Welcome to Hell! - Chapter 246: Chris’ Feelings

“Haah…”

Chris let out what felt like her umpteenth sigh of the day from the coachman’s seat of the carriage carrying Liselotte and the others. She was acutely aware that she had been sighing a lot lately, and she understood all too well the reason behind it.

The cause was Antares. The impending separation from him was drawing closer by the minute, and the desire not to part ways was tormenting her.

From the moment Chris became aware of her surroundings, her world had been filled with harsh labor, unreasonable violence, and foul-mouthed abuse. She did not know who her parents were, but it was certain her mother had been a slave. Her mother had died from childbirth fever, and Chris’s fate as an expendable tool had been sealed from the moment of her birth, without even a name given to her.

As the child of a slave with no special skills and having suffered severe burns in an accident, the young Chris’s value as a disfigured slave was almost nonexistent. She was forced into backbreaking physical labor every day, and at the end of it, she had to stuff her belly with rotting food.

This hellish existence gradually wore down Chris’s spirit. At the same time, she felt as if her death from exhaustion would come soon, almost as if it were happening to someone else. Listening to the footsteps of death draw nearer, Chris genuinely thought that dying might be easier.

At that time, Chris was tasked with caring for the battle beast Antares. It seemed like the scorpion’s two previous caretakers who were both slaves, had been killed. Moreover, it was rumored that both of them died in a gruesome manner due to poisonous stings. As a result, the role of caretaker was deemed akin to dying.

Chris was then singled out for the task. The harsh and blunt reason for her selection was that her life was considered expendable.

Yet, desiring an escape from her living hell, Chris accepted the role without protest. Despite initially being terrified by the imposing figure of the large scorpion, she dutifully cared for him, resigned to the possibility of death at any moment. The sad reality of a slave’s existence is to work diligently even while harboring a desire for death.

Her turning point came during one of her care sessions when Antares began to molt. She was shocked and wondered if she had done something wrong, and she was afraid that she would be killed. Chris’s rationality made her want to die from the bottom of her heart, but her biological instincts made her fear death.

Chris, who had never before doubted her wish to die until that moment, found herself wanting to live when faced with real danger. However, Antares did not kill her. Instead, after molting, he presented her with his shed poisonous stinger which was detached along with his exoskeleton. The stinger was sharp and yet sturdy; it was transparent and hollow, with a smooth surface and a strange coolness.

The stinger once used to fatally sting others, was by no means an appropriate gift for a woman upon calm consideration. Yet, for Chris, it was the first present she had ever received from someone. At that moment, she felt acknowledged as a human being for the first time.

That’s why when Antares was forced to fast and was forced to extreme hunger and directed his bare hunger towards her, she suggested that he eat her. Her role was to care for Antares, and despite being ordered by her master not to feed him, she felt obliged to offer her life if that was his desire. This was the result of a life coerced into such a mindset.

However, even though she thought so rationally, her eyes betrayed a fear of abandoning life, and her body couldn’t help but tremble. Antares who was struggling against his hunger averted his gaze from Chris, who was desperately asserting her willingness, and resisted the urge to eat.

That Antares prioritized Chris over his own hunger was astonishing to Chris at the time. Having always been used as a tool to fulfill others’ desires, this was the first time she had made someone restrain themselves for her sake.

From that day until they parted ways, Chris would report the day’s events to Antares while taking care of him. She didn’t know why she felt compelled to do so, yet she felt it was necessary.

Antares never showed displeasure at this; on the contrary, he would respond by clicking his fangs or moving his claws and tail. The time spent caring for Antares gradually became precious to Chris.

At the same time, her role as Antares’ caretaker elevated her status among the slaves. She was caring for a creature that had killed its two previous caretakers and was a monster capable of defeating a juvenile dragon during a rookie tournament battle. To the other slaves, Antares was an entity they dared not approach.

The fact that she could manage him effectively boosted her value. For Georg and the others, someone who could control Antares was a boon, and the other slaves began to tread carefully around Chris, hoping to avoid being chosen as her successor.

However, their separation came abruptly. A coup led by a prince who followed the “God of Justice” left Chris with life-threatening injuries, and Antares, on the brink of death, was captured and taken away by Orvo.

