Chapter – 72
Kyle locked the door firmly as soon as Jason entered his office. Jason, pretending to tremble, asked:
“Don’t tell me you’re going to kill me?”
“Depends.”
“Wow, I got the same answer from Priestess Diana earlier. I guess blood is thicker than water?”
Although the answers were the same, the nuance was completely opposite. Jason said it because he didn’t want to kill Dee, while Kyle said it because he wanted to kill him but the situation wasn’t favorable.
Kyle walked silently to his desk. Suddenly, he spun around and drew his sword, thrusting it quickly toward Jason’s neck.
“Ahh!”
Jason barely dodged and fell to the floor. Kyle’s sword slammed into the wall, embedding itself deep.
Jason’s face went pale as he shouted:
“What are you doing?! I could’ve really died!”
Kyle silently pulled his sword and aimed it at Jason’s head. Again, Jason narrowly dodged, running behind Kyle and drawing his own sword.
“Kyle! Let’s talk, okay?”
“Xian, huh. So it is.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“If it were Jason, you’d be dead by now… Well, maybe not twice, since you had a chance to dodge the first time.”
Jason licked his dry lips, realizing that Kyle had seriously attacked him. Did he mean to kill if Jason failed to dodge?
Kyle was usually cold, but he wasn’t the kind to attack suddenly like this. There were only two possibilities:
-
He wanted to confirm whether Jason really was Xian.
-
He was angry because someone touched the priestess.
Jason had no time to think about which it was. Kyle continued:
“If you don’t dodge, you die. If you do, then you must be Xian.”
As he finished speaking, Kyle’s sword thrust toward Jason’s chest. Jason barely blocked it with his own sword, frowning.
“Not joking, huh?”
“You know I rarely joke.”
The clanging sound echoed so loudly that the commotion outside increased. Kyle pressed down on Jason with his sword, threatening him.
“Stop acting like a child, Xian.”
“Does Priestess Diana know how dangerous you are? She’s secretly scared, right? From your expression, she’d probably cry.”
Kyle flinched at Jason’s words. Taking advantage of the moment, Jason pushed Kyle back. When they opened the door, they found their stunned subordinates outside. Only then did Kyle sheath his sword.
Jason, relieved, rubbed his stiff shoulders and said to Kyle:
“I just trained really hard in the South, so I’m a bit better.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Some things can’t be fixed with training.”
Jason then looked at Weiss, the only ally outside, and teased:
“Weiss, did you hear what he said? So heartless, right?”
“Stop causing trouble. Let’s go to the Imperial Palace. His Majesty is calling.”
Next to Weiss, Zeder looked frightened at the chaos inside. Kyle gestured for him to come in.
Zeder, shocked by the state of the office, handed Kyle the Emperor’s letter:
“His Majesty requests your presence at the Imperial Palace.”
“…Damn.”
Jason straightened his crumpled clothes and tousled hair, speaking with a grin:
“Now the time has come. To see if it’s you or me.”
“….”
“I’d like to play with you more, but His Majesty calls. See you at the palace, cousin.”
Jason smiled and left. Only after seeing the carriage leave through the window did Kyle exhale in relief.
Dee took a bite of the pie filled with rich cream and pumpkin and frowned.
“That Jason… such a heartless guy. How could he try to beat this delicious pie?”
Though the shape was messy from the earlier chaos, the taste was incredible. Amila silently kept eating, enjoying it.
“Amila, what do you think Kyle is doing with Jason?” Dee asked.
“He’d kill him.”
“Eh? Kyle seems more rational than that.”
Dee chewed and spoke thoughtfully.
“Even if he looks scary, he seems kind at heart, doesn’t he?”
“Who?”
“Kyle.”
“Oh, I see. So ‘kind at heart’ can mean different things.”
Amila learned something new about humans and nodded.
Late at night, Dee carried a slice of pumpkin pie to Kyle’s office.
Despite the late hour, his office light was still on. Dee knocked and peeked in.
