My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 217 carries a degree of personal emotion.
Riskan never lacks rain.

Even in winter, it is the same.

As dark clouds covered the deep blue of dusk, a damp, bone-chilling rain began to pour down.

Roland, who had just stepped out of the governor's mansion, sighed and took out two black umbrellas from his storage ring.

Fortunately, I always kept some umbrellas in my storage ring.

Roland opened his umbrella to shield himself from the falling rain, then handed another umbrella to Cellina.

Cellina, who was about to put on her cloak and hood, stopped what she was doing, paused for a moment, and then took the umbrella from Roland.

"Thank you."

A brief thank you, very much in Cellina's style.

Roland smiled and walked toward the street with Cellina.

Roland refused the governor's steward's offer of a carriage.

Roland knew from the fact that Cellina had deliberately put on a cloak before leaving that she would rather walk around the streets.

Walking amidst the sound of rain.

"Does this cloak have any special history? You seem to always carry it with you. And you even find a chance to mend it yourself when it gets damaged."

pat.

My footsteps sank into the slightly waterlogged cobblestone streets of Riskan. The rain was unexpectedly heavy, and in no time, the streets were flooded.

The large umbrella provided by Roland could not prevent the cold wind from lashing the rain onto their clothes and faces.

Amid the pattering rain, Cellina lifted a corner of her cloak with her free left hand and spoke softly, "This cloak? It doesn't have any particularly special origin."

"It's just an ordinary cloak, both in terms of material and function, that you can buy in a store for a few copper coins."

"However... this is the last gift my mother gave me."

"At that time, she was speeding across the snowfield with the last loyal guards of the family and me."

"I bought this cloak from a merchant caravan I encountered while on the run."

"Everyone in the team at that time had one..."

Cellina then looked at Roland beside her and asked, "Why aren't you asking anymore?"

"what?"

“For example, why wear a black cloak in the snowfield?” Cellina stopped. “Normally, shouldn’t you ask why?”

“So, you were waiting for me to ask a question?” Roland stopped three steps in front of Cellinina, then turned back and smiled at her.

"……No."

Cellina lost interest in telling stories.

Seeing that Cellina had fallen silent again, Roland spoke up instead: "Nina... is it alright if you call me that?"

"Whatever." Cellina's emotions remained unchanged.

"That evening……"

"stop!"

Cellina raised her hand and covered Roland's mouth.

The Eighth Ring Warrior was indeed quick to raise his hand; Roland only reacted after Cherlinina's hand was already covering his mouth.

Cellina's composure finally crumbled.

She withdrew her hand, turned her head to hug her left arm that was holding the umbrella: "...That night I, I really...Looking back now, I was indeed a bit impulsive."

"If you... if you can pretend it never happened, I won't tell anyone."

Roland scratched his head somewhat awkwardly: "That's not what I meant... Never mind, how about we change the subject? Let's talk about your thoughts. Weren't we looking for a cenotaph for Ms. Natalia?"

"Do you have any opinion?"

“...Natalia once said that if she died one day, she hoped to be buried in a place where she could see the sea.”

Cellina sighed: "She loves the sea and has complained to me countless times that she regrets not being born thirty years earlier, so that she could have caught up with the ocean exploration at the end of the Great Exploration."

"She once told me, half-jokingly, that if she had to die, she would prefer to die at sea."

"...For her, this ending is perhaps what she wanted."

Roland did not rush to answer.

He simply observed Cellina standing quietly in the rain.

It was as if he was meeting the other person for the first time.

The other party is not a demon in the traditional sense.

Although she appeared expressionless and showed little emotional fluctuation, she would only occasionally reveal a slight smile.

But in reality, having lived among humans for decades, she possesses a rich inner world of emotions and is sometimes unexpectedly vulnerable.

Rain dripped from the umbrella, falling onto the stone-paved street and shattering into pieces.

A gust of wind carrying rain blew by, causing Cellina's bangs to sway gently.

Her scarlet eyes, framed by long, thin eyelashes, were now glistening with a sorrowful, moist light.

After a long pause, Cellina turned to Roland and said, "I'm sorry... I lost my composure."

After speaking, she raised her hand to wipe her eyes, her voice trembling slightly.

"I think... I understand now..."

"What should one show during mourning..."

Roland said softly, "It's nothing. If you feel uncomfortable, just cry it out. Holding it in will only make you sick."

"I once heard a saying..."

"When people encounter great grief, they often do not immediately show sadness or distress."

