Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Since Ancient Times, Love Debts Are Hard to Repay
"Lord Moran, Medea's happiness is being with you. This time, you'll stay with me until the end, right?"
"Yes, I will."
"As expected… I still love Lord Moran the most! From now on, I'm going to make up for every single regret! No matter what, I won't leave you, and you're not allowed to leave me like that again!"
"I promise you."
Moran made a vow with even more sincerity than before.
He and Medea made a vow.
It wasn't that she wasn't angry with Moran.
It was simply that her love was far stronger than sadness and hatred, strong enough to overwhelm them.
Without any intervention or influence from the gods, she was sure that she deeply loved Moran.
"Lord Moran, the night isn't over yet, I… I miss you so much… I want to be with you…"
Medea could no longer suppress her love.
The joy of finally seeing her beloved again after hardship also brought forth the desire in her heart.
The slender fingers gripping his wrist, the pleading look in her eyes, all hinted at what she wanted from Moran.
"Hehe, so impatient, aren't you? Medea, this time I won't let you feel even a moment of loneliness…"
Moran also didn't hide his feelings.
They were both exposed.
As they made a vow with words, the closer skin contact was like branding a seal.
…
[Medea chose to stay on the Shapeless Isle.]
[King Aeetes of Colchis didn't know how you managed to abduct Medea, but he absolutely refused to let his daughter marry into a barbarian land.]
[However, after Medea spoke her true feelings and her younger brother, Absyrtus, advised him,]
[King Aeetes finally gave up on starting a war.]
[Aeetes still disapproved of Medea being with you and declared that Medea was no longer the princess of Colchis, severing all ties with Colchis.]
[Medea didn't care about fame.]
[She chose to be with you for true love.]
[You plan to hold a grand wedding on the Shapeless Isle in the near future, a wedding that should have happened long ago.]
"Now, I'm no longer a princess. Father is very angry. If it weren't for Absyrtus, he probably would have started a war."
"What, do you regret it?"
"Of course not. I'm very happy now, although I feel sorry for Father. I really hope he can bless us…"
Medea looked sad.
Being cut off from her family made her feel bad.
However, she wanted to pursue happiness.
So, happiness and reality were almost two separate choices, and Medea simply chose the former, losing the latter.
"Hehe, that day will come. Also, we've decided on the name of our city-state, it will be called Pelasgia. Although you're no longer the princess of Colchis, you can be my queen. I just don't know if Your Highness is willing."
"Do you still need to ask? Hmph, my answer is of course only one: wherever Lord Moran goes, I'll follow!"
Medea knew that life couldn't be perfect in every way.
Every choice would bring loss.
Now, she had found the most important thing in the world.
She wanted to hold onto it tightly.
"Speaking of which, Lord Moran, have you thought about how to face Atalanta? I know you're very charming and a bit of a playboy, and women will fall in love with you wherever you go…"
"Uh… are you jealous?"
"Hehehe, I'm not jealous."
Medea's beautiful smile was very touching.
The arms holding Moran tightened a little.
It was obvious that she was jealous.
"Atalanta… she glares at me as soon as she sees me, and no one dares to come near us when we meet. It wouldn't be surprising if she wanted to shoot me with an arrow, but it's really my fault…"
"That's right, it's Lord Moran who broke the promise first."
Medea's dark side came into play.
She hit a point that Moran couldn't refute at all.
She had also waited for Moran for a very long time back then, so she was clearly on Atalanta's side.
"…I'll handle it."
Moran didn't say much more.
He would repay the debts left over from the last simulation in this simulation.
[You and Medea returned to the Shapeless Isle.]
[On the way back to the city, you happened to run into Atalanta.]
[Atalanta frowned as soon as she saw you, then walked away without saying much, taking another route.]
["I can't let this continue."]
[With this thought in mind, you chased after Atalanta.]
[Unsurprisingly, you immediately engaged in a battle between warriors in the wilderness, the roar echoing across the island.]
[No one dared to intervene in this battle.]
Arrows fell continuously like a torrential rain.
The earth was exposed with deep pits as if gnawed by locusts, and the overflowing magical aftershocks could easily kill people on the spot.
This was not a place where ordinary people could set foot.
However, a figure was able to move freely within it.
"Haa! Atalanta!"
Moran shouted and unleashed his magic power.
He faced the arrow storm head-on and charged towards her.
[You arrived in front of Atalanta.]
[You knew it wasn't because you were so agile.]
[As a hunter famous throughout Greece, and as a fellow hero, how could Atalanta's arrows not hit you even once?]
[You guessed the most likely reason.]
[Maybe she didn't want to hit you with her arrows in the first place.]
"Why… why… do you still have to chase after me like this… In the end… I didn't do anything… nothing at all…!"
Atalanta shouted as she fell to the ground.
Emotions such as unwillingness, regret, and self-blame surged up together.
[Unlike Medea's situation at that time,]
[In the first simulation, you promised to go to Arcadia to find her, but in the end, that promise was clearly not fulfilled.]
[Atalanta had just returned to Arcadia at that time.]
[She found the moon goddess she believed in, but when she expressed her desire to receive the goddess's forgiveness, she was told that the person she loved had already died in his hometown.]
[The goddess had no reason to deceive her.]
[Atalanta's first reaction was not resentment, nor anger towards you. What first overflowed in her heart was self-blame and the powerlessness of not being able to help the person she loved.]
[As a hero, she wouldn't complain.]
[You knew that Atalanta wasn't a weak woman. Although she was cold to others, it was based on the premise that she was strong.]
[Therefore, she regretted and blamed herself.]
[If she could have expressed her feelings more frankly, if she could have been more straightforward and decisive,]
[Would the result have been different?]