Kelian bent one knee and touched the ground, adopting a knightly posture as he met my gaze. He continued speaking.
“I wish for that.”
I stared absentmindedly at his turquoise eyes. The palpitations this time were not due to the curse’s agony. If charm was an attack, I might have already perished. Truly a dangerous Warrior.
With a face that I was sure had turned crimson, I asked almost at the level of just forming the shape of my mouth. It was a perverted question that succumbed to impulse.
“Can I still… touch you now?”
Surprisingly, at this very moment, the purification of the curse was put on hold. Various hypotheses about this phenomenon popped into my head. First, a delayed explosion of sexual desire from living a lifetime without knowing men. Second, I was probably weak to men’s faces. Third, the Warrior was excessively beautiful. Fourth, the Warrior was excessively enchanting. Fifth, the Warrior was excessively sensual. All seemed plausible.
“As much as you want.”
Even after hearing the low permission, I couldn’t move for a while, then finally extended one hand toward him. Due to being submerged in water, my slightly swollen fingers gently landed on Kelian’s cheek.
The stiff touch, like handling an expensive and precious doll, gradually became bolder over time. I stroked his cheek, touched the skin around his eyes, and ran my fingers through his finely golden hair…
“Aine.”
“Oh, yes. Should I not touch your hair?”
As I withdrew my hand, thinking I might have touched too much, he lightly raised the corner of his mouth as if to say it wasn’t necessary. Again, he smiled.
“Can I touch you too?”
After seeking such permission, he quietly offered his hair to my resumed touch. If I were to describe what mindset I was in while touching his hair, I didn’t even know. The moisture transferred from my hand was the only distinct thing I noticed.
“Yes, it’s fine. Uh, where should I touch?”
“Well…”
Since Kelian had allowed himself to be touched, it was only fitting for me to permit him. However, I was the one feeling flustered, having never been touched by anyone, especially a man, in my entire life.
“Did you really give permission?”
Even though he had already given permission, his posture, asking again, was like a sharp-eyed hunter observing keenly not to miss the prey thrust in front of him. I knew it was an excessive imagination, but for a moment, Kelian truly felt like that. I nodded my head slowly.
Curiosity arose belatedly as I had been touching my own hair so much; I wondered what it would feel like to touch someone else’s hair. He gently caught and stroked my wet, floating black hair. It felt ticklish, but I pretended not to mind.
“Your hair is probably softer than mine, Aine.”
“It’s soft enough.”
In response, he picked up my hair a bit, then moved it to the back. The touch revealed more clearly the collarbone and the submerged chest. His hand, larger than usual, slid down my collarbone and went further down.
“Oh…”
A surprised sound escaped me. It couldn’t be helped. Kelian’s hand, submerged in water, gently cupped one side of my chest from below.
“K-Kelian.”
“Yes?”
“That place…”
“Do you dislike it?”
“No, it’s not that… Uh, n-no.”
Every time the soft flesh was squeezed, it felt like my vision was swirling. When his thumb pressed on the nipple, it was even more intense.
“Ah!”
My head involuntarily bent down, but despite that, the hand gripping my chest continued to torment the nipple. Due to the constant pushing and pulling of his thumb underwater, my nipple had already reached its limit. Now, it seemed more than just a tingling sensation; it felt like the space between my legs was trembling.
“Hero…”
“You call me a Warrior again.”
“Please, stop…”
“Call me by my name.”
Unable to resist the oddly discordant conversation, I finally called out his name.
“Kelian.”
“Yes, Aine.”
Their voices were desperately locked with each other. He grabbed my nipple with his thumb and forefinger, comparing it.
“Ah… stop, stop, now, kiss me…”
It was a plea, fearing he might lose control altogether if he continued touching. Now, it was time to release me and perhaps suggest trying a kiss again after a few attempts. But instead of letting go, he swallowed my lips, somewhat impatiently.
“Ah, hm.”
His tongue delved so deep it felt like it might pierce my throat. It was only the third kiss, and it would have been better if he showed more skill, but reality was impatient to accept him as he breathed heavily. His fingertips softly pinching my nipple were already slightly wet.
“Ah… Kelian, your clothes… um…”
I wanted to tell him that his clothes were wet, but speaking while kissing was more challenging than I thought. Especially when the other person seemed to swallow even the words coming from me. Despite that, as I continued mumbling about his wet clothes, he answered with a tone unable to contain his desire.
