Saint's Prison - Chapter 102

The back I saw off

“Hey, hey. Amal, Amal-san. When will I be released from this situation?”

“…I don’t know.”

Pinned to the bed and embraced for an hour. Well, I don’t know the exact passage of time, so it’s more of a feeling, but it feels like it’s been about that long. Staying in this position is starting to get tough.

“…Hey, Amal. I was wrong, so please stop sulking.”

“Amal is not sulking.”

—She’s totally sulking.

The reason is undoubtedly because she smelled Johanna on me.

Needless to say, Amal is very jealous.

Even though we’ve become lovers and have been physically intimate, the rage that used to make her lose herself has almost disappeared, but her jealousy knows no bounds. She seems to have a particularly strong competitive spirit towards Johanna, perhaps because Johanna is the only girl her age.

In the first place, that is.

It’s only natural to get upset if your lover is covered in the scent of another woman, given that Amal’s jealousy is excessive.

Even so, I try to be careful… I do think about it, but as for me, I want to value my relationships with others besides Amal, like Francesco, Johanna, and Mr. Simeon. That’s the most troubling part.

(…Well, even apart from me, it seems there was already something between Johanna and her.)

Amal and Johanna.

There must be something between them that can’t be summed up in a word.

When did it begin, and how long will it continue?

Where does it aim, and where is it going?

Bound and connected by that “something,” which cannot be measured by time, distance, or speed.

I stroke Amal’s head, which she’s rubbing against me in silence, marking her territory. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll let her be spoiled to her heart’s content.

“Andy-sama.”

“Yeah.”

“…Andy-sama.”

“Mm, what’s wrong?”

“Please stay by my side forever.”

“Of course, I’ll be by your side.”

Amal raised her face, smiling forlornly.

“Ah, I’ve become weak.”

“…Amal?”

“I used to be hollow. I never smiled or cried out in tears, never shook with the warmth of love. Neither past, present, nor future were necessary. Because our existence was terribly vague, and I neither knew nor wanted to know about it. The world was dark and grey, with shadows writhing and stretching endlessly. I sang for the sake of nightmares, waiting for her awakening. That was my place. Our world.”

My cheek is caressed.

Over and over again.

“You gave it to me. The gentle sunlight, the glittering night sky, a heart that finds flowers beautiful, the colors of the world, everything I’d given up on as impossible.”

She squinted as if dazzled, vibrating the air as if chanting a blessing. Sweet breaths. Silver hair flowing smoothly, a melting beauty.

“Amalthea… Amal is here, and it was only you who reached out to me. You’re the only one who taught me what love is. For Amal, Andy-sama is the light. The only light that illuminates the world.”

“I’m… I’m not that great a person.”

Crushed by Amal’s feelings, I clutched my left chest and gasped for breath. She watched me quietly. I averted my gaze, almost swallowed by her eyes.

—Red, vermilion, crimson.

The red that dripped down.

The vermilion that flared up.

The crimson that saw through everything.

The scarlet afterimage remains burnt into my eyes.

“Andy-sama, you are the only one for Amal. No matter how much you deny yourself, I affirm you. Because I love you. I love everything about you, Andy-sama.”

Amal buried her face in my chest. She took a deep breath and rubbed her head against me. A gesture that wanted to leave as much of her presence as possible.

“You always look straight ahead and move forward, leaving the place you were before, all alone. Andy-sama, you can do that because you are who you are. More than anything, I’m terrified of seeing off your back.”

“I won’t leave you behind.”

“Yes… That’s what I hope for.”

Hiding her face, the girl said so in a voice that seemed to vanish. It was a conversation we had repeated over and over again.

Amal is afraid that I’ll disappear from here. No, she thinks that I’ll leave this place alone. That’s what she believes. So no matter what I say, the anxiety doesn’t go away.

The girl who had never been attached to anything before meeting me doesn’t know how to keep me tied down.

I gently embraced Amal.

I whispered again to the trembling Amal that I wouldn’t leave her.

I don’t want to make a mistake.

Not ever again.

The sound of footsteps echoed in my mind.

It sounded like the clack of geta or the clop of hooves.