Chapter 77
“You should have held your tongue when I hinted at it.”
“You should have told me outright to shut up, instead of hinting.”
“I will next time. If there is a next time while you’re still alive, Adelina.”
At Lumiere’s casual mention of my remaining lifespan, Seikan abruptly lifted his head and glared at him. Lumiere easily ignored Seikan’s look, which could have cut a man down with its sharpness.
“Now that I’ve explained everything, please keep your promise not to tell the Crown Prince or anyone else. I was summoned by the Crown Prince, so my position could become rather difficult.”
“You! This is a matter of life and death, and you disregarded our original agreement and just…!”
Seikan, approaching with the momentum to grab Lumiere by the collar, was at least half a hand taller than him. Sensing the threatening height difference and Seikan’s fury, I stepped between them.
“No violence.”
If Lumiere were to fall ill now, I would be the one most inconvenienced.
“And even if Lumiere had kept to the agreement and told the Crown Prince everything, do you think I would have accepted it?”
“Adelina, this is a matter of life and death, and you…”
“Life and death, so what? What are you going to do if I refuse? You’re the one who slept with me by threatening me with the monster’s blood. What? Are you going to do that again if I don’t listen?”
Seikan was speechless. Pressing my advantage, I continued, “Seikan Ferdian. Please, keep your mouth shut about this to everyone else. If you have any conscience left.”
Hurt by my cold words, Seikan roughly scrubbed a hand over his face. “Right. This is the real you. So, yesterday…it wasn’t intentional, your body just moved on its own?”
An impossible-to-ignore phrase slipped from his self-deprecating lips. Suppressing the urge to look away, I asked, “Speaking of which, what exactly did I do yesterday?”
“….Kiss.”
“What?”
“You kissed. Us. You clung to us like a magnet.”
It wasn’t the worst-case scenario I’d imagined, but it was certainly close.
“After your eyes glazed over, you acted as if possessed, so I thought it was some sort of drinking habit. But it wasn’t that, your body just moved on its own to survive.”
My face suddenly flushed hot. I frantically fanned myself, trying to cool down, and stared up at the innocent library ceiling.
So that’s how blatant the survival instinct I had been suppressing with reason truly was.
To think I was the one who initiated the touching and kissing… Clovis’s smug expression from earlier felt twice as irritating now.
Seikan watched my reddened face with a pained expression, biting his lip, then opened his mouth with a look of firm resolve. “Adelina. As you wish, I’ll keep it a secret from everyone. But in return…”
In return?
“Please, live. So… that… with me…”
“No.”
I refused without hesitation and turned my head, only to meet Lumiere’s bewildered expression. “You dislike it that much?”
“It’s a matter of my feelings, but isn’t it a waste to throw away your life because of them?”
His words were like stones thrown into the already turbulent waters of my heart. “Think of it as taking medicine you hate because you want to get better. Can’t you accept it that way?”
“Yes, Adelina. I…”
“Be quiet, Seikan!”
You, at least, have no right to comment on my decision. Besides…
“What are you trying to say by talking like that? You and Hesti, no, the Princess…!”
“No!” He grabbed my wrist urgently. “I can’t explain everything, but it’s not what you think. And if you don’t like it, I’ll stop it right now.”
His long fingers slid between mine. Seikan’s skin, warm as befitted a knight, heated mine where we touched.
My gaze locked with his, the blue of a coral-filled sea.
“Use me as a tool.” He placed my hand, still clasped in his, over his heart.
The strong, rapid beat of his heart clearly revealed his turbulent emotions. “Just like the mage said, think of it as forcing yourself to take bitter medicine to get better. Please.”
At the tremor in Seikan’s voice, I bit my lip.
“Adelina, even if you hate me to death, that’s no reason for you to die.”
“It’s our fault, mine and everyone else’s, so why should you…” Seikan trailed off, his voice choked with emotion. His grip on my hand tightened painfully.
“Please, Adelina. Please don’t think about doing anything…bad.” His deep voice, usually so steady, was now thick with unshed tears.
His handsome face, usually so composed it sometimes seemed cold, now looked like that of a lost child.
Looking at this unfamiliar expression, I felt my heart grow colder.
“Seikan Ferdian. Don’t you think you’re doing things in the wrong order?”
Seikan’s eyes flickered at my dry tone.
“You should have said ‘please’ before you made me drink the succubus’s blood, when you properly confessed your feelings.”
“Adelina…” Seikan’s heart suddenly raced. I pulled my hand free.
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