THGA 05

Chapter 5

The air grew taut. It felt as though my heart had dropped straight to the pit of my stomach. Because of the tension, I swallowed hard, my throat dry. Sren stepped closer to me and spoke.

“Rachel. You’re still terrible at lying.”
“……I…”
“Well, that part of you is kind of cute.”
“……”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice just because you tried to hide it?”

Damn it! The moment I saw his red eyes flash with killing intent, every hair on my body stood on end.

Then, with a smooth smile, Sren skillfully flicked the sword in his hand to the side. The blade left his grasp and, without the slightest deviation, slammed straight into the very center of the wardrobe where Adenhar was hiding—thunk.

Having witnessed everything, I stood there in shock, clapping both hands over my mouth.

I’m doomed!

The fact that Adenhar hadn’t made a single sound was almost impressive.

So… was Sren about to slit Adenhar’s throat right in front of me? And then kill me too?

My thoughts spiraled into chaos. But the one idea that dominated my mind was this: I didn’t want to die by his hand anymore. Not again. I couldn’t bear to witness his madness any longer.

Right. If that was the case, then I might as well…!

I immediately ran to the window.

“Rachel!”

Sren’s desperate voice rang out behind me. Ignoring it, I leapt straight out the window without hesitation.

Damn it! Another precious life, wasted again. Still, it was better than meeting a cruel death. If I was going to die anyway…

Honestly, I think my mind was half gone at that point. But if anyone were in my position, they’d understand. There are things more terrifying than death—fear itself. Endless fear, and the way its pain can drive a person mad.

My vision wavered, and I saw the ground rushing up at me. I was probably dead. Thinking that, I let my consciousness slip away.

A cold sensation touched my forehead. Shivering from the chill, my body trembled.

“Mm…”

It was freezing, but perhaps because heat had pooled in my face, the coolness on my forehead didn’t feel entirely unpleasant.

My body hurt terribly. It felt like needles were stabbing me all over, and my head was burning and throbbing so badly I thought I might vomit. Gasping in pain, I breathed raggedly.

“Hah… hah…”

At that moment, a warm presence wrapped around me.

“It’s okay. I’m right here.”

The voice was incredibly gentle, almost angelic. It made me feel like I could breathe again. Not wanting to let go of that warmth, I clung to it with my eyes still closed.

A doll? But then why did it feel so solid, like a real person?

As I fumbled around like that, a low, husky voice murmured near my ear.

“Rachel. Just how far are you planning to touch?”

Huh? This voice sounded really familiar.

“Hoo… Going any further wouldn’t be so bad, but…”

His breath wavered dangerously. The seductive whisper made my cheeks burn on its own.

“I don’t have a habit of touching patients, you know. It’s less fun to torment them.”
“…Ah!”

That was when I snapped my eyes open. Seeing Sren in front of me, his ears red and his breathing rough, I couldn’t stop myself from screaming.

“Kyaaah! Pervert!”

Using all my strength, I shoved him and pounded his chest. But Sren, biting his lip, easily restrained both my hands and even laced his fingers through mine so I couldn’t escape. His large hand enveloped my smaller one, leaving me completely immobilized. Blushing furiously, I shouted.

“W-What are you doing?!”
“You’re the one who started it. It’s unfair to ask me that now.”
“…Ugh!”
“Do you have any idea how shocked I was because of you…?”

Sren looked genuinely angry. Unlike usual, I didn’t sense any killing intent. For one thing, his eyes were pink—he really did seem worried about me.

Though, whether the word worried even suited Sren was another matter.

“L-Let go…”
“No.”
“My hand hurts…”
“Deal with it. It probably hurts less than what I felt.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything after that. A heavy silence spread between us.

On top of that, I was pinned beneath him, which made the situation feel even stranger. The way he looked down at me was dangerous—dangerous in a different sense than when he held a blade.

Then he lowered his head. Thinking he was about to kiss me, I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut. But what touched me wasn’t his lips—it was his forehead. Startled, I opened my eyes again, and he murmured in relief.

“Thank goodness. Your fever seems to have gone down.”

Ah—he was just checking my temperature? Feeling oddly conflicted, I complained.

“If you’re done checking, could you move away now?”

Maybe because my condition was so bad, I spoke without fear. I expected him to retort, but instead, Sren simply stared at me, maintaining that dizzyingly close distance where only our noses touched. After a brief pause, he parted his lips and asked,

“Were you really planning to die?”
“Huh?”
“I mean—were you going to die right in front of me?”

That was it. I was terrified of seeing another bad ending. Without thinking, the answer slipped out.

“If I hadn’t tried to die… you would’ve killed me anyway.”
“…!”

I immediately regretted it. What would Sren think if I said something like that? I might have upset him for no reason.

Anxious, I waited for his response, afraid of what he might say.

Then, after a moment of silence, he let out a soft chuckle and tilted his head as if confused.

“That’s strange. Why would you think that?”
“…!”

His gaze dimmed with hurt. As his eye color gradually darkened and turned red, I felt an urge to smack my own mouth for speaking so recklessly.

“I love you this much…”
“…S-Sren.”
“Why don’t you understand how I feel?”
“That’s not it—!”
“Ah. Was I just bad at expressing myself?”

This was bad. Sren wasn’t listening to me at all.

The killing intent directed at me slowly intensified. In my head, I was already convinced I was done for. But strangely, my body moved before my thoughts. Somehow, I felt like I had to fix this.

“W-Wait! Sren! Calm down.”

He answered with a gentle smile completely devoid of emotion.

“Calm down? Rachel. I’m not angry at all.”

Liar. Your eyes are red. You’re about to kill me!

Sure enough, he tightened his grip on my hands and murmured coldly, a chilling smile on his face.

“Rachel. Stop. Before I shut that mouth of yours myself.”
“…!”

Now, even his smile terrified me. He spoke as if passing a death sentence.

“I’ll teach you, slowly, from now on—just how much I love you.”

In the blink of an eye, his lips came down on mine. Warmth drifted across my lips. Frozen stiff, I couldn’t move at all. Sometimes teasing, sometimes deep, he sucked at my lips relentlessly.

What…? He wasn’t trying to kill me?

Until now, whenever Sren felt distrust, he always killed me. I thought this time would be no different. But instead of death, he was stealing my lips—and the confusion left me reeling.

Between the feverish heat and the steadily rising atmosphere, my mind grew hazy. Meanwhile, Sren remained calm and skilled, devouring my lips at his leisure. My breathing grew unsteady, my body slackened completely.

This is dangerous.

Words like obsession, confinement, ruin, hardcore flashed through my mind like warnings. But escaping was impossible with the strength he used to restrain me.

“Hh…”

When I finally gasped, having missed my chance to breathe, Sren pulled his lips away. The way he looked down at me was ferocious, like a beast staring at delicious prey. As I nervously swallowed, he gave a mischievous snort of laughter.

“You don’t even know how to breathe…”
“…!”
“Looks like it’ll take quite some effort to tame you.”

W-What did you say?!

My face flushed instantly. As if he had no intention of giving me any rest, he pressed in again—kissing me, trailing down to my jaw, leaving intimate marks without missing a single spot. Before I knew it, his lips had reached my neck.

When his hot breath brushed against my skin, my body trembled instinctively, remembering the time he’d bitten my neck before. Seeing that, he whispered soothingly, almost regretfully.

“Shh. Relax. I won’t hurt you.”