A heavy silence filled the air.
The gentle breaths of the slumbering young lady and the piercingly cold gaze of Kyle created a tense atmosphere in the room.
I swallowed dryly, racking my brain for a solution, but I could think of nothing that would suffice. No excuse would suffice, no flattery would improve the situation.
Damn it.
What should I do?
I hadn't anticipated Kyle's appearance in such an incriminating circumstance.
Feeling the weight of Kyle's anger-filled eyes upon , I experienced a pressure that left breathless.
Despite warnings and admonitions against using dark magic, I had persisted in my dubious actions, unsure of what Kyle might say now.
Kyle was staring at .
Not at my hand on the young lady's leg, but at my left hand trying to stem the flow of blood from my mouth.
Drip. The blood trickling down my fingers and along my forearm caused Kyle to furrow his brows and finally part his tightly shut lips.
"What are you doing?"
I blurted out whatever ca to mind, hoping that any excuse, however implausible, might help escape this situation.
"I was giving a massage. Trying to… open the closed growth plates… Ha ha…"
"And you're bleeding from the nose, I see."
Realizing the absurdity of my own words, I worried about being arrested for sexual assault, caught red-handed without an alibi.
"Ha ha… Is this too awkward?"
I offered Kyle an awkward smile, but his expression only grew more pale and stern.
There was nothing I could do until Kyle spoke.
Knowing the love Kyle held for his sister, he might scream, or use magic due to the threat the dark magic posed to the family.
My only wish was that the young lady would not wake up. If she saw like this, coughing up blood so soon after promising not to hurt myself, it would certainly bring her to tears.
I gulped down my saliva and looked towards Kyle, hoping he would judge my la excuse for what it was.
"A joke."
As expected, my feeble attempt at humor didn't pass with Kyle.
"So you're telling you were in a young woman's room late at night giving a massage… And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"Exactly."
Kyle's footsteps approached rapidly, his hand reaching for my neck.
-Crack.
With an unwavering cold gaze, Kyle grabbed by the collar.
-Thud!
He hauled rough-handedly, dragging from the young lady's bed to a dark corner of the room.
The sound of scuffling feet echoed in the room as Kyle's heavy breathing filled my ears.
"I ask again. What are you doing?"
Kyle's voice was cold and hard, devoid of the slight warmth that usually accompanied it. Instead, it was imbued with raw anger.
I forced an awkward laugh.
"Saying that I touched the young lady's leg because it looked pretty is…"
As I tried to lighten the mood with a flippant answer, Kyle's complexion turned ashen, and a powerful magical energy began to emanate from him.
"That makes no sense, does it?"
I asked Kyle earnestly, hoping he might just ignore what he'd seen and move past it, sparing us both any harm.
"Can't we just let this go?"
"Do you think that makes sense?"
Kyle's grip on my collar tightened, his actions speaking louder than any words of denial. I wiped the blood from my lips with my sleeve and spoke softly.
"I was healing the young lady."
"Why would you do that? You're not a doctor. Did you pick up so folk redy in the streets? Whatever it is, I assu it's not simply putting your hand on Olivia's leg."
Silence from seed to confirm his suspicions.
"It's dark magic, isn't it?"
As Kyle spoke with certainty, the dense magic in his hand beca palpable. I responded decisively.
"It's not dark magic."
"It's not harmful to the family, legally or otherwise. If there's a problem, you can just cut loose, can't you?"
"I…"
With gritted teeth, Kyle spoke haltingly.
"Do you really think I'm angry just for that?"
"…"
"Do you think I grabbed you just because I thought you were a threat to the family?"
"Ha ha… is it because I touched the young lady's leg?"
An embarrassed laugh escaped my lips, but at that mont, feeling Kyle's trembling grip, I could only muster a feeble smile.
Kyle looked down.
"Ricardo."
The strength in Kyle's grip on my collar gradually lessened. With a shaky voice, he spoke.
"I won't ask any more about what you're doing or why you're bleeding. I don't want to know."
Just as a sigh of relief was about to escape , Kyle's softly trailing words prompted a retort.
"So, stop it."
Kyle looked down, not eting my eyes, whispering his wish for to stop whatever I was doing.
It was clear he was saying he would turn a blind eye if I just stopped, but I replied with an awkward laugh.
"That would be… difficult."
My stubbornness, especially when it ca to the young lady's future, was an old affliction I had sworn not to indulge.
So, I strongly asserted to Kyle that this was sothing I couldn't give up.
"I cannot give up on this."
Kyle's face rippled with the impact of my resolve.
"Obey , Ricardo."
"I've made it clear I cannot."
"Would you say the sa if Olivia asked?"
As Kyle pressed , invoking Olivia's na, I knew if he told her the truth, she would reject the ‘Touch of Rehabilitation.' But my resolve was unyielding.
With that, I glanced at the peacefully sleeping young lady and smiled.
"Perhaps, Sir Kyle, you wouldn't be able to tell her."
"What?"
"Are you not in love with Miss Olivia?"
Kyle cherished Olivia.
I had thought his affection would diminish after I used dark magic, but his current deanor and his carefulness not to wake her assured he was unchanged.
And his favorability window hoped for it.
While it was true that all the efforts made so far would be wasted if Kyle spoke up, I was confident he wouldn't.
If Kyle intervened, the chance for his beloved sister to walk on her own two feet would be lost.
And so, I took a firm stance.
The card of ‘Olivia' that he played was like a double-edged sword, a Joker that could threaten both of us.
To , the card of ‘Olivia' was a sword in my hand as well.
"Without , the young lady will not be able to walk."
"Didn't I tell you? I am content just knowing Olivia is alive."
"Human desire knows no end. Didn't you also feel joy when the doctor said she might walk again?"
"…"
"Didn't you imagine your sister walking energetically as she once did?"
Kyle, who had been so adamant, now wavered, lost in my counterargunt. His eyes began to drift, caught in a maelstrom.
"That's… an inevitable occurrence."
Kyle spoke in a faint voice.
‘An inevitable occurrence,' just like it was for . Olivia was as precious to as she was to Kyle.
The person who saved my life.
The one I had secretly loved.
That's why I couldn't give up.
Because this was my responsibility.
"I am just fine."
Kyle, with his head bowed, spoke to .
"Stop it. Olivia relies on you. And my father, mother, and I are very grateful to you. So…"
With an awkward smile, I repeated his own words back to him.
"I'm faced with an inevitable occurrence as well."
Kyle's hand, which had been gripping my collar tightly, now fell powerlessly to the floor. Staring at bitterly, he was just a man filled with regret, unable to deny that the barb I had thrown had struck true.
He, too, had been tempted by the possibility of curing Olivia's leg with dark magic.
Knowing his own disgraceful past of seeking soone to take the risk with his money, he couldn't deny the accuracy of my retort.
Because Olivia was precious to Kyle, too.
I offered Kyle a clumsy smile as he looked troubled.
"It's really okay."
Kyle, looking down, said to ,
"I…"
His words, ‘I am…', were laden with various emotions. Genuine remorse, as well as guilt for sacrificing for his sister's sake.
Kyle spoke in a different tone than before.
"If you ever make a mistake later…"
"There will be no mistake."
"If Olivia finds out about this, I…"
I cut off Kyle, smiling awkwardly.
"I would appreciate it if you made up a lie. Make out to be the bad guy."
Kyle shook his head.
"I can't do that."
"You'll get quite scolded by her."
Olivia was sleeping soundly.
Like a princess in a fairy tale.
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