Chapter 37

The blackened vision was kind of a side effect that occurred while traversing space.

It wasn’t anything dangerous and Rosenia soon regained her sight. She blinked her eyes, taking in the scenery that came into view. Clear blue sky, green fields, and moderately lush vegetation. At the heart of it all was a beautiful citadel, standing tall like a lofty mountain.

The Duchy of Rasiane.

‘Finally, I did it…’

The tranquil citadel, which she had only taken a momentary glance from afar, was so close that she felt she could almost touch it.

Fascinated by the marvelous sight, she absently stared at the scenery with strange emotions. Just then, she heard someone groan painfully.

“Heuk…”

“…?”

When she looked to her side, her eyes widened as she registered a handsome face that was clearly in pain. Llewellyn was crouching down and was sweating profusely.

‘Hah, no way? Again? In this situation?!’

Was it because he had depleted all of his divine powers to fight Adrian? It seemed that the mana, that was colliding with his divine power inside of him, had begun to run amok again.

Rosenia felt embarrassed, and didn’t know what to do. She approached Llewellyn. Noticing that there was something off about him, everybody paled in fright.

Especially the man with jet black hair, he couldn’t hide the worry from his face and his lips moved slightly. It was surprising to see a stoic man showing such expressions.

~Tuk

Llewellyn then leaned his head against her shoulder. She grabbed his shoulders with both hands to support him, flinching while she did so.

She felt flustered by the gazes filled with doubt and suspicion coming from everyone. However, to get out of this place and reach the Ducal Castle, she had to first calm Llewellyn down. So she hugged him tightly and patted his back.

“Duke…”

“Rose…”

“Does it hurt a lot?”

When she asked anxiously, Llewellyn smiled despondently and quietly answered, “No.” But she knew that wasn’t the case. She was sure he was hurting a lot.

[A terrible pain that felt as if the body was being burned…]

It was clearly described in the original novel. At first, it hurt as if the body was burning, but as it got worse, it felt like the whole body was being torn apart.

”

“

‘…He came out to protect me knowing that it would hurt like this.’

He even risked his life.

Suddenly he seemed pitiful and lovely, so she hugged him a little harder and sighed deeply. She could feel his fierce mana flowing into her.

‘If he’s going to hurt like this in the future… wouldn’t it be better for him to meet Sierra and become a complete divine power user with her powers?’

Her heart throbbed at the very thought. She knew this was the best course for Llewellyn, but she felt miserable at the thought of yielding to the heroine.

‘But if Llewellyn wants to seek Sierra’s help, if it eventually happens, then…’

“Rose…”

“…”

“What are you thinking?”

Before she realized it, Llewellyn had raised his head and was looking at her so closely that their lips almost touched. She shook her head and wiped the cold sweat running down on his cheek with the back of her hand. With a dull smile, he raised his eyebrows slightly.

“… I wish I could know what you’re thinking.”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“No, I’m not feeling any better.”

Llewellyn answered firmly to the question she threw to divert the subject. Rosenia tried to absorb his mana a little more while avoiding his gaze. But Llewellyn didn’t let her escape. He gripped her waist with one hand and grabbed her chin with the other and made her look at him.

“I think I’ll feel better if you kiss me.”

“…here?”

“I’m sure everyone will turn their backs away from us.”

As she looked around to see if it was really true, just as Llewellyn had said, everyone was looking at the distant mountains with their backs turned away from them.

Though she was glad they couldn’t see them, she still couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. She blushed and said quietly, “Then we’ll just kiss.”

Llewellyn seemed somewhat dissatisfied, but he didn’t force her to do what he wanted. He just nodded gently, and immediately his lips pressed against hers.

His lips were so hot that it took her by surprise. Rosenia carefully reached out, closed her eyes, and gently stroked his cheek. Llewellyn hugged her into his arms a little tightly  and held her close.

‘How long has it been since we shared a tight hug like this?’

She could feel the mana that had been raging inside Llewellyn gradually calm down. When she finally began to feel the mana flow calmly like a lake, she slowly opened her eyes.

“…”

The emerald eyes were still staring at her quietly. The moment their eyes met, Rosenia’s cheeks flushed red and she withdrew her lips. Llewellyn seemed a little disappointed. He then approached her, wrapped his hands around her face, and kissed her again.

~Kiss!

He smiled as he removed his lips with a smacking sound. Feeling her face become hot, Rosenia got up from her place, wanting to escape.

