When the demon king invaded, the entirety of Wisteria had been plunged into despair. No matter how hard its armies fought, no matter how much its people struggled, they were unable to overcome the demon king’s armies. Slowly and surely, the kingdom was driven to the brink of collapse.

At that moment, the Maiden of Light appeared.

Said to be an envoy of the gods, the Maiden of Light could purify the curse of the demons, heal all wounds, and drive back the evil encroaching upon the land. Accompanying her were five chosen warriors, who had been marked since birth with a golden feather. Each of these five were outstanding men, and they were completely devoted to the Maiden of Light. It was said that they loved her more than they loved even themselves, and would die for her without any hesitation.

The book said that when the demon king had been vanquished, the Maiden of Light spent the rest of her days in luxury, revered by all and surrounded by her devoted warriors until the end.

Now, seeing this mark on Berry, everything started to fall into place in my mind.

“...How are your wounds feeling?”

If Berry noticed my sullen mood, he didn’t comment on it. “They feel… better.”

“That’s good.” I packed away the rest of the supplies. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Berry shook his head. “Alright. I’ll be right back.”

I stood and took a walk. I went down the road toward my caravan, taking small and slow steps to give me more time to think.

So Berry was… a Warrior of the Light.

Well, one thing was for sure. It meant that my hunch was right, and the rise of another demon king was imminent. It meant that everything I had worked and prepared for would finally come of use. I should be proud of that. I should be excited about that. But, instead…

I couldn’t stop thinking about that mark on Berry’s hip. Man, I sure hated it.

No wonder Berry never fell for me. No wonder he always avoided my touch, no wonder he was always repulsed whenever I flirted with him. It was because I wasn’t ‘her’, so it was no good, huh?

The Warriors of Light devoted their entire existence to the Maiden of Light. In their eyes, everyone else compared to her was nothing. Even I… was someone Berry would forget about once she came around, huh?

Because I’m not her, he’ll never come to like me? Because I’m not her, he’ll never even think about sleeping with me?

Aaah, how annoying. I invested so much into a thing that would never provide any yields.

I came back to the battlefield carrying all of the blankets and pillows I had stored in the caravan. Under Berry’s confused gaze, I stuffed the pillows behind his back and covered him in several blankets. Just one wasn’t big enough to cover his body, so I did my best to layer him.

“This…?”

“An injured person needs to be comfortable to recover.” I built a fire pit, and once the embers had stoked into a warm fire, I sat next to Berry and took the liberty of covering myself with one of the blankets hanging off of him.

The atmosphere was cozy. Berry’s breath had evened out. He seemed less in pain, which I was glad for. A quick check-over showed that his wounds had already slowly begun to heal. He would probably be all better in a manner of days.

Berry’s body radiated warmth. If it were before, I wouldn’t hesitate to lean against him and snuggle into his arm. But now, I felt that there wasn’t any point.

“Hey.” I suddenly spoke out. Berry drowsily lifted his head - he’d probably been just about to sleep. “That mark on your hip… Do you know what that is?”

“...It’s always been there.”

“Mm.” As I thought. Of course he wouldn’t know… it’s not as if there were anyone around to tell him. Even the average person living in society wouldn’t know what that mark on their skin meant, let alone someone as isolated as him.

“Klue, you…” I looked over at Berry, who seemed to struggle to find the words he wanted to say. After a moment of being tongue-tied, he settled with, “...Does it bother you?”

Ah, did he notice my attitude changed? This is bad. I’m way too obvious, huh. I gave a hollow laugh. I propped my cheek up on my fist and smiled at him. “It doesn’t bother me, per se. It’s just that this mark means that you’re a very special person.” Berry looked at me full of confusion. I wondered how best to explain it.

I looked at the remains of the demon wolves, vaguely lit by the firelight.

As if telling a story, I recounted to Berry the history of this country. The invasion of the demon king, its salvation by the Maiden of Light. The fact that each of her warriors were marked with a golden feather. When I had finished explaining, I asked, “Do you understand now?”

Berry was silent. His gaze stared ahead without focus.

I lightly sighed. “Mm, there’s really no mistaking it. You, Berry, are a Warrior of Light. You know what that means, don’t you? It means that somewhere out there is a girl who’ll come to care for you, and you’ll go on a journey with her to save the world. Isn’t that grand? You actually have such exciting days ahead of you, haha.”

“A… girl…?”

“Mhm, that’s right. I bet she’ll be su-uper pretty, too.”

Behind my perfect smile, I was grinding my teeth.

Berry seemed like he was in a daze. It must be a hell of a shock to find out fate had so much in store for you. In fact, for a loner like him, maybe it was a dream come true. The Maiden of Light was said to be a kind, saint-like, and beautiful young girl who attracted love everywhere she went. She would surely make Berry happy, huh. This kind of guy, who was so softhearted and gentle, but who would fight to the point where he couldn’t move in order to protect someone else. He would look good with a cute and tender girl who could appreciate that big, soft heart behind his monstrous appearance. It would be like something out of a fairy tale.

But, besides Berry, there were going to be four other guys hanging around the Maiden of Light. Was she really going to be able to give Berry a happy ending? What if she chose one of the other guys instead, and ignored Berry? Just who were the other four Warriors of Light, anyway… the Crown Prince of Wisteria was probably one of them. He was always wearing a thick glove on his right hand, and even if you bumped into him and spilled wine over his hand like ‘Oopsie, I’m so clumsy, let me clean this up for you teeheeー☆’, he would just give you an uncomfortable smile and move away without removing his wine-drenched glove. Ah, yeah, the possibility was quite high. His mark was definitely under there.

...In that case, would Berry be able to compete with the Crown Prince? That guy was a full package of good looks, high intelligence, charismatic personality, and manly strength. Well, according to my standards, Berry was obviously much better (read: bigger), but…

...What if the Maiden of Light couldn’t see that? Just because Berry looked different from everyone else didn’t mean that he was worse than anyone. To me, he…

Ahh, I see.

Haha, my train of thought was really so stupid. Of course the Maiden of Light would come to love him. He was fated for her, after all. She would definitely be able to appreciate him for who he was.

I buried my face in his hands. So stupid. So, so stupid.

“Klue…?” A warm touch gently landed on my shoulder. Even though his claws were so deadly, Berry’s touch was kinder than anyone’s. “Are you… okay?”

“Haha.” I choked out a laugh, forcing myself to smile. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about me. I’m fine.”

Berry was quiet for a bit. Then, he said, “Of course… I worry. We’re friends.”

Oh.

I looked up at Berry. His eyes were full of sincerity. Ahh, so it turns out that everything I had done wasn’t in vain after all, huh? He had actually come to care about me. Even when I thought he didn’t like me, he actually considered me his friend. Then, I could have continued my plan to become someone more to him, couldn’t I have? If things had been different, if he hadn’t had that mark on his skin…

I was jealous. I was so completely, utterly jealous of the Maiden of Light. Without even doing anything, she had already marked Berry for her own. He didn’t even know it yet, but Berry would surely fall in love with her.

I looked up, meeting Berry’s concerned gaze. Even now, he had the energy to spare for worrying over someone like me. That inhuman face of his, with its large and pointy-toothed jaw and its sharp, wolf-like eyes, could actually look so sweet.

Ahhh, I really just wished…

I wished that I could have been the only person who’d fall in love with a face like this.