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“Argh, why are you biting me!”
As if to punish the hand that covered his mouth, Dillian bit my index finger without pain.
“Because it smells good?”
… Are you a dog? Seeing my bewildered face, Dillian slowly got up.
I swallowed my saliva at the shadows falling over my head.
“Sir Dillian, you seem too close.”
As Dillian began to attack me, I quickly rolled my eyes to find a way out.
“Can I bite your cheek?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Then what about the lips?”
“Say something that makes sense!”
Dillian smiled as I pushed the approaching face with my palm.
“We’ve done it once, so it will be easy. They say the first is difficult, so the second would be easy, right? If it’s difficult, just think of it as a rehearsal….”
Rehearsal, huh? After confirming that the escape route was completely blocked, I bit Dillian’s arm which was shown in front of me.
As the startled Dillian loosened up, I pushed his torso with my foot and quickly rolled around.
“Humph, what do you think? Were you surprised by the sudden bite?”
Humming about revenge, I paused when I saw the clear marks left on his forearm.
‘Why did it remain so clear…?’
Dillian frowned as he looked at the marks on his arm.
“… I didn’t know you would bite me first.”
“I didn’t know it would leave a mark, does it hurt a lot? But, since sir Dillian bit and teased me first, this is self-defense….”
“It’s good. Traces left by miss Ria.”
Dillian, who was relentlessly smearing his teeth, looked at me and rolled his eyes. The savory eyes gleamed.
“I have to leave some too. Clearly.”
“What are you saying, go away!”
After rolling on the bed for a while, running away, and pursuing a chase, I collapsed from exhaustion and took a deep breath.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the strange atmosphere in the room had all disappeared.
“Do you have to do this?
“Sometimes, when I smell miss Ria’s scent, I get distracted.”
I raised my arm and sniffed, and brought my nose to it.
“I can’t smell anything.”
I have felt it before, Dillian seems to have a very sensitive nose.
“Do you like bath bombs? Shall I ask Sera?”
“Even if you ask Sera, she won’t find it.”
“Why?”
Dillian, who was stroking my hair, grabbed a handful and pulled me gently.
Dillian muttered, pulling it closer as if my hair was about to bury his nose and lips.
“Because it’s the only scent in the world.”
My heart fluttered at that languid smile. As if starting the engine, I closed my eyes tightly to my heart, which was beating faster slowly.
I didn’t know if I would fall for it until this rate. I have to force my nerves to turn.
‘Think of the things I don’t want to see, something that when I just looking at them gives me goosebumps….’
The effect was immediate.
When I thought of Lexter and the Darkness, my fever cooled down at once.
Come to think of it, I didn’t tell Dillian about the things related to Lexter….
‘Should I tell him?’
I would be in trouble if a problem arose while I was hiding it without reason.
Whatever the problem, it was wise to block it at the source. Even more, for me to live.
Without hesitation, I started talking.
“Sir Dillian, there were days when I got lost for a while. I saw Lexter then.”
Dillian’s hand, which was touching my hair, stopped.
“Lexter is the one who made a contract with the Darkness. I saw it with my own eyes.”
I explained in detail what happened at the time. A deep sigh escaped Dillian’s mouth as he listened to the story.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“… I needed time to think.”
I wondered if I could say this, but Dillian had to know. That way, we can be prepared for any unforeseen danger.
“The energy I feel from Lexter’s power is similar to sir Dillian. No, in fact, the source of power is the same.”
This was something he didn’t expect, so his red eyes flickered briefly.
“Are you saying that my curse and the source of the Darkness are the same?”
After all, he was a smart student who knew ten by telling him one thing.
“Yes. And the Darkness will be after sir Dillian. Nathan said that Lexter had been weakened a lot by my attacks.”
“Then it would be easier to catch.”
“Yes. And if we remove the Darkness, or to be more precise, the source, we might be able to solve sir Dillian’s curse.”
I added, pushing Dillian away as if drawing a line.
“Not like a kiss, but in a sure and precise way.”
The hand that had been touching my hair, which had been pushed out, changed its target and turned to my finger.
“It will be easy once you find the location. Lexter is weak now, so it will be difficult for him to move properly.”
“It’s even better that his mobility is limited.”
Contrary to the dull voice, the hand that touched the ring finger was tenacious.
“Don’t worry. It won’t be long to catch Lexter and the Darkness.”
“Is there any way to catch it? How?”
“It is still a secret.”
“Why, tell me!”
I shook off Dillian’s hand and jumped up, and he pinched my nose painlessly.
“I’m afraid you might do something dangerous.”
“I won’t do it even if you tell me to.”
But Dillian seemed unwilling to tell the story to the end.
Was it because of the battle with Lexter the other day? His worries showed no sign of dissipating.
I can’t help it. I just have to wait
“Since you said you could catch it, I will have to think about how we’re going to beat Lexter.”
“Any way is fine. I will do whatever miss Ria wants.”
“So, by the way, could you do me a favor?”
