Episode 144

“……?”

I was so flustered that I couldn’t continue speaking.

Imprinted on him… and throwing him away like roadside trash? Me, abandoning Ludwig?

No matter how many times I went over it again, I couldn’t understand what he meant.

Moreover, it was the kind of thing that, if overheard, would cause a major misunderstanding.

Sure enough, Desar and Peter were staring at us with horrified faces, and Bergeus was watching the situation with great interest.

Flustered, I grabbed Ludwig’s shoulders and asked,

“Ludwig, what are you talking about? Did something happen? No, more importantly, how did you even know I was here?”

“Are you pretending not to know? Or is it that a discarded man like me is not even worth knowing about?”

What was with that drooping gaze, as if I had made him a rogue of the world?

He was like a beast hiding sharp claws, pretending to look pitiful.

Clearly, Ludwig was not being rational at all right now.

It was extremely unfamiliar to see him, who was always cold-headed, acting like this.

At the same time, seeing Ludwig looking unusually anxious made him seem somewhat cute, and my head became a mess of mixed emotions.

I decided to first calm Ludwig down and spoke soothingly.

“Hold on, who said I was throwing you away? That’s not what I meant…”

At that moment, Ludwig grabbed my hands tightly as if not letting me escape anywhere and looked me straight in the eyes.

His golden eyes, beautiful like the midday sun, reflected my flustered face exactly.

“A beast, when starving, is left with only instinct.”

“……?”

“It means I’m reaching my limit. If you’ve tamed me, you must take responsibility.”

He handed me his metaphorical leash, as if telling me never to let go.

With eyes subtly glinting madly.

“……Take responsibility? Me, for Ludwig?”

When I barely managed to stay composed and muttered in bewilderment, Ludwig firmly nodded.

As if it were already a decided fact.

“You kissed my cheek back then, didn’t you?”

Even the words he added in a muttering, excuse-like tone were a simple yet intense confession.

And soon, I noticed Ludwig’s reddened ears.

For someone who spoke so zealously like a bulldozer, it seemed it had required considerable courage on his part too.

The warmth between our clasped hands felt ticklish.

I still didn’t know what misunderstanding had brought him here, nor how he had even found out I was here in the first place.

Nevertheless, the thought that I had finally received his true feelings as they were brushed past my mind.

When I met Ludwig’s trembling gaze, the confusion in my head gradually organized itself.

I also realized clearly what I needed to say right now.

“I don’t recall that kiss being a one-sided accident.”

At my words, Ludwig’s eyes widened as he looked at me.

“It was mutual fault, Ludwig. Which means you also have to take responsibility for me.”

“Sierra, that means…”

“I like you, Ludwig. You’re the only one who can make me feel these emotions.”

It was the true feeling I had wanted to convey once we returned from the south and after saving him from Bergeus’s threat.

Though the timing had moved up a little earlier than expected, my feelings were unchanged.

I brushed my hair back and spoke.

“Honestly, I had been avoiding it. Avoiding defining the feelings I had toward you.”

“…….”

“But if you come at me like this, then I have no choice. I can’t keep teetering ambiguously anymore.”

I stepped closer to Ludwig, who looked like he was dreaming, and said,

“Now then, shall we hear what kind of cute misunderstanding brought you all the way here?”

* * *

Ludwig said that, actually, from a certain point after seeing my reaction, he realized there had been a misunderstanding.

Even so, unlike his usual self, he let his emotions get ahead of him and ended up spilling a bunch of embarrassing words.

When I finally found out what misunderstanding Ludwig had come with, I couldn’t hide my flustered feelings.

“A letter? You’re saying the letter I sent to the Devar Kingdom city hall ended up going to you, Ludwig?”

I had clearly sent both the letter meant for Ludwig and the mansion resale reason document meant for Devar Kingdom city hall together through an attendant.

It seemed there had been a mix-up between the two letters.

‘Wait, what kind of nonsense did I even write in that mansion resale document?’

