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“That… What…”
Lelia muttered in surprise. It was difficult to understand what she heard just now. Does Griffith know what happened last night? How? Griffith was still calm while watching Lelia’s reaction.
“I asked if you embraced him.”
“Griffy, I…”
Lelia swallowed her saliva. She didn’t know how the hell he knew about it, but soon shame poured in. Griffith, who shamelessly brought up such a story, felt strange. But she didn’t want to make excuses that she wasn’t lying. So, she hesitated to answer, but Griffith said, “You’ve been like that since you were young.”
“What?”
“How affectionate and sentimental the eyes of that boy are. Whenever it rains, it gets very… What’s so good about that idiot.”
“Griffith.”
In his angry voice, Griffith kicked his tongue low and sighed deeply. Then he spoke in a softer tone.
“It’s okay, I’m not trying to reprimand you.”
“…”
“You have to have all of us anyway. You can think that the order has been pushed around.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you want me to make it easy? It means you just have to hug all of us like you hugged Oscar last night.”
Griffith’s expression and tone were calm as if reciting doctrines. It wasn’t about the content.
“…”
Lelia’s forehead was wrinkled by the informal remark. What did Griffith just say?
“You can’t just love one person, Lelia.”
“…”
Griffith had an attitude as if saying the obvious. At the moment, Lelia even misunderstood, wondering if she was strange. Or if she misunderstood Griffith’s words.
“What, you don’t understand?”
“Griffith, I don’t know what you’re saying…”
“I’ll explain it to you easily.”
Griffith leaned with his arm on his knee. Then he explained in a neat face and a soft tone. Wearing a white, new official suit, he looked especially noble today. But what came out of his mouth was the opposite.
“You’re raising four dogs. What if you only adore one dog? Do you want to kill the rest of them?”
“…”
Griffith pushed without time for her to think.
“Think of yourself as an emperor. If you like only one of your servants… Will the rest be able to survive?
“…”
“You can’t understand no matter how many times I explain it.” Griffith mumbled as if frustrated.  He continued on, “Lelia, do you want us to stab each other to death? You said you wanted us to live happily ever after.”
Lelia began to shake. Is it because of anger or fear? Griffith was shameless even though he was saying something that was not common sense at all.
“Griffith, are you crazy?”
She could barely get it out, but Griffith grinned.
“I’m more rational than ever. There’s nothing hard to accept. I want to have you all to myself, but….” Griffith crumpled his forehead as if he were a little discouraged. He looked sad. “What can I do? This is all a sacrifice for you. I have to kill the rest to have you for myself.”
“…”
” I can’t make you happy. I hate it when you cry…”
“… What the hell?”
“I’m sure the same goes for the others. That’s why I suggested a peaceful way.”
Griffith focused on Lelia’s resentment for not accepting this method. He looked like he was scolding a greedy child. Feelings such as betrayal and anger fluttered in Lelia’s eyes as she listened to Griffith. Griffith didn’t think much of those feelings even after reading it in her eyes. He couldn’t hate Lelia anyway. It was the same with other guys.
Lelia was particularly weak against them four. Griffith knew very well what friends meant to her and how important they were. No matter what he does, Lelia will have no choice but to forgive him. Even if they four push her to the edge, she will eventually forgive and accept. It was natural that she was so precious to them.
“……”
After finishing his speech, Griffith looked at her with a smile. Lelia’s body hardened like a stone statue. Griffith sighed as if he was relieved now. He leaned against the back of the sofa and crossed his legs. It was time to make a choice.
“Lelia, you choose yourself.”
“What?”
“The next person. I wish you’d pick me.”
Griffith looked at her with a strange intention. At that moment, Lelia frowned as a sensation of discomfort covered her whole body.
“… Griffith, I can’t understand you…”
“You won’t be able to get out of here before you choose me.”
“What?”
She thought she couldn’t be shocked by anything else, but Lelia stiffened once again. She could only look at Griffith with betrayal in her eyes. She tried to trust Griffith again after what he did last time, but…
“Of course, I have no intention of barbarically locking the door. I can’t believe he locked you up.”
“…”
“But if you go out before you choose, I’ll be the first to visit Romeo and Kalix.”
“Griffith.”
“I’m going to kill them. If we point swords at each other, no one will get just hurt. There will be fatal injuries to each other.”
Griffith, who sounded crazy yet with a very calm face, felt like he was destroying his mind. Common sense collapsed, and he felt like he was becoming abnormal.
“I feel sorry for you.”
