Chapter 154
Wish to be of help
As soon as their bare skin touched, a warm and cozy energy was felt. It was the energy of a Guide. Lea felt a sense of relief, but at the same time, she was puzzled.
Though Lucy was supposed to be unconscious, her hand moved slightly. As if she were awake.
Startled, Lea unconsciously let go of the hand she had been holding rather roughly. Trying hard to compose her expression, she scrutinized Lucy’s face, which was half-hidden by her hair.
“Enough now.”
At that moment, Calix bent down and slipped both hands under Lea’s arms, lifting her up.
“You’re getting too close to someone whose identity we still don’t know.”
Even if it was another woman, he didn’t like Lea holding hands with her. Lightly adjusting his hold on Lea, he looked down coldly at the rabbit werebeast lying on the ground and asked,
“So, what is that woman’s identity?”
Knowing why Lea had insisted on holding her hand, Calix asked, and she answered honestly, just as she had felt.
“…She’s a Guide.”
“That’s good. Take her to the barracks where the other Guide prisoners are being held.”
“Yes, understood.”
At his order, the soldiers picked Lucy up from the ground again. Upon hearing that she was a Guide, the soldier, unlike before when he had slung her over his shoulder, now carried her with careful hands.
From the soldier’s visible attitude, Lea could tell what kind of treatment a werebeast Guide received, even as a prisoner.
Watching that scene, an inexplicable sense of relief surged up in her. Lea gazed at the back of the soldier taking Lucy away for a long time, then turned her eyes away.
As if he had been waiting for her attention, Calix immediately met her gaze and curled his lips.
“Is everything taken care of now?”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
“But just now, you were waiting for me, weren’t you?”
He immediately turned around and strode off. Everywhere he went, she could feel his bristling energy. It hadn’t occurred to her before because it didn’t show on his face at all.
Of course, since he had just returned from a mission, it was natural that he was full of a tense energy.
“I can’t wait for you to finish guiding the other Espers today.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
He looked down at Lea with a curious gaze, surprised at how obediently she answered. Just yesterday, she had only barely paid attention to him after guiding all the soldiers who had gone out with him.
If Lea was being so compliant, he should have been happy, but for some reason, Calix felt uneasy. He stopped walking and looked closely at Lea’s face, held in his arms.
She wore an expression that seemed somehow anxious. Although she had yet to experience a real battle, she had never once shown any sign of anxiety even while in a war zone, so he hardened his expression and quickly entered Lea’s tent.
As Calix sat on the bed, he asked,
“Why are you making that face?”
Lea’s shoulders flinched at his low, subdued voice, which sounded almost angry.
“Shh, I’m not angry at you.”
Calix now understood Lea to some extent. She was sensitive to other people’s violence and anger. Especially to his own anger, she seemed the most vulnerable.
So ever since the incident with the emergency contraceptive, he tried as much as possible not to get angry with her. Besides, right now, he wasn’t angry with Lea, but rather irritated at the person who had shaken her to this point.
He hoped that, as much as possible, Lea would not pay attention to anyone but him. That went not only for positive feelings but also for negative ones.
“Tell me, hm? Why are you making such a sad face?”
To ease Lea’s tension, Calix kissed her on the cheek and forehead as if pecking, then asked again. Only then did Lea quietly open her mouth.
“…It’s nothing.”
Since he didn’t get the answer he wanted, Calix stopped kissing her and leaned his head back. He tried to read every detail of her expression from a short distance, but as he pulled away, Lea came closer and touched his lips first.
Tasting the sudden guiding, Calix could ask no more. As he passionately explored her lips, he could only let himself be swept away.
Lea wrapped her arms around his neck and made a resolution. She would keep an eye on Lucy, and if she ended up falling in love with Calix like in the past, only then would she be able to step back with peace of mind.
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