At that moment, Aiyi finally understood.
She understood what the emotions surging within her at this very moment truly were.
During this time, Aiyi had naturally noticed that she cared more and more about Shien.
At the beginning, it had probably been because of that dream that had embarrassed her so terribly, hadn't it?
After that, Shien's place in her heart seemed to have grown increasingly important.
If not for that, she would not have felt so furious when he was bullied.
If not for that, she would not have felt so unhappy when he became engaged to the Kingdom's Treasure.
Aiyi had always thought it was because she particularly liked this exceptionally special Hero and regarded him as one of her own that she felt such emotions.
Only at this moment did Aiyi realize that she felt that way for more than just that reason.
Without realizing it, she had already come to see this person as hers alone.
Could this be...
"Love?"
In a daze, a memory awakened in Aiyi's mind.
It was something that had happened a very, very long time ago.
At the time, she had only been born into this world not long before.
It was also then that humans gradually multiplied across the land and entered Aiyi's still-limited field of view.
Aiyi had heard that they were lifeforms the God Race had created in imitation of Heroes, meant to help the God Race fight the demons.
Perhaps out of wariness or concern, Aiyi had observed that race.
Back then, she had seen all sorts of relationships between humans.
Some were utterly disgraceful, some were painfully realistic, some were deeply hypocritical, and some were infuriating. Yet some also left Aiyi extremely puzzled.
For example, there were powerful men who would not hesitate to go to