I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword

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Chapter 233

I couldn’t remember what state of mind I was in as I left the balcony and returned to my lodgings. All I could think of was how everyone I passed on the way flinched at my expression and hurried away.

“Crazy bastard…”

Thud.

I muttered that phrase again, as if I had said it over a hundred times by now, while plopping down on the bed. Was my mind also transported along with Zigmund’s teleportation? It was difficult to regain my composure.

I wasn’t one to place much meaning on physical contact. The people around me were all rather casual with it— even the stoic Reiner would typically plant kisses on hands without a second thought; it seemed to be in his nature to be so unbothered.

So, had it been someone else, I would have still been flustered, but not to this extent.

But Zigmund’s kiss felt like— ah, it was as though my soul was being drawn out. Of course, it would be more fitting to call it a “lip assault” rather than a “kiss,” but regardless, it was something I had never dreamed of him doing.

He had been smiling with a blood-stained face under the gentle moonlight, as if to say…

“Get a grip.”

Whack.

I smacked my right cheek with my fist. The dull pain hit me like a blunt object, and the scene replaying in my mind was forcibly halted.

“Damn it, feeling like this is too humiliating…!”

I clutched my head.

If anyone else had done something like that, I might have momentarily wondered if they had feelings for me, but with Zigmund, there was no question. I recalled those violet eyes, wide open and fixed on me as our lips touched.

What lay within them was certainly not love; it was a deep madness that rendered the word ‘love’ superficial. A fixation that would drive him to embed himself in my very brain.

There’s an old saying that tigers leave their skins and people leave their names behind— it reflected the human instinct to want to be remembered.

Zigmund acted as if I was the only one who would remember him. Even if he died right now, many would surely remember him. This attitude confused me.

“I must be acting just as that bastard intended.”

I was dutifully feeling bewildered, just as Zigmund wanted. The realization filled me with such frustration that I wanted to jump out the window.

I wanted to hit something, but knowing I’d just end up looking through the walls of the next room, I clenched my knees and swallowed my rage instead.

Knock, knock.

I heard a knock accompanied by a presence from the window.

A knock in the middle of the night? My room was quite high up, suitable for starting off a ghost story, but luckily, the owner of that presence was someone I was quite familiar with.

Swish.

I walked over to the window and pulled the curtains back.

“Open up.”

There he was, Leo, hanging upside down with a smirk, writing something in neat script on a piece of paper made from his breath.

Looking at his face calmed my chaotic heart a bit. I had thought he would be nothing but a troublesome brat in his younger years— though he was still incredibly bratty now— now, however, he was bringing me some healing, which felt rather surreal.

I smiled and gladly opened the window for him.

Thump.

Leo spun around and landed deftly. His pure white hair lightly wafted in the air.

“Well, don’t you have anything to say to me, Miss?”

He stepped closer, leaning forward with a twinkle in his leaf-green eyes.

I thought he looked happy hanging there like a child, but up close, I noticed a slight flush on his cheeks.

“Um… you look absolutely stunning today.”

“I’ve always been stunning. And.”

“Did you happen to see that I broke the sink while washing my face last night? Sorry.”

“I don’t mind if you set mines in the bathroom and tap dance on top, as long as you don’t get hurt. But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

It seemed he was looking for a specific answer, but honestly, my head wasn’t working well. When I glanced at him for hints, Leo, who had chuckled lightly, brushed his bangs aside.

“How did I end up entangled with such an indifferent woman…”

There was a tone of lamentation in his voice. I frowned.

“There shouldn’t be any other mistakes…”

“You seem to have forgotten the most important thing.”

He’s holding my cheeks and stretching my face, speaking in an exaggeratedly sweet tone, as if trying to persuade a child. Perhaps I let out a hollow laugh at his insincere touch, which made his eyes narrow slightly.

“You forgot me. Me.”

With that single remark, the forgotten conversation with him flashed quickly in my mind. I slightly parted my lips.

‘He said he would dance with me.’

I had completely forgotten about that unforgettable brat’s insistence; the intensity of it was overwhelming. Leo, with a sulking expression, painfully squeezed my cheeks.

“You had a chance, and then you vanished, leaving only the scent of others.”

He slowly caressed my lower lip with his finger—the injury from Zigmund’s kiss still fresh there. After staring intently at the blood on his pristine fingertips, Leo smiled.

“Even bit by a stray dog, huh?”

I squirmed as his gentle touch on the wound made me cringe. I pressed my forehead and groaned.

“Um… sorry. I was just playing with a stray dog.”

“Oh, so you were busy with a stray dog?”

“…It turned out that way.”

I couldn’t just say I was assaulted by a count while trying to meet a spy; it would warrant an absurd excuse. Even I found it ridiculous, so I averted my gaze from Leo’s fierce stare, which seemed to imply disbelief.

“Was that dog a monster Debra? Or perhaps Cerberus? Wow. I never thought there was a dog in the world fast enough for you to dodge. Why didn’t you leash it and bring it home? You could raise it as a guard dog. Then again, you wouldn’t need a dog that bites its owner.”

