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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Tyrant's Cure
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“Are you feeling a little better?”
“...Yes.”
As I gently smoothed his disheveled hair, a hoarse voice escaped his lips.
Looking exhausted, Enoch lifted his gaze while still resting his head on my shoulder. His slightly teary, gray eyes reflected my own worried face as I looked down at him.
“By the way, about my touch making you warm…”
“…”
“I didn’t realize that’s what you meant…”
“What on earth did you think I meant?”
A weak chuckle escaped him. He lowered his eyes and nuzzled his head against my shoulder like a whining child.
I flinched slightly as his soft hair tickled my delicate skin. The large hand that still held mine tightened its grip, interlacing our fingers.
“…When I touch someone, my body freezes. But when I touch you… it grows warmer instead.”
“Only me…? Why?”
“That’s probably—”
I swallowed, waiting for him to continue.
Just then, I felt something tugging at my skirt. I looked down and met a pair of green eyes looking up at me innocently.
“Mwaa…”
“Hm?”
The child was clutching my skirt with one hand. In the other, she held out the doll she’d been hugging like it was a part of her, extending it toward Enoch.
“Your Majesty, look at this.”
“Hm?”
I watched the child for a moment, then gently shook Enoch, who still had his eyes closed as he leaned against me. He managed to pry his eyelids open.
Seeing Enoch’s state, the child’s eyebrows drooped, and she grunted with effort, lifting the doll even higher.
As if telling him to take it.
“…Are you giving this to me?”
“Ung!”
Enoch, who had started to reach out, paused. He slowly clenched and unclenched his fist, and the remaining ice crystals on his skin fell away with a faint crackle.
Only after confirming his hand was safe for the child to see did Enoch carefully accept the doll. The child’s chubby cheeks drooped.
“Sowwy…”
Enoch and I exchanged surprised glances at the words that followed from her tiny lips.
“Did she just…”
“I think she just said she’s sorry to you, Your Majesty.”
Did we hear that right?
The child sighed and plopped down, the corners of her eyes drooping sadly.
Startled by her reaction, Enoch lifted his head from my shoulder. He fiddled with the doll in his hands for a moment before crouching to meet the child’s eyes.
“Are you apologizing to me?”
“Ung…”
“Why?”
“Owie…”
The child, not yet able to speak perfectly, pointed to Enoch’s cheek and frowned.
It was as if she knew her touch had hurt him.
His sharp eyes, which had widened in surprise, softened gently.
“No, it wasn’t because of you. I must have scared you instead. I’m sorry.”
Enoch couldn’t bring himself to touch her directly, so he held the doll’s soft hand and patted her small, chubby one reassuringly. The child’s green eyes sparkled.
Her mood lifted, and she began to snuggle into my arms. I shifted to a more comfortable position.
Just then, Dane, who had left the room earlier, returned with formula and some snacks.
He froze mid-step. Like a broken robot, he set down the food and tried to make a swift exit.
“My apologies for my lack of tact. I’ll take my leave, so please let me know if you need anything.”
“Huh? Where are you going? Hey…! What’s… Why is he acting like that?”
Watching his retreating back, I wondered what was wrong and raised a hand to scratch my cheek, only to be startled by a set of strong, defined fingers appearing before my eyes.
“Ah! You scared me. If you’re okay now… can we let go?”
I had no idea how long we’d been holding hands.
Feeling a little embarrassed, I tried to release my hand from his tight grip, but Enoch looked down with a disappointed expression.
“You were touching me so readily just a moment ago… Are you already tired of my body?”
“Agh! Why would you say something like that?!”
Was it impossible to have a normal conversation in this world?
Practically leaping at his sultry tone, which had returned now that he’d recovered a little, I hugged Ariel like a shield.
“Abubu! Poo!”
The child squirmed in my arms, displeased at being suddenly lifted, but as Enoch tried to subtly move closer, I held Ariel tighter and glared at him.
“That was because you suddenly started freezing! I was just surprised.”
“Exactly. I’m still very cold. Please touch me again.”
I quickly ran my hands over Enoch’s body as he pleaded without a hint of shame. Then, I looked up at him with a pout.
“Stop lying. You’re not just warm, you’re burning up right now.”
“You caught me.”
Enoch shrugged lightly at my reaction and tilted his head languidly.
“By the way, Riana, there’s something I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“Earlier, when I said my body gets warm, you said you ‘didn’t realize that’s what I meant.’ What did you think I meant?”
“Uh… that’s…”
I couldn’t very well voice the various R-rated fantasies that had flooded my mind in response to his sudden question, so I kept my lips sealed.
“Hm? What on earth were you thinking to make you blush like that?”
His long, handsome eyes blinked slowly as he watched me.
“That’s… because you keep saying such strange things, Your Majesty!”
