Chapter 70
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‘…What a useless fantasy.’
Adrien Brillante could have had any Guide in the world, but Samuel Norah could never become her exclusive Guide.
This was not just Adrien’s belief. It was her wound, and a form of atonement for her late father.
It was Adrien’s mother who first made ‘sponsorship’ a fashionable trend among the nobility. And the Guide she sponsored had been Adrien’s own father.
Her father had devoted his entire life to repaying her mother’s generosity, and her mother had willingly used a Gold-level Guide who had nothing to his name.
Back in those days, with wars still raging between nations, Espers were vital. To guide an unmeasurable-level Esper like Adrien’s mother, her Gold-level father had to push himself to the very edge of exhaustion, always teetering on the brink of guiding depletion.
Even knowing the toll it took, her mother had always been indifferent. Her father’s health was solely his own responsibility. That was his whole life.
He died gasping for breath, alone in a mansion too large now that even his wife was gone.
Adrien, fearing that as an Esper she might also end up draining her father’s life, never dared to go near him. She only wept at his door.
It was only after her father’s soul finally left his body that she could approach him at last.
Clutching his cold body, Adrien swore to herself: even though she was born an Esper like her mother, she would never live the same way. She would never relieve her own pain by making someone else suffer for her sake.
And yet, what a cruel twist—of all the people she could have chosen, the one man she truly wanted as her exclusive Guide turned out to be her one and only sponsoree.
* * *
“Commander, you’re here!”
“…Captain Bailey.”
The greeting boomed out the moment Adrien set foot in the headquarters building, making her frown just a little.
It took her a second to recall the name of the friendly, red-haired man. When Adrien addressed him, Bailey’s face brightened.
“The Commander-in-chief visited today, but it seems you just missed her!”
“…Commander-in-chief Jacqueline Brillante?”
“Yes! She toured the place and had some meetings before leaving.”
“Who did she meet with?”
“Why, Lieutenant Samuel Norah, of course!”
Adrien’s brisk stride halted in an instant, leaving Bailey staring down at her from a step above on the stairs.
“What did the Commander-in-chief talk about with Ensign Samuel?”
“I couldn’t say. They spoke privately, and the Ensign hasn’t mentioned much… Should I call him for you?”
“No, that’s fine.”
Adrien waved him off, her mind turning dark. She could already guess what her mother was up to.
There was no way Jacqueline didn’t know about the new exclusive designation law, and she would never allow the heir to House Brillante to be dragged off to some underground prison.
Whether it meant cajoling or threatening Samuel, her mother must have done something. Maybe even tried to force him into the role of exclusive Guide. Or perhaps…
“…Ensign Samuel, come out here.”
Lost in thought, Adrien found herself stopped in front of her office. She murmured the words and waited, hearing footsteps echo from the dim end of the hall.
Samuel emerged, his green eyes shining in the darkness. His face looked almost impassive, as if he’d been expecting her.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
It was only because of the guiding energy that Adrien sensed his presence. The closer she got to her office, the more at ease her body felt. Standing at the door, his guiding aura washed over her like a bull’s-eye.
It was faint—much less than usual for Samuel—but unmistakably his, and impossibly good.
Did he really think he could hide his identity with such a simple trick as dialing back his energy? If so, he was underestimating her.
“Have you been receiving proper guiding lately?”
“I told you, that’s none of your concern.”
“If anyone asks, I’ll just say I was out here in the hall practicing my guiding skills.”
Adrien gave a dry laugh, her gaze sharpening.
“Did the Commander-in-chief give you some kind of order?”
No answer came. Samuel simply looked back at her, without blinking. Adrien’s brow twitched.
“So I really can’t be your exclusive Guide, is that it?”
“Ensign Samuel.”
“I know I’m being presumptuous. I’m being way out of line. But I’m the one who can help you the most, aren’t I?”
“….”
“I’ll live as quietly as a mouse. You can stash me out on the frontier and only use me like a painkiller, if you want. Just, please…”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
Adrien realized she couldn’t keep this up. Now that Samuel had met with Jacqueline, he wouldn’t give up easily.
She could only resist for so long. If he ever decided to come at her with everything he had, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to turn him away.
Even now, the guiding aura radiating from him just at this close distance was so sweet it was nearly overwhelming.
If she relaxed her grip on the doorknob even a little, she might find herself grabbing him by the neck and pulling him in for a kiss.
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