After offering a smile in response to my words, Illness-san quietly closed her eyes. I got the sense that she was organizing her thoughts.
In that case, interrupting her now would be a mistake. With that in mind, I quietly sipped my wine and waited for her to finish.
About five minutes passed before she slowly opened her eyes and looked toward me. Her gaze, usually drifting and out of focus, was now fixed firmly on me. I found myself captivated by the beauty of her eyes and her uncharacteristically serious expression.
"...I think... I might have been making things more complicated than necessary..."
"More complicated?"
"Yes... For me... my feelings for you, Kaito-sama... are something special that I have never experienced in all my tens of thousands of years of life... I believed that if I were to put those feelings into words... the words had to be equally special... That is what I had convinced myself of..."
According to Flare-san, Illness-san was already quite famous in the Demon Realm even before the Six Kings system was established, which meant she must be at least twenty thousand years old. If these were the first feelings of their kind she’d ever known, then they truly were special.
"That is why... I have been lost for so long... wondering what words I could possibly use... to convey these feelings... However... as I opened up to you, Kaito-sama... and we spoke... I realized I was wrong..."
"So you realized you didn't need 'special' words?"
"Yes... I think being simple was fine... without overthinking... I have decided to speak my heart honestly... without unnecessary flowery language..."
Pausing for a moment, Illness-san looked me straight in the eye and, with a gentle smile, began to speak.
"...Kaito-sama... I... adore you... I like you... and I love you from the bottom of my heart... That is why... I want to see your face light up with joy... I want to devote myself to you... And above all else... I want to stay by your side as you smile happily... and I want to share that happiness... That is how I feel..."
"Illness-san..."
"Because I love you... I want to be near you... Because I love you... I want to serve you... Those... simple answers were more than enough... to express my feelings..."
Just as she said, her words were unadorned and straightforward. That was exactly why they carried such weight... and, well, I was happy.
"Illness-san, I am truly glad I came to this world and had you as my personal attendant. I understand now that my Sympathy Magic was the cause... but there was a time when the staff at Lilia-san’s mansion didn't know how to act around me. I could sense their hesitation, their timidity. Even though I knew it was unavoidable, there were times when I felt an immense sense of awkwardness. But I never felt that from you... it really put me at ease."
Nowadays, I’m acquainted with almost everyone at the mansion, and I'm even close enough with some to go shopping together, but at the start, I felt quite out of place. I could understand why they didn't know how to treat me—a man in a residence that had been essentially off-limits to men, and an otherworlder to boot. I was being strangely reserved myself... it felt like we were all holding back out of mutual hesitation.
However, thanks to the presence of Luna-san, Sieg-san, and above all, you, it never became a source of major stress.
"In that sense, I'm truly grateful, and I’ve always held you in high regard. But, well... I’ve always looked up to you as a graceful, mature woman. A part of me assumed I wouldn't be seen as a romantic prospect, so I was surprised by what you said today... But honestly, I’m happy. Oh, I'm sorry. I've ended up rambling."
"Kuhihi, I am... so very happy... that you are trying so hard... to convey your feelings to me, Kaito-sama..."
"Ahaha, thank you. But after all, I should keep it simple... I also like Illness-san as a woman. So, um... I’ll be in your care from here on out, too."
"Kuhihi, yes... Likewise... please allow me... to stay by your side from now on..."
It was true that the nature of her consultation had surprised me, as did the speed with which she organized her thoughts and put them into words... but looking at her radiant smile, I was truly glad that we were able to share our feelings like this.
Serious-senpai: "...!?"
Machina: "Oh, her eyes are rolling back... Is it because she was caught off guard thinking that becoming lovers was still a long way off and then got hit by a follow-up strike?"