“It’s okay if they get wet.”
Oh, I see… His head, leaving a brief peck on my momentarily stunned lips, descended along my neckline. My body involuntarily shivered as his shoulders slightly trembled. I felt both anticipation and anxiety, unsure of what would follow. I couldn’t distinguish whether this feeling was anxiety or anticipation. I just watched Kelian’s head move down, feeling somewhat helpless.
Then, he paused. Kelian lifted his lips from my collarbone.
“Kelian…?”
After taking a few steady breaths, straightening his posture, he apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“I was trying to do more than you allowed.”
The disheveled look in his eyes from moments ago vanished, replaced quickly by his usual indifference. Glancing down at his wet shirt, he continued.
“Take your time. I can wash it off in the morning.”
He turned and walked away. The sound of the door closing felt like a return to reason, snapping me back to reality.
I kissed Kelian again!
And it didn’t end there. He had ‘unlimited’ permission to touch me, and I had allowed him to touch me, even my chest…
My nipples, still tingling from his touch, stood erect. It felt as if they were yearning for more. I recalled his tongue grazing my collarbone and the lips that were about to descend further. I splashed my face vigorously with cold water, trying to calm myself. The excitement seemed to subside a little.
I should have been pleased that I tasted the warrior’s saliva, but strangely, other thoughts occupied my mind. If I had allowed not just touching but also licking… what would have happened next? It was a conflicting mix of fear and regret.
❖ ❖ ❖
I barely managed to push out the constantly emerging image of Kelian from my mind and fell asleep. Rising above the noise coming from downstairs, I lifted my heavy eyelids.
“Jenin?”
Jenin, who had been sleeping soundly, was nowhere to be found on the adjacent bed. It didn’t seem like it was time to wake up yet, looking out into the dimly lit window… But with none of the warrior companions around, a sense of unease crept over me, and sleep quickly fled. They weren’t the type to leave me without a word, but still, I didn’t feel at ease leaving without them.
I changed my clothes and made my way through the corridor, descending the stairs. The commotion downstairs was getting louder.
“I will say it once again. Please come with us, sir knight.”
The ones causing the commotion before sunrise were three unfamiliar knights and the warrior companions.
“We will ensure your comfort during the journey to the Three Seasons Castle.”
Despite the courteous tone, the man in armor displayed a somewhat coercive attitude. It seemed as though he might forcibly take the warrior if necessary. Wait, did he just mention the Three Seasons Castle?
“It seems your lord is not taking no for an answer. We’ve already declined once.”
Dain, who seemed to have safely returned from the hunting grounds, scoffed.
Indeed, the warrior companions had once rejected the invitation from the lord of the Three Seasons Castle and left the land of the Three Seasons, ignoring the watchmen, to come here. I thought that was the end of it, but it seems I underestimated my lord from my hometown.
“Do not insult our lord. And I am addressing the sir knight.”
“That sir knight shares my sentiments.”
Feeling increasingly irritated by Dain’s persistent grumbling, the knight began to show a more assertive stance.
“We will not bring such uncouth individuals. We only need the sir knight. Please come with us.”
As if about to say something again, Dain opened his mouth, but this time, Kelian was quicker.
“I’ll say it again, we refuse.”
He had a completely different demeanor from when I last saw him in the bathroom. The lust-filled eyes were gone, replaced by the cold expression of a warrior who showed no emotions.
“If that’s your intention, then we’ll have to resort to unpleasant methods against each other.”
The captain knight uttered cryptic words, exchanging glances with his two companions. Suddenly, they all drew their swords.
“Hey! If you’re going to fight, take it outside.”
The innkeeper scolded the knights holding the swords, but he shut his mouth at the promise of later financial compensation from the captain knight.
The knights approached the group as if to press them further.
Of course, being knights from a territory, they were likely much higher level than ordinary people, but still, it didn’t seem like they could intimidate the warrior companions to that extent. Even now, as the knights with drawn swords approached, the expressions of the warrior companions remained impassive. Barcrud didn’t even glance in their direction.
“As you’ve drawn your swords, I take it as a challenge to combat.”
Kelian declared firmly as he drew his sword… from its scabbard.
“Individually, I may not be able to defeat the sir knight, but combined, our levels total over 70. You won’t easily come out unscathed…”
The captain knight warned Kelian, who had taken a few steps forward alone, seeming reckless. However, before his words could finish, all three knights had their swords severed.
