TBDNS~13

Her eyes were pleading as she looked up at him.

Christine looked away because her eyes were so pitiful.

“Just a little bit.”

“Thank you…”

Adele smiled again with a face that looked like she was about to cry. However, she sat down and couldn’t get up for a while.

“I’ll sit down for a little while and then get up. My legs are a little weak.”

In an instant, Adele’s body suddenly lifted up.

“Chris!”

“If you’re going to say it’s okay, keep your mouth shut. I’m really… going to leave.”

He lifted Adele up and threatened her with a pitiful face.

Adele laughed a little at the familiar expression she had seen all along.

“Ugh… I won’t.”

Then she hugged his thick neck tightly with both arms.

She was so scared that her arms and legs were still shaking, and her heart was pounding without stopping. However, being held in his wide arms made her feel more secure and at ease than she thought.

Thinking about it, it was the first time since her mother passed away. It was the first time she could rely on someone like this. Her heart was pounding.

Her heartbeat felt a little faster.

“Your wound is open.”

He put Adele down on the bed and started treating her hand.

The wound from when she swung the dagger last time had opened again.

“It’s not a big wound, so it’s okay.”

Christine took a moment to catch his breath as if swallowing his words, and covered herself with the blanket.

“Don’t think about anything and just take a deep breath.”

“I don’t think I can sleep.”

“Can I have some wine?”

There happened to be wine on the fireplace.

Her bedroom was as warm and cozy as the rest of the mansion. It had heavy oak furniture, embroidered white cotton bedding, and bright tapestries and dried flowers adorning the walls.

The wine on the fireplace seemed a little out of place in this room.

“If you drink it on an empty stomach, it will hurt your stomach.”

After baking pies and serving guests diligently, she actually had an empty stomach.

“Can I bring you something to eat?”

“Thank you, but I don’t think I’ll be able to swallow it…”

Then, Adele met Christine’s fierce eyes and made an awkward expression.

“Sorry. I’m being picky. ”

“I know.”

Christine turned around and left the bedroom, but Adele’s surprised voice followed her. He smiled at her pitiful voice as if to reassure her.

“The second floor doesn’t seem to be in use, so use that.”

“Chris, I told you. There’s nothing good about getting involved with me.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Don’t worry about the Princess. April will understand.”

April…

Yes, he had a Princess, right? Calling her by her name affectionately.

So there must be no other intention.

Just me.

“Just give me some time to think about it.”

“What if something like today happens again?”

Adele flinched without realizing it.

“You don’t feel so dangerous that you always carry a knife around. You don’t enjoy dangerous situations.”

“Of course not.”

After what happened, Ethan wouldn’t come back. But there was no way it wouldn’t happen again.

Just thinking about the horrible memory from earlier made Adele’s whole body freeze.

If Christine hadn’t come back then…

“But how did you come back?”

“I heard the bell.”

“It’s been a while since you left. Weren’t you far away?”

“My hearing is a bit sharp.”

“Nonsense.”

In any case, she didn’t know how lucky she was to have him on a day like today.

“First… until the house repairs are finished.”

Adele cautiously agreed.

“Of course. You won’t be able to hold him back then.”

And Christine handed her some warm milk.

“Drink it. It’ll help you sleep. It’s got sugar in it.”

Adele was a little surprised.

When she was little and couldn’t sleep, her mother used to give her warm milk with sugar in it.

“Did you know?”

“You told me. It’s an instant cure when you can’t sleep.”

Was that it? He remembered it well.

“I’ll drink it.”

Adele accepted the milk cup with both hands. Just the warmth of the water in her hands made her feel drowsy.

She smiled awkwardly when she met Christine’s eyes as she sipped the milk.

“It feels like I’ve gone back to when I was little. You should try some, Chris.”

Adele put down the milk cup and carefully held out a piece of pie.

“It won’t be as good as Mom’s, but it’ll be delicious.”

“No problem. Why did you make it for someone else?”

“You might believe it, but the truth is, I kept baking apple pies to invite you. I wanted to invite you by making a pie that tasted exactly like Mom’s.”

