Chapter 76

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: A Delicate Touch
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I couldn't tell if I'd flinched at his words or at his touch.

His hand, which had been massaging my shoulder blades in a circular motion, slid down my back.

“If you had told me you were in pain, I would not have turned a blind eye.”

Between his words and his heat, I couldn't properly surrender to either.

Was it because he needed to release the knotted mana?

Just as the searing heat spreading from his hand was about to steal my senses, his voice, which seemed to echo in my head, would pour over me.

And while I was trying to process it, he would touch another sensitive spot.

A place where mana had knotted.

“……!”

And as if he knew I would flinch, he would thoroughly work out the area around it in gentle circles.

A soft moan escaped me each time his firm fingertips touched a knotted spot.

“Pardon me for a moment, Croire.”

Before I knew it, my languid body was trapped between his knees.

The moment I thought I could see his shadow even in the dim light.

“Ah……!”

His fingertips rubbed firmly against my back.

His hand, tracing the muscles down my back, sent a thrilling sensation through my entire body.

He seemed to be someone who knew exactly how every muscle was connected.

Otherwise, such a meticulous massage would be impossible.

No, more than anything.

“Are your eyes… truly covered?”

How can he do this… while blindfolded?

Since he was behind me, I couldn't look up at him.

I heard Diello's low chuckle.

He didn't seem to be laughing right next to me, yet it felt as hot as if his breath had touched my skin.

Every time I felt a sensation that wasn't from his touch or my own movements.

It took me a long while to realize it was the brush of his clothes.

But perhaps because I couldn't see, it felt as though every sense in my body had awakened and was reaching for him.

My exhaled breath was sweet.

“If you're anxious, shall I bring you a mirror?”

With that, Diello moved off me.

When I turned, he was feeling the furniture around him.

“Ah.”

Then, as if he'd pinpointed his location, he quickly retrieved a mirror and placed it in front of me.

“Can you see, like this?”

I adjusted the mirror's angle slightly.

His face came into clear view.

The man dominating the space above my back, his eyes completely covered by a pitch-black cloth.

And my own flushed face, looking up at him.

“……Ah. Um.”

I instinctively covered my face.

Good heavens.

When I fanned myself with my hand, Diello seemed to feel the breeze and smiled.

“Are you hot?”

“A little…….”

Are massages normally this hot?

Of course, there was some heat when the maids gave me massages, but never to this extent.

This felt completely different.

“It needs to be warm for the muscles to loosen up properly.”

Saying so, he opened his hand.

*Fwoosh.*

A red light bloomed from his hand, enveloping us.

The air around us grew cooler than before.

“How is this?”

It was definitely cooler. But.

“…….”

My face was growing even redder.

And for good reason. Lowering the temperature only made it more apparent.

That my cheeks were flushed not because of the Argenta's heat, but because of something else.

And that the area around his touch felt even hotter.

But I had no time to dwell on it.

Diello's delicate fingertips were on my body again.

“You're very tense. Your muscles, yes, but your mana….”

Diello's hand moved up to my arm.

A soft yet firm motion swept down my arm.

“It seems the original Croire never used such powerful mana. Is that right?”

I nodded unconsciously at his words.

Of course. The Croire before my transmigration wouldn't have been able to use this kind of power.

“Then you must have pushed yourself for the sake of Argenta.”

Diello said, his voice full of sympathy. His touch grew even gentler.

“Ah…….”

Perhaps because of the fatigue and the massage, I felt like my body was melting.

But something amidst the exhaustion kept me from falling asleep.

It was a strange sensation that had been lingering at the nape of my neck.

I could see the lips of the blindfolded Diello curve into a smile.

“Are you comfortable?”

he asked.

“Yes…….”

Who wouldn't melt like this, relaxing in a warm place?

Diello leaned over me slightly and whispered.

“Then you can fall asleep, Croire.”

And he placed a light kiss on the back of my exposed neck.

“……!”

And in that moment, I let out a short breath.

The strange, coiled sensation at the nape of my neck flowed through my entire body.

My fingertips unconsciously scratched at the bedsheets.

My mind snapped wide awake.

“Diello.”

As I exhaled sharply, Diello laughed.

“I'm sorry.”

*Sorry for what?* Before I could ask, his soft words continued.

“I won't tease you any more than this.”

*Tease me?* I didn't have a chance to ask that either.

*Chu.*

From the moment his lips touched the back of my neck, it felt like something inside me, something I had been barely holding back, had been released.

A different feeling surged up from all the places he had massaged until now.

It was clearly just a touch meant to loosen knots.

Just as he'd said, he was moving within a range that was ‘not disrespectful,’ so that I wouldn't have to draw my dagger.

“Ah.”

But I couldn't stop the occasional hot breath from escaping.

“You can fall asleep.”

His words felt mischievous as every nerve in my body became keenly sensitive.

And each time he touched me, the sensation built up bit by bit throughout my body, bringing a rough wave crashing inside my head.

That wave covered me in a strange heat and humidity.

“……!”

Unable to bear looking in the mirror, I lowered my gaze, and I thought I heard Diello's low chuckle again.

That's why I couldn't fall asleep even after he finished the massage.

Instead, I just buried my face and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.

“…….”

Only after he covered me, still pretending to be asleep, with a blanket did I slightly open my eyes.

*Tok.*

Diello had his back to me and was untying the black cloth.

Before the ambient light, which had been faintly maintained by his power, completely went out.

I clearly saw that his cheeks were flushed red, too.

***

*Click.*

After leaving Croire's bedroom, Diello leaned against the wall.

*It's so hot, I feel like I'm suffocating.*

It was a thought unbecoming of an Argenta.

But it was the only thought he could muster.

If he just acted on his instincts, this suffocating frustration would surely vanish.

“I had been greedy.”

I was confident I could tempt her.

*‘Would you please grant me permission?’*

The way she looked at him when he'd asked. And.

*‘If, perhaps, I commit an unforgivable discourtesy even in a dream….’*

He recalled how she had put away the dagger, as if to say such a thing would never happen.

Her unwavering gaze, which seemed to say, *I know you would not treat me carelessly.*

*‘Stay with me like this.’*

Had that night, so desperate for him, truly been forgotten like a dream by her?

From the moment he entered the room with the scented oil, he had to struggle to calm his wildly beating heart.

He was afraid of what he would do if she demanded he answer for the sin of greedily taking her breath without permission, if she looked at him with eyes full of betrayal.

On the other hand, he'd had a wretched hope.

That perhaps she had tacitly consented to that night.

But she, either mercifully or cruelly, had forgotten everything.

Just as he, who had worried she might not forgive him, had wished, it seemed that night was nothing more than a dream to her.

“…….”

He felt as if he had trapped himself in a small space.

A flame devours whatever is near it, but Diello couldn't bring himself to consume the one fragile woman before him, even if it meant burning himself instead.

*‘Diello?’*

Because he felt that voice, which had called his name with such puzzlement, would become filled with betrayal or disappointment.

And he didn't think he could bear that.

He felt as if he himself would crumble.

*Thump.*

He struck the innocent wall. His fingertips, which had suppressed his desire, and his mind were both blank.

Only after standing in the cool air for a long while could he leave.

Not to where Croire slept, but to his office.

It seemed he wouldn't be able to go in today.