Chapter 33

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Chapter 33 – You Did Well

“Wake up.”

“Hmm?”

Redin pulled the curtain that blocked the sunlight.

“Ugh, hyung?”

Kyrian frowned at the sunlight pouring on his face.

“His Grace had already woken up and left, but you’re still sleeping?”

Kyrian raised his upper body, blinking dazedly. “Nagging in the morning… His Grace is busy dating so he was like that.”

At Kyrian’s abrupt remark, Redin turned around. “What? What are you talking about?”

“…Why are you so surprised? Was that supposed to be a secret?”

“Tell me, where did you hear that?”

“…I went to a pub yesterday and people were chatting with each other.”

“…”

This was a disaster. The fact that it had been circulating in the tavern means that it has already spread wide.

“That’s fast.”

“Yes?”

“… It spreads too fast.”

“…”

It couldn’t have spread quickly unless someone intentionally did it.

“I must hurry.”

“To do what?”

“Kyrian.”

“Yes.”

“You have work to do today.”

“…What is it?”

Redin put a letter down on the small table next to the bed. “Prepare to welcome the Grand Duchess to the Grand Duchy.”

“Yes?”

“To do that, our first priority is to get rid of the bug hanging around His Grace.”

Muttering ‘what the hell are you talking about’, Kyrian picked up the letter on the table and started reading it. Kyrian’s eyes gradually widened as he slowly read it from top to bottom.

“So you want me to watch this?”

“That’s right.”

“You mean, you will be using such a high-end talent like me for surveillance?”

“At his status, of course I should be sending talented people. And I’m sending you because it is for him. Don’t be caught.”

“Oh, this is exciting.”

Thanks to his praise, Kyrian headed straight for the capital. The capital was unfamiliar and difficult for him as it had been a long time since he came here.

“Let’s see… it’s been a while, so I have no idea where this is.”

As he looked down at the crumpled paper that had been folded and unfolded over and over again, Kyrian murmured.

Dercio Street, 16th Street… Dercio Street, 16th Street. 16th Street.

Carefully examining the numbers engraved on each building, Kyrian wrinkled his eyebrow and twisted his lips.

‘Wow!! Really! You’re too much! This is 3rd Avenue! If you’re going to open a gate, you should’ve dropped me at my destination or at least open it somewhere close!!’

Kyrian gritted his molars as he recalled Ventus’ words that he couldn’t say the exact location, since he didn’t know the exact coordinates.

(T/N: The gate here is some sort of teleportation gate just like the one Ashia and Kaligo used when they went to the Fairy Forest. )

‘I’m sure you think you would regret doing that for me.’

It was a distance that seemed very far from just looking at the numbers. His eyes were dark as he whined about finding 16th street again.

He folded the paper again, put it in his pocket, and walked slowly, looking at the numbers engraved on the wall one by one. It was, after all, an undetermined command. All he had to do was sneak in a place where security is expected to be tight, watch their movements and report back. It was a simple task for Kyrian, who was good at hiding his presence.

‘Ah, it’s better to kill him and destroy the evidence…’

Tch

Kyrian clicked his tongue as he looked around and walked slowly. Maybe because it was the 3rd Avenue that was a bit far from the square, there weren’t many passersby. Now that it was like this, he decided to move around while leisurely looking around the capital.

‘As expected of the capital.’

Fruit shops, clothing shops, meat shops, general merchandise shops and flashy trinkets. There was nothing lacking in the downtown area of the capital. Then all of a sudden, his eyes focused on a certain store.

‘Oh, there was a potion shop here? Is this really the capital?’

He stared at the store with the lights off curiously.

Etous was as prosperous as the capital, but it was hard to find one potion shop nonetheless. Aside from not being able to make money, there were many aristocrats that were resentful or even lost their lives due to the common side effects of it. In other words, you could not keep a potion shop open if the business wasn’t very good.

“This must be a successful potion shop, to be able to stay in the capital.”

The door hadn’t opened yet. He tilted his head as he examined the dark interior of the store through the transparent window.

‘You have good skills, but you seem to be a lazy owner.’

Just as he was about to turn around thinking that it was a pity, Kyrian stopped when he saw the sign above when he happened to look up.

“Oh?”

His eyes and legs froze as if he was nailed down to his position, as he checked the shop sign again.

‘Ashia’s Potion… Shop?’

Ashia…? It was by no means a common name. He looked up at the signboard for a long time, then slowly lowered his gaze to check the shop owner’s name engraved on the wall of the shop building.

[Ashia Bliss]

A sigh erupted from Kyrian’s teeth.

‘Ashia Bliss? Ashia Bliss?!’

His bewildered face was suddenly engulfed in anger.

Who was Ashia Bliss? Wasn’t she the witch who suddenly came to their village and set fire to it? As a result, his parents, brothers, and most of their friendly neighbors lost their lives.

“Have you been hiding here?”

He laughed maniacally. Staring at Ashia’s name engraved on the wall, Kyrian walked towards the store with killing intent.

“….”

‘Shall I jump right in and overthrow everything? No, fire is fire. Shall I set fire to the store?’

Kyrian’s eyes lit up as if he decided to do it right away.

– Don’t think about messing up. Now is the most important time for His Grace.

Redin’s voice spoke in his mind.

