Chapter 25: Chapter 24

CH 24

I headed for the forest, today, as I don on a thick coat.

“Hi.”

“…..”

At my greeting, the male protagonist, whose body had been curled up in the corner of the cage, raised his head.

He looked like a puppy welcoming his owner.

When I lowered my eyes, I saw a bowl of cold food that had been served yesterday evening.

“You didn’t eat again.”

I reached out to Ricarda, who was staring from the side.

“Please drop me off.”

“You don’t even know how cold the ground is!”

“I know all the cushions were brought.”

You should have said that after hiding that heavy bag behind your back.

In my weary eyes, Ricarda laughed playfully and dropped his bag on the ground.

“Hah, when did you see this again?”

When the bag opened up, many things popped out that I began to wonder how they all fit inside.

“Now, this is a cushion, a blanket, a pair of gloves and scarfs that I brought in case it gets cold, and most importantly, Daphne’s favorite warm cocoa!”

‘Eww.’

I smiled when he spoke and turned my head to control my facial expressions.

As each of the things came out of the bag one by one, I could see the main character’s body slowly approaching the front.

As if he wanted to see each and every one of them.

‘He was an assassin. But has he ever seen anything like this? Will his memory as an assassin remain the same?’

I’ll find out when I slowly start to talk to him.

***

The dreary place turned cozy as if it were a picnic, due to the items that were taken out of the bag.

I put down the little basket in my arms on the floor and urged Ricarda.

“Hurry up and drop me off.”

“Before you come down…”

“I can’t put my hand in the iron cage. Also I can’t open the door.”

Ricarda nodded in satisfaction at my quick answer.

“Good.”

Ricarda carefully laid me out on the ground.

I brought the basket I had set aside for the male protagonist, who had approached right in front of me.

“Are you not hungry?”

“…I’m hungry.”

The voice I heard for the first time was full of vigilance.

Nevertheless, his eyes didn’t fall off from the basket I had brought.

I guess he must have smelled something amazing from it.

“It has a warm soup, soft bread, and also the fruits. Don’t you want to eat?”

“…I want to eat.”

“I can’t just give it to you…”

I deliberately twisted my words and pulled the cloth-covered over the Basket.

As the front of the cage was filled with the smell of delicious food, a familiar rumbling sound was heard.

“…you can hit me.”

“What?”

I looked up at him wondering what he was talking about at the unexpected sound I heard. Then he spoke with a firm expression.

“You can hit me. So give me that.”

“Why should I hit you?”

“You said you couldn’t just give it to me.”

At my words, he tilted his head.

When he didn’t get it, I said pointing to the food I gave him yesterday.

“This, I gave it to you, but you didn’t eat it.”

“It smells strange.”

“Strange smell?”

Did the food go bad already?

As I looked down at the hardened food with a serious look on my face, Ricarda took away the bowl with a big, empty cough saying he will verify it.

Then he opened his hand to cover his mouth so that he could not be seen by the person in the prison, and whispered.

Truth Serum.

Ah, Lennox said he’d interrogate him while feeding him the truth serum.

I guess he started to put that in after he knew that the Male protagonist started eating.

This was not usually sensitive to smell.

Ricarda shook his head as I blinked looking at my basket.

When he gestured that it wasn’t brought right now, I turned my head back and looked at him.

“What did the people who provided food do for you?”

“They used their fist. Or kicked me. Even swearing at me….”

My forehead naturally creased upon listening to the harsh abuse that came out of his little mouth.

Was this what it meant when said that the male protagonist had a bad past?

‘He’s similar to me.’

No, he had been raised as an assassin, so wouldn’t it have been worse than me?

‘Strangely, he is similar to me. Is it just my feeling?’

I rummaged through the basket and took out the food one by one and put it in front of the cage.

Unlike how I ignored the advice last time, this time, I didn’t put my hand in the cage but put it as close as I could, and told the guy staring at me.

“I don’t have enough energy to hit you.”

“What am I supposed to do then?”

In a voice filled with doubts, I said nothing.

“My name is Daphne.”

“…….”

“I told you to tell me your name next time we meet. Tell me your name. That’s enough.”

I can’t call him the main character, the guy, and the boy forever.

I knew it from the novel, but I wanted to say it after hearing it directly from the boy in front of me.

I grumbled inwardly and laid down the bottle of water in front of him.

“So what’s your name?”

There was no response.

I looked into his eyes so that he wouldn’t hesitate to give me his name and he opened his mouth.

“Ragnar.”

“Yes, Ragnar, you can eat now.”

At my permission, Ragnar slowly reached out his hand toward the food in front of him, and as soon as the food reached him, he began to eat like a ritual.

In less than five minutes, the breakfast I had prepared was all over.

“It’s delicious.”

Ragnar spoke out and shut his mouth with embarrassment.

And he rolled his eyes and stare at Ricarda’s eye.

Then he started hiccuping.

The faint hiccups and trembling body with his mouth closed.

The glaring eyes were as if they were rebellion, but what was contained in them was plain fear.

He pretended to be strong on the outside, but in the end, he was afraid and retreat.

