CH 17

Adler was going to get hurt, she couldn’t let him get hurt.

Contrary to what she thought, Leone landed gracefully. Then, with a terrifying face and a murderous face, he approached Adler.

“Leone! I said no!”

As if he couldn’t hear her screaming, Leone quickly removed his foot. At this rate, a fight will break out again.

She took a step

“Be good-“

“What is ‘Crr’? Are you really going to do this?!”

It was scary. She was scared, but she got angry at Leone and stood in front of him. Suddenly, it looked like she was protecting Adler. It was like… like if David was defending Goliath.

“Sir Leone…”

Adler called out to Leone in a surprised voice.

“Aren’t you calm next to Trixie?”

“He must be in a bad mood today…”

Adler’s voice trembled as if he was shocked by Leone’s eyes widened and ferocious after a long time.

“… Rishi.”

In the meantime, Leone’s eyes shook as he quietly called her name.

Why was he doing that to her? It was a look of resentment. She wondered if he, as a family member, was shocked to see how she was protecting his enemy, Adler.

She got it, but it wasn’t a good direction to rush in like that.

“Leone. You can’t rush at people like that! You are a bad dog.”

“Tree.”

“Go up, Leone.”

“… ”

Go. This miss is angry.”

She pointed upstairs and told him sternly. Leone frowned slightly at those words. A tense tension flowed between him, who was standing still, and her, with her stern face.

“Ugh. Follow me.”

She thought they would stay up all night at that rate, so she decided to lead Leone to her room. Leone still had a face full of betrayal, but he did follow her.

“Right. Well done.”

She put Leone into the room, reassured him, and closed the door. When she came back down to the first floor, she saw Adler. He was standing there as if nailed to it. Adler’s gaze was fixed on the side where Leone had just disappeared.

“Sir Leone… Did he have a nightmare?”

“I think he had them every day.”

He let out a deep sigh.

“Is that so?”

“But I don’t think it was because of the dream…”

He paused and looked into her eyes. She didn’t know the exact reason, but Leone’s aggression was towards ‘Adler’. She was right to see it as the anger that pointed at him rather than losing his reason and running amok.

“I… I guess it’s because of it.”

She couldn’t answer. She couldn’t say yes or no. As for the reason for Leone’s feelings, neither of them knew for sure.

“I am getting better. Mr. Adler.”

“Today, I will have to lock the door where Leone is sleeping.”

“Yeah?”

She blinked in surprise. Just yesterday, she left the door wide open and let him sleep.

“You have to be prepared for dangerous situations that you never know when they will arrive. After that, it’s too late.”

Leone and Adler did not trust each other. The person you should be closest to, the person who cares for Leone the most was the furthest away. Where did it get tangled up?

“The fortress is peaceful, so I left it open without locking it, but if he has a nightmare and jumps out, it will be a mess.”

She couldn’t argue with his words. Adler continued rather stiffly.

“Now, go back to the annex immediately.”

“In a state where Leone is so sharp, Sir Adler goes in alone and locks us up?”

“I have done it many times, so I know how to do so.”

“It’s dangerous. Take me or Gourden with you.”

“One more person only increases the risk factor.”

After several more protests, Adler’s persistence was considerable.

“And… When Trixie appears in front of Sir Leone, he tries to be good. So you have to sleep next to him again, and repeat it. It is better if you go to the annex now.”

Adler wanted to be closer to Leone, more than anyone else, but he also seemed to fear Leone more than anyone else. Was it responsibility as a person in charge, or distrust as a person who has been fighting for a long time…? Or was there some other reason?

It was only a brief display of aggression, but looking at Adler’s resolute face, it was possible to guess that there was an unspoken circumstance.

“All right.”

Most of all, she was worried about Leone’s uneasiness being locked up in a cage alone, but she retreated to the annex. That night, she couldn’t sleep easily because of Leone’s worries.

She once comforted the child who was having a nightmare. Leone dreamed every night. She had to be by his side and soothe him well without neglecting him at any moment. Adler did not know that, but she did.

So late at night, she sneaked out of the annex. Even if he didn’t fall asleep next to her, she wanted to soothe him…

She didn’t know if Adler was in the study in the main building or resting in a room in the annex, but he moved on.

‘Just stay in the study. Don’t just stay in the main lobby.’

The door to the study was quite thick, so it was clear that most of the noise would not be heard. Even if one was only going to stay in the library, it was possible to enter. One just had to pretend to go to work early in the morning.

“Whoa.”

She stood in front of the front door and took a deep breath. And the moment she grabbed the doorknob, she realized.

‘Ah, I don’t have the key.’

What happened to her confidence? She must have been blinded by Leone’s worries. How was she going to enter? She squeezed her hair hard. How about the back door to the kitchen? She went there, but of course it was closed. So what about opening the windows one by one?

