The Max Level Hero Strikes Back!

ar worse than anyone else.

The man who took Aeria’s mask off was probably one of the Lyndis Empire’s nobility who despised beastfolks, and this was probably their scheme… Victims of any political fight never met pretty ends.

Davey had instinctively taken action once he saw the deep sadness and shock being reflected in Aeria’s innocent eyes.
He also couldn’t shake off the feeling that it reminded him of a memory, which was about someone he couldn’t quite recall.
And although he knew it was pretentious, he didn’t really object to it.
So what if it was an act or a truly good deed? An injury was different from a disease; a doctor was someone who healed everyone, including their enemies.
For Davey, he would heal his enemies, even those deserving of death, of their disease before ripping them apart afterward.
That was what he had been taught.

‘Unnecessary brown-nosing? Screw that.’

50.
The Relationship Between Salvation and Hypocrisy

Pitter patter!!! Aeria, the Lyndis Empire’s youngest princess who was part fox, quickly ran away.
She didn’t even think about putting her mask back on.
Although she looked thin and fragile, her distinct agility and flexibility as a beastfolk were incomparably superior to humans.

Aeria headed toward the large garden that was behind the banquet hall; it looked more like a forest than a garden.
And since it was empty as well, she had clearly chosen her escape route quite well.

“Sob… Sob… Kyahh!”

She ran, exhibiting the distinctly superior agility of beastfolks.
Unfortunately, she fell helplessly onto the floor after tripping over the front of her skirt.
Perhaps the dress was too bothersome.
Normally, she would’ve quickly gotten up, but she just wept miserably like she didn’t even have the strength to get up.

“It’s all over…”

Aeria never wanted to show it; as a woman, she desperately wanted to avoid showing the hideous features of her current face.
That was also why she kept her mask on even in front of the emperor.
The only person who had seen her face was Baron Gorneo, the Coalition for Disease Control’s council member who said that he would cure her.

Aeria had a dream of some sort; after she was cured, she was going to thank the person who had saved her and get to know them better.
It was kind of funny, but she wanted to befriend the man she had fallen in love with at first sight and wanted to have a serious relationship with him if possible.
She didn’t even care that he could possibly be a commoner, since she wasn’t the type of person who cared too much about that.
The unique coziness she had felt from him made her want to feel it even more.

For a moment, it seemed like her small wish was going to come true; her father, who was against it, softened his cold expression and gave her permission with a sigh.
He said that he would follow her will.
And soon after, a doctor came to her, saying that he could cure her illness.

Everything seemed to be going fine.
If this went on smoothly, Aeria thought that she could maybe forget all the hardships she had gone through and get what she wanted.
She wanted to be like the small number of royalty or nobility who married out of love.
She wanted to show her skin like normal people and laugh.
She wanted to be buried in the arms of the one she loved and share an innocent kiss.
She wanted to smile as her children grew up…

She thought she could take another step toward her small dream, but it all went wrong from the very beginning: unlike what she had expected, her disease was not cured.

Aeria wanted to get to know the one who had saved her, or maybe just even thank him, but she didn’t have the courage to approach him with her hideous face right now.
The only reason she had attended the banquet was because her father had said that she needed a stronger position in the palace to be able to confidently go and meet him.
She couldn’t do anything if she hid in the palace like a ghost princess, so that was why she had mustered up the courage and had gone to the banquet.

However, since her mask fell off as soon as she turned up, her desire to live had been brutally diminished.

Aeria’s miserable weeping resonated throughout the forest.

‘It would be nice if I could meet him, talk to him, have a meal with him, and have a lively relationship with him.
I wish I could exchange messages of love, and plan for the future, saying that we will be by each other’s sides no matter what.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could say, ‘Cheers!’ with wine glasses in our hands under a bright night sky while we look at each other with smiles and a loving gaze? But…’

“How could that be possible? With this face… With this body!!!!” Aeria wept, almost screaming.
The man who rescued her hadn’t seen her face, but this incident had driven her confidence down into the gutter.
The courage she had tried so hard for was treated like trash and had closed her heart off.

If Goddess Freyja was watching, Aeria wanted to grab her and ask why she had given her such hardship.
Even this thought itself was out of character for her.

“Right… Maybe it would be better if…” Losing any love she had for herself, Aeria eerily stared at the pin she simply pulled out from her pocket.
“If I have to live this miserably, I would rather…”

“Are you going to die?”

A weak but nostalgic fragrance tickled Aeria’s nose; it was the simple scent of dogwood.
Then, hearing a man’s voice, she slowly raised her head with a blank expression.
She even forgot that she hadn’t covered her face with a mask.
She met the gaze of a pair of warm, red eyes that saw her for who she was.

The gaze was completely different from the people who were disgusted by Aeria’s appearance.
She saw the black hair and the red eyes that had been clear in her memory ever since their very brief encounter in the forest.