Chapter 18
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Still, she didn’t back down. After coming all this way. Clenching her fists, Collette immediately shot back.
“Even you, Valen, can’t decide my treatment however you want once I’m on the list. Did you think I didn’t know that?”
“……!”
His crimson eyes widened, caught off guard. Collette glared at him.
The exploration participation list was adjusted not by the team leader, but by the team members themselves. This was a measure to prevent the team leader’s authority from becoming too absolute—even Valerian, as 1st Team Leader and overall commander, couldn’t override it.
Yet he had spoken with certainty. That she could never join the exploration squad. He couldn’t be that sure unless he had done something.
“…Stay put. I’ll bring someone to escort you.”
He wanted to take her back to the Tower himself, but he had to stay at the site. Jaw tight, Valerian brushed his hair back and turned around. His back looked somehow restless. Collette’s eyes blazed.
“No. I’m going into the Labyrinth with the squad.”
“Collette Lowell Verna!”
She flinched. Even as she stood her ground, hearing her full name shouted made her freeze. Valen had raised his voice at her before, but never with her surname and middle name included.
That’s how badly he wants to stop me?
She felt distance growing between them. All the strength drained from her body. It only confirmed her suspicion—that he had truly tampered with her applications.
“…Haah.”
As Collette pressed her lips shut, Valerian rubbed his brow. Collette in this state was stubborn as a mule—she wouldn’t yield easily. His head throbbed.
How was he going to send her back?
Valerian tried to keep his voice as calm as possible.
“Collette, it’s too dangerous here for you to move around. Go back to the Tower. Now.”
“…….”
“I told you I’d get you everything you need.”
At those words, Collette, who had been hanging her head, lifted it. Gritting her teeth, she spat out.
“I don’t need that anymore.”
“You……”
“Don’t bother with the danger talk. Just tell me why you said I could never join the exploration squad.”
“…….”
The crimson eyes looking at her grew dark. His deeply shadowed gaze was ominous. Collette braced herself.
Thud—
The moment Collette pushed off the ground, Valerian’s large hand caught her waist and lifted her. In the blink of an eye, she was slung over his broad shoulder.
“Ah…!”
Her nose pressed into Valerian’s back, making her eyes water. Holding her nose and turning her head, she saw tents upside down. Beyond them, the Labyrinth wasn’t rising toward the sky—it looked like it was falling to the ground. Collette thrashed wildly.
“Was it you, Valen? Was it you who blocked my exploration applications?”
Valerian didn’t answer. Collette pounded his back with her fists as he walked toward the warp.
“How could you! How…!”
Every time she wasn’t included on the list, he had comforted her—telling her not to be upset, that he’d bring her whatever she needed. But the truth was, Valen—Valerian himself—had been blocking her?
Collette’s vision blurred. Someone seemed to be running between the tents in the distance, but that didn’t matter now.
He lied to me.
Valerian had lied to her. Lied, hidden, and forged.
He made a fool of me…!
If only he had been honest from the start. If he had just said he didn’t want to take her to dangerous places. Then even if they fought, she wouldn’t have felt this miserable.
“Hic…”
Her thrashing limbs went limp, then stiffened. Her rigid body trembled. Only then did Valerian stop walking.
“What were you… thinking…”
He had braced himself to have his hair torn out, but Collette’s reaction was strange. Her breathing was shallow, as if she might collapse, and her voice shook.
Startled, he set her down from his shoulder. The face that met his—
“……!”
Her bloodshot eyes looked at him like he was a stranger.
“What were you thinking… lying to me?”
That gaze, as if he were a complete stranger. In that moment, Valerian’s heart sank.
Her eyes had always sparkled like fresh green shoots whenever she looked at him.
“No, Collette.”
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