Though I had thoughts about Adrian being a girl, the sudden arrival of the news came as a shock to me. I ended up stumbling a bit due to bewilderment, as well as to how close her body was.

 

Seeing my disarranged state Adrian started to giggle. I couldn’t help but be embarrassed after making a fool out of myself. Usually, I would’ve gone ahead and taken a jab at teasing her in return but as of now, I was in no mood of doing so.

 

Various questions popped up in my mind one after another, as well as to the uncertainty of what path our relationship would go through. Though my mind was in a mess, I had to ascertain a few things from Adrian.

 

“Adrian, if you’re a female, does that mean you can’t be the hero?” I voiced off my most important doubt immediately to her. One of my first reasons when I tried to first make contact with her was due to her being a hero candidate, I had further plans laid down the road to help her out. Supposedly all heroes are of the male gender so how could Adrian have obtained the blessings of Parlene church?

 

“I am not sure how to explain but… Yes, technically only men are supposed to be able to have the position of the hero but somehow I was eligible for the blessings of Parlene too. I am not too clear of the information of how I could be allowed to obtain them but from what I heard it was the divine will of Parlene herself. Don’t tell this to anyone since it’s supposed to be a secret all right?” Adrian informed me in a rather casual manner.

 

“Is it alright to tell me such vital information?”

“I only told you this because it’s you Riela, I feel I can trust my fate to you.”

Adrian shrugged off my concerns with a smile, I felt her trust in me was too heavy to bear. 

 

“Thank you Adrian for telling me all of this but I need some time to think this through,” I told Adrian with a tired voice. She seemed a bit disappointed after hearing that, perhaps she might’ve wanted to spend more time with me.

 

“Oh okay… it’s alright. I-I’ll see you later.” Adrian’s voice turns uneasy as she replies, with her meekness returning again.

I smile at Adrian and pat her head upon seeing that. Adrian suddenly holds onto my hand which was resting on her head, unwilling to let go.

 

“Can you hug me once before you go?” She asks shyly, her cheeks had reddened like ripe tomatoes.

“Alright,” I say while returning a smile to Adrian, as my arms wrap around her back. She similarly wraps her arms around me but this hug felt a bit different. Her body was completely latched onto me unlike before, I could even feel the softness and swelling of her breast which didn’t seem to hold much at first glance.

 

I felt I was thinking rude thoughts so I tried to distract myself, unfortunately with Adrian’s body in contact with me my thinking was in a mess. After looking at her face, it seemed she was all too aware of the predicament I was going through. She was giving a smug grin as if she could read me like an open book.

 

“You little rascal,” I exclaim jokingly as I separate her from my hug. She was a bit taken aback before I started raising her body into the air and spun her around. Adrian started laughing loudly out of joy and excitement, having seemed to have enjoyed the ride which I gave her.

 

We continued to mess around for a bit before we decided to part our ways. Adrian seemed reluctant like before but her expression was much brighter. I saw her off and continued onto my own way, trying to figure out my thoughts for now.

 

---

 

I was walking down the street while trying to get a clear grasp of my plan of actions for now, especially after the big reveal from Adrian. My current goal was to get rid of this curse which I had. These past 2 years I had tried finding for clues in various places such as the Parlene churches or dungeons. None of them had yet to prove useful.

 

Call it an inkling but it seemed the demon lord might hold the key to the answer of this issue. Even if that wasn’t the case, having more men in this world could still help in allowing me to blend in more easily. It was a gamble to say the least but it was a gamble I was willing to make.

 

I had no idea as to how strong this demon lord could be but I planned to help Adrian take care of him. Though I might sound pretentious while saying this but I felt I had grown a lot in terms of my fighting prowess. Guiding Adrian to be stronger should be an easy task for me.

 

If possible I wanted to deal with the demon lord personally but in retrospect, it could prove to be a bad idea due to how much attention it would bring towards me. It could end up having an effect which could go contrary to the idea of avoiding girls.

 

While I was walking I saw a glimpse of someone with blue hair inside of a bar. Was that possibly Feon? Curiosity got the better of me, making me wonder as to why she is visiting a bar so late at night.

