āI donāt have a hobby to bother sick people, so Iāll go now.ā
Valrose got up out of bed and turned around. A straight step leads to the door of the bedroom.
Looking at the distant appearance of the back, Nocton opened his mouth without realizing it.
But before the boyās words could be heard, thereās a knock on the door. A strange premonition flowed down his spine. His anxiety rose, and the door opened.
The woman with short black hair who gracefully entered the room with an elegant smile was the Duchess. His heart was pounding, and Nocton quickly raised his upper body.
Valrose broke the magic when she opened the door, thatās why the Duchess could enter his room now.
He wanted to know how did Roa Valrose broke his magic and opened the door, but he couldnāt afford to think deeply about it right now.
āI saw you a little while ago, Valroseās young lady. Come to think of it, Iāve forgotten something.ā
āA little while ago ā¦ what is it?ā
āOh, even before I came up to your room, Her Grace asked me to drink tea with her. While we were talking, the butler called and Her Grace went to her office.ā
āIāve taken care of the urgent matter. That reminds me. I havenāt visited this sick child today. Iām not happy about it.ā
The serpent-like eyes rolled and fell into the bed.
āYou look very sick, my dear.ā
She tried to approach Nocton with a sad expression, but Valrose blocked the path in front Patricia Edgar.
āValroseās young lady?ā
āUh ā¦ I think Nocton is not feeling very well. It would be better to let him sleep, in my opinion. When youāre sick ā¦ you become sensitive.ā
Duchess Edgarās eyes glistened like glass beads. Her expressionless face and shining eyes seemed sharp, and yet Valrose only seemed embarrassed, she had no intention of stepping back.
āā¦.right, when the body is sick, the mind becomes sensitive. Still, itās rude for him to just lie in bed when thereās a guest in front of him.ā
āSince I was going to go back now, you donāt have to worry about it.ā
āNo, itās regrettable to send you back so soon. As I said earlier, I do not mean to be impolite, but thereās something I want to say to the lady. Valroseās young lady. It is largely a matter of the family, but Iād like to hear the ladyās opinion. Itās no other than my dear Floydāā
āMother.ā
No sooner had the name of Floyd come out than Nocton opened his mouth. His voice was heavy and his expression was cool, but the shaking eyes could not be hidden.
He was on edge.
āI have something to tell Valrose. Please leave. ā
āYou asked me to leave ā¦ Youāre being cruel, dear. To this mother who has prepared holy water for you.ā
What?
Nocton stiffened at the surprising remark, and the knight who stood behind the Duchess came forward. There was a glass of blue liquid in his hand. He can feel the intense white energy that makes him wonder why he didnāt notice it before.
āAlright, I donāt want to bother a sick child either. I can talk about it next time. If I just see you drinking this, Iāll leave right away, so drink it.ā
The Duchess smiled, shaking the glass full of blue liquid.
Noctonās heart began to beat faster.
No, it canāt be safe to drink that in his current condition. He couldnāt guarantee that he would survive.
Perhaps he became complacent just because the Duchess was so relaxed.
He didnāt know she would try to kill him with Valrose, an outsider, right in front of him.
How on earth are you going to handle thisā¦.
If I drink holy water and die, then Valroseā¦.
Nocton unknowingly looks at Valroseās countenance. The girl, with curiousty in her face, was staring at the blue liquid.
The innocent eyes made his heart sank.
What would she think of him if he drank holy water and reacted like that?
āYou sure are a devil bastard.ā
The words that have passed came back and bloomed in his heart.
Noctonās hands trembled.
His eyes, his feet, his heart, his whole body trembled.
Valrose was hypnotized, so the uneasy expectation that he would be okay could not calm him down.
There is no way.
Seeing the boy who stared at her without an answer, the Duchess narrowed her mouth.
āYou donāt even have the strenght to lift your glass.ā
āNext timeāā
āNo, you should drink it right away when you are sick. Itās not something to put off. Then ā¦ Valroseās young lady? I wish the lady can help.ā
āYes? How can I help?ā
āFeed this to him.ā
Valroseās face looked troubled, but he couldnāt be relieved. The Duchess, whose eyes were shining with joy, seemed to have no intention of backing down.