Leo took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped my lips rigorously. His persistence was quite annoying. After a deep sigh, he stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket.

“Shushu.”

In a low voice, Leo murmured my name and leaned his face against my shoulder.

“I’m okay being your tenth or hundredth, but there’s no need to show that to me.”

Before his shoulder concealed them, I caught a glimpse of the explosive fury dancing in his eyes.

“…Are you upset?”

After hesitating slightly, I grabbed Leo’s cheeks and lifted his face. His expression, now devoid of any facade, momentarily seemed bewildered as our eyes met— before he rubbed his soft white hair against my forehead like a puppy.

“Yeah. I’m upset, sis.”

‘He’s really good at using me.’

Watching him use affectionate terms as he pleased struck me as hilarious. I recognized that even dogs would get the joke, but I still couldn’t bring myself to hate him.

“So, shall we dance now?”

I guided Leo to the window.

It was a late night when the banquet had likely ended. Though my room was quite spacious, it still felt cramped compared to the ballroom.

The gentle moonlight served as our illumination instead of splendid chandeliers, and Leo had changed into a light dress shirt.

“It may not be extravagant and just the two of us, but if that’s alright with you…”

I smiled and extended my hand to Leo.

“Shall we dance a tune, Alexander Atara?”

With Leo by my side, the clandestine dance beneath the moonlight didn’t seem so bad after all.

His fluorescent leaf-green eyes glinted at me from the darkness, filled with a strange energy and joy, reminiscent of a boy in a wonderland.

“…I thought I was the greedy one, but now I see it’s you. How much more must you consume me before you’re satisfied?”

The grip of his hand was strong. He pulled me in effortlessly.

“You lead kindly. It’s my first time.”

With a mischievous grin, Leo placed a hand on my shoulder. I chuckled softly and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Is it alright to make my first dance so insignificant? There’s no sweet waltz after all.”

“What’s insignificant? You’re here.”

His voice overflowed with joy.

“It’s fine. Anywhere with you is a dance hall. Your breath will suffice for the rhythm. As long as you’re there, it doesn’t matter where we end up.”

He spoke those earnest, romantic words with remarkable simplicity. Mischievously, I flicked my tongue at the sweetness, softly grasping just above his shoulder blades.

“Just follow my lead. I’ll make sure your first dance is unforgettable.”

The best I could offer him was to successfully finish a quaint dance beneath the moonlight.

I started to mentally replay the waltz as I slowly stepped into the rhythm.

“Oh, you’re doing well.”

“I learned.”

It was amusing how despite starting slow to accommodate his inexperience, Leo appeared remarkably skilled. When I expressed my admiration, his eyes twinkled mischievously.

“What? You’re falling for me because I’m handsome?”

Heh,

I nodded absentmindedly.

Stumble. In that moment, Leo’s step faltered, and he almost lost his balance.

“Whoa, hey!”

I hurriedly wrapped my arms around his waist. While we barely avoided tumbling down in a heap, it ended up as a rather intimate embrace.

“Just as I complimented you, you mess up? I can’t even compliment you now.”

I playfully scolded him and patted his shoulder again.

“It’s fine. It’s your first time; mistakes can happen.”

Leo appeared stiff, perhaps embarrassed. After a brief silence, he slowly lifted his gaze.

“What would make you fall for me even more?”

“Um?”

“Would you fall for me if I danced well? And also, if I dramatically purged the aristocrats in front of you?”

“What? You… don’t tell me you’re planning to act like a tyrant and purge them whenever you get the chance?”

I was genuinely worried about Leo.

While I was concerned about those who could be harmed because of him, even more, I worried that he might become completely numb to taking lives, fearing that all the people around him would abandon him and leave him in isolation.

“That’s not what’s important right now! What do you think would make me fall for you?”

Leo, who had completely stopped dancing now, grabbed my shoulders and leaned in close.

His already seductive demeanor was intensified by the warmth of his flushed skin, and the citrus scent wafted from him.

I flinched slightly but tried to sound as casual as possible when I answered.

“Um… if you were a bit happier.”

“….Happier?”

Leo blinked his eyes in surprise. I lifted my gaze to the statue of Leisha visible outside the window.

“Yeah. When you can stand tall as yourself and no longer have to suffer through nightmares.”

I envisioned Leo’s face, radiating a sincere smile.

Truthfully, I couldn’t imagine it well. Swallowing the bitter saliva in my mouth, I turned my gaze back to him and smiled gently.

“Maybe then I would really fall for you. A person who can genuinely smile has their own charm, after all.”

I whispered these teasing words. After a moment of silence, Leo’s eyes widened.

“I can only be happy because of you, so it seems marriage is inevitable.”

Marriage? Remembering our earlier conversation made me chuckle lightly. Then, I pressed my finger against his forehead.

“Come back when you grow up a bit more.”

It was a beautiful night.