Chapter 91
Cynthia tried not to let her shoulders shake as she squeezed her eyes shut and pretended to be asleep. Meanwhile, slow footsteps gradually approached the bed.
A faint scent of blood wafted in the air. But just before reaching the bed, it suddenly dissipated, as if scattered away.
The last time she checked the map, not a single light had disappeared. Had he hurt someone in the meantime? Cynthia tried to force away the chilling imagination, pressing her trembling eyelids together.
Soon, fingers warm with body heat softly touched her cheek. A quiet voice followed.
“…What are you thinking, Sia?”
“……”
“Are you very sleepy?”
Are you really sleeping, or just pretending… His faintly grumbling words spilled out. He spoke to her as if nothing had happened, in a tone not so different from usual.
As she felt Segleninde sitting on the bed, Cynthia gradually relaxed.
Asking her what she was thinking… It was as if he was telling her he wasn’t reading her thoughts. In fact, even though Cynthia called his name several times in her mind, no response ever came.
With her guard down, she felt the large presence draw close behind her.
He quietly stroked her trembling eyelids with his fingers, caressed her cheek, and gently brushed her soft lips as well. Finally, he leaned in and lightly kissed her on the lips.
Without any deeper entanglement or escalation, they simply pressed their lips together for a long while, as if savoring her presence, before parting. A low whisper fell.
“So timid, so weak, and completely useless, and yet, why are you…”
Perhaps it was more honest than anything he had said before.
“…Why do you make me so afraid?”
A rambling reproach ended with a lonely sigh, as if even to himself, the words sounded unfamiliar.
Was even this just an act?
Cynthia regretted, deep down, that she couldn’t let him read her mind. She wanted to dig all the way to the bottom of his heart, to know whether he was really deceiving her, whether he had ever truly cared for her, even once.
[……He didn’t, um, do things quite like just now, but anyway.] [He isn’t even human to begin with, and yet acts like he knows everything about humans. Just how many people has he deceived and killed like us?]
No. This kindness wasn’t something he had learned in order to kill humans.
How to treat someone precious with care, how to kiss, how to express true feelings. All of it, he learned and realized through her.
Would Segleninde, after killing her in this way, once again put on a harmless act, preying on innocent lives, living forever as a dangerous being? Treating others even more gently and humanely than he had treated her?
“……”
She hated the thought.
Cynthia decided to truly fall asleep, if only to erase her tangled thoughts.
***
As her breathing gradually grew calm, Segleninde, who had been silently watching her for a while, lowered his body. With careful hands, he pulled the small woman wrapped in blankets into his embrace. At first, she flinched, but soon relaxed completely.
Even though she knew he was holding her, Cynthia, now overtaken by drowsiness, didn’t resist or tremble. Rather, it was Segleninde whose body began to shake slightly. He held her waist tightly, but as if afraid she would break, only tensed his own forearms.
This predator, who had lived for ages rooted in this mansion, feeding off the lives of humans, was now so desperate over the fear that this tiny woman might slip from his arms.
Letting out a soft sigh, Cynthia gently placed her hand atop the arm encircling her waist.
And gave him a small, comforting pat.
“……”
The trembling from the man subsided. That alone made her feel relieved. She resolved to accept whatever consequences her foolishness might bring, later on.
A faint laugh, muffled and husky, came from Segleninde. Pulling Cynthia deep into his embrace, as if to hide her away, he made a silent vow.
Never to lose her again.
And so, the irreversible dawn deepened.
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