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“If I say I want to drink it… will you give your blood to me?” After staring at me silently for a long time, Garam hesitantly asked.
Garam seemed a bit sorry, though, at the same time, his eyes were filled with inevitable expectations. I could tell he had been more conflicted about his bloodthirst than I had imagined. No matter how much Seo Dawon or Kim Olim tried to stop him, at this rate…
“By the way, back when I was hospitalized…Did you ever bite me?” So, I decided to ask a question that had been on my mind.
Garam made a strange expression. After smacking his chapped lips together a few times, he sighed deeply and replied, “Yeah.”
“Had you ever done so before?”
“No? But… I’m especially hungry nowadays. It’s so hard…”
In other words, if the Assassin gets a chance in the future, I may be bitten again.
I couldn’t tell if he was being so brazen because the Assassin was normally so honest or because he had no countermeasures, but anyway, Garam looked like a young child being scolded by his older brother. A strange sympathy arose as I watched both guilt and hunger coexist on his youthful face.
I pondered for a bit before nodding. Though, I would like to add that my decision wasn’t wholly colored by emotion.
In fact, I had always thought the Servant’s desire for blood was part of the Necromancer’s class, so I kept trying to brainstorm how to use that desire for the benefit of both me and my Servant. Though, I had never brainstormed out loud.
Garam looked at me, still and obedient; there was an air of disbelief hanging around the Assassin. “……Really?”
""
However, when I nodded once more, Garam quickly approached and gripped me. The force of his grip holding my shoulder was very powerful. He then gazed at the back of my neck; I could almost imagine the saliva dripping from his lips.
When I got exasperated by that gaze, I covered that vulnerable patch of skin and blocked my neck from Garam’s view. The young Assassin frowned immediately and asked in a slightly tearful voice, “What the… Was that a joke?”
“No. I-I’m not trying to give you my blood in a traditional way though.”
Garam-ie tilted his head, “Then, how would you like me to drink?”
“Maybe with a syringe… Something like handing you a blood-donation bag.”
“……” Garam looked up, as if he were contemplating, but then also seemed to agree that my method was better. In the blink of an eye, he took off both hands that were gripping my shoulder, letting me go. “That’s better for you, right?”
“Honestly, I don’t mind either method… But I don’t want my neck to break while you bite me–just in case.”
That was one of my reasons.
Goosebumps rising up my arms, I shivered a bit, but,  staring at Garam-ie’s sharp canines, I tried to relax my instinctively reluctant mind.
I rose from my seat first; I wanted to get various tools like syringes. Though, the person that probably has those types of things was…
Click–
However, the door opened and cut off my line of thought. Seo Dawon, who had brought us some cups filled with water, looked at us. I was startled and worried that the Mage had overheard our conversation, but, judging from the Mage’s expression, that didn’t seem to be the case. He merely frowned at Garam, as if he belatedly noted the young Assassin’s presence.
‘Ah…! That’s right, Seo Dawon said that skills were placed on this room.’
Though I was surprised that the Mage had nothing to say about my scheme, I soon recalled that soundproofing skills were cast on this room.
Though the Mage cast them for his own insidious (?) purposes, the skills were actually quite beneficial to me this time. Although, I had thought of informing Seo Dawon after I had properly drawn up and implemented my plan. I’m just a naturally anxious person…
Unaware of my trickery, Seo Dawon approached Garam, “When did you get in?”
Garam rolled his eyes for a moment, looked at me, and soon smiled. “Mm, when you were cooking?”
“He didn’t do anything, did he?” Seo Dawon’s following question was directed at me. I shook my head quietly.
Seo Dawon gave suspicious looks to both the young Assassin and I, but soon released his hold on Garam-ie as he did not find anything strange. Garam-ie winked at me before closing the door and leaving.
Click–
When the door closed, the Mage handed me a cup of water. Flustered by the suddenness of this situation, I sat back down on the bed. When I stared up, his face seemed displeased.
“What were you talking about with Garam-ie?” he asked.
“…Well, we didn’t talk about much? He was just next to me when I opened my eyes.”
However, Seo Dawon didn’t fall for my words. He squinted his eyes and looked down at me while I drank my water. He muttered in a soft voice, “Do you know you make a cute face when you lie?”
