Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 222

222―――――

“Ma’am, you can’t do this here.”

“…”

Helen struggled to suppress the constant smile that kept creeping onto her face.

It had been two days since she was rescued from hell by a young nobleman named Zion Clauzen.

For the first time in a long time, she was able to experience something called ‘sound sleep’.

‘I didn’t have nightmares, and I wasn’t afraid to fall asleep and stayed up all night.’

Sound sleep, which is so natural for some, was more difficult for her than anything else in the world.

She was so afraid that if she closed her eyes, she would be back in that hell, surrounded by monsters, violated and defiled, unable to scream, only gasping with pleasure.

‘Let’s go, Helen.’

When someone finally reached out to her in that hell, Helen was finally able to escape.

And she was finally able to have a ‘life’ in the truest sense of the word again.

‘After that, Zion, you have no idea how much I wanted to see you. I wanted to sit down with you right away and talk about bright things, and see your smiling face.’

But she thought it would be unreasonable to visit the kingdom’s hero for no reason.

More than anything, Helen thought that Zion would not like a woman who was swayed by momentary emotions and forgot her duty, so she decided to grit her teeth and hold on until she had a definite reason to visit.

Was it fortunate for Helen?

The news came from the north just yesterday.

It was a special request from Zion, so Helen, who was sensitive to everything going on inside the kingdom, had gotten her hands on some pretty good information.

Normally, Helen would have been worried about what had happened, but this time it was different.

The smile never left her face, so much so that her secretary even asked, ‘Why do you keep doing that? Am I getting fired?’

‘Thanks to that, I was able to come see Zion in just two days.’

She now knew that going to see someone, expecting to hear someone’s voice and make eye contact, was such an exciting and pleasant thing.

The gazes that had been on her until now were all from those who were just trying to take something from her.

No one saw her as a woman named ‘Helen’.

Except for one man.

“Could you wait here for a moment? The Duke is still preparing.”

“Yes, I will.”

The person who greeted her disappeared into the building, and Helen waited for Zion in the garden for a while.

Originally, it could have been a purely business matter with no particular feelings, but now it was different.

Helen felt even this time of waiting for Zion was so bright and happy.

‘I want to be recognized by him again.

I want to hear him say that I’m on his side again.’

To do that, she had to prove her usefulness to Zion.

She had been doing well so far, but the thing about business relationships is that they can fall apart at any time.

To get a little bit of absolution from that, you have to do your best while you can.

That’s how you get another chance.

“Meow.”

Suddenly, Helen was startled by the sound of a cat meowing behind her and turned around.

Helen Heiness is a fairy, and as you know, fairies have very keen senses.

Helen hadn’t noticed the slightest sign of a cat until it had gotten behind her.

“Ah?”

But soon she realized why she hadn’t been able to sense the cat.

The cat behind her was not just a ‘cat’.

“It’s that fairy from back then.”

“…Are you, that Myo-eun girl?”

“I’m not a girl.

I’m an adult now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.

You’ve become a truly beautiful and wonderful woman now.”

“…You too.”

Helen asked, “Pardon?” at Lia’s answer.

What did she mean by saying, ‘You too?’

“You’re different from back then, too.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.

The sadness, the loneliness, and the dark something that was all over your face when you were crying back then.

It’s all gone.

So you’re too bright now.”

“…”

“A little annoying.

Myaaong.”

The last words were definitely said on purpose because she was quite embarrassed by what she had said before.

As evidence of this, Helen could see her wagging her tail while avoiding Helen’s gaze and walking past her to her sunbathing spot in the garden.

“…Hey.”

Helen stared at her for a moment before opening her mouth without realizing it.

“Nya.”

Lia meowed lightly, as if to say, ‘Why?’

Helen hesitated for a few seconds, wondering whether to ask or not, before finally making up her mind.

“Z, Zion Clauzen, what is your relationship with him?”

“Zion?”

“W, what kind of relationship do you have with him?”

“Myaaong?”

Lia’s eyes widened a little as if this was a slightly unexpected question.

Then, after staring at Helen for a moment, Lia tilted her head slightly and answered quickly in a subtle tone.

“My mate.”

“Pardon?”