After the coup subsided, Chris’s circumstances drastically changed. Chris, who had no one to vouch for her identity after her master died, was taken in by Liselotte, who generously took care of her even though she was just a slave.

Furthermore, under the advice of Adelheid, Chris began training to become a warrior serving the “Goddess of Protection”. However, this path was not easy for her, especially since she had lost an arm. The same was true even after she learned to manipulate a hollow gauntlet with water spiritual art and to use it like a prosthetic hand.

“…I’ve been saved, huh? Since long before.”

While thinking about the past, Chris gently clasped the bracelet she had received from Antares, which lay over her clothing on her chest. The bracelet which was made from Antares’ stinger and exoskeleton was a treasure to Chris, more precious than life itself.

Warriors serving the “Goddess of Protection” must defend their master at all costs, even if it means sacrificing their own lives. The ultimate goal was to ensure the master’s survival and escape, even if it meant facing death themselves. This required not only the mental strength to face overwhelming odds without faltering but also the skill to hold off enemies until the very end.

Such dedication demanded training far more rigorous than that of any knightly order; this was an ordeal that was excruciatingly tough. Chris, once the lowest of slaves, faced a different kind of hardship during those times, and it often felt like her spirit would break under the strain.

During those times, the bracelet and the stinger, her treasures, became her pillars of support. No matter how difficult the challenges, as long as she had these two, she could overcome them.

After Chris became a full-fledged warrior, she was always by Liselotte’s side as her attendant and guardian. However, the looks directed at her were not of respect or awe for a warrior but rather of admiration for her beauty and brazen lustful gazes.

When she was just a child, Chris’s beauty was hidden by her emaciated body and the ugly scars from burns. However, as her nutritional status improved with sufficient meals and her skin healed from the treatments, her beauty quickly became renowned. Numerous young noblemen tried to woo her, and lords wished to keep her as a concubine.

Despite the many expressions of affection directed at her, Chris never wavered. She had no intention of asking for leave before repaying her debt of gratitude to Liselotte, and moreover, no matter how passionately anyone pursued her, it did not resonate with her heart.

She had grown accustomed to gently declining with a polite smile. However, to avoid trouble, Chris began to make an effort not to show her face more than necessary, and it became difficult for her to smile naturally in front of anyone other than those close to her.

“When was the last time I smiled normally in front of someone other than the young lady or Miss Hilda?”

Yet she recently realized that she had been smiling naturally. There was only one event that could have marked such a turning point. It was her reunion with Antares.

Although their initial encounter almost led to a fight due to a huge misunderstanding, it was only because they both continued to hold each other dear. They quickly reconciled and were overjoyed to learn that each of them had survived.

“You’ve become… well, how should I put it? Yes, beautiful.”

“……!”

When they reunited, Antares looked straight at Chris and said those words. They were straightforward, unlike the elaborate compliments she received from the young noblemen who attempted to woo her. Their attempts at flattery seemed naive and trite in comparison.

However, the moment she remembered his words, Chris’s face turned bright red. At the same time, the thought of their eventual parting made her chest tighten with pain.

“I see, that’s it. I was in love with Antares.”

At that moment, Chris became aware of her own feelings. She had probably felt this way since she was young. But since Antares had the form of a giant scorpion, she had thought her feelings were merely fondness.

Yet upon reuniting with Antares, who had been a constant emotional support for her and who was now a demon who looked just like humans, their bond deepened. They exchanged words and ate meals together around the same fire, which was impossible at the time, and they were able to understand each other better.

In this way, the feelings she had cherished for so long grew stronger, and unwilling to face the reality of parting, she began to distance herself. Ironically, this caused their relationship to become awkward, which was the complete opposite of her intentions.

“I’ve decided. Today, I will talk to Antares. Unless I express my feelings in words, he might never notice, and I would regret it.”

However, it was fortunate that the increased time spent in contemplation allowed her to recognize her feelings, even if at the last minute. While Antares claimed to have grown accustomed to the subtleties of human emotions, from Chris’s perspective, he remained quite oblivious. Without her taking the initiative, he might never realize her feelings.

Chris resolved to confront Antares with the full extent of her emotions tonight. However… that conversation never came to pass.

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TN: What!! Whyy