Chapter 116
Rafaela, standing on tiptoe atop a rock to avoid the trembling ground, tried to get a better look at Bléhel and Leo. But no matter how hard she tried, the two, floating at the height of a three-story building, were still difficult to see clearly.
At that moment, William, standing beside her, quietly asked,
“Do you want to see?”
“Yes.”
“Then, excuse me for a moment.”
William grabbed Rafaela by the waist with both hands. A doll dangling from his wrist swung slightly. Rafaela was startled and whispered urgently,
“Hey! You can see everything!”
“Anyway, that woman is focused on Leo and isn’t paying attention to this side,” William said.
Immediately after speaking, he lifted Rafaela onto his left shoulder. Then, slipping his left hand and the doll back into his pocket, he asked,
“Can you see better now?”
“Uh… a little better than before,” Rafaela replied.
Though puzzled by William’s sudden action, Rafaela’s curiosity about Leo outweighed her confusion.
Being higher up did help, but Leo’s hair still partially obscured his jawline. She craned her neck as far as she could to peek.
“Ah, his jawline looks a bit different… seems slimmer than before.”
“I see that too,” William replied.
“You have really good eyesight.”
“Yes. Among those around me, it’s one of the best. More importantly… do you think it’s okay to leave Leo like that?”
“I’m not going to kill him right away. If she wants to corner me, she’ll need a hostage. And more than that…”
“?”
William glanced at Rafaela. She smirked slightly.
“Bléhel is weak for fair complexions. Especially a man with such delicate looks like Leo—she goes completely crazy.”
“But doesn’t that make it even more dangerous?”
“Leo may be gentle, but he’s not that weak. This should get interesting, so let’s just watch.”
Just as Rafaela had predicted, Bléhel was completely entranced by Leo’s face.
This was proof that one of the reasons Leo was such a formidable card was working perfectly.
“You… you…”
Bléhel stammered, staring at the Leo she held in her hands.
Even when his facial features were distorted by mask magic, he had the kind of looks that would make passersby turn their heads. But when the magic was removed, an overwhelming beauty emerged.
His skin, already flawless, seemed to glow like polished white porcelain. Beneath his neatly shaped eyebrows, his deep red eyes glistened with tears like diamonds.
He appeared both fragile and captivating.
The tears in Leo’s eyes were a reflex from the sharp pain when Bléhel’s nails pricked his chin, but that didn’t matter. To anyone watching, a sense of pitiable vulnerability radiated from him, evoking a desire to do anything for him.
Bléhel’s pupils trembled. For a moment, it felt as though mournful strings were playing in her ears. She was so captivated she forgot to breathe—no, she was addicted, in a way beyond mere fascination.
“…How can a human be like this…”
Even the gods of beauty and greed in the divine realm were famous for their allure, but this was different.
Leo’s beauty had something that made one lose all rationality.
“This is impossible…”
Bléhel couldn’t even speak anymore. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. If she looked away, it felt as though he would vanish somewhere. A compulsive obsession had begun, one she wanted to monopolize entirely.
“You’re really beautiful… I want you,” she said.
This was why Leo had always concealed his face. He had endured countless experiences like this since childhood.
Bléhel licked her lips and spoke with a voice full of greed,
“From now on, you’re mine.”
“Black lady, how about letting go of my hand first? Your nails hurt—it’s sharp,” Leo said.
“Ah! Wh-what have I done?”
Bléhel hastily removed her hand, panicking as if she had damaged the greatest treasure in the world.
Yet by now, a small drop of blood had formed on Leo’s chin.
“Ha…”
The bright red drop only added to the decadent allure of Leo’s face. Naturally, seeing this only made Bléhel more restless. She exhaled sharply, holding back the breaths she had restrained.
“Ha… I can’t…”
Bléhel’s hand traced Leo’s cheek. Leo’s eyes calmly observed the state of Bléhel, who had already become addicted to his face. But Bléhel, unable to understand his intent, felt her heart burst from just their eye contact. She was completely blank.
She had even forgotten that Rafaela, her enemy, was watching from below.
Leo noticed that Bléhel had already progressed beyond the first stage of intoxication, directly into the final stage of obsession in the second stage of fascination.
Smiling faintly, he asked leisurely,
“Black lady, what do you intend to do with me?”
“I’ll have you.”
“And what will you do with me once you have me?”
“I’ll hang you in my house and admire you every day.”
“Oh dear~ treating me like a decoration won’t do.”
“I’ll preserve your beauty forever. I can make you the most perfect doll in the world.”
“Does that mean you’ll eventually kill me?”
“Not right away, but eventually. Probably when you’re at your most radiant before aging.”
“Hmm~ What if I don’t want to die?”
“I’ve tried before. I’ve used rituals to maintain people like that a few times, but over time their consciousness twisted and they went mad. It’s better to just die quietly. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt—you need a pretty expression for it to work.”
Leo placed his hands over Bléhel’s hands on his face and spoke deeply,
“But what if I die? My body is rigged so that no trace will remain.”
“What?!”
Bléhel’s face twisted like a demon. But Leo, unafraid, leaned closer and met her gaze.
“You noticed the mask magic, but couldn’t detect the hidden bomb?”
“Gasp! No way!”
Bléhel focused her eyes, which became snake-like. The eyes that could pierce through the truth. Using the same technique she used within Gillipus, she finally discovered it.
The magic and curse device cleverly hidden in Leo’s heart.
Seeing such a deadly bomb, Bléhel stuck out her tongue in disbelief.
“You’re wicked… how can you implant something like that in your own body?”
“Haha. It’s a desire to destroy any records of myself when I die, like burning my diary. My body… this face… has been a lifelong chain.”
“Where can such a beautiful chain exist? Wasting your natural talent!”
“Anyway, as long as you want my face, you can’t kill me. The moment my heart stops, boom! The whole body will explode. Leaving no trace.”
“Eh! And you think I’ll give up?”
Bléhel’s pupils returned to black, a cruel smile forming on her demonic face.
“I’ll just put you to eternal sleep.”
Black energy began rising from Bléhel like vapor.
“What’s your name?”
“Leo.”
“Hmm. That’s fine. No need to give you a new one.”
“Your name is Bléhel, right? I heard it from Ellaela.”
“Ah! Rafaela… that damn goddess!”
Only then did Bléhel look down.
“What’s with that sight?”
She saw Rafaela perched on William’s shoulder, craning her neck to stare at them, even curling one hand into a makeshift telescope.
Even with a comrade captured, she wasn’t worried at all—her gaze was full of curiosity and excitement.
“Ugh. Why do you hang out with someone like her?”
“She’s fun.”
“So am I! I can make it even more fun for you! So forget her and be with me.”
“Hmm~ I don’t want to.”
“Why not! I can show you so many things more amazing than that dumb goddess!”
“…Goddess?”
“Unlike her, who has a twisted sense of corruption, I pursue pure corruption. Where else can you find corruption more genuine than destruction? I’ll be more fun, right?”
Leo caught an important hint about Rafaela from Bléhel’s excited rambling.
But now was not the time to show that he knew something Bléhel didn’t.
He could ask Rafaela directly later to satisfy his curiosity. Still, the thought of a goddess made his mind whirl.
‘A goddess, huh?’
At that moment, Rafaela shouted from below,
“Hey~ you two, looks like you’re done talking—how about paying some attention down here too?”
