CHAPTER 80: DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL NOW?

Seeing that Mina was finally willing to hear him out, Mika pushed himself up, dusting off his pants, his eyes never leaving her.

She instinctively stepped back, but this time it wasn’t out of fear...She simply waited.

"This..." He continued saying, brushing dirt from his sleeves. "...is exactly how the village, and you, treated me when I arrived."

Mina tilted her head slightly, her expression shifting.

"No one let me speak." Mika continued, his voice calm now but with an edge of quiet frustration. "Every time I tried, I was interrupted. Every time I tried to explain, my words were dismissed. Even when I did get a sentence out, no one believed me."

"...They just...kept begging me not to harm them. As if I were some kind of monster."

Mina’s brows furrowed. The weight of his words was starting to sink in.

"I tried...." Mika went on. "...to convince everyone that I wasn’t here to hurt them. But they still got down on their knees. Still trembled. Still looked at me like you’re looking now." He gave a short, dry laugh.

Then he lifted a finger, pointing straight at her.

"And you were no different. You never let me say that I didn’t even want your relic. You acted like I’d come here just to steal it away. You didn’t listen. You just ran off."

Mina’s lips parted slightly, but no words came out.

"So..." He said, spreading his hands a little. "How does it feel? The exact same treatment I got. Like visiting someone’s home, expecting a warm welcome, and instead being treated like a dangerous beast."

Hearing this, she swallowed hard, biting her lower lip. The truth in his words cut deeper than she expected.

And in that moment, she realized...

He was right.

Everyone had treated him like that.

And she, too, had been at fault.

Mina didn’t know what to do in such a situation, being confronted so directly, with nowhere to hide and no excuses to lean on. Her mouth opened, then closed, her mind scrambling.

But when she looked up at Mika again, she noticed something strange.

He didn’t seem angry. Not at all.

Instead, he was just...looking at her with that same playful smile, almost as if he was waiting for her to realize something on her own.

And then it hit her, what does anyone do when they’ve made a mistake?

Slowly, hesitantly, she bowed her head.

"I-I’m...sorry." She said quietly, looking at him again with a softer gaze. "I didn’t mean to act like that. I...I acted on my emotions. I didn’t think about what I was doing and I just...lashed out."

She paused, then repeated, more firmly. "I’m sorry."

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he just looked at her, his expression unreadable, and that silence made her throat feel dry.

Was he going to accept her apology? Or would he dismiss it entirely as worthless?

Finally, to her surprise, Mika’s expression softened into something almost gentle.

"No, it’s all right." He said. "You don’t need to apologize at all."

Mina blinked. "Eh...?"

"It’s completely natural..." He went on. "...that you, and the others, would react the way you did. It’s only natural to be afraid of some ’Chosen One’ suddenly walking into your village. There’s really no need to apologize."

He smiled faintly. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing for making such an abrupt entrance. And maybe your god should be apologizing, too, for putting you in this situation in the first place."

Mina’s eyes widened at that.

Did he just...talk so casually about her god? As if mentioning a neighbor?

That could only mean one thing, the man in front of her must be someone with a position high enough to get away with such words.

But oddly...instead of scaring her, it made her less afraid. Especially with the way he was smiling, so casually, so warmly, it didn’t match the terrifying figure she had imagined before.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she looked at him nervously.

"Then...Then does that mean you really won’t punish me? For what I did?"

Mika shook his head without hesitation.

"Not at all. There’s nothing that needs to be punished."

Mina exhaled in relief, only to suddenly remember something else.

"W-What about the family? And the villagers?" She asked quickly, her tone almost pleading. "Will you do anything to them?"

For a moment, she expected the same easy reassurance.

But instead, Mika’s lips curved into a slow, unsettling smile.

"Oh...them?" He said lightly. "Well, they’re different. I got a little angry...and actually broke every single one of their legs."

"...They’re probably all lying on the ground right screaming because of the pain they were currently feeling and also because of the pain of knowing they’ll never walk again."

Hearing this shocking statment, Mina’s face went pale instantly, as if the world had gone cold. It was like stepping into a nightmare.

"Y-You...what...?"

But before she could even react further, Mika laughed.

"Oh, don’t look at me like that! Don’t look so scared!"

He grinned, waving a hand dismissively.

"I’m joking. I didn’t do anything like that. They’re completely fine right now. In fact, they’re probably having a good time over there."

She stared at him, still in disbelief.

"I even gave them a feast." He added. "If you listen carefully, you can probably hear them laughing right now."

Mina frowned, straining her ears, and froze when she realized he was right. Laughter drifted faintly from the village, strange and unfamiliar in a place usually so dull and lifeless.

It hit her then, he really was joking.

And more than relief, she felt...irritation at being tricked.

"You—!"

She burst out, marching toward him and without thinking, she gave him a playful punch on the arm, the way a little sister might swat her older brother after being teased.

"You can’t say stuff like that! I was so scared for a moment! I thought I was going to cry!"

Feeling her cute attack, he only laughed harder. "Sorry, sorry! I just couldn’t help it. I saw the chance and I took it."

"D-Don’t laugh! I almost thought my heart was going to jump right out of my chest!" She added, still glaring at him.

"Oh, it’ll be fine." Mika said, grinning. "I’m ready to catch your heart at any time."

Her eyes widened. "I’m serious! I really felt like that!"

"And I’m serious too." He said with mock sincerity, holding up his hands as if ready to catch something. "I’ve got a good catching hand. The moment your heart pops out, I’ll catch it and push it right back in. No big deal."

Her mouthdropped in disbelief, heat rushing to her cheeks.

"You...You! How can you be so childish!" She sputtered, and then she started hitting his arm again. "You’re bullying me way too much! We literally just met, and you’re already doing stuff like this! Do you have any manners at all!"

Mina puffed her cheeks in exasperation, glaring at him like he was the most infuriating person alive.

But then, mid-pout, something dawned on her, something so strange and sudden that it made her freeze.

She realized what she was doing.

She wasn’t cowering, wasn’t keeping her distance, wasn’t carefully measuring her words like before.

No...She was talking to him the way she might to an older boy from her neighborhood, someone she’d grown up with all her life.

Punching his arm, complaining, rolling her eyes, these were the kind of things you only did when you felt safe. And she was doing them without even thinking.

The thought struck her like a jolt.

This had been his plan all along. Every little jab, every teasing remark, every shameless grin, none of it was careless. He’d been doing it on purpose.

He’d woven his humor between their words like a shield, bit by bit dismantling the wall of fear she’d built around herself. He hadn’t told her to relax; he’d made her relax, without her even realizing it.

And it had worked...Completely.

Her eyes lingered on him now in a different way, not with suspicion or wariness, but with a slow-burning sense of awe.

The man she had once feared, the one whose mere presence had made her tense up and shrink back...had gone out of his way, step by step, to change the way she saw him.

Just for her sake.

For a heartbeat, her chest felt tight in a way she couldn’t explain. She didn’t know what he was to her yet, but she knew, with absolute certainty, that he wasn’t the person she had once thought he was.

Not anymore...