NOVEL NEXT Side Story 5: A match made in heaven (5)
2 years have passed since I first met Lyle. These 2 years have been the most fun I've ever had in my life. I am a bit embarrassed to admit it, but Lyle has been a big part of my life since then. The week-long mission that the party went on turned into a month-long one. I wanted to know more about what happened, but when I asked I couldn't comprehend anything they said. Politics sure hurt my head.
Anyways, since the mission duration lasted more than a month, it was just me and Lyle alone in the house for an entire month. It was a bit awkward at the beginning, but sooner or later we became close. This was partly because we were close in age, but it was also because our personalities just clicked. We both found it fun to be with together. However, I do have to admit that he has a really strange way of thinking, but that's just another reason why it's fun to hang out with him.
Over the course of these two years, I was promoted to a C-class adventurer. Although I am just as strong as an A-class adventurer, I prefer to take things slowly. This is why I take minor and non-rewarding missions because I don't want to be highly ranked. This is because when your rank is high, you are not allowed to take missions that are below a certain difficulty. If I recall, the reason why this rule exists is to prevent the highly capable adventurers from slacking off. We are also required to take a certain number of quests per month or else our adventurer's license would get revoked and we'd have to undergo a very tedious process just to get our licenses back. As for why I don't want to be promoted, this is because most high difficulty missions last multiple days.
As for why I don't want to take such missions, this is because I don't want to be unable to go home at the end of the day. I admit I've grown too attached to my new home, but you can't blame me. On the rare occasions that I'm forced to take one of those overnight missions, I have to stay at another place instead of being able to go home and enjoy a luxurious night. They don't have food as good as Lyle's. And it isn't just me who thinks the same way, the other party members also wished that they could take Lyle along with them when they go on long missions. And to be honest, I also didn't want to spend time away from Lyle. At first, I thought that the reason why I didn't want to be away from him was simply that it would be boring without him, but it turned out to be something more serious. I realized this just a year ago.
One day, the party asked me why I didn't take any high difficulty missions and only took the short and non-rewarding ones. Once I told them the reason they all started laughing at me. I could understand the never-serious Shin-nii and Finn-san, but even Oliver-san and Luke-san started laughing at me. The order of the people who stopped laughing was Luke-san, then Oliver-san, then Hina-nee, then Finn-san, then Shin-nii. Shin-nii was actually supposed to keep on laughing for hours, but fortunately, Hina-nee punched him in the gut while yelling at him to stop while calling him an idiot again and again. As soon as they all calmed down, all of them stared at me with serious eyes and then in unison said "You're in love". Of course, I didn't believe it at first and thought that this was a prank that they all planned, but sooner or later I realized that they were right, I was in love.
At first, I outright denied it and told them that I only saw Lyle as a friend and nothing else, but then they started laughing again saying that I was still young and inexperienced to which I responded with "Hina-nee is a spinster!" to which I received a punch to the gut. This is the first punch I've ever received from Hina-nee. I gotta say, it hurt more than I expected. It does make sense considering she's an archer, but I thought being a swordmaster would've helped me with the pain. With that in mind, how has Shin-nii not died yet? Anyways, the possibility of me liking Lyle in a romantic sense was stuck in my mind. This caused my interactions with Lyle to become awkward.
Whenever those thoughts came to me, I kept dismissing them thinking that there's no way I could ever see him like that, he is my best friend after all. Every time we talked, I would feel very uncomfortable. It bugged me to the point where I outright avoided him. If I recall, we didn't talk for a week straight. When I felt lonely and wanted to talk to him, those thoughts came back to my mind and I ran away from him. This went on until Lyle himself came up to me and confronted me.
"Hey, is everything okay?" (Lyle)
"Er, umm, I guess so." (Reina)
How could I possibly tell him about the reason why I'm avoiding him!
"I see. Then is it because you hate me?" (Lyle)
"No! I could never hate you!" (Reina)
"Then why? Why do you keep running away from me? I miss talking to you. I miss having fun with you. Is it my fault? Did I do something wrong?" (Lyle)
H-he misses me?
"N-no! You didn't do anything wrong! If anything, it's my fault." (Reina)
"Then please stop! Stop running away from me! I, I don't want us to stop being friends! You're very important to me, so I don't want to lose you!" (Lyle)
I-important? Am I that important to him?
"Important? Really?" (Reina)
"Yeah, you're one of the most important people to me. Am, am I not important to you?" (Lyle)
Of course you're important to me! I don't want to be separated from you! Just running away from you hurts me! I, I want to be with you. As I thought of these things, I recalled what the party told me back when they were making fun of me.
