"How am I supposed to believe that?"
"Y-Yes...?"
The mont I gave him the attention he seed to want so badly, Ríolíkin looked completely bewildered.
Did he actually think I would be touched by that declaration?
"U-Uh... well... you look embarrassed..."
"Haven't you always regarded as nothing more than a convenient shield? Haven't you simply been flattering to stay close enough to use ?"
"W-Why are you s-suddenly saying things like that...? I-I t the condition...! F-From now on, I'm allowed to follow Lord Karvaldr, aren't I?"
Considering the purpose of today's gathering, the question seed to wound him deeply.
His voice trembled.
Tears gathered in his eyes.
His face was twisted to the point where it looked as though he would burst into loud sobs if I pushed him just a little further.
Even so, I maintained an indifferent expression and continued.
"That is precisely why I want to clarify things. Since we will continue to remain together."
I t his eyes.
"Do you see as a tool, or as a person? I have the right to know, don't I?"
"I-It's only natural that I see you as a p-person...!"
Now, perhaps.
That was what I thought.
The words that ca out of my mouth, however, conveyed sothing entirely different.
"How is that natural? You spent all of last sester following around because you intended to use ."
"Th-That's all in the p-past...! I-It happened a long ti ago, didn't it?"
"Hah..."
I let out a short laugh.
"So? Your thinking has changed now?"
"Y-Yes...! I-I've changed!"
"And how exactly am I supposed to know that?"
Sotis actions communicated intent far more clearly than words.
To make him understand that tears alone would not solve this, I deliberately projected distrust through my posture and expression.
I leaned back in my chair.
Crossed my arms.
Crossed my legs.
A thoroughly defensive posture.
Then I stared at him with a completely expressionless face.
Beside , Yor copied my pose and crossed her tiny arms as well, glaring at Ríolíkin.
The readers are probably wondering why I'm suddenly doing this...
I'm not trying to tornt him.
Now that there is no legitimate way to get rid of him, I certainly wasn't dropping hints in hopes that he would leave of his own accord.
It's ti to collect an apology.
That was all.
The person Ríolíkin had wronged was Karvaldr, not .
Personally, I didn't care whether I received an apology or not.
The problem was that, despite not knowing that fact, he still had never apologized.
I imagined there were quite a few readers who still viewed Ríolíkin negatively because of it.
"W-What do you an...? H-How would you know...?"
"I an exactly what I said. Have you ever given any direct proof that you've reflected on your actions?"
Ríolíkin's tear-filled eyes shook with anxiety.
He still looked utterly lost.
On the other hand—
"Oh."
Reisir let out a quiet sound and looked at approvingly.
He was undoubtedly proud of .
The realization hit with a wave of embarrassnt so strong that I nearly lost control of my expression.
"I-I've really been reflecting..."
"If that's true, then there should be sothing you absolutely need to say to ."
"W-What am I supposed to say...?"
"It's basic common sense. Stop trying to get the answer from and think for yourself. You're not particularly unintelligent, so why do you refuse to use your head?"
He was still a growing adolescent.
Even so, I had no desire to spoon-feed sothing this simple to a man well over one hundred ninety centiters tall.
If you've wronged soone, you apologize.
Even children know that.
If he couldn't figure that out on his own, there was a problem.
Ríolíkin struggled for a long ti with that absurdly simple answer.
Even after reaching a conclusion, he still looked uncertain.
As though afraid he might be wrong, he cautiously asked for confirmation.
"P-Perhaps... are you expecting an a-apology from ?"
"Did you think I wouldn't?"
"U-Uhm... w-well... you told to apologize to Reisir. B-But you never said anything about apologizing to Lord Karvaldr..."
"So you concluded that ant you didn't need to apologize to ?"
"Y-Yes..."
Ríolíkin answered in a tiny voice while carefully watching my reaction.
I honestly couldn't tell whether this kid lacked basic manners, or whether he simply had a habit of interpreting everything in whatever way benefited him most.
Perhaps it was both.
For a mont, I simply sat there, speechless.
Then an unexpected voice joined the conversation.
"Can I ask sothing? Listening to this gave a question."
The one who spoke was Helga.
She wore an openly irritated expression.
I had assud Reisir would be the first to intervene.
Yet when I glanced at him, he appeared so dumbfounded that he had completely lost the ability to speak.
Perhaps that was why Helga stepped in first.
"You apologized to Ray because the Tsundere Young Master told you to?"
She frowned.
"You weren't sorry at all?"
"H-He did tell to... b-but... I still knew I'd done sothing wrong... a-and even before that, I felt sorry..."
"Then did you feel sorry toward the Tsundere Young Master too?"
"O-Of course..."
"And despite that, you followed him around intending to use him without ever apologizing?"
Helga's lips curled into a sneer.
"You're lying, aren't you?"
The mont I saw that expression, sothing occurred to .
Helga hadn't participated in the tournant preparation training with us.
Which ant she hadn't witnessed Ríolíkin's turning point.
Nor had she spent enough ti with him to beco attached to him.
I was right after all.
