Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Melina couldn't believe it. Had Alistair really kept the skill? But why? It had caused him so much trouble and nightmares. He looked quite eager to get rid of it before. What changed his mind?

"I'm sorry, Elowen, but would it be possible for me and Alistair to discuss matters among ourselves?" Melina said, peering at Elowen.

The elf didn't look pleased by the request in the slightest, narrowing his eyes and staring at Melina and Alistair in turn. "If it pertains to these visions, then I'd like to remain."

"It's not about that. It's… a private matter," she insisted. She knew that Elowen was curious by nature, and it was natural that he wanted to know more about the visions he was seeing. Being honest and open would be the best way to gain his trust, but she needed to know what exactly happened with Alistair.

"Elowen, you intend to remain in Sunglow for at least a short while, right?" Alistair asked.

"My goal is merely to learn about these visions. If possible, I wouldn't want to linger here too long."

"But surely you don't intend to rush back to Euroa this evening?" Alistair said.

"No, I suppose not," he conceded.

"Then could you wait for us to settle matters among ourselves first? After all, you are still a stranger to Melina. She must feel apprehensive about opening up to you, especially since you already know her secret about being a System user."

Elowen looked torn, but finally nodded. "Very well. But I hope you'll explain if you've seen any visions of a similar nature."

"I promise that I will. It's just all very… sudden. I need a moment to understand it all," Melina said sincerely, hoping that Elowen would be understanding.

The elf regarded her for a moment longer, then finally nodded. "Very well. I understand. I shall give you some time to think on the matter. I hope we'll be able to discuss it in more detail soon."

"Shall I guide you to the inn or perhaps the Guild? Many elves work as adventurers there," Alistair offered.

"Thank you, but it's alright. I'll get acquainted with the town and talk with some of my brethren. I want to know what kind of lives they lead in a human town," Elowen said, and got up, ready to leave.

"Oh, before you go, wait a moment," Melina stopped him and hurried into the kitchen. She grabbed a few leftover pastries from the morning—lamb pastry bundle, two pear rolls, and a regular cream puff–and put them in a small cardboard box. "Here."

"What is this?" Elowen looked suspiciously.

"Just some pastries. I thought you might be hungry," she said, extending the box towards the elf. "Take it as an apology for my apprehensiveness."

Elowen took the box and nodded. "Very well. Thank you. Have a nice day!"

Melina watched him leave and released a sigh of relief as she saw him head back into town. "I was not ready for that."

"I'm sorry, but he refused to leave my side until I brought him to you. Understand that he has been plagued by visions just as I have," Alistair explained.

Melina nodded, but internally, she was preparing for another battle. Alistair had realized that she was the one who wrote the letter. She had suspected that he might—after all, she'd coded it in a way only somebody who knew him very well could do. She'd have to explain everything to him.

"It's alright. I just need some time to gather my thoughts…"

"Bullies, the two of you," Gilbert suddenly hobbled into the living room.

"Bullies?" Alistair blinked, stupefied.

Gilbert put a hand on Melina's shoulder. "Two grown men come and gang up on a girl. Rather shameless."

"Master, nobody is ganging up on me, and I'm not a child. I can take care of myself."

"You'll always be a child in my eyes," he scoffed.

"Melina, I apologize if I put you in a tough spot. If this is too much, then I can leave and we can talk some other time."

"No, there are things I'd like to ask you," Melina said, although she knew that she would have some explaining to do herself. But this conversation couldn't be avoided. "Let's go talk upstairs, so Master Gilbert doesn't feel like he needs to interfere on my behalf."

"Sure, sure…" Gilbert drawled out, giving her a knowing look.

Melina cleared her throat, doing her best to hide her flushing cheeks. "Let's go upstairs."

Alistair nodded, and Melina quickly prepared some tea and pastries. This might take a while. Once they were both seated by the tiny table in Melina's room, each with a teacup in hand, the air grew rather heavy. Where could she even begin?

"How was your trip?" Melina asked after a prolonged silence.