"There's no way I would ever love Lyle like that!" (Reina)
"Really? How are you sure about that?" (Shin)
"Shin is correct. What if you like him but you're just too embarrassed to admit it." (Hina)
"I mean, judging from your actions, it's pretty much obvious. The fact that it hadn't come across your mind is baffling." (Shin)
"What do you mean by obvious? I don't understand!" (Reina)
"Well, first of all, you hate being separated from him. Whenever you two are separated, you start acting grumpy. Second of all, you mention him a bit too much even when we aren't talking about him. You sound like a lovestruck maiden who can't stop thinking about her darling. You even say things like 'I wonder what Lyle is doing right now' even when you're on a low difficulty mission. Third of all, you stick to him a bit too much. Whenever you guys are free, you end up talking to each other the entire time. To make matters worse, you even sleep in each other's room when you feel like it. No matter how you slice it, it just reeks of lovebird syndrome. At least tone it down just a little bit, you're making Hina fee—Ouch!" (Shin)
"That's a bit too much, ain't it Shin?" (Hina)
"Now now, you don't have to feel embarrassed about being jealous of 17 yea—Ah!" (Shin)
"Sigh, you never do learn your lessons." (Hina)
"Anyways what we're saying is that it's very obvious that you have feelings of affection for him." (Oliver)
"Look Reina-chan, you don't have to accept it right now. We just want you to go at your own pace and accept your feelings for him when it's time. We just hope that you accept those feelings before it's too late." (Luke)
Thinking back on it, everything they said is starting to make sense. I think, that I do like him after all. The thought of being his wife and having children doesn't seem so bad. I want to be with him all the time. I want to spend my life with him. The thought of not being by his side hurts me.
I love Lyle.
As soon as I came to that realization, I immediately regret everything I've done that week and quickly ran up to him and hugged him. I hugged him tightly and started crying with my head on his shoulder.
"Y-yes, you are important to me, I-I'm sorry for everything! I'm sorry!!!" (Reina)
I then felt something wet rest on my shoulder.
"It's fine. It's all fine. Don't leave me. Not again. Please." (Lyle)
Meanwhile...
"Oliver, do you think we did the right thing?" (Luke)
"Nope, not at all. But I don't think we were wrong. It was the necessary evil. It had to happen one day, we just made sure that it happened before anything irreparable happened." (Oliver)
"But, I still feel guilty about it. When you think about it, we just manipulated a young girl's emotions." (Luke)
"I guess we have. But remember Luke, the world isn't black and white, it's multiple shades of grey." (Oliver)
"But, did we really have to do it? Did we really have to trick Reina?" (Luke)
"It was necessary. She needs to learn about love, romantic love. The feelings she has for Lyle aren't the feelings of a maiden in love, but rather the feelings of a child towards their best friend. Every reason we pulled out of our asses were total and utter bullshit. But it was necessary, and I'm pretty sure you know the reason why." (Oliver)
"Yeah, because she's naive." (Luke)
"That's right. She needs to learn what love is from her own experience. If she thinks she loves Lyle, then they become a couple. From there on, she either becomes happy or she gets hurt. If she realizes she doesn't love Lyle, then she learns. Either way, she finally learns what love truly is." (Oliver)
"But Oliver was it really necessary to do it like that? Aren't there better ways to do this?" (Luke)
"Yeah, there are definitely better ways, but this is the best way we could've done it. We're one of the main reasons why Reina knows barely anything about love. Think about it, we're basically a dysfunctional family and not the first one she's had. Her father died very early, her mother is a battle junky who thought leaving a young child in the hands of a blockhead who doesn't know anything about familial love was a good idea, an older sister who's so hopeless in terms of romance that she's way past marriageable age, an older brother who takes barely anything seriously, and two uncles who ran away from their responsibilities because they were a bit too hot-headed and impulsive. If we irresponsible adults are the reason why she's like this, then we can only solve this problem in our own irresponsible way. Regardless, I'm just another worthless adult." (Oliver)
"You are right, we truly are worthless adults." (Luke)
"Indeed." (Oliver)
After that entire incident was solved, things quickly went back to normal. However, there were a few things that had changed. First of all, I began to accept that I liked Lyle and started to become conscious of all the girls around him. At first, I didn't know of Lyle's popularity since I didn't really care that much, but when I asked Hina-nee for advice she told me about how Lyle is popular, especially with the female adventurers. Apparently, he became famous due to his good looks and his ability as a guild receptionist. I don't really understand why looks played a big part, but I do understand how a man who is good at his job and has a stable income is a prime target for women. I may be somewhat stupid, but I do know the importance of money especially when I almost starved to death when mom just left me here. Hina-nee also said "You should really be careful, even I might take him." to which I responded with "I'm not worried, Hina-nee isn't that desperate, I think." then she replied with "What do you mean 'I think'!" and then I added "Well, even if you are desperate, I'm pretty sure Lyle will reject you. I mean, you are a spinst-" as she cut me off with a punch to the gut.
