Medea's heartfelt warning allowed Leo's taut nerves to relax somewhat.
He could feel that the other party truly understood and accepted his admittedly absurd "curse."
This feeling of being trusted allowed his heart, which had been suspended all this time, to settle back into place.
However, as the undoubtedly "wise character" in this Holy Grail War, the great magus of the Kaminashiro clan would not merely stop at the level of emotional sympathy.
After a brief silence, her sharp, blade-like thinking quickly cut to the core of the problem.
"Master," she raised her eyelids again, rational light flickering in her violet eyes, "I have another question. If your... 'demonic appearance,' the transmission route of its charm curse, truly has such a broad range, even affecting paintings and reflections..."
She paused, asking word by word: "Then, before you became aware of all this and decided to isolate yourself with the helmet, logically speaking, you should have already attracted quite a number of opposite-sex targets, and even... created a large number of victims, haven't you?"
This question was like a sharp icicle, precisely piercing the deepest, most untouchable wound in Leo's heart.
The air in the room seemed to freeze instantly.
Leo's helmeted head slowly, heavily lowered.
His hands resting on his knees unconsciously clenched into fists.
"...Yes."
A sigh that seemed squeezed from the depths of his chest, carrying endless bitterness, broke the suffocating silence.
"You're right, Caster."
He laughed bitterly, admitting to the fact he had always tried to forget, yet relived every night in nightmares.
"When I still didn't understand the terrifying side effects of this ability, naively thinking it was merely 'easy to be welcomed by the opposite sex,' I indeed... attended school in a neighboring city for a while without any concealment whatsoever."
His voice was soft, as if telling a distant story, but every word carried a bloody undertone.
"The result... was predictable."
"Things quickly escalated into a literal, fierce female competition centered around me."
"It started with girls isolating, excluding, and spreading malicious rumors about each other, then developed into physical conflicts, and then... things completely spiraled out of control."
Leo's body trembled slightly, and even through the thick combat suit and helmet, Medea could sense the tremor of his soul at this moment.
"Until... until there was the first time... the first time a group of girls driven mad by my ability, in order to compete for me, took a high-beauty JK that I had decided to try dating... and dismembered her on the spot."
"..."
Medea's breathing stopped.
Her beautiful eyes widened slightly in shock.
She had imagined many possibilities, but never thought the truth would be so bloody and cruel.
"That was the first time... I truly understood that what I possess is not 'charm,' but a curse that devours others' rationality and induces the darkest aspects of human nature."
"I'm not a heartthrob, I'm a mobile disaster."
Leo's voice was filled with uncontrollable remorse and self-blame, "I didn't even have time to call the police before fleeing that city the same night..."
"From that day until now, I haven't dared to remove this helmet in front of any woman for a single day."
Finishing, he took a long, long sigh, as if trying to expel all the air from his lungs.
"I really regret it... if I had discovered it earlier, if I hadn't been so slow..."
His voice grew quieter and quieter, eventually fading into silence.
In the room, the oil lamp's flame quietly flickered, casting the shadows of two silent figures on the ancient walls.
Watching the man before her sink into deep self-blame, Medea's heartstrings were quietly plucked by something.
She thought of herself, thought of that version of her who, for a man's love, did not hesitate to betray her homeland and kill her own brother with her own hands.
That feeling of being controlled by inhuman power, of committing heinous crimes against one's will—she understood it better than anyone.
Those girls, and her from the past, were so similar.
Yet the man before her was sighing for the fate of those "perpetrators."
"So..." Medea spoke softly, breaking the silence, "the wish you're making in the Holy Grail War is not just for yourself?"
Leo slowly raised his head, looking at Medea through the V3 helmet's visor.
"I hope... that after the Holy Grail's wish eliminates this face of mine, comparable to being cursed by the god of love, it can also completely remove the charmed state from all the girls in this world who have been affected by my charm."
His tone was incredibly firm, "I want to let them return to normal, back to the life trajectory that originally belonged to them. Rather than continuing to sink into this madness and lust that doesn't belong to their own will—because that's not love at all, it's just a curse."
Finishing, he seemed to think of something and laughed at himself somewhat embarrassedly: "Haha... but now that I think about it, doesn't it seem a bit too greedy? This doesn't sound like one wish, but two wishes... am I being a bit too much?"
His self-mockery made Medea's heart suddenly clench.
She looked at him, emotions churning in her violet eyes.
There was pity, understanding, resonance, and something else... something she herself couldn't quite articulate.
She was silent for a moment, as if making a difficult decision.
Finally, she looked directly into Leo's eyes and asked the ultimate question.
"Master, if... I mean if, the all-powerful wish-granting machine could only choose one of these two wishes of yours to fulfill..."
"That is, 'lifting the demonic curse on your appearance,' or 'eliminating the charmed state of all women in this world affected by your charm'..."
"Which one would you choose?"
This question was like a precise surgical scalpel, cutting through all pretense and excuses, reaching the deepest part of Leo's soul.
Should he choose to free himself, finally escape this curse-like prison, and be reborn?
Or should he choose to save others, while continuing to bear this heavy cross himself, walking alone?
Leo didn't answer immediately.
He seemed to be genuinely considering this possibility. The room was so quiet you could hear each other breathing.
After about half a minute, he slowly, yet with extraordinary clarity, gave his answer.
"...I choose the latter."
"Why?" Medea pressed.
"Because..."
Leo raised his head, and through the visor, his gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, seeing those girls driven mad because of him, "the former, my own problem, as long as I keep wearing this helmet, as long as I'm careful enough, is always controllable."
"Even if this fails, there will always be opportunities in the future to find a way to eliminate it."
"But the latter... those victimized girls, their lives cannot wait."
"If I can't help them return to normal in time, their lives... will truly be completely ruined by me."
His words fell with weight.
Medea stared at him in a daze, silent for a long time.
The lamplight illuminated her face, casting a warm golden glow on her delicate profile.
The corner of her mouth, at an angle Leo couldn't see, quietly curved into an extremely faint, extremely subtle smile that came from the heart.
She thought that perhaps this time, what she had summoned was a truly genuine... hero.