“You know, if it’s not dangerous.”
“Yeah, it’s not dangerous at all.”
Dillian, who was caught off guard by my fatal aegyo by raising my index finger and emphasizing one, nodded, saying that there was nothing he could do about it.
*Aegyo in Korean refers to a cute display of affection often expressed through a cute voice, changes to speech, facial expressions, or gestures.
***
The clock bell rang in the distance, signaling midnight.
Dillian looked at Ria’s sleepy face and got up.
Carefully, just in case Ria wakes up.
Dillian came out of the hallway and headed straight to the office.
When he opened the door, he saw Neison staggering as if he was about to collapse.
“Your Grace, why are you just here now?”
It was as if he had stayed up all night for three days. When actually he only worked 3 hours.
He let out a rough breath, moving the papers piled up to his head and putting them on the desk.
“You have a pile of documents to be processed by tomorrow, but you are seeing the fireworks that you don’t even like.”
“I’m going to start liking it from today.”
“No way, you came to see fireworks with the madam, and the world looks beautiful, isn’t it like that?”
Neison opened his mouth blankly as Dillian smirked at the exaggerated words of a play.
“Is that true?”
“Stop talking nonsense, sit down, and get to work.”
“… Are you really Your Grace? Not someone who is pretending to be Your Grace?”
It has been ten years since he served Dillian. However, it was the first time Dillian was as soft as he is now.
And it was Ria who made all these changes.
She was a precious person that should never be missed.
‘I saw the power shift right before my eyes, and I can’t stand still!’
Neison, an opportunist and a crook, quickly calculated Ria’s strategy in his head.
“Sir, I have made up my mind. From today on, I will become the madam’s dog.”
It was not a joke, it was sincere.
“Miss Ria doesn’t raise stupid dogs. Even more an ugly dog that talks nonsense.”
“Oh my God. How can you find a dog as capable as me? And I am pretty decent.”
Neison was brazen enough to call himself a dog.
The window rattled in that shamelessness.
“But not the face.”
“Ugh, Kira!”
Neison stumbled at Kira’s rustic murder, which was wrapped in an open window.
“Kira, there’s a fine door, do you have to go through the window? Try to fix your attitude like Sera.”
Guess who’s not a former assassin? Neison stuck out his tongue at Kira who appeared through the window.
Kira, ignoring Neison’s grunts lightly, bowed down in front of Dillian.
“Your Grace, did you call me?”
“Lexter’s whereabouts.”
“He has not been seen since the founding day of the country.”
Dillian rubbed his chin at Kira’s words.
He heard that Ria’s attack took a lot of damage, it seems to be true.
“Kira, continue to pursue Lexter’s whereabouts.”
“Yes sir.”
Neison clicked his tongue at the sight of her exiting through the window just like when she had come.
“What’re you going to do if the madam is surprised to see you like that?”
It was not because Kira cursed his face. Definitely not.
“Are you going to leave madam’s escort to Sera?”
“Yeah.”
Kira and Sera, the Harren sisters were assassins, with Sera specializing in escorting and Kira specializing in tracking.
And Kira’s tracking skills were unmatched.
“Are you going to get rid of Lexter this time?”
“I have to clean it.”
Lexter could not leave Ria alone who was attacking him.
He had to cut off the buds before he reached out to Ria with his dirty hands.
“Are you okay? If it were Lexter, he would have erased all evidence of his attempt to assassinate Your Grace.”
“If we don’t have it, just make it.”
Lexter, who is good at tail-cutting, has never left any evidence.
“Now that he has joined hands with the Darkness, there is enough reason to kill him.”
“The 3rd Prince must be bothering you.”
“I just have to wipe it all away, that’s it.”
He left it until now because he was bothered by useless disputes, not because he was afraid.
“Tell the crown prince. I will give him strength.”
“… Are you sure? Are you really trying to push the crown prince?”
“Right. This is the fastest way, so go ahead.”
“No way, is it because of the madam?”
“Then should there be another reason?”
Neison gulped down his saliva at Dillian’s words as if saying why are you asking the obvious.
“… Your Grace, you really mean it.”
Who is Dillian? No matter how annoying Lexter was, he didn’t blink an eye.
Even though the crown prince tried to restrain him and convince him, he could never dreamed of it.
The reason for letting him shove him back and forth was simple. It would be more troublesome if he got involved, so they had to fight each other and then self-destruct.
He, who had always adhered to the same behavior, pulled out his sword for the first time.
Only for Ria.
Neison muttered involuntarily at the amazing sight no matter how many times he saw it.
“I’m getting a little scared now.”
“If you don’t want to be more scared, you’d better work.”
Neison, who was tired of Dillian’s threat of staying up all night for three days, ran to his seat.
‘You’re lucky. You got lucky.’
The luckiest person here was not Ria, who was protected by the strongest man in the Empire, nor Dillian, who would win the heart of a woman he fell in love with.
Due to Dillian’s passionate courtship, it was the Crown Prince, Cassis, who would suddenly become emperor.