 

I entered the bar, it wasn’t as rowdy as most bars used to be at this time. Scanning my eyes across the tables I notice the blue flowing hair. She was sitting next to a wall all by herself. A half-emptied bottle was on her table with a deep scarlet flush on her pale skin. Had she been drinking perhaps?

 

Feon had a drunk expression with a big frown on her face. Is she okay? Could she be drinking her sorrows due to the recent changes in the party? My worries got the better of me as I decided to approach her.

 

She didn’t seem to pay any attention to me until I was right in front of her. Her eyes were hazy and unconcerned until she took a look at my face. A sudden yelp escapes her mouth. “Reila uhh… What are you doing here?” Feon said to me while she was caught unprepared, trying to hide her awkwardness.

 

“Want some company?” I asked her, ignoring her question. I felt approaching her with concern or sympathy at this moment would backfire. “Sure, drinks on me,” Feon replied as she returned a slight smile.

 

I personally didn’t want to have alcohol but letting Feon drink by herself would make her feel awkward. She ordered some booze for me and got back to her drink. I similarly started drinking mine, waiting for her to open up.

 

“You know, Adrian and I always had the same preferences. Same toys, same clothes, same people… I always thought it was quite cute but it doesn’t seem like so anymore.” She started speaking her random thoughts, her drunkenness opening up her mind to me.

 

“It’s still the same now, but right now it feels more like a torment. Sometimes I have dark thoughts, thoughts I shouldn’t have and which I hate myself for.” Feon spoke so as she opened up her heart to me, it made me wonder as to why she’s telling me that but perhaps she just wanted someone who could listen to her plight.

 

“You’re not the only one, I sometimes have dark thoughts myself. But once in a while, I don’t avoid these dark thoughts of mine but rather embrace them. They are still a part of who I represent even if I were to hide them from the surface. They’re the desires which I don’t want to accept but will always be within me.” I confessed to her my own true feelings similarly.

 

Feon looked at me in shock, not expecting me to be so vocal about myself. “I never expected you to be so philosophical Riela, but thank you. It made me feel a bit better about myself.” She smiles at me as she said those words.

 

“But I do find it funny you didn’t get what I was saying, maybe it’s for the better.” She says so as her smile gets lonely. Seeing that expression, my heart wanted to comfort her as much as possible.

 

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but I feel really jealous of Adrian… What am I doing with my life” Feon said that but it seemed like she didn’t mean it. She seemed to be regretting her words immediately. “Why did I just say that…” Tears instantly flood her eyes as she spoke to herself.

 

Unable to watch anymore, I pull her towards my embrace as she goes right into my shoulder. Her mouth starts leaking sobbing sounds. The bar gets quieter than before, with the onlookers trying to not put their attention onto us.

It reminded me back when I was with Adrian, I guess she is indeed similar to her. 

 

Slowly as time passes, her emotions start to cool down. She didn’t seem to be crying anymore but her head didn’t leave my shoulder. “Riela can I request you of something, it might be a bit overboard…” Feon says, in an apologetic tone.

 

“Yes, anything,” I replied to her.

“I want to feel loved for once by someone, even if it’s for a little while. Could you tell me that you love me?” Feon asked me, her voice was quite hesitant now. It seemed her heart was quite lonely after Adrian separated from her, so much so that she could ask for affection from the person who stole her companion; the person who stole Adrian from her.

 

I felt quite guilty seeing her in such a state, I could only give in to her demands at that point.

 

“I love you,” I spoke as affectionately as possible.

 

Suddenly Feon’s body felt a lot less tense than before. “Thank you,” Feon said as her arms tightened further around me. Her body practically sticking to me now.

 

“I wish I was the one trapped in that dungeon,” Feon said something which I couldn’t hear properly. I was distracted by a silhouette near the entrance which I could see through the corner of my eye. By the time I turned my head to get a proper look at that person, she had already left.

 

I ignored it and continued to comfort Feon but for some reason, I had an eerie feeling welling within me.