“What is this…?”
Not only the knights, but even I, who had been quietly watching, couldn’t understand what had happened. It was to the point where I could barely keep one eye open. Kelian, who hadn’t even drawn his sword, had moved slightly, yet even before I could properly perceive his movement, suddenly all three knights’ swords were cleanly cut in half.
“Will you continue?”
When Kelian asked, the captain knight, who belatedly grasped the situation, gnashed his teeth. It would be shameful to attempt to use force when their swords had been cut before they even started.
“We’ve lost.”
The knights put their broken swords into their inventories. Shortly after, the scabbard also disappeared from Kelian’s hands. How high must their levels be for them to be able to cut others’ swords with scabbards alone? If it was true that the combined level of the knights exceeded 70, it was even more astonishing.
At that moment, the captain knight produced something. Since they had just admitted defeat, I hadn’t expected it to be an attack at all, but surprisingly, it was. Quickly thrown by the captain knight, it flew towards Kelian—it was a round item about the size of a palm.
“What…!”
Thud—!
The net spread out from the exploding sphere in mid-air. It fell over Kelian’s head, clearly an item meant to restrain one person. It was an attack showing an obsession to definitely take the warrior with them to the Three Seasons Castle. Anger surged at the crude attempt to catch the opponent off guard and throw an item.
Fortunately, the target of the attack, Kelian, quickly drew his sword again and easily cut through the net.
“Urgh, to cut even the net with a sword…!”
Of course, their intention wasn’t to kill the warrior but to take them to the Three Seasons Castle with the item, but when even the counterattack easily turned into a failure, the captain knight’s expression turned fiercely hostile. But even that was a story before Kelian moved.
“Now, wait a moment…!”
With the sword he had taken out to cut the net a moment ago still in his hand, Kelian swung his arm horizontally towards the three knights. A blue light emanated from the sword.
Although the light wasn’t as intense as when I had seen it before, its power was still considerable. The knights’ heads fell from the empty air to the ground. Not long after, their bodies also collapsed beside them.
It wasn’t the first time I had seen corpses, but witnessing heads being severed in front of me was definitely a first. It didn’t feel like reality, so instead of fear, an unexpected sense of detachment arose, as if watching a picture in a book.
“Ah, again in the end…”
Muttering so, Dain looked down at the corpses. The other companions, equally unresponsive, seemed accustomed to such events. If this kind of thing looked familiar to them, it seemed like it wasn’t their first time.
“Innkeeper. We’ll take care of the compensation.”
Dain, who had just informed the innkeeper bluntly and raised his staff, used a magic skill. He set fire to the corpses right there. The fire from the magic didn’t spread, only burning the bodies. However, the smell was so overpowering that Serys used a wind spell to ventilate the area.
The innkeeper, who had not been intimidated by the knights with swords and had even shouted loudly, frowned but said nothing. It was surprisingly quiet compared to before.
And there was someone even quieter. Kelian, who had quickly killed the three knights, still hadn’t sheathed his sword after leaving them dead. It felt similar to when the lord and his daughter barged in while we were dining in the restaurant earlier. His expression was still unreadable, but… it felt like he might do something at any moment. No, he had already done something… Thinking this, I turned my head and our eyes met.
“….”
What should I say? I had only expected to feel embarrassed about what happened last night, never anticipating a situation like this.
Just as I hesitated on how to speak, Kelian, who turned his gaze away first, made such deliberation useless.
“Hey there. Are you awake?”
Jenin, who had noticed me, greeted me with a bright smile.
“….Yes, Jenin.”
“Did you wake up because of the noise too? It’s been quite noisy since morning. Don’t you think so?”
Despite now being nothing more than ashes, except for the conversation happening in the spot where the bodies were, it felt strangely peaceful. Dain, who had finished the cleanup, glanced at me briefly, but whether it was because of the situation or for some other reason, he didn’t pick a fight. Maybe there wasn’t any ground for an argument…
“It’s best if we leave right away.”
“Yeah. It’d be more troublesome if the lord finds out these guys are dead. There might be more riffraff nearby too.”
Kelian and Dain discussed, and Barkrud and Serys agreed. Jenin alone looked at me sadly and said something different.
“Well, then you must be hungry, aren’t you? You didn’t have breakfast.”
