Chapter 30
Gerard lifted the struggling Eloise onto one arm.
“Wah!”
Startled, Eloise wrapped her arms around his head.
For a moment, Gerard’s vision was blocked, and he flinched, but he quickly regained his balance and climbed up onto the tree trunk with practiced ease.
It was agile enough to make even a leopard cry in defeat.
Once comfortably settled on top of the stump, Gerard spread his legs wide.
Then he seated Eloise between them.
Two people sat in a space meant for one.
Inevitably, Eloise’s hips were perched precariously on the edge of the flat-cut trunk.
“That’s dangerous.”
Gerard placed a hand on Eloise’s flat stomach.
“…!”
Eloise sucked in a sharp breath.
“At this rate, you’ll fall. There is a way for both of us to sit more comfortably.”
Gerard pulled her backward.
Her hips, which had been barely clinging to the edge, slid inward, bringing the distance between them so close that she could hear his breathing.
Her back pressed fully against Gerard’s chest.
Warm body heat and his breath enveloped her.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
A loud heartbeat echoed.
She couldn’t tell whose it was.
Eloise’s shoulders curled inward.
“Is this all right, Eloise?”
Gerard’s low voice brushed against her ear.
She should say it was uncomfortable. Or that she didn’t even know what felt uncomfortable.
But her lips only trembled uselessly.
“I’ll hold you so you don’t fall.”
After politely asking permission, he wrapped his arm around her waist.
Their bodies were pressed together so tightly not even a sheet of paper could fit between them.
From then on, neither of them spoke.
All that could be heard were heavy heartbeats and each other’s breathing.
Eloise’s mouth kept going dry, and she forced herself to swallow.
Her fingers felt stiff with cold, her lips dry, and her thoughts blank.
Is Gerard completely fine? Am I the only one this uncomfortable?
She didn’t want to be conscious of it, but the presence of the man behind her was overwhelming.
Eloise subtly shifted her hips, thinking it might be better for her heart to put even a little distance between them.
Each time she did, Gerard let out a sigh and pulled her back.
After repeating the push-and-pull several times, Gerard finally spoke.
“Eloise… do you know what you’re doing right now?”
His low, roughened voice sounded strangely suggestive.
Even the breath brushing her ear carried heat.
Eloise turned to look at him in surprise—then startled again when she found his face right in front of hers.
She reflexively leaned backward.
“Ah!”
Her center of gravity shifted, and her body wobbled.
Gerard quickly pulled her in.
Eloise was drawn straight into his arms.
Thud—this time, she bumped foreheads.
“Stay still. It’s dangerous.”
Gerard rested his forehead against her shoulder and spoke with a sigh mixed into his voice.
“Let’s make a promise. That you’ll behave.”
For some reason, he sounded like he was in pain.
The position is uncomfortable, but…
He doesn’t struggle this much even when fighting monsters.
Could it be that he dislikes being pressed this close to me?
Suddenly, the past surfaced in her mind.
“Let’s stop here. I’ll be leaving now.”
In the past, Gerard always left immediately after healing ended.
When he couldn’t leave, he sat far away, keeping a strict distance from Eloise.
As those memories resurfaced, Eloise’s shoulders drooped.
Everything Gerard was doing now was for survival.
Was she the only one misunderstanding and getting ahead of herself?
“I promise.”
Only after hearing her answer did Gerard loosen his hold.
Then he seated her again as before.
Once more, her back pressed against his chest.
Eloise relaxed her body and tried as hard as she could not to be aware of him.
But something felt different from before.
Near her hips, she felt something heavy and hard, like a stone.
This is… that!
Eloise’s eyes widened, and heat rushed to her face.
Does… does Gerard need healing right now?
She couldn’t possibly mistake the fierce signal of a man.
She’d seen it many times in her previous life.
The sensation of that thing—brave, boiling with heat, as hard as stone, and thick enough to be called a club—was painfully clear.
She felt like she was going to die of embarrassment.
Trying not to reveal her burning red face, Eloise lowered her head and moved just a little. Very slightly.
