Chapter 86
The promenade was covered with a thin white sheet from the light snowfall. The evergreen trees swayed in the light breeze. Meanwhile, Ian stood blankly as if he had forgotten to even blink.
“Ian?”
Laritte asked, a slight frown forming on her features. His golden eyes followed as she waved her palm in front of him.
He seemed to be alive at least……
Laritte lifted her face again. Placing her head in a similar position as before with Ian hunched over her, she kissed him lightly again. Ian, who had been frozen until then, shifted again. Thanks to her exhaled breath.
“Laritte, stop. Stop it.”
The fact that she was still sick woke him up. It was time for him to return to reality. He himself shouldn’t be around Laritte for long. ‘When Laritte recovers, I must return to the Capital.’
“I think I like Ian…..,” Laritte’s words rang through his head, but that wasn’t it. It didn’t help that he liked her and she liked him. He needed to leave.
He turned to the side other than Laritte. He gave his coat to her, but he wasn’t cold at all. Rather, the two kisses one after the other made him feel like he was in flames.
“The coat that I gave….. you can throw it away or burn it. That’s it.”
He took a step forward as Laritte watched. Crossing her arms and holding his coat in place, she opened her mouth. “Are you going to leave again?”
“……”
No answer.
Laritte shrugged and stroked her hair. She had a good way to stop him, “I haven’t seen any signs of you for a few dozen minutes here. Only the pile of snow gave testimony that no one was nearby. But when I accidentally fell, you showed up.”
She had simply let him go when he left a few months ago. Maybe it was because he hated her, she thought initially. But there was no way that happened. And thanks to Seta’s advice, she knew the reason now.
“If you leave like this, I won’t move a single step from here. It’s no use sending someone else.”
Ian stopped. He had expected such a situation. Laritte walked to him, pale hands coming out of the shawl. She then grabbed his shoulder and turned him around as he obliged to show his face.
The winter sun shone over his left cheek. His face, illuminated from behind, looked distressed. Laritte’s eyebrows creased into a slight frown. Seeing that expression made her heart ache. It was an unfamiliar pain. “Don’t force me to take you back to the annex.” Ian pushed her shoulders away.
“You’re acting weird,” Laritte replied calmly. It should have been Laritte, but Ian was the one who was raging.
“You don’t even know why I’m doing this!” He wasn’t blaming her, but he sounded sad.
“Of course. You never told me.”
A nearby tree shook again, snow falling below it.
“That’s..…. I’m sorry,” Ian stepped back, his expression changing. “But please understand, I can’t let you know. For me.” He believed that this would be enough for Laritte as well. Anyway, it was a good result. Her condition was improving considerably. He believed it would be better if he left like this.
“You were supposed to tell me anything.”
“I can’t speak this time.”
“So I found out on my own.”
“What?” To answer, she pulled out the dagger Seta had given her. It was an expensive item made of dragon’s remains. Ian could immediately recognize the dagger, “where did you buy it?” There were several items made from the remains of dragons, but the dagger was new.
“I got it from Seta.”
Ian also knew that name. That dragon? His head was buzzing. The name Seta was uncommon. It was popular a long time ago, even before the existence of the Empire.
“Laritte,” he sounded lost in his world.
“That’s right, it was the fortune-teller. He visited me a few hours before you arrived. And he gave me this.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I would be fine with this for a while.”
Ian’s face was pale with astonishing, “no way.” She knew everything? Laritte nodded her head in response.
“He told me everything. About Seta and you, as well as the conversation you both had.”
She literally spoke in Seta’s tone, “From that moment, you were fooled by the man’s brilliant wiles and were left alone.” The atmosphere was about to get serious. It felt like Ian had been punched in the back.
“That’s nonsense! You were deceived by that stupid guy….!” Ian’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Seta deserved death for the sin of daringly kissing Laritte on the cheek.
Laritte continued, “and…. he said you didn’t want to part ways with me, so you asked if there was any other way than breaking up with me.”
“D*mn that dragon!”
Ian didn’t want to hear anymore, so he covered his ears tightly. Did Laritte even know about his feelings?
“When you said that, you were so serious that it was funny. He said that you looked like a human who fell for someone forever.”
Ian let out a breathy sigh, “that’s…..” Ugh, d*mn it! He could do nothing but curse.
“The bliss of saying I love you is too much, but I wanted to say it myself!”
“Huh?” This time, it was Laritte who blinked. She only copied what Seta said. She didn’t really believe everything he said. Seta seemed to give the temperament of a bluffer.
