Chapter 51

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Rabbit and the Burning Mountain
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Diello looked surprised.

And so did the servants trapped in the fire.

For a moment, my eyes met with a maid whose eyes were welling with tears.

Without thinking, I stepped into the middle of the still-roaring flames.

It felt like I had to.

“Are you planning to burn down all of Argenta?”

The aura of water flowing through my body blocked his fire.

A brutal sound of power clashing against power echoed.

“…!”

Diello’s magic was certainly strong. As the power of a family head, no matter how advantageous water was against fire, there was a limit to how much I could suppress his strength.

Was that why?

A blue flame that had flickered onto my clothes began to eat away at the hem.

Just as I gritted my teeth.

“…Croire?”

His eyes widened in surprise as he called my name.

*Clang!*

The sword in his hand fell to the floor.

With that, the flames that had enveloped the area vanished as if they had never been there.

The same went for the flames that had been swaying as if to devour the servants.

Only the heat remained.

And before I could even get a good look, Diello pulled me into an embrace.

The skin against my exposed flesh, his ragged breath—everything about him was hot.

“Are you alright?”

Diello asked urgently.

“Yes, Sir Nias said there was no problem.”

Of course, I couldn’t help the hoarseness in my voice.

But did that voice provoke Diello?

Diello’s arms, holding me, tightened.

“I was trying to find out who did this to you, Croire.”

It seemed so.

But this wasn’t Diello’s way.

[An emotional outburst brings out the true nature of the one who has lost control.]

But that’s what was written in the original novel.

This is Diello’s true nature?

This unbelievably brutal atmosphere?

His lingering heat enveloped me.

“I was truly, worried.”

Not an act, but genuine concern.

Just as my eyes widened at his voice, so quiet only I could hear it, he spoke.

I heard his true voice.

“I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Then, as if he didn’t care about the trembling servants, he lifted me into his arms.

“Diello!”

I flinched in surprise, but Diello just gave a faint smile.

A strange light still lingered in his blue eyes.

“Let’s go rest.”

* * *

“Are you really alright, Croire? What happened?”

As he asked this on the way to the bedroom, Diello seemed to have calmed down a little.

If he seemed somewhat breathless before, now he appeared almost serene.

But his eyes still held a faint glow.

Which meant he was still in a state of emotional outburst.

“Nias definitely said…”

…that Croire was in danger.

His voice trembled as he spoke.

I patted his shoulder to calm him down.

Diello carefully laid me on the bed and stood beside it, his gaze fixed on me.

If not for the soft glow in his eyes, he looked so composed it was hard to believe he was in the midst of an emotional outburst.

“Well, it seemed to be the type of poison that spreads through the blood.”

Though most poisons are like that.

Diello gave a slight nod at my words.

“Yes, that’s why he said it was so dangerous.”

I smiled confidently at Diello’s words.

“But blood is a liquid, after all.”

The Alloje magic sparkled in my hand.

“A liquid under the control of Alloje.”

Diello’s eyes widened.

“Ah…”

He finally let out a deep sigh, as if in relief.

“To be able to single out and expel only the harmful substances from the blood, even if it is a liquid…”

He sank onto the soft bed.

And after rubbing his face with his hands, he murmured.

“It’s a coveted ability.”

When he lowered his hands, a strained smile was on his face.

“The problem is, I won’t be the only one who covets it.”

Diello’s voice echoed in the bedroom.

I froze.

“…What?”

Diello’s strangely glowing gaze turned back to me.

His expression looked complicated, but it was clear he was worried about me.

Ah, he’s like this because of the emotional outburst.

Diello, with his true nature revealed, was a bit more… bold with his expressions.

Just then, Diello sighed.

“I wish you were truly my Pero.”

His voice was thick with regret.

They say one rarely lies during an outburst, so it must be his true feeling.

As if to prove it, his gaze held me, thick and binding.

As if he truly didn’t want to let me go from this place.

I looked at him for a moment before speaking.

“…Don’t get too attached to me, Diello.”

I felt I had to make this clear.

Diello immediately shot back a question.

“Why? Because you have to leave soon?”

It was a smooth reply, as if he’d considered the answer to my question many times before.

I gave him a slight nod.

“…Getting attached to someone who has to leave soon is just heartbreaking.”

Of course, I knew I was already past that point myself.