“We didn’t have breakfast either?”
I interjected before this turned into another argument.
“I’m fine. I’m not very hungry, and if I get hungry, I can eat on the carriage.”
Then Kelian, who hadn’t even looked my way, spoke. Let’s get going.
“….”
Serys, Dain, and I rode inside the carriage, Barkrud atop the carriage roof, while Kelian and Jenin each mounted their horses. The horses pulling the carriage seemed lively even with multiple passengers, perhaps due to Serys’ magic.
“Kelian! I’ll take the lead.”
“Sure.”
Jenin, on horseback, took the lead, and Kelian’s horse trotted alongside the carriage. I happened to be near the window, so our eyes could have met, but he deliberately avoided looking this way.
It was natural to feel unhappy after such incidents since morning, but… It felt like someone was gently squeezing my heart, even though it wasn’t the time for such feelings.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
With a concerned tone, Serys asked, noticing my gloomy mood. I forced a smile and pulled out a piece of bread from my inventory. It was leftover from yesterday’s meal.
“Serys, would you like to share?”
“No, thank you.”
Her firm refusal didn’t hurt my feelings. Considering her penchant for ordering expensive and unfamiliar dishes, she probably wouldn’t eat this bread. Jenin had already gone ahead and called for us to share a piece of bread together, and as for Kelian, who knows what he was doing.
“Barkrud.”
I called his name out the window, and Barkrud immediately lowered his head.
“Would you like some bread?”
“Thank you.”
Barkrud, almost playfully, stooped to accept half of the bread and then returned to the rooftop. Since we weren’t all eating together, he could take his time with it this time. We divided the bread and sat down to nibble on it. It was a bit tough but still tasty.
“Isn’t this a bit out of character for me?”
Until Dain spoke like that. Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about it, but he, sitting with his legs crossed across from Serys and me, looked at me incredulously, as if to say, “Really?”
“….Would you like some?”
I belatedly asked, expecting him to decline, but Dain confidently held out his palm toward me. Since there was still plenty of bread left even after sharing it with Barkrud, I obediently split the bread in half again and handed it to him.
…Was he really that hungry?
“Have you found any rare dungeons?”
I asked, chewing on my bread, curious. Likewise, Dain, also chewing on his bread, glanced at me sharply. Well, no, I haven’t found any.
“You have quite the stomach yourself.”
He followed up with a jab. It had been unusually quiet.
“How can you eat when it hasn’t been that long since you saw corpses?”
He knew I had witnessed it. That was my first thought, followed by the realization that he was eating while saying this. I looked at Dain incredulously as he casually ate his bread with a small mouthful, but he maintained his shameless attitude as if he felt nothing from my gaze.
“I don’t really feel it.”
“What don’t you feel?”
“Seeing people die. It’s my first time.”
I still didn’t quite feel it. Later, when I returned to my hometown and told Mali about traveling with the warrior party, it might be a good story to tell, but it didn’t seem like something I could share with Mali’s children. Whether it was my mistake or not, Dain’s gaze softened slightly.
“Low-level folks seem comfortable. It’s their first time seeing a corpse too.”
Not everyone may feel that way, but I certainly did. Of course, I wasn’t living comfortably.
“Is it common for high-level people to experience such things?”
“Well, it happens quite often. If you’re scared, you should go home right now.”
I couldn’t say that dying from a curse was scarier than seeing a corpse.
Surprisingly, Dain’s response seemed offhanded, and he immediately turned his head out the window. Even the ensuing silence was quite peaceful, so it was truly unexpected. Why did he suddenly become so calm? Was the bread I shared with him that delicious? It was tasty, but it was just ordinary bread…
“Rest!”
With Jenin’s exclamation, the carriage came to a stop.
“How long has it been since we started that we need a break already?”
Dain grumbled and was the first to get off the carriage.
“Still, it’s been over three hours. I’m too hungry; we can’t go on like this. Let’s eat some breakfast first.”
Jenin, absentmindedly rubbing his stomach with one hand, genuinely seemed very hungry. Oh no, I intentionally didn’t call him since we were going far, but it seems I should have shared the bread with him.
While each of us took out food from our inventories and settled into our seats, Kelian, who had dismounted from his horse, was seen feeding his horse and the other horses, different from the one he rode. Although he maintained his usual expressionless demeanor, he still didn’t seem in a particularly good mood. After hesitating for a while, I cautiously approached him.
