Whoosh!
The man’s large hands wrapped around Lariette’s shoulders in an instant and pushed her away from him. Perhaps because he was flustered, his touch was especially rough compared to usual.
Asrahan looked down at Lariette with bewilderment on his face. Worried that she might have noticed his condition, his blue eyes wavered faintly.
But Lariette’s face was no different from usual, save for a slight surprise at being pushed away so suddenly. Her amethyst-like violet eyes remained perfectly clear.
“Asrahan……?”
Lariette called his name in a puzzled voice. Only after hearing her innocent tone did Asrahan feel relieved.
He awkwardly let go of Lariette and cleared his throat. Then, as if nothing had happened, he spoke.
“Was that enough?”
“It was a little lacking, but I’m satisfied!”
Lariette answered brightly, as if regretful, while stroking Asrahan’s hand with both of hers. She looked utterly guileless.
Contrary to that appearance, however, the inside of her head was anything but innocent.
‘Ahem, he’s healthy.’
It made her concerns last night before bed—about whether a certain part of his lower body might be cursed—feel utterly pointless. Though it had only brushed against her for an extremely brief moment, Lariette could tell that it was no ordinary thing.
Gulp. She swallowed without realizing it. It was quite difficult to maintain a look of ignorance.
But if she showed any sign of having noticed, Asrahan might run away again, so she forced herself to calm her pounding heart.
Asrahan made the excuse that he felt a little cold, put on the coat hanging nearby, and fastened the buttons tightly. Thanks to the long coat, his thighs were well hidden.
For Lariette, who had been deliberately avoiding looking down, it was a fortunate thing.
Perhaps it was still difficult for him to walk right away, for Asrahan pointlessly changed the subject and continued the conversation.
“Come to think of it, you’ve been wearing that bracelet often lately. It seems you’ve had it on all the time since a few days ago.”
“Ah, this? It’s pretty, right? Doha gave it to me as a gift……”
Because she had been too focused elsewhere, Lariette blurted out the words without thinking. She stopped herself in a hurry, but the most crucial information had already left her mouth.
Asrahan’s eyes narrowed in an instant. It was not a name he had expected to hear in this situation.
‘If your goal was to calm me down, it was remarkably effective.’
He had merely heard another man’s name, yet the heat that had been ruling his body vanished completely. In its place, a thicker, more unpleasant flame seethed in his stomach. It was the flame called jealousy.
If he could do as he pleased, he wanted to seize that silver-haired bastard at once and put him somewhere Lariette could never see him. Hell, for example.
However, what he had read a few days ago held his body back like shackles.
Why on earth were there so many things that could make someone sick of a person? For Asrahan, it was a frustrating matter.
“Asrahan, don’t misunderstand! Doha only gave this to me because it has holy magic on it for my health!”
Lariette explained hastily. She was afraid that he might be disappointed and run away.
But Asrahan smiled casually, pretending to be calm. He even forced the corners of his mouth upward into a smile.
“I am not misunderstanding. Friends can exchange gifts, after all.”
“……Really?”
“Yes. Of course. When I’m busy, it’s all right for you to spend time with him. You must be bored.”
Asrahan became so absorbed in playing the part of a man without jealousy that he ended up digging his own grave.
After he finished speaking, he thought, Ah, damn, but he could not take it back. Lariette was looking at him with a moved expression.
Indeed, whenever he was busy, she had nothing to do and was quite bored. But she had been refraining from going out with Doha in case her lover disliked it, so the fact that he trusted her this much was truly touching.
“Asrahan, I like you so much!”
Forgetting even the incident that had occurred just moments ago, Lariette hopped up and threw herself back into Asrahan’s arms. Asrahan, who was regretting what he had said, received her quite naturally.
Seeing Lariette’s bright smile seemed to lighten his endlessly heavy heart. But the moment her bracelet brushed against his fingers, jealousy surged over him once again like a wave.
However, having once imitated a man without jealousy, it was no longer an emotion he could show.
***
The next day, Asrahan left for the imperial castle to attend a meeting.
Even though it was obvious he did not want to leave Lariette behind, the fact that he forced himself to go meant the matter must be rather urgent. From what she had roughly heard, there was friction with the Kingdom of Danube, a small country on the border of the Harshan Empire.
After seeing off Asrahan, who looked back at her with lingering eyes until the very end, Lariette returned to her room and prepared to go out. It was the day she was meeting Doha.
