PVMC 23

Chapter 23

‘…Is he really just born that way?’

How does he just—do that kind of flirting so naturally?

I took a seat a little away from the crowd and gently fiddled with the hairpin Matthias had put on me.

‘I wanted to give you something.’

…What do I do?

‘He was seriously an angel.’

How could someone like that possibly be a bad guy…?

His heart was far too kind.

Part of me found it admirable how much he wanted to do something for me, and another part of me felt grateful for it too….

And then, on the other hand—

‘As expected.’

I was once again reminded of how weak I am to the “honey trap.”

‘I need to be careful.’

With both his looks and his personality being dangerously perfect, I might’ve almost gobbled up that innocent guy in one bite.

Just imagining it made my heart pound wildly, so I hurriedly took a deep breath and tried to calm my flushed face.

At that moment, Matthias, who had been quietly taking in the people and the lights for a while, murmured,

“I’ve never seen this before.”

“Seen what?”

“Something like this.”

I followed his gaze and saw people smiling brightly. Matthias, unable to take his eyes off the scene, blinked.

“It’s fascinating.”

Clear awe flowed from his voice, as if he were encountering an entirely new world. He was like a child who had gone out for the first time in his life.

‘Well, it’s not like he’s been able to come out before.’

I’d heard that he grew up without even seeing a blue sky properly, without being treated like a human being at all.

Apparently, he’d lived receiving treatment worse than that of an animal.

Because of that, even readers who’d followed the story defended him, saying that with a background like that, it was more than enough to twist someone. That’s how suffocatingly tragic his backstory was.

My mood darkened for no reason, and I cautiously reached out my hand.

“…!”

Sensing the movement, Matthias whipped his head around.

Seeing how startled he looked, I hurried to apologize.

“S-sorry. Did I scare you?”

I’d only meant to pat his head a little, but it seemed he was still afraid of other people’s touch. Just as I was about to pull my hand back, Matthias suddenly grabbed it tightly.

“Y-you….”

He wrapped both hands around mine and glanced at me, gauging my reaction.

“It’s okay.”

After saying that, Matthias lifted my hand up to his head.

“Do it more.”

The palm brushing through his hair tickled quite a bit. Unable to endure the soft, fluttering sensation, even my fingers twitched reflexively.

The grip holding my hand gradually loosened. Without realizing it, I ended up firmly holding his head, and I forced my stiff joints to move. As I awkwardly worked my fingers, which had grown rigid, his hair—much softer than before—was easy to sweep aside.

‘He likes being patted more than I thought.’

Had he grown to miss physical contact because he’d been alone for so long?

But then again… it didn’t quite seem like that either.

He seemed to dislike it when other people touched him. Even Sophia, whom he saw relatively often, was absolutely not allowed to touch his body.

Even Enoch, his attending physician, was only permitted to do so after I coaxed Matthias into it, and even then, only reluctantly.

‘Maybe it means he trusts me that much.’

Well, whatever the reason, it was far better than him disliking me.

If he’d been wary of me or hated me, it would’ve been pretty awkward.

‘Then things would’ve gone according to the original story.’

Of course, at first, he’d only been one of the means to capture Xavier—but that was only how I thought in the beginning.

As we spent more time together and I came to see his true nature, I didn’t want to just leave him be like this.

Maybe because I don’t really have a proper family now. Maybe I’m feeling a strange sense of responsibility toward someone who relies on me completely…. But more than anything, I just hoped Matthias wouldn’t suffer again in the future.

‘Even if he goes to Frombel later.’

So that he wouldn’t have to go through the same pain again.

“Once this is all over, let’s definitely come out and have fun again.”

“Have fun?”

“Yeah. We can go look at pretty flowers. Maybe even go on a picnic.”

Curiosity and wonder toward scenery he’d never seen before were plainly visible in his red eyes. I was sure he’d like seeing other places too.

“…Okay.”

Matthias lowered his head and murmured.

But his low, resonant voice was filled with excitement and anticipation. Just hearing the plan seemed to make him very happy.

‘We really have to go.’

Going out for fun is nice and all—

But they say you have to see a lot of the world to really learn about it.

Firmly resolving to deal with Xavier as soon as possible, I continued stroking his fine, well-kept hair for quite some time.

Then, after a fair amount of time had passed—

Feeling the air grow a little chilly, I slowly withdrew my hand.

“Shall we head back now?”

Matthias nodded without a word.

Deep satisfaction showed clearly on his face, tanned by the bright lights.

Seeing that, I felt inexplicably proud as well.

“Damn it, another bust. Another dead end!”

A man roughly tossed aside a large mug of beer and spat, “Tch.”

It was rude behavior in a place with other customers around, but no one dared to stop him.

Even the server cautiously edged away, watching the man’s mood.

“Damn it! Why haven’t you found that halfwit yet?!”

Bang—!

The man slammed the table with his rough hand.

Sitting across from him, Xavier let out a quiet cough and forced a genial smile.

“Hey, listen to me. He’s in the palm of our hand anyway. Where do you think he could’ve gone?”

He might be overwhelmingly strong, but on his own, he was a complete idiot who couldn’t do anything. Right now, he’d probably gotten lucky and was hiding with someone.

But no matter how far he ran, with that appearance, he’d stand out anywhere.

“Hey. Didn’t you hear that he said he’d kill us if we don’t find him right away? Of all things, a top-grade item had to run off—damn it!”

The man muttered with an extremely irritated expression.

Everything around them was in an uproar just to catch that one guy.

Of all people, he was one who would fetch a high price, so the higher-ups were extremely on edge.

If things went wrong, not only the surroundings but even their own heads could roll—there was no way not to be pissed.

“We need to catch him fast. At this rate, we could end up dead without even knowing how. This isn’t a situation where we can relax.”

He ran a hand through his stiff hair. Listening to his colleague’s complaints, Xavier twisted his lips into a crooked smile and swallowed his irritation.

As if he wasn’t already going crazy over that exact problem.

Even without being reminded, he knew very well that if things went wrong, his head could be on the line.

‘Damn it. Where the hell did he run off to?!’

The guy was terrible at even telling his surroundings apart.

He’d never properly learned how to speak either, so his speech was extremely clumsy. At this point, he should’ve stood out long ago—but strangely enough, not even a single strand of hair had been spotted.

As if—

‘Someone is deliberately hiding him.’

Otherwise, would it really be this impossible to find him?

He was even seriously injured, so without proper treatment, the wounds should’ve festered and made it difficult for him to even move.

And yet, the fact that he hadn’t shown up until now meant there was a high chance someone really was taking care of him.

But just who in the world would take that monster with them?

Letting out a deep sigh, Xavier turned his head.

“…?”

Beyond the bright lights of the shop, a single massive figure caught his eye.