Oblivion (A Black Clover Story)

Thirty-Three

- Present Day -

I sat in silence, tightly clasping Fuegoleon's hand as I sat in a chair beside his hospital bed. I made sure that I would have complete and total privacy. And given that everyone still knew me as the fiancée of Lord Julius, it was easy to get my way. Plus the whole House of Vermillion knew how close I was to their first son. By the way his subtle mana flowed, I could tell that he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. But that was okay. He was alive.

I'd told him everything. From what Julius and I went through during the last year before I left him that letter to waking up in Hage where Asta saved me. I told him about how excited I was to finally be a Magic Knight, even if I did have to relearn what a Magic Knight even was. I even told him all the details about Nozel, including how he had his night terrors and why he refused to tell me why he did. How he had feelings for me and I pushed him too hard to get him to admit them. Then there was William, who I'd taken the virginity of and inadvertently his whole heart too. Of course I didn't leave out how we'd become exclusive and how he had his little breakdown the other day. I told Leon how I had feelings for both of them and that I was like Nozel in not realizing how I truly felt about either man. How it was the reason I strived to get Nozel to admit his feelings to me and the reason I kept pushing William away.

I gripped his hand tighter as I explained how I got my memories back and how the exact reason why I'd cast that spell on myself was still unclear. I told him how I confronted Julius and slapped him because he was the one loophole that I trusted to tell me the truth, even if I did leave him in the end. I thought that he would defy my wishes and continue to pursue me. And I got choked up as I recalled how the earlier interaction went. How it made me realize that not only did I have feelings for Nozel and William, but I still had feelings for Julius too. How that was the reason I allowed him to put on the ring symbolizing our arrangement, engagement, and all the pain and suffering we endured together.

I took a very deep breath and held it for as long as I could before exhaling aggressively. It was a lot. "Leon... Can you hear me? Did you hear any of this?" I asked, hoping for him to suddenly sit up and hug me. But instead, all I got was a tiny twitch of his middle finger. "Hah... I'll take that as a yes. But even if you can't hear me, I'd like to have a long talk with you when you wake up. I miss you, my dear friend. Don't keep me waiting for long."

Before I left, I placed a soft kiss upon his forehead, right overtop his diamond-shaped mark of resolve.

I sighed once more as I left the room. But instead of being greeted by an empty hallway like I requested, I was face-to-face with one of the men I knew I had to speak with. We made eye contact, and his gaze was as cold as ever. "Come with me. Now," he demanded, walking off, blue cape flying behind him. Nozel wasn't going to wait for me, so I had no choice but to jog to catch up. My whole body shook with anxiety.

As soon as we were alone, he let his body relax. Then he whipped around and looked me in the eye. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I swallowed hard. "Tell you?"

"Your amnesia. You had amnesia but you didn't tell me. I... Had no idea. That's the reason you became a Magic Knight, isn't it? The reason you refused to tell me about?"

I looked away, fiddling with my thumbs nervously. "I told you before that it was because I didn't trust you enough."

Nozel sighed. "But you still could have told me. I would have understood. I would have helped you."

I sunk down into my Black Bulls robe. "Would you have really helped me? Or at least tried to? You wouldn't have thought of me as a freak?"

The sudden sensation of his hands cupping my face startled me. I thought he knew better than to do something so abruptly, but I guess not. "Of course I would have helped you. You are far from a freak, Iris. A-at least when it comes to anything outside of the bedroom."