From then on, almost everything I did was centered around having Lyle fall in love with me. From keeping the pesky flies away from him to dressing up in nice clothes for him. Apparently, my face is what people consider to be beautiful and attractive. I didn't really know that because I don't pay attention to it, but it's apparently one of the reasons that I was famous. I was apparently famous amongst the male adventurers, especially the ones my age. When I found out about this, a lot of things started making sense. Back then, I didn't understand why random guys were coming up to me and trying to impress me or why random girls came up to me telling me to back off from their boyfriends. Just living my life like that, a year passed by.
Tonight was supposed to be another normal night. Coming back home from a week-long mission, I was excited to come back. After a week of not seeing Lyle, I was a bit grumpy but knew that it just couldn't be helped. Excited to see Lyle again, I immediately rushed back home. However, what greeted me was the party members all with a gloomy expression, and a home without Lyle. I felt as if something happened to Lyle. I just hope I'm wrong.
"Umm, what happened? And where's Lyle" (Reina)
"Well, Lyle went back to his hometown. He received a letter from his family yesterday. He left just earlier today." (Oliver)
"Umm, so why are you guys sad?" (Reina)
"The thing is, his parents are dying." (Oliver)
"His parents have an incurable disease. According to the letter, they only have about a week to live." (Luke)
"Then why aren't you guys there for him!!!" (Reina)
"Lyle told us that he wanted some time alone with his family." (Oliver)
"I think we should just let Lyle be for now." (Luke)
"Yeah, the little brat needs some time. We should just wait for him here." (Hina)
"He looked pretty damn serious too. That kid, I've never seen him like that." (Finn)
"Yeah, we should just let Lyle-kun be for now Reina-chan." (Shin)
"B-but, he needs us!!!" (Reina)
"Reina!" (Oliver)
"B-but!" (Reina)
"No!" (Oliver)
I then run up to my room and shut the door. That night, I didn't eat a single bite.
Oliver POV
I wake up feeling bad. Not only did I yell at Reina, but she also didn't take a step outside of her room. I know just how much she likes Lyle, but this time around I know it's best to respect his wishes. But still, I might have been a bit too harsh on her. I have to make amends with her. With these thoughts in my head, I exit my room and make my way to the dining table for breakfast. A few minutes later, Reina arrives
"Er, good morning Reina. Why don't you have a seat." (Oliver)
"Un." (Reina)
After she takes a seat, I begin to speak.
"Reina, I'm sorry for raising my voice last night, but you have to know that this is what Lyle wants. I just want you to respect his wishes." (Oliver)
"It's fine. I understand. What you're saying is that we should be ready for when Lyle comes back home." (Reina)
"Yes. I'm glad you understand." (Oliver)
"Un, I'm gonna go now. I had plans for today." (Reina)
"What are your plans? Did any of them get ruined because Lyle isn't here?" (Oliver)
"Yeah, most of them were things that both I and Lyle planned to do when I came back. But I have some things I promised someone so I'll have to get going now." (Reina)
"Ok. Have a safe trip." (Oliver)
"Un." (Reina)
What we didn't know was that Reina wouldn't come back for a week.
Reina POV
I am currently on a carriage that's heading to Lyle's hometown. As for how I managed to get a carriage ready in less than an hour, I made use of two different things: money and charm. Firstly, I offered to pay 3 times the normal fee for a carriage that would leave almost immediately. Secondly, I made an expression that according to Hina-nee, will make men do anything for me. When I asked her why she didn't do it to get a boyfriend, she punched me straight in the gut. Although it didn't work for her (I assume), it worked for me as a lot of coachmen started flocking towards me and all offered to take me there with all of them lowering their prices. In the end, I went with someone who offered to take me there for half the market price. At this point, I wonder why I even offered a huge price in the beginning.
After a few hours pass by, the carriage stopped, and the coachman informed me that we have reached the destination. I paid him what I initially promised, but he insisted that I pay what he offered and that I keep the money. Charm really is scary, not that I understand why. As the carriage starts its return trip, I look at the scenery before my eyes. A village neither too big nor too small, neither too lively nor too quiet, neither populous nor barren, a plain and normal village that has no outstanding features. All I can think of is "How in the world does a normal village like this manage to make someone like Lyle!". It was so normal that I started panicking over whether or not I was in the wrong place.