“Kyle, working?”
Kyle looked up. Dee offered the plate:
“Would you like some? Special pumpkin pie from the Enfer family.”
He stared silently at Dee. She entered cautiously, and Dee was startled to see the office in chaos.
“Why is it like this?”
The office was wrecked; swords had gouged the walls. Zeder had been warned not to go near the walls as they were unstable.
Kyle tapped the desk:
“Come here.”
Dee climbed onto the desk, grumbling:
“Did Jason do this?”
“No.”
“You did? You even put swords in someone else’s temple! Are you mad at me?”
“This is my office.”
“You destroyed my temple today too, you know?”
“…True.”
“Why suddenly like this?”
Dee asked, and Kyle, looking down at her, said:
“I should have killed him.”
“Huh?”
“Xian… I should have just killed him earlier.”
Dee froze, murmuring:
“You just told Amila I’m rational. Save my dignity.”
“You threatened me.”
“I’m used to threats like this.”
“….”
“What if you got hurt?”
Kyle’s expression hardened. Dee flinched but replied:
“Don’t make scary faces. You’re scary enough already.”
“….”
“Well, I like it. You value this priestess, don’t you? Without me, she’d be doomed. Right? You feel my importance?”
Dee jokingly teased, and Kyle slowly relaxed.
The next morning, Kyle stayed in bed for a while after waking. He felt sore and reluctant to prepare for the trip to the palace. He even considered faking illness.
“Did I overdo it…”
As he lay there, Dee knocked:
“Kyle, can I come in?”
Kyle propped himself up:
“Yeah, come in.”
Dee came in holding something shining. Kyle asked curiously:
“What’s that?”
“I heard your digestion isn’t good. But you don’t take medicine, right?”
“You drink alcohol but won’t take medicine… So let me take some blood.”
“…Blood?”
“Give me your hand.”
Dee lifted thread and needle as usual for bloodletting. Kyle’s gaze wavered.
What is she doing? Is she trying to stab me? Why?
Trying to stay calm, he negotiated:
“Diana… I don’t know what I did wrong, but…”
“Trust me. It’s for your sake.”
As Dee reached for his hand, Kyle held her wrist to stop her.
“Wait… you’re going to stab me with a needle?”
“Yes. Sterilized. Fully prepared.”
Kyle had never felt so scared of her. Her gleaming eyes with the needle made him certain: she was cute but could kill. He wondered if refusing would hurt her feelings.
“I destroyed the west temple wall. That’s my fault.”
“It’s okay. I came to save you.”
“Or why the needle…”
Kyle was too confused. Dee eventually gave up on bloodletting, placing the needle and thread on the side table, and instead rubbed his back.
“Few drops of blood and you’d feel better,” she muttered.
“….”
Kyle thought it would have been less painful to just be pricked by the needle. Her touch made him tense like stone.
Dee touched his arm and asked:
“How’s it? Less painful?”
He couldn’t even remember if it hurt. Dee, worried, said:
“You’re nervous. Especially with the Enfer family uncomfortable and Jason showing up yesterday.”
Kyle, exhausted, flopped back on the bed, relieved she wasn’t in danger.
While Dee rubbed his stomach again, he changed the subject:
“By the way… you pretended to come from the Fairy Realm, right?”
“Pretend? It’s real.”
Dee scolded him lightly, tapping her shoulder:
“Look at my back. See wings? Good people can see them.”
“…I can see them.”
“Oh, so you’re not a good person… huh?”
Dee was stunned, and Kyle hastily clarified:
“Uh? Pain made me blurt nonsense. You like wings, I said something silly.”
Kyle thought his condition must be serious and got to the main point:
“Anyway, have you thought more about your parents? Whether they’re alive?”
Dee answered casually:
“My grandmother read my fortune. She said my parents live in another world. She’s a fraud, but sometimes she’s surprisingly accurate. Living in another world… must mean they’re dead.”
