Lariette gazed steadily at Asrahan, her eyes brimming with anticipation.
Inwardly, she was convinced that this was the perfect timing for a first kiss. A first kiss that tasted of chocolate—just hearing the words sounded sweet.
-You should have done it in moderation. Moderation.
Suddenly, a memory from a few days ago forced its way into her mind. It was the memory of the day she had gotten drunk, failed to control her desires, and stolen Asrahan’s first little kiss.
Lariette truly had a high tolerance for alcohol. There was no way someone like her would have forgotten that night entirely.
The eyes that had looked at her as if they might devour her, the firm arm that had seized her hand… everything was vivid.
In truth, even her act of taking his lips first had not been entirely due to the alcohol. Though falling asleep because she was too drowsy had not been her will.
In any case, Lariette considered this the perfect situation to continue what had come after that. Just imagining Asrahan approaching her with that sexy face of his already sent a thrill through her entire body.
Sure enough, Asrahan furrowed his handsome brow and slightly distorted his expression. Then he slowly lowered his head toward Lariette.
His long, dark lashes trembled faintly, veiling his blue eyes. At that subtle yet sensual gaze, Lariette unconsciously drew in a sharp breath.
“Lariette.”
His low voice resonated by her ear.
Lariette clenched her small fists tightly and stared up at him in a daze. Her heart pounded rapidly, as if their lips might touch at any moment.
But the words that followed shattered the delicate tension she was feeling.
“…You are too much.”
“Yes?”
“Do you… feel nothing at all?”
Are you not worried that I might grow tired of you? Overwhelmed by piercing embarrassment, Asrahan swallowed the last words back down.
He felt aggrieved. He had been anxious that she might get sick of him, and had even asked that they take things slowly.
But it seemed Lariette had not taken his words seriously. Otherwise, there was no way she would have made such a bold touch the moment she accepted his request.
Meanwhile, Lariette stared at him with round eyes, utterly unable to understand the situation. What was too much, and what was she supposed to feel nothing about?
For her, who had not realized at all that “taking things slowly” referred to the pace of their relationship, it was only bewildering.
Even the sight of her blinking with chocolate smeared at the corner of her mouth was stimulation to Asrahan, so he hurriedly drew his body back.
Asrahan carefully wiped Lariette’s lips with a handkerchief. His ears were flushed red with shame.
“Asrahan, what do you mean…”
“I will go rest first.”
Just as Lariette was about to question him calmly, Asrahan once again declared his escape.
Lariette had no time to stop him, let alone catch him. After blinking a few times, he had already vanished from the kitchen.
‘Again…?’
It was a scene all too familiar to her.
Frustrated, Lariette clutched her head and let out a deep sigh.
***
The next morning. Lariette began getting dressed with a little more care than usual.
She wore a red dress with a mature air, and her hair was elegantly and beautifully pinned up. The new maid’s skill was not quite on Anne’s level, but it was still rather satisfactory.
The only disappointing part was that the hair ornament did not quite please her. It was because she had not bought any ornaments for putting up her hair at the boutique last time.
When tying one’s hair up, a pretty hair ornament was necessary to truly complete the look! Lariette clicked her tongue as she placed the plain ornament in her hair.
After finishing all preparations, Lariette headed to breakfast with Asrahan. Ever since they had begun dating, they had always taken breakfast together.
‘Today, I’m going to have a proper conversation with him!’
Before entering the dining room, Lariette clenched her fist and made up her mind. She did not know why Asrahan had begun running away again, but she could not simply leave it be.
She thought she should at least be careful with her words and actions so that he would not run away again. She no longer wanted to see her lover suddenly disappear right before her eyes.
‘If one wishes to befriend a wild animal, one must make an effort not to frighten it.’
Lariette recalled a book she had once read with deep admiration. It was a book describing how to tame wild animals. After all, the things Asrahan did were no different from what a wild animal would do.
After taking a deep breath, she instructed the servant to open the dining room door.
At last, the door opened, revealing the face of the fugitive and wild animal, Asrahan.
“…You have arrived, Mage.”
Asrahan, with about half of his black bangs swept back, greeted her while drinking coffee. Lariette sat in the seat beside him with her usual manner and made a puzzled expression.
“Why have I suddenly become a mage again?”
As soon as she sat down, the maid swiftly poured her coffee. Even adding about half milk was perfectly to her taste.
Asrahan turned the page of the newspaper he had been reading without answering. At his suspicious attitude, Lariette narrowed her eyes.
“…Don’t tell me you’re angry?”
“I am not.”