“C-Cough…”
The Mage kneeled before me when the water went down the wrong pipe in my throat. He pulled out a few tissues from the box on the table and handed them to me.
Even if I took a gamble at another excuse, my reactions made it clear that something fishy was going on. But, instead of obediently confessing, I protested to the Mage while snatching the tissues away. Face burning, I said, “D-Don’t say such weird things!”
“I just said what I noticed. Why?”
“……”
“It’s not like I’m interrogating you.” Seo Dawon answered before looking at me calmly. He noticed that I was scheming something with Garam-ie, but it didn’t seem like he was intending to restrict us. However…
He sighed briefly before sitting next to me, “You’re getting revenge, aren’t you? Choi Lee-kyung.”
“Revenge for what?”
“The way I… did things as I pleased without telling you. In the past.”
“……”
Though I wasn’t really getting revenge, Seo Dawon stared at me nervously, his expression half frustrated and half concerned. Honestly… I liked that expression.
Looking into his eyes, I remembered the Mage’s face when he reunited with Ryu Hyerin at dawn–the cold scorn in his murderous glare. He has no idea how much I restrained myself from checking his [current mood] behind his back.
Slowly dragging myself out of my thoughts, I chuckled a little and held the Mage’s hand tightly. “It’s nothing like that… It’s just that I don’t intend to share everything inside my head with you, Dawon-ah.”
“……”
“It’s not that I’m trying to push you away… You know your concern over me can get a little obsessive.” I spoke gently, careful not to sound too cold.
Then, Seo Dawon lightly stroked my cheeks with a pouty smile, “So, I guess that means you’re scheming something worth my obsessive concern.”
“……” I was a little flustered by his response. In light of Seo Dawon’s doubts, I decided to admit my plans rather than be inevitably caught later. So I sighed and told him, “I just thought… I’d draw some blood.
As soon as I spoke, Seo Dawon’s brows furrowed. He said in a cold voice, “Don’t.”
“…I’m not giving it to you all just because you want it. However, if you have this blood, maybe the distance penalty can be slightly alleviated. I wanted to consider its utilizations…”
“Don’t do it. Are you making yourself into experimental supplies?” Seo Dawon held fiercely onto my arms with a stubborn look on his face.  Then, he stared at my unresponsive self.
“You’re acting strange these days.” He muttered, frustrated. Still, I didn’t answer. I had only re-confirmed that the Mage was still too morbidly sensitive about my safety.
A person wouldn’t die if they drew some blood. And, if my hunch was correct, I could mitigate the penalty with only a small amount of blood. Naturally, I should take advantage of this.
It’s not like I was going to cut my wrist, and I would only draw blood in a hygienic manner if the blood loss wouldn’t cause any health problems. However, my words weren’t making it through to the Mage’s brain.
Rather, the Mage’s expression grew stiffer, as if anger was rising within him. He began to question me, “Why are you overdoing things?”
“…How is this overdoing things?”
“You don’t take care of your own health and keep running yourself ragged. I’m sure your personality wasn’t originally so self-sacrificing.”
I knew he didn’t intend such an implication, but, to my ears, it felt like he was criticizing me for being hypocritical. ‘Why are you doing things you haven’t done before.’ After all, this was Seo Dawon. Though the creation of our original contract may be an old memory by now, I had actually tried to refuse, at first, to sign a contract with the Mage out of fear.
I knew Seo Dawon wasn’t trying to bring up that matter. However, the surging shame within me wouldn’t vanish either. I twisted my hand out of the Mage’s grasp. “That’s right. I don’t like to do such dangerous things, and my life is still the most important thing to me. That’s true for the past and now.”
“Lee-kyung-ah.” Seo Dawon called out my name as if to try and appease me. He must have thought he hit a nerve. After gazing past him for a while, I swallowed what I wanted to say.
‘However, now I want to revive you at all costs, as fast as possible.’
Therefore, I was prepared to be a little injured…To some extent, at least–I wouldn’t want to lose my life.
Of course, I couldn’t really confess those words to Seo Dawon when his expression looked so perilous yet concerned. So, tamping down those thoughts, I coldly replied, “So, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll take care of it on my own.”