Chapter 23
Nina rubbed her sleepy eyes with her small hands and looked around before asking curiously.
Something felt off—it didn’t feel like they were heading back to the original townhouse but rather returning to the hotel.
Instead of explaining, Lavian smirked and teased her.
“Too bad you’re still wearing the same clothes. Looks like we’ll have to go shopping again next time.”
“Mm, I’m fine with that.”
“With what?”
“Going out with you again. …I want to do it every day.”
Nina added this without even realizing it.
It was something she meant to keep to herself, but perhaps due to her drowsiness, it slipped out.
Lavian made a sour expression.
“Even after what happened, you still want to?”
“It wasn’t your fault, mister.”
‘The hell it wasn’t.’
Even someone like Lavian—who considered shifting blame a virtue—couldn’t feel at ease this time.
Because, truthfully, he had seriously considered abandoning this entire kidnapping scheme.
And though Nina couldn’t possibly know that, he still had a weird feeling that she somehow did—which made it all the more unsettling.
‘Is this what they call parenting neurosis or whatever?’
Swallowing that foolish thought, Lavian noticed Nina’s body go limp in his arms.
As he heard her soft, rhythmic breathing, Lavian sighed deeply.
“…This is why kids are…”
They just didn’t have any sense of danger. That was the problem with kids.
What kind of nerve did she have to fall asleep in his arms so easily?
What kind of nerve did she have to be so trusting?
As they passed a street corner near the hotel, some loud shrieking caught his attention.
It was a group of children playing at a nearby public playground, shouting and laughing among themselves.
Their soft hair shimmered red under the setting sun as they bounced on a newly installed trampoline.
Lavian stopped and glared at the scene, his face twisting into a scowl.
“What kind of irresponsible parents let their kids run wild at this hour?”
A highly ironic statement, but Lavian was not the sort of man to reflect on himself.
At any rate, it felt awkward to head straight back to the hotel, so he naturally wandered into the playground.
“Mm…”
As he gently sat on a bench, the girl in his arms stirred slightly—then flopped back down.
“Sleeping like a rock.”
Despite all the noise around them, she slept peacefully. It was almost impressive.
Lavian clicked his tongue and tried to support Nina’s head with his palm—only to find himself fiddling with her tiny hand moments later.
‘What the hell was that earlier anyway?’
Nina’s small hand was still sticky from the cotton candy, but that wasn’t the point.
As long as there was no wound on her, just like in that strange hallucination or whatever that had been…
“Oh, here they come.”
“Hey! You child-abandoning criminal!”
“…Shit—”
The kidnapper (not an abandoner, mind you) barely swallowed the rest of the curse as two of Loas’ most renowned pretty boys approached him.
Normally, such a scene would’ve sent hearts fluttering all around, but this was just a playground.
So the only thing raining down on Merci and Dite—who had appeared together—was Lavian’s cold, dead glare.
“Why are you two together? And why are you still wearing that outfit?”
“Don’t change the subject, you bastard! Where the hell did you take the young lady— Wait. Hold on. What the hell did you do to her?!”
Seeing Nina asleep in Lavian’s arms, Dite lost what little composure he had left and started flailing in rage.
“Hehehe!”
“Look at that weird guy!”
The kids on the trampoline pointed and giggled even harder at Dite’s antics.
It was chaos—pure and absolute.
Lavian shook his head slowly.
“No wonder city security’s in the toilet if that’s how the captain of the guard acts.”
“You damn scoundrel… That’s rich coming from you.”
“What’s so wrong about it?”
“What did you feed her?! Spit it out now! I swear on my grandfather’s name I’ll arrest you—”
“Cotton candy.”
“What…?”
“I gave her cotton candy. What, is that illegal?”
“….”
While Dite was left stammering in confusion, Merci chimed in with a chuckle.
“So all you got her from your little shopping trip was cotton candy?”
His tone was as gentle as ever, but to Lavian, it sounded infuriatingly smug.
“You got a problem with that?”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“We got more than that, okay? She wasn’t feeling well. What else was I supposed to do?”
Clearly, Nina wasn’t the one in poor condition—Lavian was. But Merci wisely chose not to point that out.
“I see. Looks like you two have gotten pretty close.”
“Keep talking nonsense and see what happens…”
“Why? You look good together. But hey, what’s that sparkly stuff on your sleeve and shoulder?”
Merci tilted his head and pointed at Lavian’s jacket.
Lavian growled after a long pause.
“Sugar.”
“Huh?”
“From the cotton candy, idiot. God, you’re hopeless.”
“Ah.”
Merci just nodded contentedly, unfazed by the insult.
Meanwhile, Dite—finally regaining his senses—looked deeply disturbed.
“Hearing you talk about cotton candy gives me chills, Lavian.”
“The only chill here is your tight-ass outfit, moron.”
“Shut up, you country bumpkin! Do you really think you can win Nina over with some cheap street snacks?!”
Instead of answering, Lavian gently cupped Nina’s head as it lolled to the side.
Complete disregard.
After a moment, Dite changed the subject.
“By the way, aren’t you planning to stay somewhere else for a while? Then what about my townhouse—”
“Who said that?”
“He did.”
Dite pointed at Merci.
Merci let out a small sigh.
“I mean, it can’t be helped. A sleazy party house isn’t exactly good for a child’s mental health.”
Neither the original owner (Dite) nor the current one (Lavian) could protest that.
Because it was completely true.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, you party freak.”
“Speak for yourself. What kind of guard captain slacks off all day?”
“Slack off?! I’m here to rescue an innocent little lady from a scumbag like you, thank you very much. Isn’t that right, Merci? Don’t you think she’s better off—”
Merci ignored the nonsense and changed the subject.
“Anyway, boss, since you’re back early, I think you should check on the casino.”
“Why?”
“Mira went there, but it looks like something went wrong.”
“What, did she beat someone up again?”
“I’m not really sure.”
Why was it that Lavian didn’t have a single reliable person around him?
He sighed as he looked down.
More precisely, he looked at Nina’s head, still smelling sweetly of cotton candy.
To be honest, this whole situation was pretty uncomfortable for him.
She wasn’t heavy, but he was so tense about possibly waking her that his arm was going numb. Her curly hair kept tickling his neck, and her soft breathing was constant.
Even so, Lavian hesitated.
For some reason, he didn’t want to get up.
‘What the hell am I doing…?’
At that moment, while Lavian was lost in this unfamiliar dilemma, Merci reached out his arm gently.
“Go on. I’ll take good care of her.”
“…”
Lavian glared at Merci’s pretty face like he wanted to chew him out.
He didn’t like it, but there was no other choice.
“You’re coming too.”
In the end, Lavian handed Nina over to Merci, then stood and grabbed Dite by the back of his neck.
Dite protested wildly.
“Why me?! I want to stay and play with Nina too—!”
“Shut up and do your job, Captain of the Guard.”
“Have a good trip. Bring back candy.”
With Merci’s warm send-off, the continent’s most notorious gang boss and worst-dressed guard captain disappeared into the burning sunset.
