Chapter 54
“Actually, not every Esper and Guide relationship needs to be one-to-one, right?” I asked him.
There are far fewer Guides than Espers. Roughly a 10-to-1 ratio.
So, it’s not practical or ideal for every Esper to have a dedicated Guide. Generally, Guides are assigned to 15 to 20 Espers, rotating their services.
“But Lord Claude is an S-class Esper…”
“So you’re afraid he might kidnap you if he knows you’re his Guide? Tie you up and use you as a battery through torture?”
“That’s part of it…”
“Or are you worried about what he’d do if you find another Esper for the whole ‘I love you, I love you more’ thing?”
“…”
I was speechless at Azir’s astute assessment of my feelings.
“Hmm… Lord Claude has managed without dedicated guiding until now. For some reason, he’s particular. If he does find a Guide he really likes, he won’t share them with anyone. Espers can get obsessively attached. After all, it’s a matter of life and death for people like him.”
“…Lord Claude will soon be deployed in a dangerous operation.”
“…”
“To be honest, I’ve been by his side for a while now, regardless of the reason. I don’t like seeing him in trouble or danger. But it’s too scary to offer guiding, considering the risks…”
Clap!
Suddenly, Azir clapped his hands loudly.
Startled, I looked at him as he said,
“So, you want to guide him before he’s deployed, but you don’t want to reveal that you’re his Guide?”
“I, I guess?”
“There’s a way.”
“What way?”
Azir grinned as if to say,
Trust me, bro.
***
A few days later.
I found myself back in the dreaded guiding IV room.
Unlike that day, there was no Esper in sight, at least not visibly.
But behind a small, inconspicuous door, I knew someone was there.
I was here because of Azir’s advice.
〈Lord Claude will definitely receive a massive dose of guiding IV before the operation. He won’t wake up during that time, so you can secretly go in and guide him.〉
〈Are you crazy? Remember when Lord Claude blasted you away? Why would I do that again?〉
〈That’s because he woke up to find he was being guided and saw your face! If I handle things, he won’t suspect you.〉
〈…〉
〈There won’t be any witnesses, and I’ll create your alibi. I’ll testify that you were with me the whole time. How could they suspect you?〉
That… that makes sense, doesn’t it?
I could alleviate my guilt by guiding Claude. And with Azir creating an alibi, no one would suspect me anymore…
…Indeed, wisdom in life comes from experience and savvy!
With Claude set to leave the Center for his mission early tomorrow, there was no time to waste.
I used the key Azir gave me to unlock the door and entered the room where Claude was receiving his IV treatment.
“Anybody here…?”
It felt like a thief shouting ‘I’m here to steal!’ but I checked anyway, just in case.
If Claude was awake, I planned to make up an excuse about running an errand for Azir.
Fortunately, no one responded.
And there, on the same sofa as last time, Claude lay asleep, oblivious to the world.
In the sparse room, his face was illuminated by moonlight streaming through the large window, giving him an ethereal glow.
I wondered if this was how the prince felt when he first saw Snow White asleep.
I was doing something good, but it felt incredibly wrong, as this was my first time attempting to guide Claude voluntarily.
My heart pounded terrifyingly loud.
Wiping my sweaty palms on my clothes, I cautiously approached Claude.
The guiding IV still had more than half of the fluid left in the bag.
So, he shouldn’t wake up for at least another four hours.
Claude’s eyes remained firmly closed, unmoving.
Gently, I grasped Claude’s wrist, slightly exposed by the needle.
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