Griffith muttered softly as he saw her pale. As if it were really unfortunate, his eyes contained pity. Lelia abhorred this abominable Griffith. It was even more creepy to think that those words and eyes said all this sincerely.
“But what can I do?”
“……”
“If you want peace, you have no choice but to choose. If you want us to put knives in each other’s hearts… I can’t help it.”
“…”
Griffith said with a refreshing look, “You’re the only one who needs to accept it.”
“…”
“As always, you just have to smile by my side.”
However, his expression as he spat out the last word was cold. All the kindness shown so far was false. It was like a heavy warning. Then Griffith lifted himself up as if he had finished what he had to say. And finally, she noticed it.
“You seem to need time to prepare your heart for this.”
“…”
“Then I’ll come to you at night, Lelia.”
Griffith gave a subtle look with his expectations. Lelia got goosebumps as if a bug were crawling on her skin. Thud! When she heard the door closing, she finally burst out of breath. Tears poured down her eyes.
At that moment, an unknown feeling settled in her heart. She was going crazy because she felt uncomfortable. Lelia ran straight to the bathroom nauseated. After gasping for a long time, she poured cold water all over her body. Otherwise, she felt like she couldn’t get herself together. She stood for a long time to the point where her jaw trembled, and then came out.
Even after changing into dry clothes, the cold did not go away. Lelia crouched down on the sofa, shaking her chin. When she turned her head, she saw the bed. When she remembered that Griffith said he would come at night, her forehead crumbled. Griffith is….
“As always, you just have to smile by my side.”
What he said was stuck like rain and could not be erased. Something must have happened to his mind. Otherwise, how could he… However, she also remembered the conversation she had with Kalix.
“Go get him.”
“Marry me, marry him.”
“Is it weird? I thought you’d marry me when I misunderstood you as a man. What’s there to know?”
“Ahh, what’s wrong with that? Marriage between men or marriage between two men for one woman. What is odd?”
“I don’t care, so let’s do that.”
Lelia felt like her head was about to burst. They were not normal. But now she was almost confused. Their attitude as if it were obvious…. Griffith’s gaze, which seemed to be resentful, came to mind as if she was forcing her friends to sacrifice something. At that moment, her mind began to white out like a blank sheet. In the midst of spacing out, she only heard strange noises such as beeps. Lelia blinked her eyes.
[Not them. Am I weird?]
She blinked as if she had become an idiot.
***
She hugged her knees for a long time and trembled. She had looked out the window nervously hundreds of times. She was relieved that the night had not come yet. She wanted to get out of here and run away.
If she did, Griffith would really try to kill Romeo and Kalix. Of course, they won’t die easily. But in the end, if they aim swords at one another… It was terrible just thinking about it. What she wants is for everyone to be as happy as they were when they were young…
[Do I want something too difficult? I thought everything was solved, but it was all an illusion.]
It was then.
Knock, knock
The sound of knocking on the door made her heart drop into the ground. It was still bright outside the window. Did Griffith change his mind and come already? As the fear built, the door soon opened.
Creak
The short time as the door opened felt very long.
“Lelia.”
Her body, which was trembling, relaxed completely after hearing the familiar voice. It was Romeo. He peeked in and came up to surprise Lelia.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He frowned when he saw her hair wet in cold water.
“Didn’t you dry your hair after washing up?”
“Ro, Romeo…”
She felt so relieved that it was Romeo and not Griffith. Lelia grabbed his collar like an anxious person.
“Wait.”
He shook off Lelia’s hand and stood behind the sofa. She tried to turn her head reflexively, but a warm wind blew over her head. A magical, warm wind flowed from Romeo’s hand and wrapped around her hair.
“You weren’t this clumsy when you were young… Did you quit being the leader? What’s the difference between you and a dog?”
“Romeo…”
Her wet hair quickly dried. As soon as Romeo turned around, Lelia grabbed him and dragged him down.
“What?” Romeo grumbled but sat next to her as soon as he was pulled.
“Romeo, I think Griffith is crazy.”
“Oh, really? Did you just find out? He’s a nutcase.” Romeo jokingly replied.
“It’s not that, it’s really… That’s what I’m saying.”
As Lelia muttered in a trembling voice, Romeo’s forehead crumpled. Lelia’s reaction was unusual.
“What do you mean by crazy?”
Griffith had an attitude to persuade Lelia very slowly. He wondered why there was a sudden change of heart. It was then.
“Stop, please… Did you know too?” Lelia asked with a shocked look.