“Me? Like what?”
“Everything! Asking me to touch you, saying you’re getting ho-hot…”
“I was just stating what I felt. Was there something problematic about that?”
Seeing Enoch’s wide-eyed innocence, I opened my mouth in frustration.
“I mean, there are plenty of other ways to phrase it besides using such embarrassing words, aren’t there?”
“For example?”
“Well, you could say something like, when my hand touches you, your body feels like it’s melting… Hmm?”
Of course, my mouth snapped shut not long after.
Even I had to admit that what I’d just said sounded even stranger than his words. My pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck. Watching me, Enoch let out a small sound of realization, as if he finally understood something.
“Ah.”
His black eyelashes fluttered slowly a few times, as if he were organizing his thoughts.
Then, a beat later, his red lips curled into a lazy, teasing smile.
“Honestly. What kinds of thoughts are going through that little head of yours?”
“N-No, that’s not what I meant!”
A hint of laughter colored his voice, and a playful look danced across his handsome face.
Enoch then raised a hand—now meticulously gloved—and cupped it around Ariel’s small ears, pretending to block the sound.
“I understand the sentiment… but please refrain from such expressions in the future. It’s not healthy for a child to hear, you know.”
“Un-unhealthy? You know that’s not what I meant!”
He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this situation.
Seeing the mischief filling his brilliant gray eyes, I gave up on the losing argument and started fiddling with Ariel’s hands to change the subject.
“Anyway, please don’t use expressions like that from now on. You’ll keep causing misunderstandings.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“…You know.”
“Hm?”
“Why does that… happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“The… freezing when you touch someone.”
“Ah.”
At my question, Enoch pointed to his own heart as if it were nothing.
“When I touch someone, the shard of ice embedded in here runs wild.”
“What? Why is that in there—?”
“I put it there myself.”
His replies came back matter-of-factly, his tone nonchalant as if he were stating a trivial fact, but the playfulness in his eyes had been replaced by a deep gloom.
“When my body froze, nothing could thaw it. I had no choice but to wait for days on end until the rampage stopped…”
Enoch continued, looking down at the hand that had touched mine.
“Perhaps because the Daphne family wields the power of fire, your touch not only stops the rampage but also raises my body temperature quite quickly.”
“…What?”
“At this rate, maybe even this.”
Enoch’s gray eyes, which had been fixed on his heart, followed my gaze and met mine.
“I might be able to melt this damn shard of ice in here.”
“Wait, hold on a minute. I think you might be mistaken.”
I had been listening to his explanation in silence, but now I tilted my head in confusion.
Because that couldn’t possibly be true.
“It’s true that the Daphne family wields fire, but I don’t.”
In this world, there were special powers that allowed people to control elements like fire, ice, and wind.
Among them, only Enoch could wield ice, and only those with the blood of the Daphne family, which Riana belonged to, could use fire.
The problem, however, was that Riana couldn’t use that fire power at all.
On the other hand, the heroine, Elisha, had manifested the most powerful fire ability in the empire’s history.
This was the very setup that had created the villainess Riana, who, consumed by an inferiority complex, had taken to drinking and causing trouble.
For *that* Riana to be wielding the power of fire? There had to be some kind of mistake.
As I mentally sorted through the information, a question mark floating above my head, it was Enoch’s turn to tilt his head.
“That can’t be. For your power to suppress mine, your ability must be far beyond ordinary.”
“No, it’s not. I probably can’t even light a puff of smoke, let alone wield fire. If anyone has the ability, it would be Elisha.”
Seeing me shake my head with conviction, Enoch quietly removed his glove and raised his hand.
And then,
Poke.
“Aah!”
Before I could stop him, his pale finger poked Ariel’s chubby cheek.
A sharp cry escaped my lips as I watched ice crystals rapidly bloom from his long fingertips. I grabbed his hand without a second thought.
“Are you crazy? Are you trying to freeze to death or something? What do you think you’re doing?!”
I was suddenly terrified that the man before me would turn frighteningly cold again.
I didn’t want to see him looking like a dead man ever again.
So I frantically rubbed at the white ice crystals as if trying to wipe away a stain, even leaning down to blow warm air on his hand.
Anything to make him warm up faster.
Enoch watched me quietly for a moment before resting his forehead against mine. His Adam’s apple bobbed with amusement.
“See? It’s melting just fine.”
“You could have just told me! Why did you have to use your own body as an experiment?”
“There’s nothing more accurate than seeing it with your own eyes, is there?”
He was acting as if he hadn’t just been moments away from becoming an ice sculpture fit for a theme park.
Even as I scolded him for scaring me, Enoch, who found the whole thing endlessly amusing, wrapped an arm lightly around my waist and continued to laugh.
“Riana, I believe I’ve found the cure to this damn curse.”
