Next day.
I reclined with my back against a wall. My arms were wrapped beneath my chest. My expression as uncaring as ever.
Medea was getting ready to spend time with me... acting as a prince for the day.
To be honest, I really didn't understand her enthusiasm. Was being a prince or princess really something to gush and obsess over? Or was it a fantasy of hers from her days as the Princess of Colchis?
I could understand human emotions chemically, but these intensive and instinctive reactions? I genuinely had no clue.
To me... her enthusiasm was boring.
Her dreams were... boring.
The only reason I was even entertaining her whims was because I had given my word.
Haah... How boring.
"Master, I'm ready. Let's go." Medea walked out from inside. Her attire was casual; a black top with a jean jacket and a long tan skirt.
Her expression was composed, though her knife-like ears, which kept twitching microscopically, gave her enthusiasm away.
Sometimes... I wished I didn't have any Ultimate talents. Everything was boring and so predictable with them.
Now... She would walk up to me and wrap her arms around my right arm.
She walked up to me with a slight spring in her step and indeed wrapped her arms around my right arm.
I straightened from my reclining position and started to walk out of the house with her in tow.
Now... She would look left, then right, and then take a discreet glance at my face.
She looked left, then right, and then discreetly glanced at my face.
Unsurprising.
"Tell me, Medea, which type of prince would you like me to act as? A pure prince or a tyrant?" I asked finally. My voice was blank and my eyes bored.
I knew her answer even before she gave it. When I spoke of a tyrant prince, her eyes widened by 1.34 millimeters.
"I want to experience both, Master." Medea spoke without thought. Her eyes sparkled with a childlike glow.
Hm? Unexpected.
I walked with her arms around my right arm. My steps became more dignified and graceful with each passing second. My blank expression morphed into a gentle smile. My eyes veiled themselves with a kind look, their boredom now hidden behind a thin film.
"So... what would you like to do first, my dear?" My voice came out smooth, with a doting undertone.
But what I felt inside?
Nothing.
Utilizing the [Ultimate Prince] talent made me appear the perfect prince, but in actuality, it was merely a mirage—a fleeting dream from which one would eventually wake.
Medea should be happy now—Hm?
Wait... Why did she start crying?
Did I do something wrong?
Even I was left bewildered. For the first time in my life, I didn't know what I had done wrong, nor what to do in this situation.
Tears dripped from Medea's eyes as she suddenly buried her face in my shoulder, wrapping her arms around my back.
My own hands came to rest on her back with an awkward motion. People began to surround us, most looking at me with disdain, as if I were a scumbag.
I didn't mind, but it would become a problem if more people gathered, so... I created some distance between myself and Medea and hoisted her onto my back before she could even react.
Our surroundings blurred as I ran from that area, Medea now on my back, her face buried in my shoulder.
[Ultimate Analyst] and [Ultimate Detective] roared to life, trying to analyze and deduce why Medea had started crying abruptly.
I kept carrying her across different areas of Fuyuki on my back. From the Fuyuki bridge to Miyama Town and even the Einzbern forest.
My mind kept creating and discarding conjectures about her sudden action, my breath steady despite the physical exertion of carrying her.
5 minutes passed.
Medea had stopped crying at some point, her focus now on the surrounding scenery as we passed through one area after another.
She wiped her remaining tears with her sleeves, her hands coming to wrap over my neck from behind.
Her motion snapped me out of my thoughts. I didn't speak to her; rather... I didn't know what to say to her.
There was nothing like [Ultimate Counselor] in my arsenal of talents, after all.
.
I stopped near a bench inside an empty park in Miyama Town and set her down onto the bench.
My steps took me to a nearby convenience store. I didn't stop after stepping inside, reaching the fresh water section in moments. I didn't even look at the cashier as I tossed a coin straight into his register, walking out of the shop with a water bottle and leaving a bewildered cashier behind.
I reached Medea in moments and handed her the water bottle before sitting beside her on the bench.
Neither of us spoke, an awkward silence spreading across the area.
It was finally broken by Medea after some time.
"I-I'm sorry, Master." Her head hung low as she spoke, her voice shaky.
"Hm? Why?" I questioned, genuinely curious.
"Master... You know my story, right? About how I was cursed by the Goddess Aphrodite to fall madly in love with that bastard Jason?" Medea spoke with obvious pain.
"Her curse made me someone else, someone revolting and nauseating... otherwise, how could I cleave my own brother into pieces?"
"I-I tried to do to you... what they did to me. For my selfish reasons, I tried to make you act and become like someone you weren't." Her voice choked, self-blame evident in her tone.
"I still am a repulsive witch..." She condemned herself harshly.
It took a moment for me to digest her words. My mind didn't even understand half of what she was feeling, but there was only one thing I knew.
I stood up from the bench and walked to stand before her, my form towering over her seated figure, her head still hung low.
My hand came down to grasp her chin, forcing her face up to look at me.
"Listen to me closely, Medea...
I don't care if you're revolting, repulsive, or even a witch.
I don't care about what you've done.
I don't care if the world calls you a monster.
The only thing I care about is whether you can show me something unknown..."
I continued.
"So... tell me, why did you blame yourself when I didn't protest becoming someone else for you?" I was mildly surprised.
Humans were selfish and power-hungry creatures; they wouldn't care about others if given power over them...
Then why? Why did she feel remorse for her actions when our promise gave her enough leverage to justify them?
Medea looked into my blank eyes and spoke firmly.
"I blamed myself... because I care for you, Master."
"Care? I don't understand." Genuine incomprehension flashed across my face.
Medea wrapped her arms around my neck tenderly in response and gently pressed my face against her chest.
"You don't need to understand, Master... Only feel."
I did not reply.
How could I feel anything... when the only thing I've ever felt was boredom?
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
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[Author's Thoughts]
Izuru's character needs to be more fleshed out, otherwise... things would get confusing later on with the decisions he'd make and the changes he'd go throughout the Holy Grail War.
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This chapter was basically to show everyone that having every [Ultimate] in existence does not make you perfect, there are areas in which even Izuru is stumped, an echo of his past humanity before losing his emotions.