“…D*mn it.”

– He said that it is a crossroads between whether or not you can meet the Grand Duchess. Don’t mess anything up with your temper for nothing, and do what you’re told to do.

-….

– If you don’t want to see His Grace grow old without his Grand Duchess for the rest of his life, then go do whatever you want.

No way… there was no way.

Grand Duke Kaligo was the benefactor who saved Kyrian’s life. Though he felt intimidated and scared by his aura, he was also a person that accepted him as he was. It was Grand Duke Kaligo who raised Kyrian, who nearly died from the landslide, and recognized Kyrian’s talent, which was of not much concern.

The fact that Kyrian, with his dirty and unruly temperament, quietly took classes at an academy he didn’t want to go to and even graduated from, was also for Kaligo. In order to be of any help to him, if he could repay the favor by doing that, he could endure the boring and tedious daily life.

‘Your Grace, you should welcome a flower-like Grand Duchess, and give birth to children who look like you.’

He pictured the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess standing side by side, with their rabbit-like children, trying to calm his heart that had just been brimming with anger.

Kyrian looked back at Ashia’s shop and spoke softly, “Yeah, I can’t afford to miss out on the precious and important details about the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess because of my temper.”

He kicked a stone on the pitiful side of the road and quickly brushed off his regrets. He figured out where he was and what they were doing, so he thought he could come by anytime. He’d come back slowly once he met the Grand Duchess.

In the darkened shop after the lights went out, the atmosphere between the two of them was still serious.

“I asked why you turned away from me, Kaligo.”

He took a moment to catch his breath before continuing. “…It was also to save you.”

Ashia looked at him with round eyes. “…Again?”

What was the relation between being left alone and saving lives?

Understanding her unspoken question, Kaligo continued speaking in a calm voice, “You were like a butterfly that has just taken off its skin. You were so weak that everything around you seemed dangerous.”

“Well… I was weak for a long time.”

Kaligo smiled faintly and shook his head slowly. “It wasn’t just that.”

“…”

“…Enough to die. You often said that you would rather die.”

“That…”

The words she had said and the actions she did came to her mind one by one in a hazy mist.

It was unbearably painful to vomit blood and lose consciousness everyday. It was also difficult for her to show her weaknesses in an unfamiliar place, in front of strangers. So she thought that she would rather die than live. She wanted to shout things like ‘please, don’t do anything about me, ‘don’t worry about me’, and ‘just let me die like this’.

“But still… I got pretty healthy at the Duke’s residence.”

“Yes, you did.”

“So, you didn’t even come close because you were afraid I would die if you touched me? Even after being healthy?”

Kaligo looked into Ashia’s eyes and let out a light sigh. “I wasn’t sure.”

“…”

His hand, which was covering the back of Ashia’s hand, slowly gained strength. “I knew you were getting healthier day by day.”

He had watched her every day and received reports about her health. There was no way that Kaligo, who had done so, was unaware of her condition.

“And you became even more beautiful.” Kaligo couldn’t look into Ashia’s eyes and lowered his head, choosing to look at their hands instead. “Every time you appeared in front of me, every time you passed by.”

“…”

“…As a man, my greed increased.”

“…”

‘What>’

Ashia doubted her ears.

She didn’t know that such words would come out of the mouth of a stoic man. She had never dreamed that he would see her as a woman.

Kaligo smiled bitterly as he saw Ashia’s gaping lips. This was already sufficient. The shackles he had made for himself to block his desires still bound him.

‘It would be perfect if you could just come back to life and breathe in front of my eyes.’

That’s what he had wanted for her in the beginning.

However, his desire grew day by day. He felt like a beast each time. What the hell was he imagining about a weak woman? Every time he saw her and his delusions of her as the main character in his heart unfolded, he scolded and rebuked himself.

“Without certainty… I couldn’t attack without consideration. I felt like a beast every time I fell into horrific fantasies of your frailty.”

“…”

The terrible imagination, the beast—what she was hearing right now came from the man who was thoroughly armed with abstinence.

Ashia blinked her big eyes and just looked at Kaligo quietly. A brief silence overtook them. Both Kaligo and Ashia seemed to need time to organize their thoughts.

“Why do you have to tell me that now? Those things are supposed to be between a couple.”

Kaligo looked at Ashia again. “…Those things?”

“Of course.”

“But still…”

“Were you worried about hurting your self-esteem?”

“No. Self-esteem…”

“Then, did you want to protect the dignity of the noble nobility?”

“Ashia.”

“Then you’re just a coward if that wasn’t it.”

Kaligo’s brow furrowed faintly.

Pride and dignity – there was never a single moment when such things mattered to him. He felt like what he had just told her to clear up their misunderstanding was now creating another misunderstanding.

“How can I talk to you about that?”

“Why not? We were a coupl…”

Before Ashia could even finish speaking, Kaligo’s words popped out. “I wanted to hug you, but I was afraid you might die! Every night, every night! Whether the sun was up or the moon was up, I was just thinking of holding you like a beast! How could I say such a thing!”

The words that came out of his mouth as if he was vomiting, made silence fall again on the spot.

“…”

Hearing all of his words, Ashia raised one eyebrow slightly. “You did well.”

Kaligo quickly blinked. And soon, the tips of his ears were dyed red like flowers.

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