Chapter 17
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A familiar face after several days. But his sharp jawline was much harsher than she remembered. His crimson eyes, always warm, now held an unfamiliar emotion. His blazing gaze looked ready to tear the person before him apart.
“Valen…!”
He’ll hurt the kid.
Collette pushed past Meliano—whose face was turning red from his arm bent behind his back—and wrapped her arms around Valerian’s waist. As the small Collette wedged herself between the two men, Valerian had no choice but to release Meliano. He didn’t take his eyes off Meliano Somerset as the latter clutched his shoulder and stepped back.
“Stop it!”
“Let go.”
“You stop it, Valen! Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
Valerian’s outburst made Collette’s eyes go wide. He let out a heavy sigh.
He had raised his voice at Collette.
Valerian pressed his throbbing temples. Because he had raised his voice, everyone nearby was staring at them. Clicking his tongue, he pulled Collette’s head down and hid her from view.
“Ah…!”
He lifted her up and began walking away from the safety line. Suddenly carried in Valerian’s arms, Collette crossed between the tents and pushed at his shoulders.
“What—what are you doing? Put me down!”
“Stay still. I’ll take you to the warp.”
“What? Warp?”
He meant to send her back to the Tower.
No. I came all this way…!
Collette immediately pounded his chest with her fists.
“Let go! Put me down!”
“…Collette.”
“I said put me down!”
“Collette!”
“Put me down!”
“Ugh…!”
Her punches were like cotton balls—Valerian didn’t even blink. But when Collette thrashed with all her might, he grimaced.
With a deep frown, he carefully set her down. There was no way he’d drop her, but thrashing at that height was dangerous.
“What are you doing? What if you fell!”
He shouted, then gritted his teeth.
Stay calm. Raising his voice at Collette wouldn’t help. He had to persuade her rationally, calmly…
“And what about you, Valen? What was that in front of everyone…!”
“Collette.”
“How long are you going to treat me like a child?”
Valerian studied Collette, her red face glaring at him. Her face flushed with heat, she was clearly furious. Sure enough, Collette huffed with her reddened face.
“I’m an adult! I’m old enough to make my own decisions!”
During their altercation between the tents, those who witnessed it looked on in disbelief.
Valerian, the commander—usually so cold he was nicknamed the Frost Rose—was carrying some small woman like a princess, and getting hit by her. No wonder they were shocked.
But Collette worried about how pathetic she must have looked to them. Humiliated, her face grew redder.
“Don’t do that again. Don’t ever handle me like that again.”
She was still angry, but he was still treating her like a child. Collette’s shoulders trembled as she huffed.
“Haah…”
Valerian sighed and rubbed his tired face. The sound of that sigh made her chest tighten. After a brief silence, Valerian spoke.
“I wasn’t handling you. It was all for your—”
“I’m not going to the warp.”
“Collette!”
“I’m a researcher!”
When he tried to grab her arm, Collette slapped his hand away and shouted.
“I came through proper procedures! As a researcher of the Magic Tower, I’m here to do my duty!”
She’d received help from Somerset, but she had proper permission to participate. To see the Labyrinth with her own eyes, to gather data to calculate as many variables as possible. So no matter how much Valen objected, he couldn’t stop her like this.
“…Procedures?”
Valerian’s expression grew cold as he looked at her red-faced huffing.
“Who let you in here?”
“Let me in? I told you, I came through proper channels, not sneaking in.”
“No. That can’t be.”
“…What?”
His tone of refusal was unusually firm. At Valerian’s strangely certain words, Collette’s face slowly fell.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Go back. Now.”
“I asked what you meant!”
“I said go back!”
At his outburst, Collette’s shoulders flinched. It was the first time Valen had shouted at her like this since she’d fallen from that tree.
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