accepted fighting the demonfolk as his duty, without complaint.
In every way, he was more fitting to be the hero. Still, even though she acknowledged that, Nancy thought she would be happy if Aaron recognized her as a hero too.
She waited for his answer.
“You’re a bit all over the place.”
“…What do you mean?”
“At times, it feels like you’re better than me, but then, sometimes you’re a complete mess. I wonder how you’d have survived without me.”
“That doesn’t exactly sound like a compliment.”
Nancy raised an eyebrow and pulled her hand away from his. It wasn’t entirely untrue—there had been plenty of moments when she would’ve been in danger without him.
But calling her a chaotic mess felt a bit harsh.
Aaron glanced at her, gauging her reaction, and then burst out laughing.
“One thing is for sure: you don’t stay down when you’re weak. You always get back up. That’s something every hero needs.”
She didn’t let others’ opinions sway her, and she lived and acted according to her beliefs. Unlike him, who had been disheartened after losing a duel and being ostracized by his comrades, thinking he was unfit to be a hero.
Aaron genuinely admired her.
“I’m glad you’re the leader of this party.”
Nancy was taken aback by his admission. She had heard people say she was reckless, but being praised for her persistence was a first.
It wasn’t a bad feeling. She decided to forgive him for his earlier harsh words and didn’t push his hand away when he reached out for hers again.
“Nancy, tell me about yourself.”
“What do you mean, all of a sudden?”
“Anything. Something you haven’t told me before. Maybe about your family or something.”
Nancy hesitated for a moment. Up until now, she had deliberately avoided sharing personal stories with him. Getting too close might lead her to accidentally reveal things she shouldn’t.
Yes, like that title.
But saying nothing would only make her seem more suspicious. She steeled herself.
“I don’t have a family. Maybe I do, but effectively, I don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mother ran away when I was little, saying she wanted to live her own life. My father was a hopeless drunk who didn’t work.”
“…”
“Honestly, he was a terrible husband and father. When he couldn’t handle raising me anymore, he left me in front of an orphanage and disappeared.”
After that, Nancy never saw her father again. He never came looking for her, and she never bothered to find him either.
When she looked at Aaron, she noticed his shocked expression, his mouth hanging open. His face showed pure regret, as if realizing too late that he had overstepped.
“Don’t look at me like that. It was sad when I was a kid, but I’m fine now.”
“But…”
“If you’re going to be like this, I won’t tell you anything more. How about you? What about your family? Is it just your grandfather?”
Aaron, as if wanting to say something, opened his mouth and then closed it again before shaking his head.
“I have a father and mother, and a younger brother, two years younger than me.”
“What does your brother do? Is he a knight too?”
“He wanted to be a hero, but he didn’t follow the path of a knight. One of us had to carry on the family line, but since I insisted on my path, he had to take on that responsibility.”
Nancy took note of the term “family line.” In her experience, people usually said they were carrying on the family business, not the family line.
There were some who used that phrase, but they were typically people whose families had no real power or legacy to speak of.
It’s what some might call pretentious. Was Aaron just pretending, or was he really from some grand family?
She remembered her first impression of him when they met—he certainly seemed like the son of a well-off family.
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