Chapter 26 - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

“The truth you asked me to tell you—that is all.”

Ruwellin said as he brushed my hair aside.

While we were talking, I could feel his body heating up again.

The hand that touched me, the body pressed against mine—they radiated warmth, hot and feverish.

I pressed myself tightly against him and tried to absorb his mana.

Only by steadily absorbing it little by little could I prevent a disaster.

No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t seem right to do this again without resolving things properly.

Ruwellin looked down at me silently as I clung to him like a cicada, wrapping my arms tightly around him.

A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

He seemed pleased that I was acting this way.

“Your earnest efforts are cute, Rosnia.”

“......”

“But it seems like that alone won’t be enough.”

There goes those wicked lips again!

I glared at him and spoke in a tone of feigned reproach.

“Let’s sort things out first. So, you’ve been in unrequited love with me for over eight years, and......”

Saying it out loud made it sound even stranger.

I had only ever thought of Ruwellin Rashiane as the male protagonist—a reaper who might someday plant a death flag in me.

But he had liked me.

In a place I didn’t know, without me—the person in question—even realizing it.

......I suppose I couldn’t help feeling a little creeped out.

I couldn’t simply feel pure joy, thinking, ‘Wow, the man I fell for turns out to have been pining for me!’

No matter how I thought about it, his feelings seemed...... closer to a rather morbid obsession.

“......And you came all the way here to see me. Not to...... use me.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Ruwellin answered without a moment’s hesitation.

His emerald eyes, looking straight at me, were quite honest.

His eyes were still crazy, but......

It was strange how they could be sincere and yet flash with madness at the same time.

Strange and frightening.

Even now, the way he stared at me held an obsession and desire so raw it made my heart tremble.

How long would this man look at me with such eyes?

“I met someone in the garden at dawn.”

“Yes.”

“It was a pretty young boy with blond hair tied back. He wore a sword at his waist. And magic didn’t work on him.”

“......”

“That boy said I’m Adrian’s weakness, so someone would come to take me away. Something along those lines. I thought that someone was you. After all, the only person who could take me away from this villa is you.”

Ruwellin narrowed his eyes slightly and let out a low sigh.

Then, with a complicated expression and a somewhat troubled air, he spoke.

“That child is Alex.”

“I knew it! So he is one of your subordinates?”

“Don’t misunderstand. Alex is my subordinate, but I didn’t summon him to this villa. And what he said to you isn’t true either. Is your lie-detection magic still working properly?”

At his final question, I flinched involuntarily.

It might have been justified for me to use lie-detection magic to test him, so why did I feel so deflated?

This man, who had eerily seen through the magic I secretly used, was frightening, and his true intentions—so dark I couldn’t even begin to fathom them—were also frightening.

I clearly liked him, yet I kept feeling a conflicting urge to run away. Maybe that was why.

‘Like a herbivore instinctively fleeing from a predator.’

This man was an unmistakable predator.

And I had a strange feeling that no matter how hard I tried, I would always be in the palm of his hand.

“......I’ve deactivated the lie-detection magic now. I already confirmed your words were true earlier, so......”

“I see. That is a useful spell.”

“Anyway, so that kid Alex misunderstood your purpose? Is that what I’m to understand?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Alex misunderstood. My purpose has always been the same. I want to reach you. I want to win your heart.”

Ruwellin whispered as he leaned his head close to mine.

Thinking he was about to kiss me again, I leaned my upper body back.

Then, a look of incredulity crossed Ruwellin’s face.

“You certainly know how to torment me.”

“I can’t help it. I feel like running away without meaning to......”

“Why do you want to run away?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say, ‘Because you scare me a little.’

It felt like saying that would cross a river from which there was no return.

“Anyway, the misunderstanding is cleared up. I understand your situation now, so let’s talk about what to do from here. Adrian will be back soon.”

Ruwellin stared intently at me as I avoided his gaze and made excuses.

It was so burdensome and made my heart shrink that I just stared at the empty air.

The gaze touching my skin was hot.

So a person’s gaze could be hot.

That was a new revelation.