"It was… eventful and rather difficult. I'm honestly surprised that I was able to find the Architect in the end. You hid the information rather well," he said, eyeing her carefully. "It was you who wrote the letter, wasn't it?"

"I…" She paused, then sighed. "Yes, it was me. I didn't mean to deceive you, but things are rather… complicated at the moment."

"I'd say," he chuckled. "Visions of the past that are actually predictions of the future, beings that are able to control the System itself, the Monster Realm, and at the very center of it all seems to be one person."

Melina looked away. Was he angry because of how secretive she had been? He certainly had a right to be. She could have helped directly a long time ago if she had been more honest.

"How much do you remember?" He asked after a moment of silence.

She contemplated how much to reveal. Should she pretend to only have glimpses of memory like Alistair and Elowen had? Should she lie and say that she remembered just a little bit more? Melina looked Alistair in the eyes. He didn't look mad, only curious. There was no resentment in his eyes.

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"Before I answer that, could I ask exactly what happened with the Architect?"

"Of course," Alistair nodded, and then retold the events of his trip. What he had to go through to get to the Architect's hidden paradise. She felt a little bit guilty that it had turned out to be so difficult, but, on the other hand, she couldn't have made it easier either. People should not know how to access that location. Melina had to be sure that even if somebody intercepted the instructions, they would not be able to find the way.

"At the very end, the Architect insisted that I should see a vision before I made my decision on whether to delete ."

"What did he show you?" Melina asked. The memory must have been a very strong one for Alistair to decide to keep struggling with the past. It also made Melina wonder why the Architect even wanted him and Elowen to remember. They usually didn't interfere with mortals, instead remaining unbiased regardless of a person's intent.

"It… wasn't a pleasant vision," Alistair admitted.

Melina cocked her head. If it wasn't pleasant, then why did he choose to keep the skill.

"I saw myself dying."

Melina's blood ran cold, and her head began to spin. Out of all the moments, why did the Architect show him that? The moment when she selfishly left him behind and let him die. When he was forced to fight off one enemy after the next, just so she could keep living.

"I'm… s-sorry… I'm so—"

"No, please, do not cry!" Alistair set down his teacup, kneeling down on the ground in front of her. "You have nothing to feel guilty about."

"But I left you there… I left you when I should have remained by your side and fought…" She barely held back tears. Melina quite honestly felt pathetic. She was doing nothing but crying while the others listened to her complaints. She should be better than this. Stronger.

"If you remained, you would have died by my side," he said, trying to look into her eyes.

"That is how it should have been. Instead, I ran like a coward…"

"No, no! I may not remember everything, but I know that you had to go. It was crucial. You… remember everything, don't you?"

She nodded.

"Won't you tell me exactly what happened? Please," he held her hand gently, waiting patiently for her. Just like he always had.

Melina took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. Crying wouldn't erase her mistake. She had to explain everything to him. No more lies. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"I'll tell you everything. Since you've kept , then you'll eventually remember it all anyway," she said. Alistair sat back down in his chair, seeing that she had calmed down.

She retold him the story she had previously told Master Gilbert. How the monster attacks grew worse, how people demanded the realms to be separated, and how she finally gave in to their demands. She also told him of his role—how they had been working together for years, fighting side by side. In the final stand against the Monster Lord, they only managed to defeat him by working together.

She also told him of his final moments. How they were desperately searching for pieces of the time ritual, and Alistair had died so she could go and retrieve a piece of it. Melina couldn't look him in the eyes when she told him that. Instead, her eyes were glued to her trembling hands. She could still so vividly remember her hands covered in his blood. How his body slowly grew cold in her grasp.

"It's alright," Alistair said, taking her trembling hands in his. "Now I'm even more convinced that I did the right thing."

"W-What?! But you died! How is that right?"

"But you found the ritual and reversed time. You reversed time!" He said, grinning from ear to ear. "How can somebody as amazing as you even exist?"

Melina flushed at the sudden praise. He expected him to be angry at her, but he didn't seem angry in the slightest. She didn't even know how to respond to that.