Unaware, Ian murmured under his breath as if confessing, “but what value does it have if I tell you that I love you passionately?”
“Eh?” Finally, Ian felt something was off. “I just said what Seta told me. I didn’t really trust him for everything he said.”
Ian swore, “oh, sh*t.” It was difficult to accept the present reality.
“……That’s it. Don’t say anything.”
“I did not say anything.”
“No, Laritte, you look like you want to say something.”
Ian sat down on the ground. He even thought of rubbing his burning face in the snow to cool it down. After a while, he finally calmed down. Actually, there was a more important problem other than them harboring feelings for each other.
For Ian, Laritte’s life and serenity were the first he wanted to secure. “Anyway, say it again. Why do you think that dagger would keep you safe for the time being?” Laritte explained as Seta had told her.
“…….So, I was told that magic is what makes up the world. It attacks us to erase the future that expels magic, and because objects made from dragon’s remains are magical, they can block that attack for a short time.”
Seta had explained quite a bit to Laritte before he left. Unless her fact didn’t meet his aesthetic standards, or if Seta wasn’t a geek, it wouldn’t have been possible.
“Instead, the functional object loses its original magical effect. There, I said what I heard, but I didn’t understand.” Ian understood more easily than Laritte, and he was the closest person to understanding magic among humans.
“……The problem is still not resolved.” Laritte retorted silently at his words. “Even if the dragon’s item rejects the flow of mana, isn’t it supposed to be temporary?”
“……”
“The result is the same that we have to move away like before. You never know when you’ll be in danger even if you use up all of the Duke’s possessions. As long as I am by your side.”
Laritte crouched down, looking Ian in the face. Their eyes met, and she saw his eyes twinkling. She monotonously tried her luck, “Last night, I thought I was going to die. It hurt so badly.”
He stood by her side, watching her suffer in pain. It was a desperate night for him. He had prayed for Laritte’s recovery, like he could give everything else away if he needed to.
“It felt like my mouth was full of blood. I couldn’t even open my eyes, I felt like I was drowning,” she took Ian’s hand. “Do you know how I felt?” One of the snowflakes, which had been falling from up above, fell upon their hands.
“I believed it would be okay to die like this.”
Chapter 86
The promenade was covered with a thin white sheet from the light snowfall. The evergreen trees swayed in the light breeze. Meanwhile, Ian stood blankly as if he had forgotten to even blink.
“Ian?”
Laritte asked, a slight frown forming on her features. His golden eyes followed as she waved her palm in front of him.
He seemed to be alive at least……
Laritte lifted her face again. Placing her head in a similar position as before with Ian hunched over her, she kissed him lightly again. Ian, who had been frozen until then, shifted again. Thanks to her exhaled breath.
“Laritte, stop. Stop it.”
The fact that she was still sick woke him up. It was time for him to return to reality. He himself shouldn’t be around Laritte for long. ‘When Laritte recovers, I must return to the Capital.’
“I think I like Ian…..,” Laritte’s words rang through his head, but that wasn’t it. It didn’t help that he liked her and she liked him. He needed to leave.
He turned to the side other than Laritte. He gave his coat to her, but he wasn’t cold at all. Rather, the two kisses one after the other made him feel like he was in flames.
“The coat that I gave….. you can throw it away or burn it. That’s it.”
He took a step forward as Laritte watched. Crossing her arms and holding his coat in place, she opened her mouth. “Are you going to leave again?”
“……”
No answer.
Laritte shrugged and stroked her hair. She had a good way to stop him, “I haven’t seen any signs of you for a few dozen minutes here. Only the pile of snow gave testimony that no one was nearby. But when I accidentally fell, you showed up.”
She had simply let him go when he left a few months ago. Maybe it was because he hated her, she thought initially. But there was no way that happened. And thanks to Seta’s advice, she knew the reason now.
“If you leave like this, I won’t move a single step from here. It’s no use sending someone else.”
Ian stopped. He had expected such a situation. Laritte walked to him, pale hands coming out of the shawl. She then grabbed his shoulder and turned him around as he obliged to show his face.
The winter sun shone over his left cheek. His face, illuminated from behind, looked distressed. Laritte’s eyebrows creased into a slight frown. Seeing that expression made her heart ache. It was an unfamiliar pain. “Don’t force me to take you back to the annex.” Ian pushed her shoulders away.
“You’re acting weird,” Laritte replied calmly. It should have been Laritte, but Ian was the one who was raging.