But Llewellyn lifted her and hugged her tightly, making it unable for her to run away. She severely struggled against him feeling embarrassed.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh no, I was just… making space. Yes?”

“I hate it.”

‘No, this guy really…!’

As she and Llewellyn were squabbling, Alex said in a cheeky voice, still with his back turned away.

“Aren’t you done? Are you not going to the Ducal Castle?”

At that moment, Rosenia felt so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole in the ground.

But Llewellyn acted as if he hadn’t done anything shameless. He held her up and began to stride towards the Ducal Castle. It seemed that he was looking forward to it. For someone who had just suffered from mana congestion, he looked quite well, as if what happened before was just some dream.

While he walked ahead, the other three slowly followed behind him. Rosenia burrowed her head in Llewellyn’s arms as he carried her in a princess carry. When she clutched his collar tightly and trembled in his embrace, Llewellyn said joyfully.

“How come you look so cute even when you are shy?”

“Shut up…”

“You’re also good at saying harsh words.”

“How can I keep your mouth shut?!”

“Well, you can kiss me?”

Rosenia gaped at him dumbfoundedly. At his request, she quivered for a moment and then impulsively pulled his head towards her and pressed her lips against his.

“…..!”

Seeing that Llewellyn was bewildered, without even a moment of hesitation, she bit his lower lip tightly and quickly moved away.

Seeing her still holding his collar and glare at him like before, Llewellyn blinked blankly. His lips were visibly red after being bitten.

‘Well, there’s no blood. So it must not have hurt too much.’

“Now that I think about it, it’s already the third time.”

Llewellyn murmured absentmindedly.

“That Rosenia has kissed me by surprise.”

‘…Why are you counting those things?’ As she looked at Llewellyn with an absurd expression, he smiled playfully. Then he kissed her again.

~Kiss!

He walked towards the Ducal Castle with light steps. She wondered whether it was because she suddenly kissed him, he looked like he was in a good mood.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of the Duke, the guards hurriedly opened the gate. Rosenia felt a lot of questioning gazes coming at her. She could guess what everyone was thinking- ‘Who is that woman in the Duke’s arms?’

She buried her face in Llewellyn’s bosom to try to hide but he didn’t budge at all. She wanted him to put her down but Llewellyn showed no signs of doing so.

“Rosenia?”

“…..”

“It’s okay, raise your head. No one can say anything to you.”

‘No, It’s not okay! How can I raise my head like this?’

Rosenia grabbed Llewellyn’s shoulders and muttered in a voice mixed with both shame and anger.

“Please let me down.”

“I like it this way…”

“If you don’t let me go, I’ll use a teleporting magic spell to get out of here.”

Llewellyn’s body stiffened as she spoke in a grim voice as if she were warning.

Rosenia couldn’t figure out what kind of expression Llewellyn had on because she had buried her face in his chest. But she could sense that something was not right.

It was because Llewellyn had suddenly stopped walking and had become very quiet.

“….?”

Rosenia didn’t feel good, so she slowly raised her head and looked at Llewellyn’s face. He was smiling at her, but only his mouth was smiling, the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

‘I don’t know why but the look in his eyes somehow…’

‘…Ah, he’s gone crazy again!’

When she realized that, she flinched a little, but Llewellyn continued to smile prettily. It was a friendly but dangerous smile.

Llewellyn said in a cool tone.

“You are going to disappear…”

“Well, um…”

“Then I’ll have to come up with a measure.”

“…a measure?”

Rosenia felt uneasy about this. She had just said it carelessly, but she wondered if she had touched a line that shouldn’t have been touched?

‘Did I just press the self-destruct button?’

“Yes, a measure. A measure that will tie Rosenia to me tightly.”

‘…What is that? I’m scared!’

Llewellyn pulled her even closer with a twisted smile on him, as if he was not the male lead but a man with wicked intentions.

She looked at him in bewilderment as he began to walk leisurely again. She wanted to ask what the hell he was up to, but she couldn’t say anything.

The wind carried a thick scent of lilac. Then suddenly she could smell the scent of roses, but it took her more time to realize the familiarity in them.

By the time she came back to her senses, she was already at the front door of the main building of the Ducal Castle.

”

“

When she unconsciously turned her head and looked straight ahead, many pale faces came into her view. They were all retainers of the Duke of Rasiane.

Among them, an old man with gray hair – who seemed to be the oldest here – said with a surprised expression:

“Ma, Master… what on earth is this…?”