Chapter 29
“I-I mean… I…”
He looked as though she’d hit the mark exactly on the head, and he didn’t know what to do.
…No way.
Elinne frowned at the sight of his face turning bright red.
Paris was always hovering around her.
Even when she treated him coldly, he’d come running the moment she needed something, as if he had no pride at all.
She remembered the tearful look on his face when she said she was going to meet Menelaon and he begged her not to trust him.
It was a little much for just childhood friends.
“Paris. I’m only asking just in case…”
“Y-yeah…?”
She stared into his nervous, frozen eyes and asked doubtfully.
“Do you like me?”
She had meant to joke and say then give up now if he said yes.
“Who likes you, Elinne?”
Her head snapped around at the sharp, disdainful voice.
A pleasant breeze blew over the low hilltop, rustling soft red hair beneath a helmet.
That familiar sight made her mutter under her breath without thinking.
“…Menelaon?”
“So I arrive only to hear something this unpleasant. What did he just say?”
But Menelaon didn’t seem to hear her. His eyes were fixed on Paris, like he meant to kill him.
“How dare you say such things in front of my fiancé!”
He strode forward and, without hesitation, struck Paris in the chest with the sheathed sword.
Paris collapsed without even crying out, just like the night Elinne had kicked Menelaon in the g***n.
“Paris!”
“Wrong. You mean to call out to Menelaon.”
When Elinne tried to rush over to Paris, a gloved hand grabbed her.
The motion felt more like someone snatching an object than holding a person.
Her brow twitched, and she instinctively glanced down at his trousers.
But unlike that night, Menelaon was dressed in full heavy armor.
Heavy armor was usually made of metal, and was double-reinforced at vital points.
If she kicked him now, she’d probably just break her own foot.
Left with no other option, Elinne looked him square in the eyes.
“Knocking him out was too much. He’s still a prince.”
“How gracious of you to call even some unknown village noble from a backwater nation a prince. Your heart is as beautiful as your face.”
…She should’ve known better than to talk.
Elinne sighed and closed her eyes, breath catching in her throat.
All around them, wildflowers bloomed in the eternal spring of Elysion.
In the middle of that field, the image of the two holding hands could’ve been a scene from a masterful painting.
“…..”
If not for the way her expression looked like she’d just bitten into a rotten apple.
“Why are you standing there like that, Linne?”
“Of course. Should I be sitting here instead?”
At her dry retort, Menelaon’s expression twisted.
Still, he seemed to let it go just this once and spoke in a tolerant tone.
“…If you come and embrace me now, perhaps it will calm my anger a little.”
“How about telling me why you’re even here?”
Elinne ignored him completely.
“I’m sure you said you went back to your country. I heard you were on reward leave.”
“I was. But I turned the carriage around. I couldn’t believe it. I had to hear it from you directly.”
He lowered the arms he’d held wide open, scowling.
“I heard that someone told me never to show my face to you again. I assume that little parrot Helmen must’ve been playing tricks.”
“No. That was me.”
“…What?”
“I’m surprised he didn’t pass along the part about it being a waste of paper, too.”
Menelaon was silent for a while.
He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water.
“…Who is it? Who changed you this much?”
His voice sounded strangled as he finally spoke.
“You’re like a completely different person, Elinne. Ever since you were summoned before the gods for the golden apple, you’ve changed.”
It was obvious.
That’s when her body’s owner had changed.
“Before that, you were a flower without scent. Stunningly beautiful, yes, but like an artificial blossom. Pretty, but you never caught my interest. But then…”
His tone shifted suddenly low, smooth, almost seductive.
“One day, you began to have a scent.”
Elinne had heard that voice before, so she instinctively braced herself.
If he tried anything like last time, she planned to use Arachne’s power to string him up and escape.
“…A strange, enchanting fragrance I’ve never smelled from any flower started wafting from you.”
But instead of lunging at her like before, Menelaon continued in a tone of regret.
“It’s so strange. I began to want you. And when my mother, who’s never once interfered with my affairs, suddenly opposed you, it only made me want you more.”
What kind of nonsense is this now?
Even as Elinne furrowed her brow, Menelaon was already jumping to conclusions.
“As for the golden apple? It’ll all be forgiven if you just apologize with that beautiful face of yours. My mother is generous. So come with me. It’s not too late.”
“Menelaon. I really have no idea what you’re talking abou—”
“I am not Menelaon!”
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