When Christine narrowed his eyes, she made a sharp expression.

“If you don’t want to believe it, then don’t.”

“Make me believe it.”

Adele smiled bitterly at his serious voice.

“Actually, I… I’ve never made apple pies on purpose. It makes me think of the old days too much….”

She might want to go back to those days.

It’s so unfortunate to want the impossible.

“Ah…”

Christine opened his mouth. As if asking to be fed.

“I fed you, so feed it to me.”

“I didn’t feed it to you, I guess I just threw it in.”

At that moment, he grabbed Adele’s wrist and took a big bite of the pie. Adele’s fingers ended up in his mouth as well.

“…!”

Adele was startled by the feeling of something hot licking her and pulled her hand away.

“It’s tastier than I thought.”

Christine ate the pie diligently as if he didn’t know anything.

However, Adele’s fingers felt hot as if they had been burned by his tongue.

“You’re not eating?”

“Yeah, well, eat…”

It was when Adele was sipping milk.

Suddenly, the milk cup slipped out of her hand. Christine had snatched the milk cup from her and drank it.

And on top of that, he drank the one where Adele’s lips had touched. The milk that had been on the edge of the cup disappeared between his lips.

He asked as if it was strange. As if he didn’t know anything, he was natural.

“It’s still the same. You eat with milk on the corner of your mouth.”

Adele wiped his mouth with her fingers, which still felt hot.

Naturally, as she had always done when she was young.

However, just the touch of her fingers to his lips made her heart beat faster. It seemed to be because his lips were much softer and smoother than she had thought.

Her cheeks flushed with the unknown heat, confusing her.

Why on earth am I doing this…

“I think the milk is already taking effect. I’m sleepy.”

Adele quickly pulled the blanket over her and lay down.

“Would you like me to stay with you until you fall asleep?”

“It’s okay. I think I’ll fall asleep soon.”

“Then I’ll go.”

“Yeah, thank you so much for staying with me today.”

“I’ll bring my luggage as soon as possible.”

“Yeah.”

Adele closed her eyes as if she were sleepy.

‘Is it really okay for me to stay with him?’

Could he not feel her strange feelings every time she saw him?

“Pie…”

Don’t look away from me, Adele.

His hands were gentle yet forceful, as if he were saying that.

And it felt like he would lower his head and kiss her at any moment. As if under a spell, her whole body lost strength. She felt dizzy from the unknown heat.

If he kissed her, maybe…

“It’s the taste I had before. The one you first gave me.”

While Adele looked on with a confused face, Christine turned around.

The sound of his footsteps grew distant…

Bang!

The door closed.

“Haaah…!”

Adele let out the breath she had been holding in one go and let go of the blanket she had been holding. Before she knew it, her hands were sweaty.

Now that she thought about it, the first thing she had given Christine was an apple pie.

She remembered that taste.

Thud, thud…

A heavy sound of footsteps echoed in the darkness.

Eaton, who had lost consciousness, barely opened his eyes at the sound.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

He realized that he was tied to a chair and was terrified. However, he couldn’t say anything because his mouth was gagged.

As soon as he ran away from Adele’s house, something hit the back of his neck, and he lost consciousness. And when he opened his eyes, he was tied up like this.

It was just like at Madame Hans’ party.

‘Could it be Count Weiss again?’

The only difference was that he was dragged to an unknown place.

It was pitch black everywhere, and with the broken colored glass here and there, it seemed like an abandoned religious facility.

‘Why am I here?’

Even in that time, the sound of footsteps echoed through the darkness, getting closer and closer.

Finally, long legs wearing boots were revealed in the moonlight streaming through the cracks in the broken window.

Eaton, terrified, raised his gaze without realizing it.

Count Weiss!

It was he, after all.

Christine’s hair blew silver in the wind that happened to blow.

The sight was so beautiful that he couldn’t take his eyes off it, but it was so creepy that it gave him goosebumps. The atmosphere was different from when he saw her at Adele’s house earlier.

He was beautiful, but his expression was cold and without a hint of a smile.

If there were a grim reaper, would it be like this?