While I was thinking about whether or not I should chase after the carriage before it was too late, an old lady suddenly approached me.
"Hello there young lady, might I ask what you're doing here? You don't seem to be someone from these parts, might you be a visitor?" (Old Lady)
"Un. D-do you know someone named Lyle?" (Reina)
"Well that depends. Who are you to him? What's your business here?" (Old Lady)
"I'm Reina Lostbelt, a friend of Lyle's. As for why I came here, it's something personal." (Reina)
"A friend of Lyle's? Well, in that case, follow me. I'll lead you to where Lyle's house is." (Old Lady)
"Ah, thanks!" (Reina)
"No problem." (Old Lady)
I then followed after the old lady. As I was following the old lady, I began to notice that there are a lot of gazes focused on me. When I looked around, I noticed that all the people around me were staring at me with various expressions. Some were gazes of curiosity, others were gazes of admiration, and others were gazes of jealousy. Even though I feel uncomfortable, but it can't be helped as I was an outsider, a beautiful (according to people around me) one at that. After a few moments, the old lady stopped and sent a look to the villagers. After she did that, everyone stopped staring and continued what they were initially doing as if nothing happened. Considering this old lady somehow sensed my discomfort and immediately stopped the villagers, I came to the conclusion that this old lady wasn't just any normal old lady, That, and the fact that I feel an intense pressure coming from her. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure that I'm not smart enough to deduce anything from what just happened, rather I feel like most of my "deduction" came from instinct. My instinct is telling me that she's someone rather important around these parts.
A few minutes later, the old lady stopped once again, but this time in front of a house. She turned to me and said,
"This is as far as this old lady goes. From here on out, you have to go in there by yourself. Now if you excuse me, I have to get back to my work." (Old Lady)
"Un. Thanks a lot for bringing me here." (Reina)
"It was no problem. In fact, it should be me thanking you." (Old Lady)
"For what?" (Reina)
"You'll see." (Old Lady)
As she says that, she walks away. Lyle's house, where Lyle was raised, I can't believe I'm about to enter it. But I can't forget my initial purpose. I'm not here to have fun, I'm here to help him. Ok, here goes nothing!
*Knock* *Knock*
After a few seconds, someone opens the door.
"W-who is it?" (Lyle)
The one who greets me is Lyle. When I see his face, I noticed some things that were out of place. He wore a smile that was anything but happy. His voice was unsteady, his lips were quivering, his eyes were reddened. It was clear that he was crying.
"It's me Lyle. I'm here." (Reina)
"R-reina? W-why are you here?" (Lyle)
Instead of saying anything, I ran up to him and hugged him. I then whispered into his ear,
"Don't worry, you're not alone. I'm here for you. I'll be here for you." (Reina)
As soon as he heard my words, he started crying. We both stood there by the door while he kept on crying and I kept listening. After a few minutes, he calmed down and hugged me tightly.
"Thanks. Thanks a lot." (Lyle)
"No probs." (Reina)
"Ah, wait a minute, we were outside this entire time. We should come in." (Lyle)
"Took you long enough." (Reina)
"Whoops, my bad." (Lyle)
"It's fine. So, are you gonna introduce me to the family?" (Reina)
"About that, can I call you my girlfriend?" (Lyle)
"W-What!" (Reina)
"Well, you see, my parents kept on saying things like 'It's a shame that neither of you boys gave us the chance to say hi to our daughter-in-laws' so I thought that it was the least I could do for them." (Lyle)
"That would be nice, but I don't think it would be a good idea for your last memories with them to be filled with lies. I should know that. I did that. I still feel guilty for telling my dad that one lie when he died." (Reina)
"Forgive me for asking, but can I ask what you told him?" (Lyle)
"That I became a swordmaster. I, I still remember his last moments, especially when I lied to him. He had the happiest smile on his face as he stroked mine with his nearly lifeless hand. He then said 'I always knew that you could do it'. Those were his last words. I know how it is to lose my family, so I came here." (Reina)
"O-oh, I s-see. I'm sorry for asking." (Lyle)
"It's fine. I still feel the guilt, but I don't feel as sad anymore. I know I'm not alone, I have you guys. Oliver-san, Luke-san, Finn-san, Hina-nee, Shin-nii, and you Lyle. You guys are the reason why I don't feel lonely, so I just want you to know that the same goes for you too. I know you said that you wanted to be alone because you felt like it was a bother for us, but always know that we're here for you. I know that the rest of them also know, but they decided to leave you alone because they know that you'd feel guilty for making us help you." (Reina)
"I just thought that it would be selfish of me to receive help from them. I just thought that this is my problem and not theirs, that it would be too much of a bother for them." (Lyle)
"It's fine to bother us. We are family, aren't we? Isn't that what family is for?" (Reina)
"Pfft, I guess so. My bad I guess." (Lyle)
"Yep, Lyle is an idiot~" (Reina)
"Yep, I guess I'm an idiot." (Lyle)
"Hahaha!" (Reina)
"Hahaha!" (Lyle)
"Anyways, about that girlfriend thing." (Lyle)
"Didn't I already tell you? No lies. Even if you say it, I won't go along with it." (Reina)
"But the thing is, it won't necessarily be a lie." (Lyle)
"W-what do you mean?" (Reina)
"Reina, I like you." (Lyle)
"W-what?" (Reina)
"I've liked you from the very start, from the moment we first met. I once thought that the words I said back then were things I merely said on impulse and that my crush on you was nothing but superficial and fleeting, that I would stop liking you once I got to know you better, but I was wrong. The more I got to know about you, the more I fell for you. I know I said that we would be friends forever, but I want to be more than that. Reina, will you go out with me?" (Lyle)
"Y-you idiot!" (Reina)
*slap*
Ah, I've done it this time.
