Hikigaya sat up in bed, and in a very short span of ti, his mories of that other place began to fade rapidly, until they were nearly all gone.
Then, in a daze, he locked eyes with the girl standing beside the bed. She quickly turned her head away, and a blush instantly spread across her cheek.
The fairy-like beautiful knight-girl was as stunning as any girl of the sa age Hikigaya had ever seen.
Not to boast, but Hikigaya felt that the number of beautiful and adorable girls around him was steadily increasing. Whether it was by coincidence or not—such a profound question, he never bothered to interpret. Aside from soone as unconventional as Kushinada Mikumo, the top candidates among the remaining girls still ca from the original four heroines of Campione!.
Seishuin Ena and Erica Blandelli had figures that were unrivaled among their peers—their charm was overwhelming and aggressive.
Lilliana Kranjcar, however, was more like Mariya Yuri. They both had serious and disciplined personalities. Hikigaya didn't know Yuri well, but over the past couple of days, he had seen another side of Lilliana—though on the surface she appeared like a cold beauty, her emotions were simply deeply suppressed by her self-discipline. Once unleashed, they were intense and fierce, like wildfire.
No wonder the already flirtatious Kusanagi Godou had beco so obviously tsundere around her.
If it were him, Hikigaya figured he wouldn't be able to say "no" to such a high-quality girl throwing herself at him either.
But to neither say "no" nor "yes" was just... gross.
Hikigaya felt like he couldn't bring himself to do sothing that shaless.
"Lily, what ti is it now?" he asked.
"Ah—ar—around noon…" Lilliana replied, her voice sounding normal at first glance, but her hands behind her back betrayed her emotions—her fingers were tightly interlocked, and with considerable force.
It seed the god hadn't appeared yet. Otherwise, given Lilliana's overwhelming sense of responsibility, she'd have shown up in full battle-ready form, not in this bashful state...
Since the god hadn't appeared, why bother pretending to be proper? Might as well talk about last night.
Thinking this, Hikigaya lifted the blanket—and was shocked to find… he was wearing pajamas?
"Lily, last night…" he began.
"Hikigaya Hachiman!"
His full na was suddenly called out, without a single stutter, and loudly at that… though she did seem to be trembling a little...
Hikigaya looked over in astonishnt and saw tears welling up in Lilliana's eyes, her face flushed deeply for so emotional reason, and her expression was complex beyond words.
"Y-you're not hurt, are you? After you went to sleep last night, your body started emitting fire—it even burned off your clothes, and you kept calling for your mom… it didn't stop until the middle of the night."
"..."
Hikigaya's jaw dropped...
If there was a hole, he really wanted to crawl into it. Wait, was there one? Maybe he should dig it himself!
Still, he figured he should explain sothing, otherwise she'd really think he was so kind of pervert.
Also, what's this about calling "mom"? What the hell did he dream about?
A vague yet familiar slim figure flashed through his mind.
"I'm sorry, I don't really know what happened, but I'm sure it's related to my powers," he said, struggling to recall and catch that figure in his mind, though it only beca more blurry. "I really apologize for troubling you all. Also, I wanted to talk about last night—"
"If—if nothing's wrong, then please give advance notice next ti sothing happens… do you know how worried I was!?"
The knight-girl nearly broke down, interrupting Hikigaya mid-sentence with tearful anger. But it didn't seem like she was truly mad—more like she was trying to cover sothing up.
And she really was crying…
No matter how tough she usually acted, she was still a girl. Not even twenty years old. Just a child, really.
A warm feeling welled up in Hikigaya's heart.
Since he arrived in this world, Lilliana Kranjcar was the first person to so directly and clearly show him: "I care about you."
Even his family in this world hadn't done that. Maybe because family relationships often go unspoken. But for Hikigaya, a traveler from another world, that kind of "unspoken" was sotis painful. So right here, right now, facing Lilliana's attitude, an uncontrollable emotion surged up within him.
All his fears, all the confusion, all the grievances—they all seed so fragile in front of her tears.
He really wanted to hold this girl in his arms…
"To act cool and collected is the quality of a king… Though—though you are a bit of a lecher, since you're a king I guess there's no helping it. But I'm just relieved nothing happened… Ah! I'm so sorry, I completely lost my composure!"
The knight-girl who had been crying and raging just a mont ago now seed flustered again, crying and apologizing at the sa ti…
Hikigaya once again changed his impression of her—this girl really followed her feelings...
He also fully realized just how deep and expressive Lilliana Kranjcar's emotions were—and she was the type who didn't hide them, wearing everything right on her face.
She was a girl who got genuinely angry, genuinely shy, genuinely anxious, and genuinely cried.
How could a girl like that not make you want to care for her?
"There's nothing to apologize for." Hikigaya gave a warm, gentle smile—this kind of unguarded smile was rare, even in front of soone like Ena. Only in front of Komachi had he ever shown this face.
Because ever since he ca to this world, it was the first ti he truly felt the desire to protect a girl. And that feeling was completely unstoppable.
He reached out and patted Lilliana on the head.
The knight-girl showed an extrely embarrassed, shy expression and said in defiance, "Please don't treat like a child. I absolutely won't lose my composure again."
"I'm not treating you like a child." Hikigaya chuckled, then took her hand, and with a curious expression on his face, he said, "Lily, after this is all over, want to go to Japan with ?"
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