Chapter 391

Chapter 126 – Unprovoked Kindness

“I am grateful for the light you gave me at that time, which helped restore my vigor significantly.”

At the words of the Heart Tree, Ash looked at her as if he could not comprehend her ghostly talk.

“She probably means when you threw the Darkness Evolver back there.” Kain quietly reminded him, reappearing once again to his side. “Ha?”

[The Dark Mephistopheles absorbs the light from Nigitsu.] The system came out to explain, pretending to be dead before. [She probably means the light you absorbed from them before.]

“…”

Ash was dumbfounded instantly. What did she mean by light?

Wait, wasn’t that thing already broken down to just a plastic shell? Where did the light come from? He had no idea.

“Furthermore, didn’t you just defeat the interdimensional monster trying to attack you?”

Seeing the Heart Tree’s kind smile without any ill intentions, Ash turned his face away uncomfortably.

“Because of… all this…” Ash’s lips, shriveled and dry, whispered words of disbelief.

It was clear I had no intention of helping you.

“In truth, the first time I saw you…” The Heart Tree was silent for a moment, then gently placed its green-glowing palm on Ash’s back. “Back then, your heart was completely dark. I truly considered you a new enemy, but…”

As the aggregation of human hearts in this world, the Heart Tree sensed emotions with great sensitivity, seeing deeper truths.

“Heart Flower.”

Simple words that made Ash, who had been confused and annoyed since the beginning, forget about other emotions as the shock remained in his heart.

“A wilting Nirai flower, withering yet not fully fading, on an empty, lonely sand desert.” Heart Tree, resembling CureFlower, expressed an extremely empathetic sadness. “How could one not want to help upon seeing such a sad Heart Flower?”

At that moment, the first emotion rising in Ash’s heart was anger. It felt like someone discovered a boy’s long-hidden secret under the bed and exposed it. Naturally, he was angry.

But before he could express this anger, the next words from the tree stunned him into silence, leaving no room for blame.

“Then, I saw your life constantly being consumed. In that case, even if those children could assist you, your body would wither before your Heart Flower bloomed.”

“After realizing this, and before judging your actions, from our first meeting, when you wore the ring, and now, I’ve only been thinking about how to help you.”

“!”

Ash remembered. During his encounter with Dark Cure, despite showing signs of fatigue, he stood up immediately. Wearing the ring brought immense comfort, and now… he could feel his body recovering at an unreasonable speed!

His life seemingly squandered yet still able to stand wasn’t due to some deceit or bluff; it was because the Heart Tree secretly infused him with vitality, aiding him!

“This…” Even Ash couldn’t help but open his mouth in astonishment, speechless.

He had experienced countless unprovoked malice!

But, unprovoked kindness? Even kindness offered by the entire world?

“Why…?”

Facing Ash’s eyes filled with confusion and doubt, the Heart Tree pressed a finger lightly against the soft chin and, after some thought, answered through a慈爱的微笑慈爱的微笑慈爱的微笑.

“Isn’t helping others reason enough?”

The gentle wind blew past, rustling the Heart Tree’s shoulder-length pink hair.

“Peng!!”

A clenched fist pounded forcefully on the ground!

But it wasn’t enough; again and again, until the ground cracked like a spider web, and his fists were stained with his blood. Terrifyingly silent, Ash continued to strike.

“Ash—Ash, what are you doing? Stop immediately!”

Heart Tree hurriedly intervened, seeing Ash’s face full of indescribable anguish.

“How can this be… All I’ve done has now led to this…?”

Ash had always been self-centered, content as long as he was happy.

Yet, that doesn’t mean he could watch evil unchecked or revel in ugliness.

Playing his “harmful games” without guilt while accepting kindness, obviously wasn’t acceptable to Ash.

Even he had his dignity!

Ash couldn’t put into words how he felt at the moment.

“What a joke! A damn joke!”

“Ash, stop it, you’re only hurting yourself!”

Just as Ash teetered on the brink of breaking down, Lily stood before the Heart Tree’s core, talking with Kuron.

“Thanks to everyone’s constant battles, we collected numerous Heart Seeds, causing the future Heart Tree to gradually regain extraordinary vitality under light’s influence.”

“I was given a chance to revive, using my old self to communicate with you.”

Kuron, with both present and future memories, calmly explained to holding Lily.

“Since my soul returned to the Heart Tree, I’ve observed you.”

“Seeing that you, once so stubborn, gradually opened up to others, nothing could be more joyful to me.”

Having concluded her explanation, Kuron received no immediate response from Lily. Instead, he gave her a simple embrace, feeling her tears falling onto his head.

“Being able to hold you again feels wonderful…”

“Kuron, I was a real fool.”

Recalling when Kuron asked her before why she sought other Pretty Cures, and she replied that she didn’t need companions, thinking that CureFlower could defeat Doon alone, and she could too.

“You had warned me back then, mentioning that there were more threats with the return of Doctor Shabak and Dark Cure.”

“And yet, I arrogantly claimed that I alone could defeat Pretty Cures and wouldn’t lose to anyone, only to fail…”

Thinking of this decision countless times that brought regret, Lily shed tears. “It was all due to my blind faith in my strength back then…”

This constant gnawing thought also led her to sign a contract with a demon, attempting to change the past.

“Kuron, you must now know the future as well; becoming partners with me would end in such a way eventually, so… Don’t continue to partner with me…”

Despite knowing time cannot be changed, Lily still said these painful words.