Lariette squeezed her eyes shut. At the thought of the pain that would soon come crashing down on her, her entire body froze stiff as ice.
But despite the deafening noise and the world shaking as though an earthquake had struck, she felt no pain at all.
‘What……? Am I already dead?’
If death was this simple, it almost made all the fear she had felt until now seem foolish. Puzzled, Lariette frowned and slowly cracked her eyes open, looking up.
And then she was met with an astonishing sight.
Behind Lariette, who had curled in on herself, Doha stood firmly in place.
A massive spherical protective barrier surrounded them in a perfect dome. It was a bright, distant golden barrier, more radiant than any power she had ever seen.
Unlike Lariette’s barrier, which had shattered so easily, Doha’s barrier supported the debris of the collapsed building without the slightest tremor. Thanks to that, aside from a few scrapes she had gotten when she fell, she hadn’t suffered a single injury.
With one hand stretched toward the sky to form the barrier, Doha looked down at Lariette with an expression she had never seen before. Unlike his usual smooth smile, his face was fierce and cold.
His face twisted sharply as he spoke in a low, sunken voice.
“My lady, are you insane?”
His voice sounded like the growl of a beast. At the rough tone so unlike his usual gentle, glib manner, Lariette’s eyes went round.
“Why, why……”
Hic! Startled by the hiccup that slipped out, Lariette couldn’t bring herself to ask why he was acting like that.
No, more important than why he was speaking so harshly right now was how they were going to clear away the wreckage of the building piled on top of the barrier. There was so much of it, and it was so huge, that the entire sky was blocked from view.
Could Doha maintain the barrier until they were rescued? Holding her breath to stop her hiccups, Lariette pondered the matter seriously.
But it was a needless worry. Seeing where Lariette’s gaze had gone, Doha wore an expression as if the concern was beneath consideration. With a single wave of his hand, the debris piled on top of the barrier flew lightly into the sky like flower seeds carried by a spring breeze.
Kwagwagwang—!!
As the wreckage of the building came crashing down onto the surrounding ground, clouds of dust thickly obscured their vision. Dust-laden wind seeped through the barrier, making Lariette cough.
“Why? That’s what I should be asking.”
Retracting the barrier, Doha murmured in an icy voice. Then he came up in front of Lariette and slowly bent down. Soon, his ominous golden eyes met hers dead-on.
“Why did you do something so absurd?”
“What…… do you mean?”
Lariette asked back cautiously, as if she truly didn’t understand. At that, his face twisted even further.
“Why did you cast protective magic only on me, Rie?”
Doha spoke as though chewing over each word. He was asking why she had given up her own life to save his.
Only then understanding what he meant, Lariette blankly murmured, “Ah.” Since he didn’t know she was terminally ill, it was certainly an action he could not comprehend.
But why he was so angry instead of grateful was something she could not understand. Lariette smiled awkwardly and replied as though making an excuse.
“Um, I just…… did it without thinking?”
It felt strange to speak like a guilty person when she hadn’t even done anything wrong.
But perhaps that was not the answer he wanted, because Doha’s expression grew even more menacing. From Lariette’s perspective, who had only tried to help him, it was simply unfair.
“You just did it without thinking?”
Doha let out a hollow laugh, as though utterly dumbfounded. His entire body froze cold, while heat surged to his head.
He was certain Lariette must be insane. She had risked her life to protect him, someone she had known for only a few weeks? There was no way anyone but a madwoman would do such a thing.
Doha was someone who did not believe in people’s goodwill. He disliked those who were praised as altruistic.
He despised actions that crossed boundaries under the pretty packaging of goodwill and selflessness, and he believed most people who performed good deeds did so because there was something they wished to gain. Being praised as noble, honor, and things of that sort.
To someone like him, Lariette’s actions were utterly impossible to accept. What benefit could she possibly have been aiming for? Even if she gained something after death, wouldn’t it be meaningless? Complicated thoughts whirled chaotically through his mind.
“Anyway, we’re both alive! Doha, thank you for saving me!”
Lariette spoke in a bright voice to change the atmosphere. Then she forced herself to add something playful.
“By the way, you’re really skilled, aren’t you? My friend’s going to become a regular priest in no time!”
She spoke as if joking, but this was truly pure admiration. Even to her, who knew little about divine magic, the barrier Doha had cast had seemed incredible.
If a mere lower-ranking priest was this capable, then how strong must high priests and the high priest be? She felt a renewed respect for the Temple of Alteon. It never occurred to her that it was possible only because it was Doha.
“……Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Not at all. What about you, Doha? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Your face doesn’t exactly look fine, though.
