Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 207

The tension eased, and the atmosphere became somewhat relaxed. However, the guiding still wasn’t happening.

“Geez, it doesn’t work when I want it to, and it works when I don’t want it to… I can’t understand guiding at all…”

I muttered in embarrassment, and Daniel asked with a curious expression.

“…Does your guiding work intermittently?”

“Yeah. Gimme a sec.”

I racked my brain, trying to remember the last time guiding had worked recently.

Excluding the day I accidentally guided Daniel, all other instances of guiding occurred only when I was with Claude.

Naturally, moments spent with Claude came to mind.

Even for Claude, who knew the secret of my guiding, it wasn’t consistent. Sometimes, despite trying to make contact on purpose, it wouldn’t work at all, while other times, even a light touch would trigger it.

<Rose.>

A low, sweet voice. The charming smile that lifted the corners of his red lips. The expression I loved.

When I met his red eyes, I often felt overwhelmed as if I was being devoured.

<Why are you so tense?>

He whispered teasingly, his fingertips tickling my ear. He knew the answer but asked anyway.

When our lips met, the guiding flowed from the point of contact as if it were overflowing.

If I pulled back in surprise, Claude, expecting this, would grab my neck and pull me closer, diving deeper.

Sometimes, it flowed like a waterfall.

Or…

<No! I don’t like this…! I don’t like this…!>

As I struggled, horrified, a relaxed smile played on Claude’s lips as he pulled my ankle towards him.

<Do you really not like it, Rose?>

<Ah, no…!>

Before I could finish my sentence, he brought his lips to my ear. And then…

Without a trace of shame…

…I really hated it at the time, but looking back, it seemed like guiding flowed like a waterfall then too.

…Anyway.

As I tried to cool my burning cheeks with my hands, I realized my hands wouldn’t move as I wanted.

Then, belatedly, I realized.

Right. I had been holding Daniel’s hand all this time, claiming I would guide him.

My goodness. Am I in my right mind? How could I hold another man’s hand and think about such things?

Forcing away the persistent thoughts, I finally checked on Daniel’s condition…

“Uh…?”

Something was wrong with Daniel.

His porcelain-like white skin was flushed up to his neck.

His blue eyes, which shone like aquamarine, were tightly shut and no longer visible.

His chest was heaving from rough breaths.

It was a sight that snapped my scattered thoughts back to reality.

I gasped.

“What’s wrong? Does it hurt?”

At that moment, like drops remaining in a flipped glass, a very faint amount of guiding flowed from my clasped hand into Daniel.

“…Ugh!”

Daniel let out a sound that could be either a groan or a moan, biting his lip so hard that it bled.

Then it dawned on me.

While I was having those improper thoughts, I had guided Daniel!

“I’m, I’m sorry, I got distracted for a moment…!”

Daniel had said that receiving guiding felt like being pierced by thousands of finger-sized needles.

I had never actually been pierced by such needles. But knowing that S-class Espers like Claude and Daniel, who could brush off most pains as mere tickles, had to brace themselves for death, I knew that the pain was never something bearable.

Moreover, I had just witnessed it. Daniel’s skin grotesquely rising and pulsing, his trembling hands, his flowing tears…

Just a touch on the cheek from a Guide’s fingertip had caused that much. How long had Daniel and I been holding hands?

Panicking, I tried to pull my hand away.

But it wouldn’t come out. He hadn’t let go.

Was he frozen in place from the pain?

That didn’t seem to be the case. Though he didn’t release my hand, he used his other hand to gently wrap around the back of mine. This completely covered my hand in his.

“Lord Daniel…?”

“So this is guiding…?”