“Then why are you calling me Mage?”
Asrahan did not answer this time either. He would not even meet her eyes.
‘He’s definitely angry!’
At his unexpected reaction, Lariette burst out laughing. It was because this unexpected side of him was far too cute.
Asrahan glanced sideways at her. At that, Lariette flinched and quickly smacked her own lips.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that you’re too cute, Asrahan.”
“…You find all sorts of things cute.”
Asrahan turned his head and muttered in a low voice. His ears had gone red again. It was because he himself was embarrassed by his behavior.
To act this childishly just because his request had been ignored! Even if Lariette grew tired of him because of this attitude, he would have nothing to say.
He knew very well that he should not behave like this if he wanted to continue receiving her affection. Even so, he could not bring himself to stop showing that he was sulking.
But the moment Lariette called him cute, all his worries and disappointment melted away like a snowflake placed beneath the fierce summer sun. It even seemed that the corners of his mouth had risen slightly without his realizing it.
‘Cute, indeed.’
Lariette caught that subtle change in expression with uncanny precision. The sight of his mood improving from just one word from her was terribly lovable.
She could not understand why she had ever been afraid of Asrahan before. A war ghost, a monster—what nonsense! The man before her eyes was no different from a gentle lamb.
She had already forgotten the sight of him slicing off Marquis Segreve’s wrist.
“Asrahaaaan.”
Lariette called his name, drawing out the ending. Her two hands were clasped together, and her eyes sparkled.
At her charming appearance, Asrahan tightened his grip on the fork in his hand. Because he failed to control his strength, the fork bent mercilessly.
“What is it?”
After barely feigning composure in his reply, Asrahan restored the fork to its original shape. His movements were extremely cautious, as he thought Lariette might be frightened if she saw.
Fortunately, Lariette, who had not seen it, still regarded him as a gentle lamb and continued in a sweet, coaxing voice.
“Won’t you tell me? Why were you angry yesterday?”
Asrahan remained silent for a moment. Saying that he had felt hurt merely because his request had been ignored made him seem too pathetic, even to himself.
He was afraid that if he spoke, Lariette would be disappointed in him. Only then did Asrahan look at his own position objectively.
Lariette was a woman who deserved to be loved by anyone. She was beautiful, kind, and full of lively charm. The way she smiled brightly was just like softly shining sunlight.
Compared to her, he was far too lacking. A monster whose entire body was rotting, gloomy and uninteresting besides.
No one had ever approached him first or offered him affection. He was in a position where he ought to be grateful simply that she liked him.
Of course, if Lariette had heard this, she would have clicked her tongue in disbelief. To Lariette, Asrahan was a person so entertaining that just looking at his face sent the fun piercing through the heavens.
“Hm? Tell me. I want to understand you better, Asrahan.”
But Lariette’s gaze was too powerful for him to keep his mouth shut. Thinking that at this rate he might even blabber about top-secret documents, Asrahan finally opened his mouth.
“Because it seemed… that you were taking my request lightly.”
“Request? What request?”
“The request I made yesterday regarding our progress.”
Asrahan lowered his head with a sullen expression. Lariette quickly racked her brain over his incomprehensible words.
Request? A request about their progress? No matter how much she thought about it, nothing came to mind. But then, in an instant, words she had brushed past as trivial flashed through her head like lightning.
“Don’t tell me you mean the request to proceed slowly? Weren’t you talking about the cooking process?”
“…Pardon?”
“No, we were cooking, so I naturally thought that since it was your first time, you wanted to cook slowly…”
Lariette’s voice gradually trailed off. She nodded, as if she finally understood the situation. Her face looked much more at ease than before.
On the other hand, Asrahan’s face flushed red in an instant, as though steeped in flower dye. He was deeply embarrassed by the fact that he had misunderstood all on his own and sulked over it.
“I apologize, Lariette. I did something foolish…”
“Our Asrahan was upset because things were moving too fast, hm?”
And this from the man who had once said that if she provoked him any further, there would be no stopping next time!
In the end, Lariette could not hold back and burst into laughter. Seeing the clumsy side of Asrahan, who had always only acted cool, made laughter come naturally.
Asrahan felt his face heat up and sprang to his feet. But as if she had expected it, Lariette grabbed his wrist.
“You’re trying to run away again, aren’t you!”
“Please let go.”
“But the mage doesn’t want to let go.”
Lariette referred to herself as a mage and smiled mischievously. She was deliberately imitating the title Asrahan had used for her a moment ago to tease him.
“It hurts. Please let go.”
“Ah, it hurt?”
