Epilogue

Epilogue

 

WE RETURNED to the Krishna and decided to take a break while we waited. We had been through a fight with battle robots, had a huge dogfight with space pirates, eaten dinner, left Cierra III, and met with Serena. I was really feeling the exhaustion. I took the first bath, went to my room, and sat in bed in comfy clothes, missing the lazy comfort of the bath.

As I picked up my tablet to look over the list of pirate bounties I’d earned today, there was a buzz at the door. Who could it be? I wondered as I remotely opened the door. There, I saw Chris. She seemed to have just gotten out of the bath and was wearing cute pink sleepwear. What’s going on?

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I wanna talk.”

“Go on, then.” I was barely dressed. Still, I let Chris come in and offered her a chair to sit in. I sat on my bed so I could face her as we spoke. “You must be tired from today, right?” I said, making small talk. “The g-forces during battles are rough.” Physically fit as I was, it had still taken a toll on me, so I could only imagine what it had been like for her. Maybe we should get a check-up tomorrow morning.

“Yes, a little. But when I’m with you all, all I feel is my heartbeat…”

“Was it fun?”

“Yes.” Chris looked up at me with a big smile so infectious that I had to grin back.

“Things aren’t always this crazy, though. It’s a real shame our vacation got interrupted a week early.”

“It is. I’m sad that we didn’t get to finish our fishing trip,” Chris said, looking disappointed.

I slightly raised the heat on the thermostat next to my bed; I didn’t want her getting chilly since her hair was still wet. Why doesn’t she just talk about what she came here for? “Do you have something on your mind?”

She looked down quietly.

C’mon, girl. I’m not a mind-reader, and my intuition sucks. I’m not sensitive to the subtleties of women either. If you clam up, we won’t get anywhere. “Hrm… Do you wanna come over here?” I patted the spot next to me, eliciting a nod from Chris. She sat next to me. Look, I don’t think her innocence is cute just because I’m a pervert, okay? I mean it. I think. “Is it difficult to talk about?”

“Yes… It is.”

Stop getting all blushy and fidgety, I’m begging you. I’m not a pervert, but I might feel a change coming on.

“So…” she began.

“Yeah?”

“You prefer taller, more feminine women, don’t you?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. True.”

“I see…” Chris slumped her shoulders sadly. I had a feeling about why she was patting her own chest.

“Chris, I don’t hate you. In fact, I’d be more inclined to say I like you. You’re cute in a way that makes me want to keep you safe.”

“O-okay!”

“But I’m not going to do anything to you. It would hurt my reputation, and it would be disrespectful to you and your grandfather.”

“Aw…”

“I have a simpler problem too.”

“Hm?”

“Not to be vulgar, but I don’t think it, uh…would work. Physically.” I used both pointer fingers to show the girth of you-know-what.

“Oh, dear…” It seemed she understood what I was getting at. She turned beet red.

“I’m not about to ruin a poor girl who hasn’t even finished puberty.”

“But I’m about the same height as Mimi.”

“Well, you really got me there, huh? But Mimi’s an adult. You’re not there yet, are you?”

“Mrgh.” Chris banged her head against my chest.

Hah! You little sillyhead.

“You don’t have to be in such a hurry.”

“I do! Once my grandfather picks me up, I won’t get to be with you anymore,” Chris murmured quietly, still leaning against me.

“Yeah, true.” I scratched my cheek and looked up at the ceiling.

Once her uncle, Balthazar, was dealt with, she would be the last remaining descendant of the Dalenwald family. There might be a branch family or retainers to carry on the family name, but they didn’t matter as long as Chris lived. Getting a man to marry her would be the easiest way to retain the bloodline. And if that was what her grandfather wanted, no doubt a good suitor would come her way before long. I didn’t know the details of marriage in the Empire, let alone among the nobility, but I’d picked up enough bits and pieces to guess.

But I would not be her man. Count Dalenwald would pick her husband, probably without any regard to Chris’s feelings. I mean, that was how it worked, right? I doubted he would let some common mercenary sully the bloodline.

“Hey, Chris. I—” She put a soft finger to my lips, cutting me off.

“I know, but please don’t say it. Let’s just stay like this…” Chris said, burying her face into my chest and wrapping her arms around me.

I patted her back. Hmm… Yeah, I just can’t see myself getting involved with her. A good man would refuse her outright.

“…”

I looked at the girl’s head and sighed. Even if I was going to do that in the end, it wasn’t going to happen right now.

“Wanna sleep like this?” I asked.

“Ulp?!”

“If it is your wish, my lady, I will be your sword and your pillow… Haaah.” I let out a big yawn and lay down while Chris sat frozen.

She hesitated, but she eventually lay down next to me.

“I’m turning out the lights.”

“Okay.”

In the darkness, Chris fidgeted for a while before going still.

She can’t stay here for long, and not everything can go her way, but I’d like to do whatever I can to make this little girl’s dreams come true. I vowed to myself that I would as I let go of consciousness and drifted off to the dream world.