As always, Doha arrived at the Candel ducal residence right on time. Though he was habitually late to the temple’s grand meetings, he kept his appointments with Lariette to the minute. If Joshua had seen it, he would have clicked his tongue.
“Hello, Doha! You’re not wearing glasses today? And your hair’s down.”
“Hello, my lady. I just felt like it for some reason. Is it better tied up?”
“No, it’s pretty down too!”
“It’s an honor that you see it that way, my lady.”
Doha smiled slyly and reached toward Lariette’s hair. Then he tapped her hair ornament with his fingers.
“This is the first time I’ve seen this ornament. It’s pretty, Rie.”
As he said, it was the first time she had used that ornament. A beautifully cut violet jewel was set into it, and gold stylishly wrapped around the gem. Even at a glance, it was clearly worth quite a lot.
“Hehe, thank you.”
Upon hearing praise for her hair ornament, Lariette smiled very happily and expressed her thanks. Naturally so, since it was an ornament Asrahan had given her that very morning.
‘How did he know I needed a hair ornament? How cute.’
Asrahan had emphasized that he was giving it to her without any meaning, but in Lariette’s eyes, his intention was obvious. Wasn’t it clear to anyone that he was subtly keeping Doha’s bracelet in check?
Throughout the treatment, Doha looked sullenly at Lariette’s smiling face. He resented the fact that she was thinking of another man while she was with him.
“Doha, are you free today? Would you like to go out and have fun together?”
“……Did my lady’s lover say that was all right?”
“Yeah! He says it’s fine now. I think he trusts me a lot, don’t you?”
You must be very happy, then. Doha muttered in a low voice. Listening to her boast was not particularly satisfying.
As soon as the treatment ended, Lariette and Doha left the mansion in a carriage. Since the outing had been decided on impulse, they decided to head into the city for now.
The first place they stopped after getting out of the carriage was a dessert shop. It was the same place they had gone during their jealousy operation.
As if repaying the debt from the day Doha had treated her, Lariette spent money without restraint. Since Asrahan did not particularly like sweet desserts, she intended to eat her fill with Doha.
Somehow, they ended up moving in the exact same order as on the day of the jealousy operation. It was because they could not think of anywhere in particular to go.
On the way to the market, Doha raised one eyebrow and asked suspiciously.
“Do you truly intend to pay for everything today, my lady?”
“I told you I do. It’s revenge for last time!”
Tell me everything you want! Lariette confidently shook the pouch containing her money. Doha chuckled at her bold appearance.
“Then buy me the bracelet I mentioned last time.”
“That’s all?”
Lariette urged him to name something more expensive. The bracelet they had seen last time had been rather pretty, but compared to the gift he had given her, it was far too cheap.
But Doha stubbornly insisted that he liked that one.
“You picked it out, saying it suited me. I’ll take that.”
“Oh, honestly. So stubborn.”
Lariette shook her head in surrender. He was as stubborn as a bull.
Fortunately, the silver bracelet they had seen then had not yet been sold. It seemed no one had bought it because it was quite expensive for an item in the market.
It was not a price that could compare to the bracelet enchanted with holy magic, but among the things one could obtain around here, it was on the expensive side.
When Lariette said she would buy the bracelet, the shopkeeper looked as refreshed as though a rotten tooth had been pulled.
After thanking Lariette, Doha tried to put on the bracelet he had purchased. However, perhaps because it was difficult to fasten it alone, his hand kept fumbling uselessly.
Of course, it was a trick.
“Rie, would you put this on for me? I’m not used to wearing these, so it’s difficult.”
“Sure, give it here.”
Lariette accepted the bracelet without much thought. Then she carefully began fastening it around his wrist.
As she fastened the bracelet, she suddenly felt how firm his arm was. It had simply been hidden by his pretty face and neat priestly robes, but his muscles were solid. Though he was not as perfectly hard as Asrahan, he was enough to put most knights to shame.
“There. Do you like it?”
“Yes, even more because my dear friend put it on me.”
Doha curved his eyes seductively and smiled bewitchingly. If Lariette had not developed considerable resistance to Asrahan’s and Doha’s faces, it would have been a smile that made her clutch her heart on the spot.
“Then shall we go somewhere else?”
“Ah, wait. I just need to buy one more thing!”
Just as he was about to move elsewhere, Lariette suddenly turned and headed toward another stall. Doha followed behind her with a puzzled expression.
Lariette stood in front of a nearby stall and carefully examined the items. Soon, as though she had found what she wanted, she exclaimed, “Oh!”
“I’ll buy this!”