The way his eyelashes trembled, the way I worried about how he would react—our business relationship was already a failure.

But still, I had to draw the line.

Because that was the best way for both of us.

Diello will have his Pero eventually, and it would be troublesome for me to be between the two people who are meant to share true love.

The longer it takes for the Pero to grow attached to Diello, the longer it will take for Diello to bloom.

“…”

Diello stared at me for a long time.

His eyes blinked slowly.

Then, in a gentle voice, he began to speak.

“When I was young, I once caught a rabbit.”

It was a random story about a rabbit.

But as he told the story, his gaze had a power that held you captive.

“Back then, my body was weak, so I couldn’t move quickly.”

Diello continued, slowly clenching and unclenching his hand.

“Just when I thought I had it, I’d lose it.”

His slightly furrowed brow was unfamiliar.

“The rabbit seemed like it was about to be caught, but it kept slipping through my fingers by a hair’s breadth. It was driving me crazy.”

He looked back at me.

Without blinking, his glittering eyes fixed on me as he spoke.

“I thought about giving up, but I felt I would regret it if I did.”

He smiled beautifully.

“So I burned down the mountain with my flames.”

So the rabbit would be startled and leap into my arms.

My eyes widened at his words.

I wasn’t so dense that I couldn’t understand what he meant.

His eyes, which had always been like a shallow lake, suddenly seemed like the deep sea.

I remembered something we had talked about once.

When I had told him his eyes were pretty.

‘The light blue color is pretty, like the sea.’

I think he had replied like this.

‘That’s true for seas that aren’t the abyss.’

I had let the comment pass without much thought at the time.

What did he mean by that?

Did he mean the deep sea is dark?

Or that the deep sea isn’t so beautiful?

As I looked into his eyes, which seemed to have turned pitch-black, Diello continued gently.

“But.”

He leaned his body over me as I lay on the bed.

The lights in the room, maintained by his power, dimmed as if they’d been extinguished.

In the faint light, just enough to make out each other’s faces, he whispered.

“Just like back then, I feel like playing with fire again.”

I knew.

The heat radiating from him wasn’t that of Argenta.

It was his alone.

His desire.

The heat made my mouth feel parched.

.

The original story of this book. The novel where only madmen appeared.

Was Diello Argenta also a character from that crazy novel?

Or was he just like this because of the emotional outburst?

“What should I do, Croire?”

As he asked, Diello’s eyes held a beautiful smile.

Amidst his gentle gaze, the bewitching light didn’t subside but instead grew even deeper.

Good heavens.

Still, seeing as he wasn’t resorting to bloodshed or confinement, I suppose I should consider this the mild version.

…No, wait, have I already seen blood?

I thought of the sword that had been in his hand.

Whether it was because of the outburst or not, there was clearly a side to Diello I didn’t know.

“…”

I knew Diello didn’t want to part with me.

I wanted to pretend I didn’t understand his feelings and gloss over it, but I couldn’t.

He was basically saying he’d set a fire if I did.

That he wanted me to leap into his arms like the rabbit. That he would never let me go.

For now, I had no choice but to somehow soothe this man.

*Thump, thump, thump.*

It felt like I could hear my own heart pounding.

I was that nervous, but I tried my best to stay calm.

“Playing with fire is all well and good.”

I placed my index finger over his lips.

“Don’t forget our purpose.”

Diello’s eyes narrowed at my words.

“We have to defeat Duke Alloje.”

Diello didn’t deny it, which meant he hadn’t lost his reason completely.

I spoke to him slowly and clearly.

“You can’t die while chasing a rabbit, can you?”

This wasn’t a relationship we started just to catch a rabbit, either.

At my words, Diello stared at me for a long moment. Then he slowly opened his mouth.

As if deliberately trying to provoke me, his lips brushed against the soft flesh on the inside of my finger.

All the while, he watched me without blinking.

A strange sensation spread from my fingertip, and I trembled.

“You mean, we should eliminate Duke Alloje and those who targeted you, Croire.”

His hot breath scattered right in front of me.

I slowly nodded.

“Yes.”

We have to survive to do anything, right?

Diello fell silent for a moment at my words.

Then, just as quickly, he smiled a soft, gentle smile.

It was the smile I knew.

But his eyes still held a faint blue glow. He was still in his outburst.

“I understand.”

And yet, his voice in reply was nothing but docile.

Like a tamed sheep.