[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 245
Under the morning sun.
Isabel and I sat side by side on the castle wall.
She leaned her head against , her expression noticeably more at ease.
She kept stealing glances at my lips, unable to fully hide her desire.
Don’t do that.
I really don’t know how to react anymore.
Even now, the sensation of Isabel’s lips against mine lingered vividly in my mind.
Love—I've co to realize just how dangerous it really is.
“You know,”
Isabel murmured, still leaning against as she looked up gently.
“Do you love ?”
I didn’t expect her to throw the question so directly.
Her sudden question left speechless.
The countless things that had happened between us flashed through my mind, and I felt dizzy.
Only now do I realize how indifferent and careless I had been.
And despite the fact that my love had faded at one point, I still cherished her deeply.
I needed to answer.
But how do I even begin to explain all of this?
My lips kept twitching open and shut.
My eyelids felt so hot I wanted to just squeeze my eyes shut.
Isabel’s eyes slowly widened as she looked at .
“Hm~.”
She let out a satisfied hum.
“It’s my first ti seeing you look so flustered.”
I still hadn’t said a word.
What on earth had she figured out?
I wasn’t sure, but I was definitely blushing hard.
“And I know now just how much you’ve always cherished .”
She hugged my arm with delight, rubbing her head affectionately against it.
“You’re totally head over heels for , aren’t you?”
She grinned with a seductive smile.
“But you’re too scared to actually say it out loud, huh?”
She was spot-on.
Only now do I realize how brave those girls were who confessed to in the past.
Having just regained this feeling of love, I was in complete turmoil.
There were people I’d always held dear—differently from others.
Now, those feelings were tangled up with love, making a ss of my mind.
I needed ti to sort it out carefully.
But Isabel didn’t give that space—she kept barging into my heart.
“Of course a newly regained emotion isn’t going to sort itself out easily. I get that you’re confused. Not that I’m trying to pressure you.”
Still holding close, Isabel gave a bashful smile.
“Because I know better than anyone how much I an to you.”
I was relieved she understood that much.
“And your love isn’t complete yet, is it?”
“...Yeah. Just like the other emotions.”
Anger and sorrow—still incomplete.
Love, too, wasn’t whole.
Emotions are intricate and delicate machines.
Right now, I was just at the ignition point.
The flas hadn’t fully caught yet.
‘And yet, even at this stage...’
Honestly, I was afraid of what would happen once the emotion fully blood.
Isabel seed to understand that too—she looked at with subtle concern.
“What if you end up crying your eyes out, saying you can’t live without ?”
“Where’s that overconfidence coming from?”
“From your eyes.”
Cheers.
Even when I try to distract myself, it doesn’t work.
Just like she said—my emotions were in overdrive.
“I’m happy, but I’m worried too.”
“Isabel, I’d never do anything to hurt you.”
As I spoke with firm resolve, Isabel glanced at .
“That’s not exactly what I ant.”
Then, slightly blushing, she looked away shyly.
“And besides, it might not be sothing that hurts…”
The nape of her neck, the curve below...
I had to slap myself.
Isabel looked at , shocked.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“Sorry. That was the only way.”
I just hope this steel body can influence my mind too.
One thing’s certain.
My libido is now on the level of a teenage boy hitting puberty.
Having just awakened to both love and desire.
At that age, a boy is no different from a beast.
The re sensation of Isabel’s soft hands cupping my cheek was enough to stir sothing in .
She sighed as she looked at and said,
“Well, the part I’m worried about is sothing else.”
“What do you an?”
“Let’s say I understand and accept all of this, because I’m generous.”
Isabel generous?
Yeah, she does have a big heart.
That probably counts as generosity.
“But do you think the others will stay calm?”
She had a particularly concerned look—as if she was worried about one person specifically.
And I knew exactly who she ant.
Sharin Sazaris.
The bulldozer who had charged at even when I felt no love, saying she wanted a child.
Now that I’ve regained both love and desire… would she really leave alone?
“Be honest—if Rin tries to seduce you, could you resist?”
Isabel leaned against my chest as she asked.
The feel of her soft chest against sent my nerves into overdrive.
“…You’re not even listening anymore, are you?”
“What did you say just now?”
She looked up at quietly.
“I was joking. I heard you.”
She stared at with suspicion, but I was trying to control myself in my own way.
Even if my libido was that of a teenager, my mind was that of a grown man.
I can control it.
Wait.
Why do I need to control it?
If we all like each other, what’s the problem?
…And I had to slap myself again.
By now, Isabel’s reaction was familiar.
“…Isabel, I’m sorry. Can you give a little more ti to answer?”
Not now.