“Oh my, you have a good eye. This is made from a gemstone found only in the Kingdom of Danube……”
Excited at the thought of selling an expensive item, the merchant began explaining. Lariette nodded along and listened attentively.
Meanwhile, Doha narrowed his eyes and looked at the item Lariette had chosen. A cravat brooch set with a black gem. It was an item that immediately brought someone to mind.
The face that had softened when Lariette fastened his bracelet earlier turned cold in an instant. Though he had known very well that she was infatuated with that monster duke, it still made his insides twist.
“Doha, let’s go!”
After buying the brooch to give to Asrahan, Lariette turned around with a refreshed expression. Doha smiled back at her, but his golden eyes had sunk coldly.
They leisurely walked through the market streets. Doha’s voice was a little lower than before, but not enough to be particularly different.
Their conversation continued smoothly without pause, and perhaps because the time of day was awkward, there were fewer people than usual, making it pleasant to walk as if on a stroll.
When they had entered a sparsely populated street, Doha brought up a new topic as though it had suddenly occurred to him.
“Come to think of it, there was a strange rumor going around.”
“……A rumor? What kind?”
At the word rumor, Lariette recalled being struck in the face by Raon at the imperial castle not long ago and stiffened as she asked back.
But the rumor Doha spoke of was not what she had expected.
“It’s a slightly old story, but they say Duke Candel cut off Marquis Segreve’s arm at the theater. The reason was that the marquis, not knowing fear, tried to harm the duke’s pink-haired partner…… Was that not you, my lady?”
“……Other than the pink hair, was there any more information?”
“No, that was all.”
Lariette stopped with a grave expression and remained silent. It would be troublesome if people found out that the pink-haired woman was her, Lady Blanche.
Even if Doha discovered her identity, that would be one thing, but if the news reached her parents’ ears, something unpleasant would surely happen. If, by any chance, her parents approached Asrahan and confronted him for taking their daughter away, she would be so ashamed she would not be able to lift her head.
“Rie, are you all right?”
When Lariette’s complexion suddenly darkened, Doha lowered his head and checked on her. Soon, her faintly trembling body entered his view.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
For something that was nothing, her face was deathly pale. Even her plump lips, which usually bore a smile, were quivering.
Doha carefully reached out and gently cupped Lariette’s cheek. Then he slowly lifted her face so that their eyes met.
“Rie, my lady. Look at me.”
“I’m really fine……”
“It will be all right.”
Doha cut off Lariette’s perfunctory words and spoke firmly. His golden eyes, which had grown cold, were now filled with tenderness.
“It will be all right.”
Repeating the words, Doha slowly transmitted divine power through his hand. As the bright light spread through her body, her fear gradually subsided.
“Trust me. I may not look it, but am I not my lady’s personal priest?”
“……Even though you’re a lower-ranking priest?”
“My, so you were looking down on me like that inside. I suppose I’ll have to hurry and rise to the rank of ordinary priest, if only because I feel wronged.”
At his voice full of mischief, Lariette let out a soft laugh. Though she felt embarrassed for suddenly showing such a side of herself, she was also quite grateful for Doha’s concern.
As though acting, Doha puffed out his chest, then soon asserted confidently.
“You may trust me. My lady has become friends with the most reliable priest. I’ll protect you whenever you need.”
“All right, all right.”
At his boastful words, Lariette waved her hands and laughed. Doha raised one eyebrow, showing dissatisfaction with her reaction, but in the end, he also smiled back.
However, even at this moment, Lariette did not know. She had no idea that what he had promised would be kept so soon.
Craaaack.
A sudden, inexplicable sound rang out. Lariette and Doha lifted their heads and looked toward the source of the sound.
Cracks were spreading rapidly across the walls of the buildings around them. And at the very moment they registered it, the stone buildings collapsed in an instant.
Rumble, crash!
There was not even time to scream. Lariette urgently snapped her fingers and cast a protective spell, but she knew that with magic of only that level, they could not survive amid collapsing buildings.
‘I’m going to die anyway, but……!’
Doha was not. He was a young man with a bright future ahead of him, and Lariette’s precious first friend.
And so, without hesitation, Lariette drew out as much mana as she could and layered protective spells over Doha.
Then she closed her eyes to accept the pain. The last thing she saw was Doha’s handsome face, wearing a bewildered expression amid the falling stones.
‘Asrahan…….’
A single, heavy regret remained, weighing down her heart.
Boom!!
Soon, all the stones crashed down over Lariette and Doha.