The Hero Stole My Lover, So I Decided to Steal the Hero's Lover Instead - Chapter 28-29

Chapter 28

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“It’s over.”

Alicia opened the door and spoke to us outside. She had a bright, refreshed expression on her face. I knew the reason behind that look.

“Yeah.”

Sharon nodded and pushed herself off the wall she’d been leaning against.

“To tell the truth, we heard everything you two said.”

“Huh?”

Alicia let out a short gasp and brought her hand to her mouth. Her face turned red.

“Y-You heard it!?”

“Indeed.”

“Luke-san too?”

“Ah, well, uh… I didn’t mean to listen, but…”

I trailed off awkwardly. I didn’t mean to listen. Of course, that part was a lie.

Sharon had enhanced our hearing with her magic. That was the reason why we could hear the entire conversation so clearly. Otherwise, we might have only caught bits and pieces, if that. The walls of this house weren’t thin enough to let us hear everything word for word without magical assistance.

“How embarrassing…”

Saying that, Alicia covered her flushed face with her hands and retreated back into the house. Sharon and I followed her inside.

Sitting in chairs and sipping tea once more, we organized the contents of the conversation Alicia had just had with Cain via the communication crystal.

“Alicia. You broke up with Cain. Is that how I should take it?” S

haron asked.

“That’s how I see it… But I don’t know what Cain-san thinks…”

“Cain sounded all clingy, begging, ‘Wait-,’ after all.”

Sharon recalled Cain’s desperate voice saying “Wait-” and lifted the corners of her mouth. It was more demonic than anything you’d expect from a Demon King—truly sadistic.

“Right… Strictly speaking, the call ended before Cain-san agreed to break up with me…”

“But you intended to break up with him.”

“Yes, but… If both people don’t agree, then you can’t really say it’s a ‘breakup,’ right…?”

Alicia looked a little sad, her expression clouded. Dating someone you didn’t love—while it might not rise to the level of torment—was certainly not mentally pleasant.

“No, that’s not true. If you needed mutual agreement to break up, then just imagine how many loveless couples would never be able to part.”

Sharon, in theatrical despair, waved her arms in an exaggerated gesture.

“You did everything right, Alicia. You clearly and properly told Cain how you felt—that you wanted to break up. How he takes it is his own problem. As far as I’m concerned, your relationship with him is over. Yep, you’ve broken up. You’re no longer with Cain.”

“Is that so… Yes, you’re right.”

Alicia muttered to herself. Sharon turned to me and gave me a firm thumbs-up. She even threw in a wink for good measure.

“I broke up with Cain-san. I’m not with Cain-san anymore…”

She repeated it several times, as if to convince herself. Deep down, she probably still felt a little guilty. That guilt likely stemmed from the fact that she had been the one to end things unilaterally.

You’re way too nice…

I thought. She could afford to be a little more cunning. …Like Sharon for example, the Demon King with the heart of a devil. My eyes met Sharon’s, and she nodded firmly.

I didn’t know what the nod meant. For a second, I panicked, thinking she might have sensed I was badmouthing her internally—but that wasn’t it.

“Alicia, there’s something I want to show you.”

Saying that, Sharon pulled a crystal orb from her pocket. It was about the same size as the communication crystal—just under fifteen cm. There was no way something that size should fit in her pocket… Maybe she was using some kind of spatial magic?

“What’s that?”

When Alicia asked, Sharon gave her a wicked smile.

“It’s a recording crystal.”

So she said.

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Chapter 29

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“What’s this?”

When Alicia asked, Sharon gave her a wicked smile and said.

“It’s a recording crystal.”

“A recording crystal?”

“Indeed. Just as the name implies, a recording crystal is a crystal imbued with a ‘recording’ function. Like the communication crystal, it’s disposable—and quite expensive, too.”

“You wanted to show this to me to…”

Of course, it wasn’t to show off. Sharon had used this magical tool to record something. And that something was most likely to…

“What I recorded with this… Were Cain’s numerous misdeeds.”

“Cain-san’s misdeeds…”

Alicia couldn’t hide her confusion. It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to doubt people—but perhaps she thought doubting others was a bad thing.

It seemed Alicia had never doubted Cain.

“If we keep dating like this, I don’t think it’ll be good for either of us. If you break up with me, I’m sure you’ll be able to be with someone who truly loves you, Cain-san. But if things stay as they are—if you stay in a relationship with me—you’ll be completely stuck, right?”

Those were the words Alicia had said to Cain just moments ago. She had probably said that because she didn’t know Cain had been playing around so much. I remembered a question Sharon had once asked Alicia.

“The Hero—your boyfriend—isn’t fooling around with other women, is he?”

To that, Alicia had replied,

“But I guess it can’t be helped. It’s okay if it’s just a little bit.”

That was her answer. That her boyfriend Cain—who had never been physically intimate with her—might be off having fun elsewhere was something she felt she couldn’t fault him for. It wasn’t something so strange.

Even so, at the same time, Alicia believed in Cain’s goodness as the Hero who saved the world. She believed he was an upright person, and despite not loving him, she continued dating him, while getting weighed down by a constant sense of guilt.

When she brought up the breakup during the communication crystal call, it was likely because that guilt and sense of wrongdoing had built up like sediment at the bottom of her heart. It took courage to say goodbye to Cain face-to-face. But with the communication crystal, the physical distance between them helped lessen the amount of courage needed.

Of course, that was just my guess. I couldn’t truly know what Alicia was feeling when she decided to break up, or how deeply she still trusted Cain. Yes—just a guess.

“Hey. What are you zoning out for?”

Sharon gave me a sharp jab with her elbow.

“Sorry,”

I said, snapping out of it. Sharon’s gaze had already moved on from me. She was staring intently at Alicia.

“Alicia, just a little while ago, I told you: ‘It’d be very bad if our faces were caught on camera,’ and, ‘Also, don’t mention our names—or rather, don’t talk about us at all,’ remember? Do you recall that?”

“…Huh? Ah… Yes.”

Alicia still seemed stunned—shaken by the word ‘misdeeds.’

“Why did you say that?”

“Well, that’s because—”

With a wicked grin, Sharon smacked me hard on the back.

“—Because the bastard who stole this guy’s girlfriend is none other than the Hero himself, Cain!”

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