That was when the thing near her hips twitched.
Gerard warned her in a low voice.
“Eloise. Please, stay still.”
His warning sounded almost like a plea.
“Ah! Yes—yes, yes!”
Eloise straightened her back rigidly and clutched her knees tightly.
She minimized all movement and stared straight ahead.
She tried not to be aware of Gerard behind her.
But Gerard was not someone you could forget just by trying.
It only made her more conscious of him.
His breathing. His body heat. And that was pressing against her.
Eloise’s head grew so hot it felt like it was boiling.
At this moment, she would rather be hit by water bombs and water pillars.
****
It seemed like nothing but simple water attacks were repeating, but by Gerard’s judgment, the Blue Hole’s rank was mid-to-low.
When the awaited moment came, Gerard cleanly destroyed the core inside the hole that had been dropping water bombs.
He collected a fist-sized blue gem.
“That concludes it.”
After finishing the report on this Blue Hole, Eloise swallowed nervously and looked around.
The kiss and the suggestive tension on the tree trunk felt like something that had happened in another world.
At the head seat sat Crown Prince Noah, with Gerard and Morgana on either side, followed by unnamed imperial affiliates.
Everyone except Gerard wore grim expressions.
A Rainbow Hole opening in the imperial palace was no small matter.
They said the palace was turned completely upside down.
The moment news spread that a Blue Hole had opened and Gerard had disappeared, the imperial family fell into chaos.
If royalty or distinguished guests were caught in a Rainbow Hole, the entire continent would be thrown into turmoil, so the Magi Administration declared an emergency.
Morgana immediately assembled an investigation team of mages and officials.
But the dispatched personnel discovered nothing.
Without knowing the Rainbow Hole’s rank, they couldn’t send mages in—and even that was impossible to measure.
They couldn’t afford to do nothing either.
Taking no action would be proof of incompetence before the benefactors supporting the Disaster Response Headquarters.
Morgana summoned Bern.
“Send an advance team of A-rank and B-rank mages.”
“Lord Gerard has already entered. Let’s wait.”
Bern understood Morgana’s concern and partially agreed, but knowing Gerard had already entered, the Mage Tower had no reason to take additional risks.
“If you remain this uncooperative, it won’t reflect well on the mages either.”
Morgana glanced toward the group of healers trembling in fear.
Knowing how desperately mages needed healing, Bern stepped back.
“Let’s wait just half a day. If there’s no news by sunrise, I’ll go in myself.”
Fortunately, it didn’t come to that.
Gerard and Eloise returned late that night.
I was so shocked back then.
The people gathered around the small fountain had been incredibly high-profile.
Now that she thought about it, most of the faces in this conference hall were people she had seen then.
Stunned by Gerard and Eloise’s sudden return, the room fell silent.
As the silence stretched on, Eloise’s civil servant instincts awakened.
She released Gerard’s hand, stepped out of the fountain, and bowed deeply to Morgana.
“I will submit the report by tomorrow morning.”
She thought she heard Gerard click his tongue behind her, but there was no time to dwell on it.
To wash up, change clothes, and complete the report within the deadline, she had to run herself ragged.
No one told her to rest.
Someone had to take responsibility for a Rainbow Hole opening in the imperial palace during Healers’ Night.
And to find the responsible party, reports were required.
That was why, less than a night after escaping the Rainbow Hole, Eloise was briefing the imperial conference hall before the Crown Prince, acting director of the Magi Administration.
Under the sharp gazes directed at her, Eloise swallowed hard.
I should’ve taken a half day off in the morning. Why did I say I’d report immediately? Or I should’ve just used a full day of leave.
It felt like she was about to get completely torn apart today.
Even though Eloise wasn’t at fault, that was simply how bureaucratic society worked.
The lowest-ranking official takes the fall.
Am I going to be demoted right after becoming team leader?
As Eloise imagined a bleak future—
Crown Prince Noah, who had been silently listening, finally opened his eyes.
“There’s something missing from the report.”