Lariette murmured inwardly. His stiff expression showed no sign of loosening.
Doha lowered his silver eyelashes and examined her condition. He could see scrapes on her arms and legs. It was absurd that someone in that state was worrying about someone else.
He slowly reached out and wrapped his hands around Lariette’s arms and legs. Then he released divine power and began healing all her wounds.
At the unexpected contact, her face flushed slightly.
“My lady, you really almost died just now. Do you know that?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. People all die eventually anyway.”
Lariette replied as if joking, though her smile was somewhat bitter. It was something she could say because she knew her own body would die anyway.
Hearing this, Doha furrowed his brow once more. Then, in a cold voice as if he had heard something utterly ridiculous, he continued.
“No. You can’t die, my lady. Do you think I’d allow that?”
He could, with his broad magnanimity, tolerate her thinking about another man in front of him, but he could not stand by and watch her dare put herself in danger.
Lariette could not die unless he permitted it. That was also why he had given her the bracelet.
Something that might have been madness or obsession gleamed in Doha’s beastlike eyes. Unfortunately, Lariette was still unable to notice such a gaze.
“Don’t go getting hurt so carelessly, my lady.”
Doha forced himself to speak in a gentle voice. Then he carefully helped Lariette to her feet and looked beyond the collapsed building with a chilly gaze. No matter how old they were, it was impossible for buildings to suddenly collapse all at once.
‘Their lawlessness reaches the heavens.’
He smiled darkly and turned his head. Perhaps because of his power of foresight, he felt as though he could already smell blood.
***
Doha apologized, saying she had gone through something terrible because she had gone out with him, and escorted Lariette back to the mansion. As far as she was concerned, she had no idea why he was blaming himself.
But she could not even ask, because Doha’s expression had not improved after that.
He maintained a curt, cold attitude, as if he had become Asrahan himself. Perhaps because the contrast with his usual self was so great, he seemed even colder than Asrahan did.
‘He does live up to that face after all. Tsk, tsk.’
Though Doha had a face as beautiful as a god’s, she had thought him rather inhuman because there was not a single flaw in his personality. But now that she saw him like this, it seemed he had quite the prickly side too.
Still, in any case, he had saved her life, so she decided to forgive all that prickliness and be grateful.
Lariette patted herself on the shoulders and headed toward the mansion’s front gate. When she had gone out, she had never imagined the end of her day would be this eventful.
Thanks to Doha healing her body with divine power, no wounds remained, but perhaps because fatigue had piled up, her body felt heavy. It was only natural, since she had nearly been crushed under a building.
“Lariette, have you returned?”
When she climbed the stairs, Asrahan was waiting for her. Seeing him sooner than she had expected seemed to wash away all the old fatigue at once.
“Asrahan! You came back early?”
“Did you not tell me to come early?”
“I only said it in passing…… but I’m happy to see you sooner. Hehe.”
This is today’s hug! Lariette added, then quickly threw herself into his broad arms. When his firm muscles enveloped her body, she felt cozy.
Asrahan smiled softly as he looked down at Lariette’s head. He was quite satisfied that she fit entirely within his arms.
But that was only for a moment. Asrahan’s expression instantly hardened.
“……Did something happen, by any chance?”
“Pardon?”
“Were you perhaps in an accident?”
No, how did he know?
Lariette’s face turned as pale as if she had seen a ghost. Fortunately, because her face was buried against Asrahan’s chest, he did not notice the change in her expression.
“Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“……Because I smell the faint scent of dust.”
I thought perhaps you might have gone to a collapse site. Asrahan murmured as though he himself thought he was overreacting.
And Lariette was so startled that she nearly bit her tongue. She had even sprayed perfume in case he found out, so it was almost frightening how he knew.
She forced herself to feign composure and lied naturally. It could not be helped. The moment she said she had nearly died, Doha would truly die.
“Oh, no. I fell once on the way, so it must be because of that.”
“Were you injured?”
“I was scratched a little, but Doha treated me. So I’m completely fine!”
Despite Lariette’s answer, Asrahan thoroughly examined her body. He looked ready to kill Doha if he found even a single scratch.
Fortunately, Lariette’s body was clean, without a single mark. Only then relieved, Asrahan walked into the mansion with her and asked in a subtle voice.
“……Did you have fun today?”
Though he pretended otherwise, it seemed going out with Doha had bothered him quite a bit. Finding him cute, Lariette chuckled and answered.
“Yes, it was fun!”
“……I see.”
Asrahan’s mouth hardened faintly. Lariette poked his shoulder with her finger and continued playfully.
