“Th…tha…nk… you…”

Her first words were those of thanks rather than questions about her current situation. Having caught a glimpse of her personality, Sebas smiled, not the fake one that he wore so often, but a genuine smile.

“Please do not worry about it. Now that I have brought you under my wing, I will guarantee your safety to the best of my ability.”

The girl’s eyes widened slightly, her lips trembling.

Her blue eyes grew wet and spilled drops of tears. She then opened her mouth wide and cried like something was released inside of her.

At last, her curse spilled out, mixed in with the sound of sobbing.

She cursed her own fate; she hated the one up above who dealt her such a hand. She resented the fact that up until now, no one had bothered to help her. That feeling of resentment then turned to Sebas.

Why didn’t he come to her sooner?

Sebas’ kindness— because she was treated as a human, everything that she had been enduring all this time had come crumbling down. No, it would be better to say that because she regained her human heart, she could no longer endure all of those memories.

The girl pulled at her head. With a tearing sound, strands of her hair were ripped free. Countless gold threads became entangled around her thin fingers. The bowl that carried the stew fell off the bed along with the spoon.

Sebas watched over her madness without a word.

Her resentment was sudden and clumsy, she was pushing herself. Depending on the person, they may have found her resentment offensive and raged at her. However, there was no anger in Sebas’ expression. Instead, his wrinkled face carried something akin to benevolence.

Sebas reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Like a father hugging his child, an affectionate embrace with no ill intentions.

Although her body momentarily stiffened, the embrace that was different from those of the men who lusted after her slightly relaxed her frozen body.

“It’s okay now.”

He softly patted her on the back as he repeated those words like a chant, like consoling a crying child.

A hiccup— and as if she were trying to cling onto Sebas’ words, the girl planted her face into his chest and cried even louder. However, that cry was different than the one from before.

♦ ♦ ♦

As time passed and Sebas’ chest became completely damp with the girl’s tears, the sound of her cries finally came to a rest. The girl slowly separated herself from Sebas and lowered her head in an attempt to hide her bright red face.

“I’m… sorry…”

“Please do not let it bother you. It is a great honor for a man to lend his chest to a crying woman.”

Sebas pulled out a freshly washed handkerchief and handed it to the girl.

“Please use this.”

“But… it’s so clean… if… I…”

Sebas held the stammering girl’s chin and raised her face. While the girl grew stiff as she wondered what was going to happen, he gently brought the handkerchief to her remaining tear marks.

This reminds me; Solution just recently used ‘Message’ and had a long conversation with Shalltear... It seems she was boasting about how Ainz-sama wiped away her tears.

He wondered just what sort of situation would end up with Ainz-sama doing such a thing. He was unable to even picture the image of Shalltear crying. Despite his confusion, Sebas did not stop his hands and finished wiping the tears from the girl’s face.

“Ah…”

“There, please use it.”

Sebas closed the girl’s hand around the now slightly damp handkerchief.

“A handkerchief that cannot be used is a sad one indeed, especially one that cannot even wipe away a person’s tears.”

Sebas smiled and stepped away from the girl.

“Now, please get plenty of rest. Let us discuss what to do from now on once you awake.”

Because anything was possible with magic, her injuries were healed through Solution’s treatment and all of her mental fatigue was gone. That was why she should now be able to move normally. However, it was only a few hours ago that she was in hell. There was a concern that talking for too long may cause her mental injuries to reopen.

In reality, like how she cried just recently, the girl’s mind was still unstable. Although magic could temporarily heal her mind, it did not treat the root of the problem. Unlike bodily wounds, it was not possible to treat injuries that were not plain to see.

Among the people Sebas knew, the only one who could completely heal an injury of the mind was his master and possibly Pestonya.

Even though Sebas tried to get the girl to rest, she hurriedly opened her mouth.

“From… now on?”

Sebas briefly hesitated over whether it was alright to keep conversing like this. But since the person in question wished to talk, he decided to continue the conversation while keeping a close eye on her condition.

“You would no doubt be too nervous to remain in the capital. Do you have a place that you can trust?”

The girl lowered her face.

“I see…”

He did not bother to state the obvious. She did not.

—This has become quite troublesome.

However, it was not as if they had to take action immediately. The man from before should not be caught any time soon, and it should take some time for the search to arrive at Sebas.

Although that may just be wishful thinking, he wanted to believe that there was no reason to panic. At the very least, not until the girl regained her health.

“Then, let’s see. First, could you tell me your name?”

“Ah… I’m… Ts… Tsuare.”

“Tsuare, then. Ah, I still have not given my name. My name is Sebas Tian, please call me Sebas. I serve the master of this mansion, Lady Solution.”

That was their setting.

Although Solution wore the white dress instead of the usual maid uniform in case of sudden visitors, while the girl was here, it would be necessary that he have her maintain the role of the master.

“So…lu… sama.”

“Yes. Solution Epsilon-sama. But I do not think that you will have that many opportunities to see her.”