"On the contrary, those who suffer great grief will appear helpless at first, and may even show an indifferent indifference."

“They will handle the affairs of their loved ones peacefully, hold a funeral, and watch them being buried in the grave.”

“Until then, sorrow will not come.”

"Perhaps this is a protective mechanism of the brain, preventing a person's spirit from being overwhelmed by a huge amount of sadness in a short period of time."

"And only after everything is over, when they return home and see the traces of life left by the deceased, will the grief overwhelm them." "Perhaps it's the leftovers that the deceased didn't have time to finish, or perhaps it's the clothes that the deceased didn't have time to dispose of."

"They are just left in your home, silently telling you that the deceased has left and will never appear in your life again."

"This kind of grief often lasts a long time."

"Until time completely erases all traces of the deceased's life."

"Until the dead become the deceased who only exists in memory."

"Only then will the grief subside."

Roland turned his head to look at Cellina, who was constantly wiping away tears, and handed her a handkerchief.

Cellina took the handkerchief without saying a word.

She just kept wiping away her tears.

Even though she was standing in the middle of the street, and even though the passersby around her were starting to look at the two of them.

But Cherlinina still couldn't suppress the surging emotions in her heart.

Roland said nothing; he simply tilted the umbrella to shield Cherlinina from some of her view and then stood with her in the rain.

From the moment they set off, Roland simply followed Cherlinina.

She was the one leading the way the whole time.

She did not go to the old town. The old house that held her memories had been destroyed by Roland's Boundary-Breaking Spear during the battle with Cassius a few days ago, and was reduced to rubble.

She just started walking along Riskan Street without even realizing it.

As a local, Roland naturally knew these streets.

These are all streets that were prosperous decades ago, or remain bustling to this day.

She imagined that she and Ms. Natalia had once walked side by side on these streets, just as he and Cellina were now.

It was a long time before Cellina stopped sobbing, until the rain subsided.

Wiping her slightly red and swollen eyes, Cellina clutched the handkerchief Roland had given her.

She turned to look at Roland and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry... I'll help you wash it clean..."

"...Please forgive me, I just...haven't been here in a long time."

Roland smiled and said, "Really? Would you like to look around some more?"

“No.” Cellina shook her head. “Let’s stick to the original plan… Let’s find a place where we can see the sea.”

After saying that, Cellina released her grip on the umbrella.

The black umbrella was thrown on the ground, splashing water.

Cellina gently hugged Roland and whispered in his ear, "I've said it many times... but thank you."

……

Finally, the two erected a cenotaph for Natalia on a sea cliff in Riskan.

Roland specially inscribed the runes of Thunder Thorns near the cenotaph.

This will provide some protection for this somewhat simple cenotaph.

The gun that once fired stasis arrows was used as a tombstone and erected on this sea cliff.

“I will have Colonel Odmeyer keep an eye on this place,” Roland said softly. “These runes will also protect this cenotaph from being vandalized.”

Cellina nodded.

The rain had stopped a long time ago.

Her mood calmed down.

She stood up from the grave, turned to look at Roland behind her: "Regarding your question from before..."

“I can answer you now, Roland.”

"The previous question?" Roland was taken aback. After all that work, he couldn't quite recall what he had said before.

"It happened that night."

"..."

Roland looked at Cellina, who had suddenly become calm and composed about the topic, and felt a mix of emotions.

As expected, the demons' thoughts are still too difficult to understand.

"But I haven't asked my question yet, have I?"

"No need. All you really want to know is why I did what I did. You won't get any other questions out of me."

Cellina muttered a complaint under her breath, then added, "Even if it's not that problem, it's probably something similar."

Roland scratched his face awkwardly; he had indeed intended to ask that question.

I never imagined that I had been seen through all along.

After covering his embarrassment with a cough, Roland asked, "So, what's your answer?"

“…Lia and Iluvia are right, you’re practically a block of wood.”

"Or are you actually quite insecure? You only believe me when I give you the answer myself?"

Cellina stood with one hand on her hip, looking utterly exasperated.

After letting out a long sigh, Cellina punched Roland with her fist in annoyance.

Unlike Kalia and Iluvia, whose playful antics were purely coquettish.

Cellina's punch was somewhat driven by personal emotion.

Roland's ribs ached from being punched.

Cellina left early after throwing a punch.

Only the answer remained, carried by the wind back to Roland's ears.

"You did accept my New Year's gift."

"That's a tradition of the Cangya family; they only give it to their own partner."

"You mustn't lose it."

(End of this chapter)