If I remembered correctly, it said something about leaving for a faraway country with a longtime lover, so I had to resell the mansion…

‘Oh, my God.’

I waved my hand frantically and said,

“Ludwig, none of the contents of that letter are true. I only wrote that because otherwise, they wouldn’t have approved the mansion resale…”

“I know.”

“Huh?”

I looked up at Ludwig, surprised at how easily he agreed.

“I know that I foolishly misunderstood everything.”

Ludwig said this with an unusually pleasant voice.

“It seems that when it comes to you, I always become a different person. Normally, I would have been more cautious.”

Somehow, he felt much more generous than before.

Though he still hadn’t lowered his guard toward Desar, Peter, and Bergeus.

The three, who had witnessed this melodrama, continued to watch the situation without daring to intervene easily.

“Then now…”

Ludwig finally turned his gaze to the three men standing behind me and said,

“First, this one is Peter, the newly hired bodyguard by Sierra. And that one must have been forcibly assigned by the former Duke of Drenihan.”

He pointed out the awkwardly standing Peter and Desar, who was guarding with a crooked look, then finally looked at Bergeus standing at the end and said,

“And you, what is your identity?”

Ludwig seemed to have instinctively sensed the threatening aura coming from Bergeus and sharpened his nerves.

“Ludwig, this man is…”

Just as I was trying to think of how to explain Bergeus, he raised his eyebrow and spoke first.

“Look at this, such an ill-bred descendant.”

“What, descendant?”

When Ludwig asked back, bewildered, he finally noticed the golden eyes of Bergeus, which were exactly like his own.

The unique trait of the Hiltens, and the symbol of the evil dragon Bergeus.

“Hilten bloodline, huh.”

At that, Bergeus let out a mocking laugh and said,

“As a vessel, he’s excellent, but it seems he’s a bit reckless. It must not have been easy to tame him from the start.”

Bergeus had known of Ludwig’s existence even while submerged in the lake.

A perfect vessel capable of containing him.

A being that could fully unleash his weakened powers, sealed for a thousand years.

Originally, Bergeus had intended to complete his revenge by taking over Ludwig’s body, but now he seemed to have lost interest in Ludwig.

Ludwig, frowning at Bergeus’ incomprehensible words, soon widened his eyes as if realizing something he had overlooked.

“Wait, that mark on your forehead is definitely…”

Ludwig soon spoke in a voice full of disbelief.

“Don’t tell me… Bergeus?”

“That’s right, Ludwig. This person is Lord Bergeus, the founder of the Hilten bloodline and the one who had been submerged under Aisil Lake for the past thousand years.”

“You figured it out fast,” Bergeus said, shrugging his shoulders.

* * *

I was only able to return to the Chetwind estate by late evening.

And as expected, I had to listen to Catherine and Harry’s worried scolding.

“You said you’d be back in a few hours, but do you know how worried we were when there was no news until sunset?”

“I even thought about breaking through the barrier myself.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize there would be such a time difference between inside and outside the barrier.”

At my lame excuse, Catherine let out a small sigh and then pulled me warmly into her arms.

“It’s a relief you returned safely like this. But don’t make us worry like that again.”

“I won’t.”

After having a simple late dinner with Catherine and Harry, I trudged back to my room.

It felt like the tension I had been holding onto finally unraveled, probably because it felt like I had crossed a huge mountain.

As for Bergeus, there was no need to arrange an inn separately—he decided to stay temporarily at the nearby Karsian villa.

It did worry me a bit that he would be spending time with Ludwig, but what could really happen?

Even though they had been oddly hostile toward each other since the first meeting, maybe it was some sort of racial hatred. Still, I had earnestly asked them both to behave, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

“Haa…”

[Why are you sighing again like some little old geezer?]

Askan’s voice suddenly sounded from thin air, but I didn’t even flinch and naturally responded,

“Just… the most important problem still remains.”

Hertz, the damned king of the monsters who could be plotting something at any time, anywhere.

Somehow, the fact that he had been unusually quiet lately made me even more uneasy.