“My male.”

“Huh?

Ah, ah… ah, ah!”

Helen blushed and stepped back slightly at Lia’s confident answer.

She had always thought of Lia as just a girl, but now she was a full-fledged woman, not just physically, but in every other way as well.

‘M, more than that, she said mate.

That means…’

Because she was a merchant, she came across a lot of information that was meaningless.

And among them was the fact that beastmen always call their partners ‘mate’ and regard them as companions after mating with them.

‘Zion and that Myo-eun woman are, w, husband and wife.’

Thinking that, Helen suddenly felt a little resentful.

She was being careful about even coming to see Zion because she was worried that her position and her fairy heritage might have a negative impact on him, but that woman was so confidently telling others that Zion was her mate.

“S, so, Lia, are you saying that you and Zion are, well, married?”

Lia was about to shout confidently as if she was asking something obvious when suddenly-

“Lia!”

“Myaaong!”

Suddenly, a woman appeared from behind and grabbed Lia’s ears.

Thanks to this, she, who had been about to answer Helen in a confident posture, squirmed and meowed pitifully, as if asking her to let go.

“Nya, nyaaong!

Don’t, don’t grab my ears!

It’s, it’s weird!

Nyaeuaaong!”

“It’s because you’re saying weird things in front of guests!

Zion told you, didn’t he?

If you say weird things, we’ll all be held jointly responsible and we’ll all suffer!”

“Hunyaaong!

I, I know!

I know, so let go of this!

Kkyaeuaaong!”

The woman, who had been watching the struggling cat, sighed and slowly let go.

Then Lia collapsed to the floor and twisted her body, trying to suppress her desire to run to Zion and hug him.

“…”

The woman who had just appeared opened her mouth to Helen, who was wondering what was going on.

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“…Ah, Lady Lucia.

I remember meeting you once in the South.”

“You were a great help to my father in many ways, Lord of the Merchant Guild.

I didn’t know because I was wearing a hood all the time, but you’re such a beautiful woman.”

“Thank you.”

As she said that, Helen looked at Lucia, the only daughter of the court wizard Hispania was so proud of.

She had heard that she was following in her father’s footsteps and walking the path of magic, but the Lucia that Helen saw now was so far removed from being a ‘wizard’.

‘Was she like this in the South?

She wasn’t?’

Her hair was tied back, her wrists were bandaged, and she was wearing clothes that were tight and easy to move in, not the baggy robes of a wizard.

‘…A martial artist?’

The reason why Helen couldn’t help but react this way was because Lucia had been pretending to walk the path of a wizard even in the South, unless she was in front of Zion, in case it would harm him.

Lucia was so thorough in her self-management that even the Heiness Merchant Guild had not heard the news.

“You’re looking at me with a ‘You’re not a wizard, are you?’ look on your face.”

“Ah, I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.

I was just…”

“I heard you helped Zion a lot.

And I heard Zion helped you a lot, too.

Am I right?”

Helen nodded silently at Lucia’s question.

Lucia smiled and continued.

“Then we should all be comrades.

No, should we call ourselves rivals in good faith?”

“Pardon?”

When Helen asked what she meant, Lucia was even more flustered than her.

‘Wasn’t it?

It looks right to me?’ Lucia said, looking intently at Helen.

Her eyes were filled with conviction, but Helen couldn’t figure out what she was so sure of.

“…Should I call you Lord Helen of the Merchant Guild?”

“You can call me whatever you want.

I’m just a merchant anyway, but Lady Lucia is like Lord Raido, who received a quasi-noble title…”

“I threw that away a long time ago.

It was cumbersome.

Anyway, you told me to call you whatever I wanted, so I’ll call you Lord Helen of the Merchant Guild.

Is that okay?”

Lucia asked with a warm smile.

Helen nodded, thinking that Zion was surrounded by people as warm as he was.

Of course, that thought disappeared as soon as the next question came out.

“Tell me honestly.

What’s your relationship with Zion?”

“…”

“Don’t try to get away with vague answers or a look of not knowing what’s going on.

It’s written all over your face.”

“T, this is…”

“Don’t think you can just say it’s your usual expression.