“Umm… I’ll share it too.”
Kelian, who paused for a moment, replied indifferently. Still not looking in my direction.
“It’s okay. Aine.”
It was a pretty firm refusal, so there was nothing more to ask. I looked at him once and glanced at the ground before slowly returning to the rest of the party. I still called him by name, though…
“Aine, would you like some of this?”
Jenin, sitting next to me, offered me his food. After trying a bit of that, Serys, sitting on my left, praised some unknown dishes and tried a bit of that as well… While we filled our stomachs, Kelian sat leaning against a distant rock, not eating anything.
“Ke, Sir Warrior, aren’t you eating…?”
I almost called him Kelian instead of a warrior. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice, and he only responded to the question without giving much thought.
“I’m not hungry.”
Having answered like that, Jenin continued to chat with Dain. It was a very ordinary conversation, as if they hadn’t argued at all. Apparently, there wasn’t an atmosphere that forced non-eating people to eat among the warrior party.
“Aine, are you bored sitting in the carriage all the time? Want to ride a horse with me?”
“A horse?”
When we finished eating, Jenin made such a suggestion while hanging a brooch-shaped item on my chest.
“When you wear this, it becomes incredibly lightweight. You can barely feel the horse.”
Come to think of it, Jenin also had the same brooch hanging on his chest. It seemed like an incredibly expensive item just by hearing about it.
“I’ve never ridden a horse before… Is it okay?”
“It’s fine. You’re riding with me.”
In that case, there seemed to be no need to refuse.
And so, with Jenin’s help, I tried to ride a horse… but alas, due to vehement refusal from the horse with a loud neigh, I couldn’t do it at all.
“Klenon, why?”
“It seems like it doesn’t like me.”
Although you can barely feel the weight thanks to the item, preferences still exist. Feeling like I didn’t fit the horse’s taste, I stepped back a few paces.
“Normally, I don’t let anyone else ride except me, but I didn’t expect this from Aine.”
What’s so different about me from the others? When it was Jenin’s turn to get on, the horse stood quietly as if it had never thrown a tantrum. Seeing that, I chuckled softly, and Jenin also smiled awkwardly.
“Oh, then I’ll ride with Kelian. Kelian, heard that?”
Surprised by that statement, I turned around to see that Kelian was indeed about to mount the horse.
Oh.
“I… I’m fine. It’s better for me to ride with others in the carriage.”
I hurriedly declined and tried to head towards the carriage, but this time, Kelian called out to me.
“Shall we ride together?”
He stood next to the horse as if he intended to let me ride first. As polite as Kelian was, he probably had the authority to insist even if he heard Jenin’s words…
“Yes, then…”
Nodding, I saw Jenin ride off first, and with Kelian’s help, I climbed onto the horse. He soon followed behind me. Automatically, my back straightened, and I became conscious of what was behind me.
“Let’s go.”
Once again, Barkrud, who had climbed back onto the carriage roof, shouted for departure. The rhythmic sound of hoofbeats echoed through the forest path.
Despite the item that supposedly almost eliminated weight, the black horse carrying the two of us looked very strong indeed. The problem was me, swaying back and forth on the horse. It wasn’t easy to find balance at all, perhaps because it was my first time riding. Even though the horse wasn’t moving that vigorously, my shoulders leaned left and right, causing chaos.
Every time that happened, it was a bonus that Kelian’s arms and body, holding the reins, touched mine.
Feeling uncomfortable in front of someone already, I tried to somehow distribute my upper body weight. At that moment, a breath touched my right ear.
“Lean on me.”
He probably just said it to make sure I could hear him well, but to me, in heat, that breath felt endlessly provocative. This really wasn’t the time for this…
“Oh, no. I think it’s better if I lean forward.”
As I assuredly leaned my waist forward to snugly press my body against the horse, it seemed like my weight was less off balance. However, I felt more scared, so my body tensed up a bit more.
“…”
After that, there was a brief silence, and I thought the conversation had ended there. Even if his arms wrapped around my waist didn’t lift me up, it felt as if they could have.
“Oh!”
A firm body pressed against my back. Startled, I tried to lean forward, but his arms around my waist didn’t budge, instead pushing me back even more until our hips were pressed together.
“K-Kelian.”
“Didn’t I allow you to touch?”