Right now, I’m just being consud by lust.
I didn’t want to tarnish the feelings of the girls who confessed to by recklessly giving in to desire.
The fact that my heart pounded again just thinking of "tarnishing" it ant it was even more reason not to.
I was fine with being scolded.
I really just needed a little more ti to control myself.
Maybe because of that desperate will, Isabel didn’t say much.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“Alright. Honestly, I feel like I already know how you feel. More importantly—”
Isabel looked at aningfully.
“You’re greedier than I thought.”
“?”
Honestly, I always thought of myself as soone without much desire—for abstinence or material things.
“Yeah. I only realized it today. Thanks to that, I think we also need ti to think things through.”
With a slightly complicated expression, Isabel looked toward Zerion Academy.
I still didn’t quite understand what exactly she needed to sort out.
But seeing her helped calm my heart.
And that finally brought to mind sothing I needed to tell her.
“Isabel, there’s sothing I haven’t told you about this whole situation.”
She turned to look at .
“The Zerion Academy terror attack.”
I spoke with a cautious expression.
“Lucas was involved.”
Her eyes widened in sync with mine.
* * *
After telling Isabel everything,
She closed her eyes and bit her lip tightly.
Her best friend, who was more righteous than anyone, had beco a puppet.
Isabel felt an unbearable rage.
That’s why we imdiately set out to find soone.
The person we were going to see was Arcadium—the Royal Court Archmage.
Before that, we stopped by to et Professor Vega.
We had heard from Xenia that she was the one who personally detained Arcadium.
“Hannon, how are you holding up?”
“I’m fine.”
When I replied to Professor Vega’s question, she let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry. I heard you protected the academy while I was away.”
I never expected an apology.
I gave her a slight grin in response.
“It was only natural as your forr assistant.”
“All that ti as my assistant just made your mouth sharper.”
“The world rewards a sharp tongue—it gets you halfway there.”
“You were always one to swing fists first. Never expected you to be so talkative.”
She knew too well.
“Co on.”
Professor Vega led the way without delay.
Isabel walked beside with a hardened face.
With Lucas, who had already died, being used as a tool by the enemy—
Her anger was completely justified.
The place Professor Vega brought us to was the School of Magic building.
The building had facilities for detaining mages in case of an incident.
That’s where Arcadium was held.
“Baeel, my husbaaaand!”
Upon entering the School of Magic, we saw Sharin, Xenia, and even Nikita.
All three were connected to dragon magic.
Considering Arcadium was a user of ancient dragon magic, it made sense they were stationed here.
“Looks like the talk went well.”
Nikita, in the form of Sekita, comnted casually.
She must’ve noticed that things ended peacefully between Isabel and .
Leaving the rest of the conversation for later, Professor Vega opened the cell door.
We descended a set of stairs, and soon a guard appeared.
After a short exchange, Professor Vega stood firmly before a cell.
Inside—
Arcadium was bound, his arms and legs restrained to suppress his mana.
His hair drooped lifelessly, and his face had gone pale in a short ti.
It was as if the life had been completely drained from his body.
He no longer looked like soone who had once held the grand title of Royal Archmage.
There was a lot to ask him.
“Arcadium.”
So the mont I called his na—
“Gah—! Hiiik!”
Arcadium, who had been dazed, suddenly jolted to awareness and fell to the floor.
He had a seizure-like reaction, pressing himself against the wall, trying desperately to escape.
His eyes were filled with sheer terror as he looked at .
I understood exactly where that fear ca from.
Arcadium had almost been devoured by .
The image of burned into his mory back then must’ve been nothing short of a predator.
It’s only natural for prey to flee from a predator.
“What are you so afraid of?”
Isabel grit her teeth and spoke.
“You used Lucas without permission, and now that child’s death is being exploited and desecrated!”
She slamd her hand against the cell bars.
Her trembling body radiated intense fury.
“Bel…”
Sharin bit her lip, watching the scene unfold.
She too had a long-standing friendship with Lucas.
Maybe not as close as Isabel, but Lucas had been a good friend to her too.
His death didn’t deserve to be mocked like this.
I knew their anger all too well.
As Isabel collapsed in fury, I held her gently and turned to Nikita.
“Sekita.”
Among us, the most efficient one for extracting information was Nikita.
She had been watching events unfold closely beside the Crown Prince.
And she was still in contact with Nia.
She’d know exactly what information we needed.
“Take care of Isabel first.”
I offered a silent thanks to Nikita.
As she took Isabel outside, I looked up with a troubled expression.
That day, should I have given up on Arcadium and focused on capturing Lucas?
It was too late to regret the past.
There were too many urgent matters at hand.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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