I’m not someone who lives with my ears closed, and my father’s friends are all over the kingdom, so I’m quite knowledgeable about the news.

And because of that, I know the general rumors about the Lord of the Heiness Merchant Guild.”

“If you’re talking about my rumors…”

“To define it in one word, I’d have to say ‘winter’.

Ah, should I add night to that?”

A cold, chilling, dark woman with no hope.

Yes, that was Helen herself.

A woman who had no one to cry with or comfort her, so she eventually gave up even the natural act of crying, a girl who was afraid to even sleep because of the nightmares and demons that came to mind whenever she closed her eyes.

All of that was Helen herself until recently.

“But not anymore.

The sun is shining, and spring has come.

You look warm.

Your face, Lord of the Merchant Guild.”

“…Is that so….”

“I don’t know much about you, Lord of the Merchant Guild.

I have no desire to know about other people’s pasts.

But I can tell that you’ve had a harder time than anyone else.”

“…”

“You’ve been through a lot.

For enduring so hard all this time.”

At Lucia’s heartfelt consolation, Helen couldn’t help but sigh.

She had thought she would suffer alone, be in pain alone, and die alone her whole life, but she had already met two people who comforted her.

And if she was by their side, Helen had a fleeting thought that she might not be ‘alone’ anymore.

“Oh my, the story has suddenly gone off on a tangent.

That’s not the important thing.”

Suddenly waving her hand, Lucia smiled.

But was it just Helen’s imagination that the smile felt rather chilly?

“Please answer me, Lord Helen of the Merchant Guild.

What’s your relationship with Zion?”

“Ah, we have no relationship at all.

Zion and I are just for the purpose of trade and cooperation…”

“That’s how it starts.

Everyone does.

No, it might be even stranger.

But eventually, as time goes by, everyone ends up on the same path.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Nyaaong, that is.”

Lia, who had once again slipped behind Helen, buried her face in her body and sniffed.

“How much do you like Zion, that’s what she’s saying.”

After smelling her for a while, Lia turned slightly and approached Lucia.

Then she whispered something in her ear and glanced at Helen.

“…I see.

That’s what it was.”

Lucia nodded as if she understood everything after hearing the whisper from Lia.

Then she guided her to a chair in one corner of the garden and sat down with her.

It seemed that she had intended to have tea time with Lia here for a while, but unintentionally, she was entertaining a guest.

“Drink up.

Zion will take a little longer, so you’ll have time to have a cup of tea.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Helen nodded and was about to bring the teacup to her lips when-

“You like Zion, don’t you?”

“Ptoo, cough!

Cough!”

She almost spat the tea at Lucia, who was sitting across from her.

Even in the midst of all this, Helen coughed, avoiding Lucia with superhuman patience and self-control.

Lia, who had been quietly sipping her tea next to her, let out a short exclamation, ‘Oooooh.’

“Cough!

Cough, cough!”

“Why are you so surprised?

Anyone would think we were threatening you.”

“That’s right.

It’s not like we’re crazy women like Trisha.”

“Lia.

You promised not to make fun of Trisha anymore.

Did you forget what Lilith said?”

“…Ah, sorry.

I forgot.

Myaaong.”

Lucia and Lia chatted like that, waiting for Helen to calm down.

And after a while, Helen, who had finally caught her breath, opened her mouth with a look of not knowing what they were talking about.

“What are you two talking about all of a sudden?

Why would I have such feelings for Zion…”

“We have evidence, Lord Helen of the Merchant Guild.”

“Evidence?”

Could it be that those two were stalking her on what happened two days ago?

No, that wouldn’t be the case.

If Zion was foolish enough to proceed with the plan even though he had people following him, Helen herself would have distanced herself from him first.

From the beginning, it was strange to be so sure that she and Zion were close.

It was true that there was a somewhat ambiguous aspect to seeing them as being connected by a transaction, but Helen still thought that the traces remaining in her heart were just admiration or a liking due to gratitude.

“…What evidence do you have to say that?”

Because of this, Helen was able to ask this question with a rather confident face.

“Nyaaong, evidence.”

Lia said, tapping her nose with her finger.

“I smell my man on a strange woman, nyaaong!”