Vol. 3 - Chapter 145 - Katariona Regains her Original Memory
This happened before I regained consciousness.
After I regained consciousness, Marie told me all the details.
When my body was cut off by the belt of reincarnation, I apparently half-consciously invoked "sacred magic" to regenerate my own body.
I say "apparently" because I heard it from Ron-sama.
Having forcefully retrieved me from the air, Ron-sama returned to the original time axis in rapid speed.
Immediately after his return, he summoned Flare-sama and had her heal me.
Until I regained consciousness, Leon never left my side, not even for a moment.
Even though I was unconscious, my hearing remembers that Leon was by my side, desperately calling out to me.
"Rio. Rio. Open your eyes. Come back to me. Do not leave me again by myself."
Arriving at the core of my soul, I remembered everything.
My consciousness became clearer as I followed the torrent of light back again.
"......Le......on......"
Leon held my hand, a look of grief etched on his face.
"I won't ...... leave you anymore. ......"
"Rio! Have you regained consciousness?"
"I promised you, didn't I? I'll always be with you."
So don't look so tearful .......
I reached out my hand to cup Leon's tearful cheek, and he clasped it and kissed the back of it.
"Ah. I'll always be with you. I'll never let you go."
"Rio! Rio! You woke up!"
Flare-sama peeked at me from the other side of the bed with her forehead pressed against my face.
"Mmm, everything is alright! I'm all right!"
This behavior looked like she was taking my temperature, but she wasn't.
Around the bed, other gods were gathered.
Presumably, since I had regained my memory, Leon's and the other gods' memories have also returned to them.
Then, the gods dropped to their knees.
"Goddess of the sun in the sky. We are happy to be able to meet again!"
On behalf of all the gods, Flare-sama bowed her head reverently.
"Please don't, Flare-sama. It is true that my memory as the god of creation has returned, but I am Rio now. Please call me Rio as usual. I beg you all to do the same."
Hurriedly standing up, I urged the gods to raise their heads.
"But ......"
"Please treat me as usual. Long ago we were gods, but now we are human beings."
"That's good. Rio said so herself. Treat her as usual."
Leon said, nodding in agreement while holding me in his arms.
A few moments ago, he looked like he was about to cry, but now that he's doing something like this so naturally, makes me nervous.
"Gumumu-mu! Somehow it pisses me off to hear Leon say that!"
Flare-sama exclaimed, clenching her hands and looking frustrated.
"What? I am also the god of creation."
Leon retorted with a snort.
"Shut up! You're better off as the dumb cat you've always been!"
"What do you mean, "dumb cat"? I don't need you to tell me that!"
"What did you say!?"
Sparks flew between Leon and Flare-sama.
Watching the exchange between the two, a smile naturally broke out.
"Fufufu. I'm relieved that something remained the same as usual."
"Rio! Leon is teasing me!"
Leon prevented Flare-sama from hugging me.
"Stop trying to hug my Rio whenever you get a chance! You spoiled goddess!"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
I invited them to come in, and then my family rushed into my room.
"Rio! Rio! Are you awake? Oh, thank goodness."
"Thank goodness you're awake. Oh my? All the Gods are here."
Father's face was swollen with tears, and Mother too was in tears.
"Father. Mother. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"It's fine. You've been unconscious for three days. We were just concerned."
"Onee-sama!"
My brother, who was holding May in his arms, looked at me with his usual gentle smile.
"Onee-sama! Onee-sama! You got your memory back!"
May exclaimed, leaping from her brother's arms and rushing into the bed with great force.
"Yes. May. I'm sorry I put you through so much trouble for so long. I'm sorry."
I hugged my little sister's body.
We have always been sisters.
Even when we were Gods of Creation. When we were Marion and Fredericia.
And we are still sisters now.
My sister has always been with me, beside me, whose memory had not returned.
How painful it must have been for her.
"It's all right," she said, "I am just happy to be with my sister. Your happiness is my happiness."
May patted my head saying, "All good, all good."
I don't know which one of us is the elder sister.
"Did Fluffy's memory come back to him?"
"Of course. Thank you for all your hard work."
"No kidding! I told him to protect you, but Fluffy isn't worthy enough!"
Declared a cute, angry May, puffing out her cheeks.
"May. Isn't your attitude toward Rio completely different from that toward me?"
"Of course!"
May and Leon's exchange has not changed since long ago.
"I'm sorry, I can't understand your conversation since ...... a few minutes ago?"
Father raised his hand with a flabbergasted expression on his face.
Like a student asking a teacher a question.
"Ah. Yes, that's right. I suppose I have to explain it to you guys."
Leon turned to me as if to confirm, so I nodded and asked Marie, who was waiting at my side, to prepare tea and refreshments.
I'm sure it will be a long story. ......
I started narrating to my family about how Leon, myself and May were the gods of creation, how we had lost our memories, how we had an accident while returning from the time line before we went back in time and how our memories came back to us.
And by the time I had finished telling my story, the sun had completely set.
"I thought I wouldn't be surprised by anything now," Father said, "but the story just seems too grand to possibly follow."
And his head had fallen into his hands.
"Well, honey, I'm surprised that both of our daughters were gods."
"Oh, my, oh my,' said Mother demurely.
"But that does not change the fact that you are both my little sisters."
I was momentarily relieved to see that my brother was the same as before, but upon closer inspection, I noticed that the teacup in his hand was shaking a little. He was actually upset.
"Big brother is right, both May and I are living as human beings now. I want you to treat us the same way you've always treated us. Is that too much to ask?"
Until I met the gods, my parents would have laughed at my outlandish story, saying, "What kind of a pipe dream is this?
But now that I have met the gods, I know that May is the god of creation.
And to hear that I was also the god of creation, my parents probably felt as if they had just heard a bolt out of the blue.
"Why should it be too much to ask? Rio is our precious daughter! I don't care if she is a god!"
"That's right. I have told you before that you three are our precious treasures. Even if you were demons in your previous lives, I would still love you."
The warmth of my parents' words made my eyes burn.
"Father...... and mother......, I love our family too."
For a while, the five of us hugged each other.
"But before returning to our time, Her Royal Highness the Princess looked cool. The way she condemned Campbell's Barony was truly remarkable."
Father laughed heartily.
"My brother is quite good, too. Lately, I've been neglecting him a lot. I guess he's still the prime minister even if he's a rotten one."
Mother is as harsh as ever toward my uncle.
"He deserved to die when he betrayed Rio in the first place."
Smiling darkly, big brother was quite angry at the Crown Prince's behavior, which had recently been caused by Charlotte's skill.
"Ah! I've just remembered that I'd like to meet my uncle one of these days. Is it too difficult because he is very busy?"
"I'll send a letter to my brother-in-law. What? If Rio wants to see him, he will fly in tomorrow."
Father makes it sound so easy, but my uncle is the prime minister.
He must be busy with his daily work, and tomorrow would be impossible.
Or so I thought.
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TL: Oooh~ I can feel the final epic climax coming! But I hope you enjoyed and happy reading~!