Reincarnated Princess Stuck in a Door - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Lukenian answered, his voice drier than usual.

“…I store personal research materials here. Anyway, what do you think? Is annihilating the door particles possible? Or is that also difficult to calculate without your hands?”

Larissa hesitated. He’d gone this far. If she kept being stubborn, it was no different from a child throwing a tantrum.

She sighed.

“I think I just need to get my hands out. But even if I can calculate after that, my mana will run short anyway. I probably won’t be able to do it until I rest and try again tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll replenish your mana.”

Lukenian’s hand touched the door near her face.

Her sense of touch responded. She shivered at the strange sensation, like something touching the inside of her skin. Since part of her body couldn’t physically tremble, it was more accurate to say her nervous system was being stimulated.

“Your hand is over here.”

He stroked the door right next to her ear. She’d thought her hand was buried near the doorknob, but apparently some of her hand particles had spread to where he’d indicated. It felt like something was brushing the tip of her pinky. When Lukenian swept his fingers gently over the area, the ticklish sensation traveled all the way to her heart.

“Are you aware of it? Here as well.”

The moment his index finger pressed a certain spot on the door, Larissa gasped. It felt like pressure on the tender skin just beneath her nail. Lukenian spoke quietly.

“Bring all your body particles into your range of perception.”

“I’m doing it.”

How could she not? To Lukenian, he was probably just stroking a door. But to Larissa, it started at the tip of her pinky, brushed softly between it and her ring finger, then tickled across her palm.

Her cheeks flushed before she could stop them. Concentrating in a situation like this was impossible. But the archmage who knew nothing of the human heart pressed on.

“The frequency conversion?”

“I-I’m doing it.”

Manipulating your own body didn’t usually require rigorous calculation. She focused her mana into the tip of her right hand. She wasn’t sure if he meant to or not, but she used the spot where he was pressing steadily as a reference point and re-perceived her body from there.

The vibration of her mana spread through each particle. Ripples of ether, waves imperceptible to ordinary people, fanned out slowly. Larissa’s arm tingled strangely at the thought that Lukenian was watching the same ripples she was.

At last, the reverse-phase vibration spread up to her forearm. Lukenian gave the instruction in a low voice.

“Now.”

Larissa carefully moved her right hand.

He’d said he wouldn’t help, but Lukenian must have done something. The door particles had loosened. As she focused and pushed her hand forward, visible ripples spread through the door, now transformed into a dense liquid like mercury. Her hand finally slipped free and touched Lukenian’s hand where it rested on the door.

This wasn’t the time to think about it, but Larissa stayed rigid, trying hard not to be aware of him. Lukenian kept his hand where it was, so their palms naturally pressed together. She took a deep breath and pushed her right hand further out. Their hands overlapped, almost like interlacing fingers, and then Lukenian suddenly closed his fingers around hers. He gripped her hand tight.

“Hah!”

Her magic scattered in an instant. But before she could get locked back into the door, Lukenian pulled her arm and yanked her free.

Larissa gasped for breath. She still had mana left, but her heart felt like it was about to burst from the tension.

“Did you understand the sensation of loosening the particle bonds?”

“Haah, haah… What? I already know how particle cohesion disruption works. Haah.”

“In a state of contact like this, you should be able to do it by feel alone. Not calculation.”

Lukenian spoke while bending down to meet her eyes, like he was teaching a young magic student. Larissa caught her breath and felt the corners of her mouth lift without meaning to. She’d started late, so she’d never received this kind of hands-on guidance before.

“Did you smile?”

“I’m… panting. And I’m not sure about doing it by feel, but I do know you’re running calculations in your head right now.”

“Hm.”

Lukenian fell quiet for a moment. He was probably the type who could use feel and calculation simultaneously without any trouble. And geniuses always struggled to explain things that were too easy for them.