🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 26
“I first saw him when I was eight. At first, I hadn’t heard anything about the curse, so whenever he showed that madness, it was just terrifying.”
“When I approached him to be friends, he kept kicking me! Haha! Even now, thinking about it, my shins still hurt.”
Black, black—how much should one indulge a man pretending to cry?
Kali grumbled that it was disgusting and that he shouldn’t act it out. He laughed again, cheerfully.
“Archduke Spencer never let any talk of the curse escape. He was so thorough that no one knew, not even the emperor.”
“I kept trying to be friends, and one day, Leonhardt seemed annoyed. He got angry. He said that if he couldn’t control himself because of the curse, he could lose his reason and become a living embodiment of slaughter.”
“……That’s what he said. So, what did you do?”
Now, he placed Kali on his lap, touching her freely or just letting his hand rest there.
It felt slightly different from when Leonhardt touched her. If Leonhardt’s intentions were opaque, Kendrick’s were far too clear.
This man was just touching her because he thought she was cute. It was almost better when intentions were obvious.
‘Leon is… opaque.’
Being around someone like that was sometimes unsettling and easy to misinterpret. Their intentions often didn’t match what she thought.
“Haha! I promised back then that I’d avoid you as much as possible and not kill you.”
“Really…….”
“That’s quite a decent thing to say, right?”
“Not bad at all.”
“So nowadays, I feel at ease when I see Leonhardt.”
Kendrick briefly lifted his head, lost in thought, before bowing it again.
“So I came because I was curious about Your Highness.”
“Secretly.”
“Haha! Secretly.”
He might seem frivolous, but perhaps he’s serious inside. Kali thought it over carefully and reached a conclusion.
“I’m Kali. Kali Herace. I don’t think I formally introduced myself.”
“I see. That’s a pretty name.”
“You may call me by it.”
“How could I ever casually call the Archduchess by her name?”
It was obvious at a glance that he was just teasing. In truth, he wanted to call her by her name but was holding back.
Kali shrugged helplessly.
“If you don’t want to call me that, then don’t.”
“Then, Kali.”
“Well, do as you please. You clearly wanted to anyway.”
“Haha! Archduchess—or rather, Kali. May I ask a favor?”
“A favor? What is it?”
‘I have a generous heart, so I’ll grant a favor.’ Kali looked up at Kendrick, daring him to ask.
He hesitated for a moment, then bowed politely toward her.
“Please, stay by my close friend’s side for a long time.”
Unexpected words reached her. Kali held her breath for a moment.
She tried to answer but no sound came out. She fidgeted a few times and closed her mouth.
‘I already…’
She had said she would leave once she became human, and Leonhardt had agreed.
But I…
“I….”
Pushing through the confusion in her mind, she tried to speak. At that moment, the door suddenly burst open.
“Haha! You’re, you’re already here?”
Turning toward the door, Leonhardt appeared, grinning widely.
The moment he entered, he grabbed Kendrick by the collar.
“I told you not to come to my mansion for a while.”
“Haha! Right, right…….”
“Then how do you explain being here?”
With his right hand he held Kendrick, with his left, Kali. The suddenness left her unable to react.
“If I say I came to see Kali, I’m dead.”
“Hey, friend. You see…”
Kendrick felt a cold sweat trickle down his back.
Kali could only watch as a bystander, unable to intervene.
‘He said he came secretly, but it ends up like this.’
Meanwhile, Leonhardt applied different strengths to each hand. The hand holding Kali had no force at all, while the hand gripping Kendrick was firm.
“You didn’t show up much, so I came because I was curious.”
“What were you so curious about, hmm?”
“Oh, sorry, my bad!”
She quietly listened to their trivial conversation and interjected.
“Um……”
Simultaneously, both pairs of eyes turned toward her.
“Can I leave now?”
That was the gist. They seemed like close friends, so she could leave them to talk while she went.
But Kali couldn’t escape Leonhardt’s grip. The more she struggled, the tighter he held her.
“No, Kali. We promised not to be apart even for a moment.”
“This is just leaving for a moment……”
“We promised to stay together except when using the bathroom.”