Startled, Lariette let go of Asrahan’s wrist. And of course, there was no way Asrahan would have been hurt by her strength.
The moment Lariette released his hand, Asrahan fled like the wind. All Lariette could see was the fluttering edge of his bandages. She had lost count of how many times he had run away by now.
‘Now he’s even lying to run away?!’
Dumbfounded, Lariette quickly chased after him. But he was so fast that he had already disappeared.
“Asrahan!”
Lariette’s loud voice filled the ducal estate. It was a playful voice, as if teasing the retreating rump of a fleeing lamb.
***
At dinner that day, Lariette teased Asrahan without rest, as if she had made up her mind.
From asking whether she now had to ask permission before holding his hand, to telling him to let her know in advance if he planned to run away so she could prepare herself mentally.
Even Halstein grinned and nodded along at her jokes.
Asrahan found that time extremely humiliating, and yet strangely reassuring. It was because he felt certain that she was not afraid of him.
As Asrahan was leaving the mansion to handle some work, Lariette, who had come out to see him off, worried over him like someone sending a child to the battlefield. It was all for the sake of teasing him.
“Don’t get lost, and make sure you come back safely, all right?”
“…Of course.”
“And you mustn’t run away out of embarrassment while His Majesty is speaking, okay?”
“That will not happen.”
It was a good thing that she was not afraid of him, but this treatment was excessive. Asrahan let out a sigh, regretting his past behavior of running away whenever he had the chance.
After leaving the mansion, Asrahan familiarly boarded a carriage and set off. It was not the direction he usually took.
The place where he got off was a deserted suburb. Dusk had already settled over the quiet street, and a chilly wind blew.
“Did you tell Lady Blanche that you were going to the imperial castle?”
“I did not bother saying anything.”
At Gerard’s question, Asrahan answered in a cold voice devoid of even a trace of emotion. It was an unbelievably different side of him from the attitude he showed when he was with Lariette.
Before long, the members of La Noche, including Gerard, stood behind Asrahan. With their faces hidden by black cloth, they followed in Asrahan’s wake like dangling shadows.
Bang!
When they reached the old warehouse at the end of the alley, Gerard opened the door with a dull crash.
And inside the building, a familiar red-haired man was bound.
“Mmph—mmmmmph!!”
The man thrashed about and shouted when he spotted Asrahan, but with his mouth gagged, no proper words came out.
With an indifferent expression, Asrahan approached him and, without hesitation, roughly pulled away the cloth covering his mouth.
“It has been a while, Lord Blanche.”
“You son of a—!”
The moment the cloth was removed, Raon spat out a vicious curse. But before he could even finish, a fierce fist struck him in the face.
Puh-uck!
The pain was so intense that Raon could not even scream. It had only been a punch, yet his nasal bone shattered, and his teeth broke loose one after another, clattering to the floor.
“You still haven’t come to your senses.”
“My apologies, Your Excellency. It seems I was lacking.”
“Enough. I can make him come to his senses myself.”
Asrahan muttered calmly, as though he had merely swatted a mosquito. Then he grabbed Raon, who had collapsed onto the floor, by the collar and lifted him into the air.
With a face completely devoid of expression, Asrahan continued to drive his fist into Raon. Even when his black glove was soaked through with blood, he did not stop.
It was unlike his usual way of neatly disposing of opponents with his sword.
‘How dare he, to Lariette.’
She was someone he could not even touch for fear she might be hurt if he used even the slightest strength.
The reason he had not shaken off Lariette’s hand when she grabbed his wrist was because he worried she might be in pain.
Lariette was the first woman Asrahan had ever loved, and his savior. She was precious to him beyond anything that could ever be exchanged.
There was no way he could let a man who had dared to strike her die comfortably.
“Sa…… save…….”
Raon, reduced to a battered wreck, barely managed to mutter as he clutched Asrahan’s collar with a trembling hand. He was so badly injured that even begging for his life was difficult.
“I have no intention of killing you, Lord Blanche.”
“Huu……”
“However, remember this.”
Asrahan immediately seized Raon by the throat. As that powerful grip tightened around his neck, Raon choked and desperately sucked in breath through his broken teeth.
But when he met Asrahan’s beastlike face right before his eyes, he forgot even to breathe and went rigid.
“The reason I am showing you mercy—”
It was a face full of madness. Killing intent, as though he wanted to snap Raon’s neck at any moment, spread from him with chilling force.
“Is solely because Lariette has not granted me permission.”
Permission to kill you. Asrahan added as he pressed his fingers against Raon’s Adam’s apple as if to crush it.