āI donāt need it, Valrose.ā
āThatās not something that a sick person judges, dear. Do you want me to be here forever? If not, do you want me to feed you myself? Iāve never done it before.ā
āā¦.Mother.ā
āYou canāt do that. If itās not me, itās her, or you yourself. So, with whose hands you want to drink the holy water.ā
Thatās all you can choose
. Thatās what Patricia Edgarās eyes said.
Itās a cliff with no way to retreat. Whether heās going to push his back or jump on his own, thatās all he can choose from.
While he was speechless due to the vague emotions, Valrose, who was pushed by the situation, received the glass.
Finally, eventually, at last. A cruel smile appeared on the Duchessās face.
And by that time, Nocton couldnāt stand it anymore.
āMother.ā
Black fog flowed from the wriggling fingertips. The fog went invisible, and permeated into the smilling Duchessā nose.
Patricia Edgar, who was pushing Valroseās back, stopped. Soon, her eyes were strangely blurred.
āYou canāt use holy water for this.ā
āYeah, thatās right.ā
āPlease take it back. You have some work to do.ā
āAlright. Valroseās young lady, please return the holy water to me.ā
āUh ā¦ yes? Yes.ā
After an abnormal change of behavior, the Duchess immediately left the bedroom. Valrose looked at the door with a strange look at the incomprehensible change.
And Nocton Edgar was shaking even harder than before.
There is no turning back now.
Unlike Bello Leopard, which ended in a one-time perfomance, the Duchess couldnāt be finished on a single hypnotism.
Sheāll try to kill him as soon as she gets out of the hypnosis.
The prey that is a threat and the prey that is not a threat are different. The Duchess will do her best to hunt him when she finds out that he can touch her mind.
Even if there is a rumor, even if the question arises that Noctonās death wasnāt an accident, but an assassination, she will do her best with all her power.
Therefore, if he doesnāt want to die, he has to destroy the Duchessā spirit.
He canāt find another way anymore. Morality, which had been built up by others, collapsed in an instant.
Valroseās words, the promise, and the moral shackles seemed to be greater than he thought. He felt like thereās a storm in his mind.
Whether itās shame, guilt, resentment or hatred. Even for Nocton, who feels other peopleās feelings as if they were his own, his unfamiliar feelings were tangled up in a mess.
However, it is clear that the color of the emotion is not bright, he couldnāt get the word
worst
out of his head.
Nocton squeezed his upper body and went back into the blanket.
āā¦.go back.ā
Please go back.
His voice was so hoarse that he couldnāt say any more, but Nocton thought so inside. Shivering under the covers, he closed his eyes tightly. It was dark all over his eyes, but it wasnāt as dark as his heart.
He shuddered and shivered, not even able to gather even the crumbs of his mind.
Then suddenly, Nocton felt that his bedroom was too quiet.
He didnāt feel any sign of her presence, perhaps because his body has become sluggish, or that he didnāt hear it because his mind was in a weird state.
Did she go, like he said? Is she gone along with what he said?
He wondered if she will come back after this.
He was the one who told Valrose to go, but the dark silence aroused his anxiety.
Even when his heart is overwhelmed by other emotions, itās hard to tell exactly what heās feeling because he was confused.
And in the meantime, he thought it would be the last time he told her to go back. He couldnāt stand the nervousness that Valrose would never come back.
In the end, it was the moment when Nocton tried to pull the blanket and chase after Valrose.
The side of the bed flapped in.
He didnāt touch her skin, but he felt the warmth.
He breathed in unconsciously.
Still, the warm words fell down over Nocton, covered with blankets.
āIāll stay here.ā
āWhatā¦.ā
āIāll be right here, Nocton. Iāll stay until you fall asleep.ā
He could feel her body leaning against the headboard. With a blanket between them, Nocton opened his eyes. A shadow of a person can be seen moving over the blanket.
Leaning on the headboard, the small girl, Roa Valrose, opened the book she had brought.
She said that she didnāt like old books and claimed that she could sleep just by looking at the alphabet.
āEven if you try to drive me out, it will be useless. Itās okay if you come back in.ā
āValrose.ā
āIf you want to chase me away, you should be healthy and completely cured, and then tell me to get out. Then ā¦ umh ā¦ Iāll think about it then.ā
He felt strange.
Really, itās too weird, too unpredictable, too good, too bad, he doesnāt know if heās glad or dislike it. He canāt say for sure either.
The tremor has gone off. His painfully pounding heart became quiet and his throat was locked.
āDonāt think. Itās annoying when you think and talk.ā