She circled the mansion and pushed up the windows.

Knowing Adler’s personality she didn’t think he would keep them open, but she needed to try. There were so many windows. There were no workers to manage there. But the windows were closed very tightly.

Perhaps the window sill where she sat and read a book the other day? She closed the window, but she thought she forgot to lock it. She counted the room and moved on. When she grabbed the window, it shook more than the other windows.

‘Bingo… !’

She pulled the window very carefully. It made a squeaky sound, but it was very small. With a little more force, the windows shifted between them.

Quang.

… It made a very loud noise. She didn’t think it would be heard in the study, but it came out by chance… So if anybody hears…

After a while, she heard the sound of the front door opening. Ah, the moment she thought she had to run away, the sound of footsteps approached.

“Who are you?”

Thinking she was an intruder, his gaze was no human.

Goosebumps ran down her spine. Adler’s voice echoed nearby and a savage iron gauntlet was placed on her shoulder.

“Sir Adler! It’s me, it’s me! Trixie!”

“Trixie?”

Where did the terrifying voice go? Adler called her name as usual.

“Yeah. Yeah! It is me.”

“What’s going on, this late at night?”

“No… That… ”

She mumbled and turned around. Even though it was dark and it was difficult to see the shape, the presence of Adler’s armor was clearly felt. Slightly, if she answered incorrectly, she would get hit, and then she would be sent to prison…

“I’m worried about Sir Leone.”

“Is that why you came here late at night?”

“Yeah…”

“Isn’t that what we talked about before?”

“Yeah. Sir Adler is adamant, so I came secretly like this.”

Being caught like that she could only be shamelly honest. At her words, Adler snorted.

“What the! That’s why you’re sneaking in-?”

“Uh, huh…”

At that moment, even though her hearing was not very developed, there was a moaning sound that stuck in her ears. Adler and she moved at the same time. That painful sound was Leone’s voice.

“Leone!”

She wondered where her strength came from, since she climbed the stairs to the point where she could outrun the running Adler and opened the door. Leone was there. He came out of the cage somehow and lay on the floor gasping for breath.

“Haha.”

She cautiously took a step closer to him.

“Leone. It’s fine… ah? Did you have a nightmare?”

Then, Leone raised his head. And in an instant, he leaped up and tried to press her shoulders as before. Adler, who had just entered the room, stood in front of her with his arms outstretched. One of Leone’s arms slipped through Adler’s armor, and the other touched my shoulder and moved away.

“Damn it.”

Adler cursed a little and hugged Leone tightly.

“Le, Leone… ”

His hands were shaking.

Quang-.

She was just stunned for a moment, but the sound of something hitting the wall reverberated loudly.

“Leone! Calm down.”

Again, it was happening. The things she saw as soon as she came to this mansion, again…

“Cuck!”

Leone, who had hit the wall, ran towards Adler again. Leone showed her teeth with sharp eyes. Adler tried to subdue Leone by pushing his face with the iron gauntlet. Inside the room where the bright moonlight pours down beautifully. Drops of blood fell on the spot where the two were fighting. She couldn’t tell whose blood it was. In that short time, Leone’s back and Adler’s exposed face were also scarred.

“Cheuk, heh.”

It was too overwhelming. The fight between the two tall men was no different from the tangled appearance of wild beasts hunting. Leone was full of power and intent to kill.

‘I need help.’

But how? Leone ran to her as soon as he saw her. She… Could she calm him down?

“Sir Adler. Where is the sedative?”

Adler struggled to answer her question.

“Library… third drawer. Purple bag…”

She ran without hesitation. She didn’t care what stepped on her feet and bumped into them. Study, third drawer, Leone’s tranquilizer. That was the only thought.

‘What kind of dream did you have, Leone?’

Nightmare. He groaned every time he fell asleep. Just yesterday, and even the old moments when we fell asleep together. Leone was always scared.

‘What the hell!’

What was he attacking and what was he defending? It must have originated from a relationship that Leone knew and she didn’t.

She rushed to get a sedative, but it was uncomfortable because she had to use only one hand. She had to struggle a little more than usual to open the drawers and reach for the pockets.

When she returned to the room, Adler seemed to have succeeded in suppressing Leone to some extent.

“I have it.”

“You can just inject it. Do you know how?”

“I’ll have to try it!”

She got out the syringe and medication. She fixed the vial with her knee and forced one hand wide open to insert the syringe.

She had never given anyone an injection, but is that important now?

She tried to place the needle as Adler instructed, but it didn’t work because Leone struggled a lot.

“Sir Leone, sir… Please be still.”

Adler also gritted his teeth, as if stopping Leone’s seizures was getting more and more difficult.

‘What to do, Trixie. What should I do?’

Think.