His voice flowed into my ears from even closer than before. No, it felt like his lips touched my earlobes directly.
“…”
Certainly, I had given permission, but that was a conversation from the bathroom yesterday, and now, I hadn’t given permission…? It seemed like we had different interpretations of the meaning and duration of consent. I, in that moment. Kelian, continuing forward… as he put it.
“Aine.”
He called me, hesitating.
“I’m sorry.”
And he apologized.
“What?”
For a moment, I thought I misheard, but I didn’t. He clearly said he was sorry to me.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I showed you an unpleasant sight.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
Ah, those corpses… now burned away, but it seemed like he was talking about the ones the lord sent, the knights he killed. For a moment, I thought he was talking about what happened in the bathroom yesterday.
“But you were the one who attacked first from your side.”
Didn’t he try to sneak attack Kelian, who had already spared him, and end up dead? Of course, it would have been better if I hadn’t seen that scene… but even now, it didn’t feel horrifying, and the reality hadn’t sunk in.
“Sometimes I feel like I lose control.”
“…”
“At those times, I…”
Those times…? Kelian spoke, then paused, lifting his head slightly. Amidst his indifference, his eyes looked somewhat gloomy.
“Tell me. Kelian.”
What was he about to say? Why did this beautiful knight occasionally feel a certain impulse? At my urging, he opened his mouth again.
“I want to… eliminate everything.”
Gasp… It was a more gruesome answer than I anticipated. I tried my best to manage my expression. I couldn’t show a disturbed reaction, even though it was an answer I had forced out of him.
“When you say ‘everything,’ do you mean your comrades too?”
“No, not them.”
“Then, what about me…?”
Kelian faintly smiled as if to suggest there was no way that could happen. Now, I felt slightly, ever so slightly more accustomed to that smile.
“Not at all.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
I said that, but I wasn’t sure if I could really call this fortunate. The possibility of a high-level knight like Kelian becoming a murderer…! Of course, it might not be that serious, but still, it’s something to think about.
On the other hand, I also had such thoughts. Not all of the vague feelings I had sensed from him were just my imagination… I thought.
“Why do you feel that way?”
“Well…”
Could he still not tell me everything…? He seemed reluctant to say more, but he tightened his arms around my waist a bit more. It didn’t hurt, but it was a force that made it impossible to escape. He was just holding onto my body, which was swaying back and forth, but for some reason, it felt like he needed me right now, and that made my heart ache.
Actually, instead of feeling this aching heart, shouldn’t I be feeling fear…? But strangely, I wasn’t afraid.
“Such things happen often…”
“Kelian!”
I was about to ask if there were many people who approached him, not resorting to cowardly attacks like the lord of the Three Seasons Castle, or like the knights who died earlier, but Dain’s yelling from the window of the carriage ahead interrupted my question.
“Why are you with that woman? Wasn’t she the one Jenin was supposed to take?”
Dain, who had passed by with a smile when Jenin said he would give me a ride, belatedly realized that Kelian had taken me instead and became extremely annoyed.
Seeing that, Jenin slowed down the carriage and approached the window where Dain was sticking out his neck, saying something. I couldn’t hear from where I was, but judging from what Dain yelled next, Jenin seemed to explain that he had refused to take me.
“Then just ride in the carriage! Why did you take her?”
Dain, seeming to still suspect that I approached the group to provoke Kelian, sulked for a while before stubbornly withdrawing his head when there was no response from our side, perhaps to avoid getting scratched by tree branches.
“….”
I cautiously lowered my gaze from the carriage ahead, trying not to bite my tongue, and focused on Kelian’s arm wrapped around my waist.
There was really nothing to ask. Just by observing Kelian, Dain, and the reactions of the other members, it was clear that they had encountered numerous individuals who behaved like lords of the Three Seasons Castle. Whether it was because of Kelian’s reputation or his high level, it was evident that people sought to exploit him. Moreover, considering the various excuses people made to approach him, it was perhaps inevitable in this world.
And I, too, was exploiting him.
Wasn’t it exploitation to use him because my life was at risk due to the curse? I also fell into the category of those who were annoying Kelian. I was using him and trying to deceive him…
What was even more ironic was that even as I felt this guilt, the fact remained that if the pain of the curse recurred, I would cling to Kelian as if nothing had happened, as if nothing had changed. It made my head spin.