“You don’t even know why I’m doing this!” He wasn’t blaming her, but he sounded sad.
“Of course. You never told me.”
A nearby tree shook again, snow falling below it.
“That’s..…. I’m sorry,” Ian stepped back, his expression changing. “But please understand, I can’t let you know. For me.” He believed that this would be enough for Laritte as well. Anyway, it was a good result. Her condition was improving considerably. He believed it would be better if he left like this.
“You were supposed to tell me anything.”
“I can’t speak this time.”
“So I found out on my own.”
“What?” To answer, she pulled out the dagger Seta had given her. It was an expensive item made of dragon’s remains. Ian could immediately recognize the dagger, “where did you buy it?” There were several items made from the remains of dragons, but the dagger was new.
“I got it from Seta.”
Ian also knew that name. That dragon? His head was buzzing. The name Seta was uncommon. It was popular a long time ago, even before the existence of the Empire.
“Laritte,” he sounded lost in his world.
“That’s right, it was the fortune-teller. He visited me a few hours before you arrived. And he gave me this.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I would be fine with this for a while.”
Ian’s face was pale with astonishing, “no way.” She knew everything? Laritte nodded her head in response.
“He told me everything. About Seta and you, as well as the conversation you both had.”
She literally spoke in Seta’s tone, “From that moment, you were fooled by the man’s brilliant wiles and were left alone.” The atmosphere was about to get serious. It felt like Ian had been punched in the back.
“That’s nonsense! You were deceived by that stupid guy….!” Ian’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Seta deserved death for the sin of daringly kissing Laritte on the cheek.
Laritte continued, “and…. he said you didn’t want to part ways with me, so you asked if there was any other way than breaking up with me.”
“D*mn that dragon!”
Ian didn’t want to hear anymore, so he covered his ears tightly. Did Laritte even know about his feelings?
“When you said that, you were so serious that it was funny. He said that you looked like a human who fell for someone forever.”
Ian let out a breathy sigh, “that’s…..” Ugh, d*mn it! He could do nothing but curse.
“The bliss of saying I love you is too much, but I wanted to say it myself!”
“Huh?” This time, it was Laritte who blinked. She only copied what Seta said. She didn’t really believe everything he said. Seta seemed to give the temperament of a bluffer.
Unaware, Ian murmured under his breath as if confessing, “but what value does it have if I tell you that I love you passionately?”
“Eh?” Finally, Ian felt something was off. “I just said what Seta told me. I didn’t really trust him for everything he said.”
Ian swore, “oh, sh*t.” It was difficult to accept the present reality.
“……That’s it. Don’t say anything.”
“I did not say anything.”
“No, Laritte, you look like you want to say something.”
Ian sat down on the ground. He even thought of rubbing his burning face in the snow to cool it down. After a while, he finally calmed down. Actually, there was a more important problem other than them harboring feelings for each other.
For Ian, Laritte’s life and serenity were the first he wanted to secure. “Anyway, say it again. Why do you think that dagger would keep you safe for the time being?” Laritte explained as Seta had told her.
“…….So, I was told that magic is what makes up the world. It attacks us to erase the future that expels magic, and because objects made from dragon’s remains are magical, they can block that attack for a short time.”
Seta had explained quite a bit to Laritte before he left. Unless her fact didn’t meet his aesthetic standards, or if Seta wasn’t a geek, it wouldn’t have been possible.
“Instead, the functional object loses its original magical effect. There, I said what I heard, but I didn’t understand.” Ian understood more easily than Laritte, and he was the closest person to understanding magic among humans.
“……The problem is still not resolved.” Laritte retorted silently at his words. “Even if the dragon’s item rejects the flow of mana, isn’t it supposed to be temporary?”
“……”
“The result is the same that we have to move away like before. You never know when you’ll be in danger even if you use up all of the Duke’s possessions. As long as I am by your side.”
Laritte crouched down, looking Ian in the face. Their eyes met, and she saw his eyes twinkling. She monotonously tried her luck, “Last night, I thought I was going to die. It hurt so badly.”
He stood by her side, watching her suffer in pain. It was a desperate night for him. He had prayed for Laritte’s recovery, like he could give everything else away if he needed to.
“It felt like my mouth was full of blood. I couldn’t even open my eyes, I felt like I was drowning,” she took Ian’s hand. “Do you know how I felt?” One of the snowflakes, which had been falling from up above, fell upon their hands.
“I believed it would be okay to die like this.”
