C40: Just say that you love her

After uncovering the information from the father, the four of them led themselves away from the church, into a small inn, till the sunset.

After staying there and drinking for a while, Alan decided to head out to take a break.

For a long time, he hadn't been this excited about enemies. For a long time, he hadn't been outdone in battle.

'Even if I couldn't return to my body, this body will be plenty for me to be the king... It just needs some extra work, some damn cheat...'

Alan thought about his future for a minute, but sometimes... He just feel like being king with this body was laughable.

However, he couldn't overlook the fact that this kingdom was going to fall into some fool. So, no matter what, he needed to get to the edge of this case, and for that... The path he made for a true knight to be born must be followed by himself.

Leaning against the stone parapet of the balcony, Alan gazed at the West Lake town, breathing in the fresh air of the Autumn.

"Enjoying the view?" A familiar voice came from behind, and she leaned against the parapet too, right beside him.

Alan glanced at the woman beside him. It was Winry, her hood was down and her beautiful eyes glittered.

"Hi, Winry..." Alan muttered with a smile. "I just came here to take in some fresh air. What brings you here?"

"You..." she answered. "You were about to tell me something at the fountain before we got called out for the mission? Remember?" Still... Her voice was shy as ever. And each time she spoke, her cheeks went red.

Thinking back, she was right. Alan needed someone to tell it to.

"Yes. Well, you see, I keep having this voice echoing inside me... And dreams. I have dreams that say things about my future, and the most interesting thing was... I keep hearing the voice of my dead wife."

Upon hearing this, Winry was dumbfounded. "Huh? Past wife? So... Is that why you were able to learn such a powerful technique within seconds?"

It seems that she too had questions for him.

"Oh... Yes. While I killed the River Ghost, I gained some souls. I think that soul orb reawakened the soul power from my past life... Because it read, 'Soul Power Maxed Out!'" He answered her.

Winry has studied many books, in many libraries. But never had she read something about reincarnation... Or transmigration.

However, what Alan said could be the true possibility.

"You're right... That may have triggered some soul power within you since soul power is meant to be carried within your soul," she said.

However, Alan didn't like the idea of these Blood Alchemists working with the Midnight. It just seemed that whoever was working for them, were the ones who betrayed the kingdom.

"Hmm... Midnight was not an organization that worked against the country. But... Why are they working against us now?" Alan asked Winry.

With a bitter look on Winry's face, she shook her head. She didn't have the slightest idea why they were doing it.

"Umm... You were the king before, right? Did you like the elves back then?"

Just as she asked this question, her expression changed. She raised her hand, summoning an orbit to her hand.

Alan gobbled upon seeing this, and instantly, the orbit changed to purple.

"Don't be afraid to answer me... Please, I need to know why you guys hate elves." She muttered with a calm expression on her face.

Alan sighed, still, smiling. For a long time, he had never met a person to who he had, to tell the truth, over and over again like this. And from the way, this is going... It seems like he'll keep telling the truth forever.

"Haa... You're asking me why, huh? You see, I always had a thing against your pointy ears, to be honest."

The orbit turned green.

"Also, I did have a thing against you guys after your father... Murdered a little prince. And also a thing against you cause all of those elven men were beardless..." he chuckled.

"But... After seeing you, my mind changed. You kept trusting me, no matter how much hate you had for the king. It moved me slightly... Ending up making love to an elven girl."

Green, green, green... The boy wasn't lying. It was perfectly the truth.

Winry was having thousands of thoughts swirling in her head. She didn't know what exactly to do.

"I —" she paused, wiping her eyes with her hand. "Do you love me?"

Alan's heart stopped beating. Gobbling, she looked at the girl. Tears ran down from her eyes, and from that expression... Those words... Those tears.

Instantly, this moment took him aback.

"Lu... Do you love me?" The beautiful girl standing beside the tree asked him, leaning against the bark of the tree.

With no answer, Alan looked into the distance, smiling. A wind blew from afar, blowing his cape and her hair. It was almost as if the world was telling him to say yes.

'Love a person? No one had ever asked me that... Why did she ask that from me? —

[Because she loves you, dummy... It doesn't matter. Say I love you back to her, with all your heart. It doesn't matter. All it takes to love... Is just faith in your loved one.]

The voice that echoed in his head was Princess Liana's. How can she talk to him? How can she talk... She died. But... This wasn't a good time to think about that now.

"Mmm..." Winry mumbled, her face reddening whole.

A second earlier, Alan had a doubt... But after hearing Liana's voice, he had no more doubts. The words just came out of his mouth.

"I —"

"Jesus... What the hell Is happening here!?" Suddenly, someone unknown spoke to the two of them.

"AGH!" Both of them jumped back, frightened to death by the voice that just came from above.

The orbit in Winry's hand disappeared, as she jumped onto Alan, holding on to him.

If there was one thing Winry was frightened of, it was ghosts. "Yeee!!! Who was that!?"

"BWAHAHA! My God, woman... I can't believe you forgot my voice so quickly. I mean... I've worked with you for decades!" The voice spoke once more.

Suddenly, two legs appeared from above, and a second later, a man swung down from the roof to the balcony. And standing in front of Winry and Alan was a tall man with spiky hair.

The coat, the tone, the hat... God. It was Rick.