Chapter 57
Margaret scratched her cheek with a troubled expression at his answer.
“Well, I guess so. It’s just us here, so there’s no need to manage my image.”
Hearing her reply, Luzef asked her with a bewildered look.
“Is that all?”
“Pardon?”
She blinked, looking clueless.
“I mean, aren’t you going to criticize me, or comfort me, or something…”
“Ah… but that’s not what you wanted when you told me, was it? Didn’t you just need someone to listen?”
At her question, Luzef was speechless, only moving his lips. She was right. He hadn’t really expected her to react in any particular way.
Seeing his expression, she shrugged with an apologetic look.
“And I’m not very good at empathizing.”
“People who really lack empathy don’t even realize they do.”
“Is that so?”
She let out an awkward laugh, looking embarrassed.
But Luzef thought it was better than giving clumsy advice. He just wanted to confide in someone.
And the person he confessed his innermost thoughts to, thoughts he had never told anyone before, was Margaret Rose Flone, whom he had so despised.
“Lady Flone as I saw you at the Vatican, and you now. Which is your true self?”
So Luzef suddenly asked that question.
Margaret seemed a little taken aback by the sudden question. She stared at his face for a long time, then gave a hollow smile.
“…That’s a strange question. Both are me. I’ve decided to accept my past self too.”
She slowly looked up at the sky. Luzef also naturally followed her gaze.
“Because otherwise, I won’t be able to move forward.”
The starlight in the night sky flowed like a waterfall.
Well, the flowing might just be his imagination. Maybe it was because his hardened heart was melting and moving, that he felt that way.
If her current self was her true nature, Luzef thought he couldn’t help but like her.
Her sincerity slowly seeped into his heart. Luzef wanted to capture this moment deep in his mind.
“It seems you really have become a different person, Lady Flone.”
He decided to acknowledge that she had changed and to trust her.
“Lady Flone, I will trust you from now on…”
“Just a moment.”
And just as he was about to say those words, she raised a finger to his lips, stopping him. With a tense look, she stared beyond the forest and then brought her index finger to her own lips.
“Shh.”
Overwhelmed by her forcefulness, Luzef instinctively held his breath and closed his mouth.
“Crouch down. Slowly.”
She raised her hand and slowly gestured downwards. Luzef tilted his head, not understanding her words.
“…Pardon?”
Margaret glanced at him, sighed, and grabbed his shoulder, pushing him back until he fell.
Margaret’s body leaned over him, who had fallen back against the wooden deck.
Her face was inches away.
“I think a Monster is passing by. It’s best not to be seen. Just be quiet for a moment.”
She leaned over him, almost straddling him, and whispered in his ear. Her breath tickled his ear.
Luzef’s cheeks flushed red in an instant. It was his first time having such close contact with a woman, so he tensed up and stiffened his body.
Margaret, regardless of what he did, kept her full attention fixed on the forest beyond.
“…I think it’s gone, but let’s stay like this a little longer. Just in case.”
Her voice was firm, even forceful. Luzef felt pressured to obey her words and silently nodded vigorously in response.
He even had the unnecessary worry that his pounding heart might jump out of his mouth if he opened it.
After a long time of holding his breath, Margaret moved away from him. Luzef felt a slight emptiness as he watched her move away. His heart was still pounding wildly.
“Were you uncomfortable? I’m sorry. I was surprised too.”
Margaret looked at him and apologized. Luzef stared blankly at her reliable face and shook his head vigorously.
“I wasn’t uncomfortable at all.”
“That’s a relief. I don’t think Monsters will come up here, but it seems dangerous to be outside at night. Shall we go inside?”
She smiled, got up, and held out her hand to him.
He looked at the hand extended to him and then looked up at her face again. Margaret tilted her head with a bright expression, as if she didn’t understand.
Luzef quietly took her hand.
She was a good person.
“I believe in you. Lady Flone.”
So he deliberately said those words, and then, without realizing it, he even blurted out unnecessary words.
“And I believe that you will get us off this island too. I believe it.”
She would be able to do anything. Luzef felt such a strong conviction in his heart.
She looked very flustered at his last words, but Luzef smiled, thinking that he must have been mistaken in the dark moonlight.
It was a beautiful night.
