"Pfft—!"
Hearing Seiya's rather childish words, Erza not only failed to get angry, but laughed through her tears. She strode forward and hugged Seiya's head, pressing it against her chest.
"Seiya, thank you..."
Seiya was not the only one to receive this treatment. Natsu had been thanked this way before as well.
However, when it came to Erza, who was usually clad in armor, Natsu's assessment had been, "So hard!"
But during Erza's earlier battle with the Three Ravens and Ikaruga, the many sets of armor she wore had all been destroyed by Ikaruga's Moonless Style.
Erza was now wearing nothing but bandages wrapped around her chest. Thus, Seiya, whose face had been directly buried in her breasts, could only describe the sensation as big, white, and soft.
Jellal, whose mind had been restored by the purification magic, opened his eyes and immediately saw Erza tightly embracing Seiya.
Freed from Ultear's brainwashing, he now understood just how many terrible things he had done over the years—and how horribly he had treated his former companions.
Like Simon, Jellal had also harbored feelings for Erza.
Yet now that his mind was clear, he understood that forget confessing his feelings—he no longer even had the right to stand before Erza.
Though he had been controlled through brainwashing, everything he had done to Erza, Simon, and the others was an undeniable fact.
Not only had he failed to protect her, he had hurt her time and time again.
Seiya, on the other hand, was the one who had remained at Erza's side all these years and protected her.
With his head pressed against Erza's chest, Seiya looked at the awakened Jellal, who wore an expression that seemed to say, I'm leaving her to you. Seiya instantly realized that this guy had definitely misunderstood something.