"You are my hero... whether in those days when we supported each other in the past, or now when we work together to liberate the Holy Kingdom, or in the future when we face the undead catastrophe together, you have always been my hero..."
"My hero is absolutely not someone who would oppose the people for my sake. That might be a hero to some people, but that's definitely not my Elashia's hero..."
"My hero is definitely not someone who comes to pick me up on seven-colored auspicious clouds, but someone who fights alongside me for our common ideals."
"If you had chosen to stay by my side at that time, I would have looked down on you instead..."
"Am I someone who would place my own happiness above the lives of nearly twenty million people in the Holy Kingdom?"
Elashia's words were extremely intense, so intense that she seemed almost completely different from her usual gentle self...
However, hearing her words, Ileina cried even harder...
She tightly grasped Elashia's hand.
"Elashia... really... I... really don't want to see you show this expression..."
"But ... I really... actually since leaving you six years ago, I've been wavering constantly... this wavering... even when I met you again in the Holy Capital, it still hasn't stopped, and has even become stronger..."
"I think almost every night... whether I shouldn't have left you back then..."
"Just for this ethereal so-called responsibility... I left the person who treated me best in this world, went to a country I barely remembered, and fought bloodily for a group of people I didn't even know..."
"Am I... am I actually just a hypocrite seeking fame... a scum immersed in my own moral superiority..."
"I don't understand... I really don't understand now... what exactly am I..."
"If time could flow backward, maybe I wouldn't have made that decision back then..."
"I..."
"Don't say anymore."
Elashia stood on her tiptoes and pressed her slender jade finger against Ileina's lips.
Ileina wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Elashia again.
"Don't say anymore."
Staring at Ileina with those firm yet gentle eyes that had never changed, Elashia said:
"Why are you doubting the decision your past self made now?"
"I've already told you very clearly—the person I love is absolutely not someone who would abandon their responsibilities and ideals for me."
"Moreover... you must know—protecting the person you love and persisting in the righteousness you must uphold are not two naturally conflicting things."
"Better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes than to help each other through hardship."
"I'm not saying this because I want to separate from you, but to tell you—I won't die if I leave you."
"You're the same..."
"After leaving me, didn't you still lead Northern Fire's warriors to establish a foothold in the chaotic Holy Kingdom?"
"Do you understand what I mean..."
"We all have our own lives, our own destinies we must face and responsibilities we must shoulder."
"Only after you left me did you find the real Holy Princess in the Holy Kingdom."
"She is brave, wise, caring for the people, able to perceive situations and act decisively."
"And after you left, I also found a stronger, more mature me in Elasia."
"When you were leading the Holy Kingdom's people to resist the Blood Clan and Holy Court rule, I was also fighting in Elasia."
"I led Elasia's people's army to overthrow the past corrupt rule and establish a new Elasia."
"I eliminated the heavy taxes that people couldn't accept at all, letting citizens who were about to become homeless under the Elasian royal family's oppression find a way to live."
"I released the persecuted legendary mage from prison and transformed the past Elasian Royal Garden into a school, establishing humanity's first magic academy."
"I went alone to the desert region and rescued the consul who had been betrayed by the people back to Elasia. With her help, Elasia's entire security situation improved greatly..."
"I led the people to completely solve the goblin problem that was about to erupt, putting an end to the bandit troubles that Elasia hadn't been able to solve for over a thousand years."
"Afterward, I also led Elasia's army to directly face the violent beast tide in the Northern Forest, defending against the beast tide that would have ravaged all of Elasia at our borders..."
"To save more people during the beast tide's rampage, I also sent an army to the desert region, rescuing almost all the citizens there back to northern Elasia..."
"My aunt had arranged accommodations for them early on, letting them find their second home in Elasia..."
"After enduring the beast tide's attacks that lasted for months and nearly broke us each time together with all of Elasia's combatants, I also met my biological mother, met with her, and reestablished our mother-daughter relationship..."
"Then, I brought Elasia's most elite knights and Sister Dorothy through the Northern Forest that no longer had many magical beasts, secretly deployed, and blew up the blood moon generator during your siege, letting moonlight return to the Holy Kingdom..."
"Finally... under the gaze of knights and liberators, I reunited with you..."
After recounting her past, Elashia once again looked directly into Ileina's azure eyes with sincere gaze.
"Ileina... actually you never left me from the beginning."
"We have always, always been together."
"When you were fighting in the Holy Kingdom, I was also fighting bloodily in Elasia."
"And we fought for only one reason—for our original intentions."
"So that no one else would experience the suffering we endured in the past."
"For our common dream..."
"Ileina... even though fate cruelly separated us, placing us in different countries facing different difficulties, our hearts remained the same as before... always, always together..."
"In my view... this is what true partners are, partners of the soul..."
"Even though our bodies weren't together, we were still fighting bloodily for the same goal..."
"Until finally, our threads of fate would inevitably intertwine again..."
Looking at Ileina who stared at her with wide, beautiful azure eyes filled with shock, Elashia smiled gently:
"Just like now, I'm still by your side..."
"We fight bloodily together for everyone in Elasia and the Holy Kingdom, securing everyone's happiness... only then can we have our small family's happiness..."
"Elashia... I..."
Ileina wanted to say something, but was stopped by Elashia.
Elashia's method of stopping Ileina from speaking was simple.
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed her.