"R-reina? D-did I do something wrong?" (Lyle)
I didn't mean to slap him, but in hindsight, he kind of deserved to get slapped.
"WHY NOW!" (Reina)
"W-what?" (Lyle)
"WHY NOW! WHY NOT EARLIER! YOU HAD AN ENTIRE YEAR! WHY JUST NOW!" (Reina)
"A year? W-what do you mean by a year?" (Lyle)
"I ALSO LIKE YOU! I'VE LIKED YOU SINCE A YEAR AGO!" (Reina)
"Eh?" (Lyle)
"Eh?" (Reina)
Wait, did I just say that out loud? I did. Ah! How embarrassing! I think I can feel my face turning red.
"U-uhm, Reina?" (Lyle)
"Y-yes?" (Reina)
"I, I love you, will you go out with me?" (Lyle)
"Y-yes." (Reina)
And so we became a couple.
After that, Lyle introduced me to his family. Both his parents were on the same bed. They reminded me of my dad, they looked just like he did back then. According to Lyle, both of them are suffering from an incurable disease that they've had since a long time ago. According to him, this disease only started becoming worse about a week ago. Fortunately, this disease they have is not infectious. It seems that they didn't infect each other and had just caught the disease at the same time.
Next to them was a young child, about 10 years younger than me. This was Lyle's brother, Lime. They then asked whether or not I was really his girlfriend. I told them that I was indeed his girlfriend. I told them stories of what happened in the City of Rand. About how we met, about the house that we lived in, about our friends that we live with, about how both of us have a lot of fans, and other things. They then told me a lot of stories about Lyle back when he was a kid. Lyle also told stories about his past. Days passed by and the awaited day came. It was a sad day.
On their deathbed, the couple looked at peace. Their last words truly solidified this fact.
"Reina-chan, please take care of our son."
"Lime, why don't you bring a girl back one day."
"You better not let her get away Lyle, she's a catch."
And finally
"Lyle, Lime, Reina-chan, thank you."
After a few days of grieving, we both came back home, to our home.
Two years pass by and a lot of things happened. Hina-nee and Shin-nii somehow started dating, Oliver-san quit being an adventurer and became a teacher, Luke-san also started dating Leslie-san, Finn-san is unsurprisingly still single but became the new leader, a new member replaced Oliver-san, I was promoted to B-class and other things.
And then one day.
"Hey, Lyle." (Reina)
"Yeah?" (Lyle)
"I think I'm pregnant." (Reina)
"R-really?" (Lyle)
"Yep." (Reina)
"Holy shit, YEEEEEEESSSSS!!!" (Lyle)
"L-lyle?" (Reina)
He then storms out of the room and starts screaming.
"I'M A FATHER NOW!!!" (Lyle)
"Geez, Lyle will be Lyle." (Reina)
On this day, at the age of 20, I, Reina Lostbelt, became pregnant with the baby of Lyle.
After finding out I was pregnant, I decided to retire as an adventurer to live a quiet life together with Lyle. We decided that we would be living in Lyle's hometown in Lyle's old house. We've also decided to use Lostbelt as the family name. This is because Lyle said that Stein was too short and that Lostbelt sounded way cooler. I obviously objected, but Lyle being Lyle, was very persistent and would not budge at all. And thus I conceded. I then gave birth to a healthy baby girl that we named Layla. 5 years later, I gave birth to a baby boy that we named Riel.
I am happy. I can only hope that this happy life continues and doesn't end.