“But being with you is much more fun, Asrahan!”
“I see.”
Asrahan’s face visibly brightened. Not enough for anyone else to notice, but the slight lift at the corners of his mouth revealed his satisfaction.
That change was so unbearably cute that, in the end, Lariette could not hold back and burst into laughter.
***
At last, the day Lariette had been eagerly waiting for arrived. It was the day she would purify Asrahan’s curse.
Recently, she had made up her mind to purify his curse as quickly as possible. There were two reasons for that.
The first was that she had truly felt how deeply traumatized Asrahan was by his own body. She wanted to remove that trauma for him quickly, and she also wanted to touch him to her heart’s content. She wanted to fully enjoy the three months she had with him.
The second was because of what had happened yesterday. In the moment she had nearly been crushed under the building, Lariette had thought of Asrahan.
What would happen to him if she died before she finished purifying him? It was a terrible thing just to imagine.
Since she was terminally ill, Lariette naturally believed she would die after three months. She had forgotten that danger existed anytime, anywhere.
The fact that she might die sooner than three months because of some sudden accident made her impatient.
“Asrahan, I’ll start now, all right?”
Asrahan’s reception room. Sitting on the sofa, Lariette reached toward Asrahan’s sturdy body visible through the open front of his shirt.
But just before her fingers touched his thick chest muscles, Asrahan flinched and drew his body back.
“Lariette, are you truly all right? You do not look well……”
“I’m fine, of course! No need to say it twice.”
She was not fine. In the moment yesterday when she had thought she was going to die, she had wrung out a great deal of magic power to cast protective magic on Doha, and as a result, she was badly lacking mana.
But that did not mean she could put off the purification. And so Lariette acted as if nothing were wrong and reached out to him again.
Asrahan, who was always quick to notice Lariette’s condition, looked at her suspiciously, but soon gave in as if he had no choice and offered his body.
Soon, her hand touched his chest, and a warm power spread out. Along with it, the marks covering his chest gradually faded. They were much paler than they had been at first.
“Hoo…… hoo…….”
“Lariette, are you all right? That’s enough now……”
“Stay still.”
Lariette kept breathing out hot, ragged breaths. She was already low on mana, and forcing herself to wring out more made her head spin; cold sweat poured down her like rain.
Seeing her like that, Asrahan tried to pull his hand away, but Lariette firmly stopped him. To purify him as quickly as possible, she had to pour in as much as she could all at once.
Asrahan looked at her with concern in his eyes. Soon, he felt the hand pressed against his chest grow as cold as ice. Her slender arm was trembling violently.
“Lariette!”
Deciding he could no longer stand by and watch, he raised his voice—rare for him—and forcibly pulled her hand away. At that, Lariette’s body collapsed toward him as if it had been waiting for the chance.
“Lariette, are you all right? Lariette!”
“C-cold……”
All at once, her entire body had gone cold. She had fainted before from using too much mana, but this was the first time her body had ever felt this freezing.
Startled, Asrahan hurriedly looked for something to warm her with.
“Something to cover you……!”
“No, I don’t want that. I’m sweaty……”
But Lariette was drenched in sweat from head to toe. She didn’t want to put anything else over herself. It felt unpleasant, too.
Breathing harshly, she looked up at Asrahan with mournful eyes. It was the look she wore when there was something she wanted.
“I want to bathe in warm water……”
“I’ll have a maid prepare your bath.”
Asrahan answered at once and rose to his feet. He intended to quickly order a maid to prepare the bathwater.
But a movement as light as a feather made him stop short. Lariette had caught the hem of his shirt.
“What is it?”
“I don’t let anyone attend me in the bath unless I trust them completely.”
That was not a lie. Even at the Blanche ducal house, only Anne had attended her bath. Since coming to the Candel mansion, she had bathed on her own.
“But…… you likely don’t have the strength to do it alone.”
“Mm, that’s true.”
I don’t have any strength in my body at all. Lariette added in a pitiful voice.
Asrahan could do neither one thing nor the other, his eyes merely darting back and forth.
Seeing him like that, Lariette let out a small laugh despite everything. If left alone, he seemed like the sort who would storm into the Blanche ducal residence and drag Anne out by force.
How could he not even think of any other option? Thinking that a man who had even dated before was strangely innocent, Lariette tugged his collar toward herself.
“So, what I mean is.”
Asrahan, drawn closer to Lariette, instinctively felt that those words were a bad omen. It was an instinct he had acquired only after being flustered several times by Lariette’s thunderbolt-like remarks.
But the words that followed this time were the most bewildering of all.
“Will you attend me in the bath?”