People don't beco friends just because they share a al together.
At that mont, my assertion from Chapter 124—
You aren't friends without narrative.
—was proven correct.
"W-Well... in the p-past... I kind of was like that... B-But now I genuinely feel sorry..."
Ríolíkin lowered his head deeply and corrected himself.
It seed he had felt guilty about tornting Reisir under Karvaldr's orders.
But he hadn't particularly regretted following Karvaldr around with ulterior motives.
Had he convinced himself he was better than Tryggdrik, who openly leeched off powerful people?
Or perhaps he had justified it by telling himself that Karvaldr was a bad person anyway.
...Or maybe not.
Did the possibility that Karvaldr could actually be hurt ever occur to him in the first place?
Everyone bowed and scraped before Karvaldr.
Ríolíkin himself had struggled to stay in Karvaldr's good graces.
From his perspective, he had probably envied soone who seed to receive endless admiration.
While completely ignoring the fact that none of it was sincere.
That everyone around Karvaldr rely wanted to use him.
Then, after hearing talk in Chapter 57 about being tired of being used, perhaps he had finally been forced to confront the truth he had been avoiding.
Reisir's attitude probably played a role as well.
Rather than rely saying—
"I don't want to use you. I just want to be your friend."
—Reisir had consistently acted that way.
He had openly worried about hurting .
Openly worried that I might misunderstand his intentions.
His claim that he feels sorry now is probably genuine.
After arriving at that conclusion, I slowly exhaled.
The motion resembled a sigh.
Everyone's attention imdiately shifted toward .
The attention wasn't intentional.
Still, I had already decided it was ti to take control of the conversation.
So I spoke.
"Ríolíkin."
"Y-Yes...?"
"Why do you think I never demanded an apology from you until now?"
"Th-That's... because I d-didn't seem truly repentant...?"
"That is one reason."
I nodded.
"So people might prefer receiving a verbal apology over receiving nothing at all. As for ..."
My voice turned cold.
"I am so sick of empty words that hearing them makes nauseous."
The real Karvaldr would almost certainly have felt that way.
And honestly—
So do I.
Not because I find them tireso.
But because I know how aningless they can be.
"So if you don't genuinely feel sorry toward , then you don't need to apologize. As I've said before, I simply want things clarified."
"Ah... I-I..."
"To be honest, your answer earlier surprised ."
I cut him off.
Deliberately.
"After supposedly reflecting on your actions, you still concluded that apologizing wasn't necessary simply because I hadn't demanded one."
Ríolíkin tried to respond.
I didn't let him.
Because I couldn't follow him around for the rest of his life, reminding him whenever he owed soone an apology.
This lesson needed to stick.
He needed to recognize his own mistake.
And he needed to face it directly.
"An apology isn't sothing you give only after being ordered to do so."
I spoke slowly.
"Nor is it sothing you give only after soone demands it."
I held his gaze.
"If outside pressure is what forces the apology, people will naturally question whether it's sincere."
"Y-You're right..."
"And yet you forced to bring up the topic first."
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Is that all you have to say?"
I tilted my head.
Ríolíkin imdiately shook his head so hard it looked painful.
Then he finally blurted out the words I'd been preventing him from saying.
"I-I'm truly reflecting on what I did...! I-I sincerely wanted to apologize to Lord Karvaldr...! I'm sorry for following you around to use you... a-and I'm sorry it took this long to apologize...! I was really in the wrong...!"
"Is regret the only thing you feel toward ?"
"N-No...!"
He shook his head again.
"I-I'm grateful too...! E-Even though I wronged you, you still gave a chance...! Y-You gave the courage to try...! Y-You believed I could do it and waited for ...! Th-Thank you very much...!"
Ríolíkin bowed so deeply that his nose nearly collided with the plate in front of him.
If he'd been ten centiters shorter while sitting, it probably would have.
By the way...
Did I finally complete the assignnt Reisir gave ?
At last, I was no longer being treated like soone incapable of receiving an apology or even a simple thank-you.
As I felt a vague sense of relief—
"A-Also... I respect you...! T-The things you say and do have a kind of dignity to them..."
"...?"
Why was he still talking?
"W-When Lord Karvaldr acknowledges , it makes happy...! A-And when you're kind to , I feel at ease...! A-And, um..."
"Th-That's enough..."
"Ah! A-And when you blush and get embarrassed like you are right no—"
"Who told you to list every emotion you have toward ?! An apology followed by gratitude was enough! And after I told you to stop, why are you still talking?!"
I fired off the entire sentence in one breath before he could continue.
Only after I glared at him with genuine irritation did he finally swallow the rest of his words.
Then he answered.
"I-I thought... just like apologies shouldn't require being asked for... complints should be the sa..."
"Even so, when I tell you to stop, you stop."
"Y-Yes...! I'll rember that from now on...!"
Did Ríolíkin genuinely misunderstand and think he was helping?
Or was this his way of hinting that he wanted praise in the future without having to ask for it?
Then again...
What are the odds he simply saw Reisir teasing all the ti and decided it looked fun enough to try once himself?
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