Alistair suddenly flinched, and his eyes began scanning the space in front of him. A notification?

"Look at that has reached rank B," Alistair chuckled, gripping his head. "Although the influx of info has left me with a headache."

"Oh, let me get you a healing waffle. It should be able to deal with the pain," Melina hurried downstairs before he could object. She honestly felt a bit overwhelmed. How could he be so accepting of it all? Why wasn't he mad at her when she had left him to die? She couldn't understand it.

"You told him everything, didn't you?" Gilbert muttered when she appeared in the kitchen.

She glared at the old baker and admitted begrudgingly. "Yes."

"Silly girl. Should have done so from the start."

"There's no way I could!"

"Did you know that you overthink things a lot?"

"No!" She protested, then sighed. "Maybe a little."

"Just don't move out of here too soon."

"Move out? Why would I be moving out?" Melina blinked in confusion, then flushed. "Master, it is not like that! Why do you always imply that…"

Melina couldn't force the words "romantic" out of her mouth when he was sitting in her bedroom.

"This is why I still treat you like a child. You may have lived a whole lifetime, but you are still so inexperienced with relationships. Was fighting monsters all you did before?"

"Well… yes. Mostly," Melina admitted.

"No wonder you always have to act the hero. Learn to rely on others a little bit," Gilbert muttered and returned to kneading dough.

Melina took one of the healing waffles she had hidden in the storage and brought it back to her room. Alistair greeted her with a wide smile, which instantly made her flush.

"This should help with the headache," she said, handing him the waffle.

"I see you've been busy while I was gone," he nodded and took a bite. "Wow, this is really tasty, and I can already feel my headache retreating. How did you make it?"

She told him about her whole debacle with Etan and the waffle iron. Alistair seemed rather annoyed with that part of the story, but smiled once she told him how she worked out a recipe for healing waffles with Gilbert's help.

Melina couldn't deny that it was pleasant. She was happy that Alistair didn't forget her, even if she didn't understand how he could be so forgiving. Once their teacups were empty and pastries gone, Alistair bid Melina goodnight and left. But there was one thought that bothered her. A selfish thought.

Has he remembered his wife yet?

Alistair lay in this bed, staring at the dark ceiling. It was close to midnight, but he couldn't sleep. Not after everything he had remembered that day.

Melina's story had triggered a lot of memories, both pleasant and unpleasant. He remembered how hard he had worked to become a [General]. It had felt like a dream. His father had been proud of him. He didn't believe something like that could happen.

But in the end, all of that had been meaningless. All the glory he gained had amounted to nothing. He, just like Melina, couldn't resist the pressure of people, of the Church, and of the Kingdom. He, too, had agreed to help Melina break the Realms apart. They had done so together.

It wasn't that he remembered everything yet. There were still gaps in his memory. For example, he didn't remember the fight against the Monster Lord, only the preparations. He also didn't remember much of the consequences they suffered through, only snippets of them fighting against the elements and people who blamed them for everything.

But it wasn't all bad. There were a lot of good memories together with Melina. Even the one where he had died for her. He realized that it wasn't so bad dying in the hands of the one that you loved. The only downside was the pain that they were left with. But Melina, of course, had overcome the odds and rewound time.

Rewinding time? Seriously, is there something she can't do? The system might as well just give her [Goddess] class, and let her do as she pleased.

He chuckled at the thought. He'd certainly give her that class if he could. But then his smile faltered. By regaining his memories, he also remembered something else.

Soon, his father would certainly come to Sunglow. The events have changed somewhat. Last time the Duke came to Sunglow after Alistair had killed Sienna. That particular event made him feel queasy. He couldn't perceive the little wyrm as an enemy anymore, but remembering the moment he had killed her made him sick to the stomach.

After Alistair recovered, he was instantly pushed into marriage with the fourth princess of this kingdom. Alistair was sure that things would remain the same this time around, too—after all, it had been done to strengthen House Sinclair's standing.

There is no way I'm going to marry that witch this time around. Even if I have to make an enemy of my whole family. Even if I lose my name.