Chapter 160
He slowly scraped the spot with his fingertips, then turned his head at an angle to look up at Lea.
“Does it hurt?”
Unable to do anything but quietly watch what he was doing, Lea slowly opened her mouth.
“No.”
“Then, did it hurt a lot before?”
She couldn’t answer his follow-up question right away. Even knowing he wasn’t really asking, it felt as if he was questioning her about the past, and her throat tightened, her nose stinging.
She only moved her lips a few times before finally forcing out an answer. Her trembling voice sounded pathetic.
“Yes, it did…”
“I won’t let something like this happen again.”
At his slow but firm reply, Lea couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She knew all of this was her own fault, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t been hard.
Because it was something said by the one whose forgiveness she wanted most, it meant all the more to her.
“Please, let me go.”
At her request, Calix suppressed his anger and released his power. Then her slender arms pulled his neck close and tight. Lea was happy to receive anything Calix would give her.
His anger reminded her of the past and was frightening, but it was still better than being ignored. Even so, she knew very well that whatever he gave her, she would gratefully accept.
Now that he understood her pain, her heart overflowed uncontrollably, like water spilling from a teacup.
“Your Highness, Your Highness…”
He hugged her tightly by the waist as she clung to him, desperately calling his name. Even though they couldn’t possibly be any closer, he pulled her in as if to merge her completely with himself.
The two, pressed close together as if they were one body, softly brushed lips against each other’s skin, sorrowfully feeling each other.
* * *
Thanks to Zion’s quick handling of the situation, the Guides were able to return to their barracks. They sat in a circle, sharing fruit and water that had been prepared beforehand.
“…She seemed a little different.”
One of them mumbled after drinking some water, and the once quiet barracks started to grow lively.
“To be honest, it was really cool.”
The Guide who had been protected by Lea murmured in a dreamy voice. The others around her chimed in as well.
“Seriously, when she pulled you behind her to protect you, my heart actually skipped a beat. Why aren’t there any Espers like that out there?”
“Wasn’t it also interesting when she told us to check inside the Esper during guiding?”
“Yeah, she was different from us. We usually just go through the motions.”
“At first, I didn’t get what she meant. But when I actually looked closely inside an Esper, it was like I could see a path or something.”
“You too?”
They chatted quietly as they ate fruit, but soon their eyes slipped toward Lucy, who was sitting a little apart. Up until now, the group had felt reassured thanks to Lucy, but today’s events made them sense something odd.
No one spoke of it, but glances were quickly exchanged.
At that moment, Lucy, who had been sitting with her back to them, turned around and smiled brightly. She didn’t look like someone who’d been down just a moment ago. If anything, she looked cheerful as she said,
“If they keep treating us well, looks like you just might betray our country and switch sides.”
“…That’s not what we meant.”
“Oh, wasn’t it? Maybe I misunderstood. But you know, we’re werebeasts. Humans look down on werebeasts. You heard what that rude Esper said earlier, didn’t you?”
At Lucy’s words, the attention that had been on Lea shifted immediately to the Esper from before. Lucy continued, smiling with her eyes as if she were having fun.
“I just happened to lose my way and ended up here, but you all came with our Espers. For their sake, you need to hang in there. If we sit around chatting like this… don’t you feel sorry for the Espers who got caught and are probably being tortured right now?”
“Y-Yeah, that’s true.”
“Right, I almost got distracted for a second.”
The Guides each agreed with Lucy’s words. She snorted lightly and added,
“If they truly intend to treat us as Guides and not prisoners, then try asking for something.”
“…Ask for what?”
“Ask to meet the captured soldiers.”
Her pink eyes sparkled with an unsettling delight.
Discussion
1 CommentReactions
Ilina