Like a trained dog.

Ragnar was trembling with fear.

‘…Ricarda doesn’t look scary. So is he scared because he’s big?’

As I looked at him who lowered his head quietly with his mouth closed, I had no choice but to forcibly pull Ricarda’s sleeve.

Ricarda who was looking at Ragnar with the eyes of an observer, answered my call with his eyes wide open.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Daphne?”

I laid a blanket on the ground and patted it with my hand.

“Ricarda, sit here, too.”

“Eh?”

“Hurry up and sit.”

When I pulled his sleeve again, Ricarda sat on the blanket with a confused look on his face.

Only then did Ragnar’s tremors stop a little.

‘As expected, you seem to hate big guys, don’t you?’

If I inferred from what he said earlier, it looks like he had been abused.

That fear was probably the result of discipline.

Really, he is similar to me.

But I had the will to escape, and Ragnar couldn’t have had that, and since he was hypnotized, he couldn’t have thought about it too.

Phew, I had no choice but to sigh.

Ricarda, who sat next to me, seemed to have noticed, but he erased his perplexity and became quiet again.

“Ragnar.”

“Uh, uh.”

His reaction was slow as if he was not used to others calling his name.

I opened the lid of the thermos bottle with an empty cup in front. As I moved, the eyes of the two men turned to me at the same time.

Not caring whether their eyes were on each other or me, I opened the thermos and poured the cocoa in the cup.

The warm cocoa was still emitting white smoke with heat in it.

I put down the cocoa filled with cups in front of Ragnar.

“Drink it.”

“…what is this?”

“Well.”

I concocted the words by looking at Ricarda’s countenance, who is looking at the cup of cocoa with a bewildered face next to me.

“It’s the most delicious, warmest cocoa in the world. My favorite one, but I’ll give it to you.”

“…can I drink?”

“I gave it to you to drink.”

In response to the abrupt answer, Ragnar carefully grabbed the cup and began to drink cocoa with a slurping sound.

As I watched Ragnar drinking with his face buried in the cup, I tapped Ricarda’s hand next to me.

“I’m sorry for giving it to him.”

“Hoo-hoo. It’s okay! Daphne’s favorite cocoa in the world can be made again when we return back.”

Ah.

I was going to pass today’s snack naturally like this.

I don’t know why, but at his proud look, I couldn’t even say that it was alright.

Not knowing what to do, I nodded my head and at that moment I heard the sound of Ragnar opening his mouth with a voice.

“It’s delicious!”

To him, whom with his unique purple eyes staring at me, I nodded my head as if to acknowledge.

It’s sweet, right, so it’s delicious.

As if it was really delicious, the borders around his mouth that existed a while ago had already disappeared when his eyes lit from excitement and he licked everything on his lips.

‘He is naive.’

It felt like I was taming him with something delicious. It felt a bit weird.

The atmosphere seemed to be going well, so I wanted to stop for today, satisfied.

At that time, Ragnar’s face suddenly hardened, as if he had noticed he was too excited.

“No, I mean… it was de-delicious…”

He lowered his guard then tightened it again.

In response to the ever-changing response, I shrugged my shoulder as if it were okay.

Curious of what he would do now, I knowingly looked at Ragnar and then as if my stare was burdensome, he slowly opened his mouth to say something.

“…Da-ph-ne?”

“Yes.”

Ragnar mumbled.

He bit his lips, clenched his fist, opened it, couldn’t stay still, and finally spoke with difficulty.

“Daphne, don’t you find me gross?”

“Do I have to find you disgusting?”

He shut his mouth to my question.

As if to say something, he flinched again, dodged his gaze, and spoke in a small voice.

“My eyes are gross. Everyone finds it gross…”

“I thought it was a little unusual.”

When the hypnosis was lifted, the whites returned, but the pupils were still torn like reptiles.

However, he looked like a sullen puppy with his head down.

“Ragnar, look at my legs.”

“…Ah.”

He opened his eyes wide, surprised at seeing the bandage that had been wrapped around my legs.

When I came out to a bright place, I saw Ragnar’s pupils narrow.

I spoke as if it was not a big deal.

“I can’t walk alone because of my legs. So I go around in a wheelchair.”

“Ah…”

“Are you disgusted with me like that?”

“…No. No, it’s not gross.”

“Me too. You’re not creepy.”

He didn’t forget to add a few words to his lingering appearance.

“So don’t look away and talk looking at me.”

I looked at his eyes gently.

When I saw his sparkling purple eyes, I didn’t feel bad because it seemed to show the color I had lost.

“I like purple, so give me a good look.”

“…until when?”

Ragnar’s voice was quivering.

I could see that his hand was burning red in the cold.

“Give me your hand.”

“?”

“Quickly.”

Surprised by my sudden remark, he carefully reached out of the cage.

It was cold when I touched it.

While placing the pink gloves, Ricarda had brought, in his hand, I said.

“Until you are deemed as safe.”

“……”

“I’m asking you to keep showing me. I’ll come over every day.”

There was no return to that remark.

No, there was no need for words.

Because I could see his white corpse- like face, glowing red as if it were lively.