The soft yet firm tone made it clear he would not yield.
“There, good girl.”
His coaxing tone lightly touched Kali’s heart. Unlike Kendrick’s hands, she couldn’t tell what Leonhardt’s touches meant.
Slightly persistent, slightly possessive… something like that.
“Leonhardt.”
Kendrick, who had been listening to their conversation, quietly spoke.
“May I stay over just tonight? Didn’t we often sleep together before I became an adult?”
“That was then. Are you still living in childhood, Count?”
That was an obvious refusal. Yet Kendrick had been Leonhardt’s friend for twenty years. He smiled, knowing Leonhardt would eventually allow it.
“Then, let’s have a fine drink tonight!”
They had insisted on going to their rooms first, but were dragged along.
Kali sat alone at a table, holding a marshmallow.
“Haha! It’s fortunate that monsters aren’t rampaging these days.”
“Yes, indeed. Last time it seemed they were attacking severely! But… the hunt was successful.”
They were enjoying a lavish dinner with the knights.
Leonhardt sat at the head of the table, sipping his drink. Kali set her marshmallow down nearby, holding it with one arm so it wouldn’t roll off.
“Um, Leon.”
“Hm? What is it?”
The alcohol seemed to relax him, giving a subtly charming aura. She stared at him absentmindedly.
‘I might fall for him at this rate.’
Their gazes locked in midair.
“Kali.”
His pleasing mid-low voice enveloped her, making her feel light-headed.
“You drooled.”
“……Huh? Huh?”
She wiped her chin with the back of her hand, but nothing was there. Only then did she realize it was Leonhardt teasing her.
‘Frustrating…! How long will I keep falling for his tricks?’
Kali ate the marshmallow irritably, roughly, like tearing into meat.
“Haha. Really, you never get tired of being fooled.”
He tickled her chin with his free hand. She swallowed the marshmallow in her mouth.
“W-what is this?”
“I wanted to see only you.”
“……See what?”
“Your cute expressions are only for me.”
Kali’s eyes widened.
Was he serious, or just teasing under the influence of alcohol?
Either way, it was infuriatingly charming.
“This won’t do.”
Finishing his drink, he set the glass down.
“I won’t let you wander around alone.”
“Um… I’m not an object.”
“My cute little squirrel.”
He lowered his hand that had been above her head. The marshmallow rolled away.
Biting his fingertip, she watched him gently place the glass on the table.
“Pretending to be stubborn so I hurry you along?”
“How else could that be interpreted?”
“As it is. Now, let’s go.”
Leonhardt lifted Kali onto his shoulder and stood. Their gazes followed him.
“I’ll go inside now. Enjoy yourselves appropriately.”
Kendrick tried to stop him, but Leonhardt exited first.
Kendrick clearly saw a side of his friend he had never seen—pleasure, satisfaction, and…
‘That’s… fulfillment.’
After losing his mother, Leonhardt had always carried a hole in his heart. Now, he finally seemed to fill it.
‘All this for just a little squirrel…?’
Kendrick leaned his arm on the table, tapping it thoughtfully.
‘Is this a good change? Or poison?’
How will this story end for the two of them?
Kali always seemed to wake up on the left side of the bed, yet she always found herself near Leonhardt’s chest on the right by morning.
It was clear someone had moved her.
Previously, she woke to the morning sun; now, she woke to a man’s bare chest.
‘What grudge could he possibly have against me…?’
Today too, her morning began on his chest. She had become accustomed to it—or rather, had to become accustomed to it to survive.
She tried to rise and move away. Somehow, Leonhardt’s hand snaked toward her.
“Eek!”
“Kali… where are you going…?”
His half-asleep, hoarse voice sounded like a mumble. She wiggled and pulled her head free.
Leonhardt still had his eyes closed. It was hard to tell if he was awake.
Then, someone knocked on the bedroom door. She first thought it was Levi.
“Good morning.”
But it wasn’t Levi. The voice was slightly lower, with a playful tone.
It was Kendrick.
‘Why is he here so early in the morning…?’
