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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: A Reckless Cure
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“That’s enough. Take it back.”
Karayan tried to take off the raincoat.
Lumina’s eyes widened as she said,
“Are you doing this because you don’t want to be a hornet? I think you look rather cute, so just stay like that for a little while.”
“What? Cute…”
Having never been called that word his entire life, Karayan froze as if he’d malfunctioned.
With Karayan frozen before her, Lumina was left to be drenched by the rain.
The downpour, far from weakening, seemed to be growing stronger, but she didn’t mind.
‘My physical recovery is good, so a few raindrops won’t hurt.’
She hadn’t been able to return the black cloak Karayan had given her last time after washing it.
So, she figured this would make up for it.
“This will be over in a moment.”
She was having a perfectly normal conversation with Karayan now, but why would the necklace have reacted?
It was because Karayan was not in good condition.
Lumina prepared to use Legion’s power.
“You really look like her.”
Karayan said, his gaze fixed on Lumina, who was now soaked from the rain.
“A hornet? *You’re* the hornet now, Young Master.”
“No. Not that.”
*He was the one who called her a hornet first.*
Karayan’s brows furrowed slightly, as if he was displeased.
If not a hornet, there was only one person Karayan could be referring to when he said she looked familiar.
“You mean the person who helped you on the day of the massacre, right?”
Karayan stared at her as if to ask how she knew that.
Just moments ago, his eyes had been hazy, but the mention of his savior made his gaze sharpen considerably.
“I… I heard about it. I have ears, so of course I’d hear things.”
Mentioning his father in front of Karayan, who was constantly forced to relive his mother’s death, was a poor choice.
Lumina answered evasively on purpose.
“She’s far prettier and more mature than a little brat like you.”
“But you said I look like her. Doesn’t that mean I’m pretty, too? Thank you for the compliment!”
Lumina was about to retort that the Young Master was also a brat, but she remembered her position.
‘I’m someone who loves the Young Master so, so much that I married him despite all the risks.’
So, she had to take this kind of grumbling in stride.
Completely unfazed, Lumina beamed.
Faced with Lumina’s lovely smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners, Karayan’s ears instantly turned red.
*Whoosh—.*
He whipped his head away.
“I just meant you have eyes, a nose, and a mouth in the right places. Don’t take everything as a compliment.”
He reacted as if he’d seen something he shouldn’t have.
‘Still, since he’s wearing a yellow raincoat, it just feels like a child’s tantrum.’
This was why outfits were so important.
They could even make a rebellious-looking boy with piercings in both ears seem cute.
Seeing the side of Karayan’s slightly flushed face, Lumina unhesitatingly placed the back of her hand on his cheek.
“W-What are you doing?”
The moment she touched him, Karayan flinched as if he’d been burned, looking ready to leap away.
“I think you have a fever again. You feel a little hot. I’m not sure if it’s really a fever or if my hand is just still warm.”
Lumina pulled her hand away from his cheek, a serious expression on her face.
‘Then again, what does a fever matter? I have to use my power anyway. Come to think of it, it was tough healing the Young Master last time.’
Lumina’s mind was solely focused on using her power on Karayan as quickly as possible.
Karayan, on the other hand, felt a pang of disappointment as he watched the small hand that had touched him pull away.
So, he snatched the retreating hand.
“…?”
“…”
It was an impulsive act.
Not just Lumina, but Karayan, too, stared at the other in bewilderment. Their confused gazes met.
“Th-This is…”
“Wow, how did you know? I was just about to take your hand.”
Lumina said brightly, trying to spare Karayan any embarrassment.
In fact, she had been planning to take his hand.
“Why my hand? For a potato, you’re surprisingly sly.”
It was Karayan who had grabbed her hand first, yet he was turning the tables on her. It was absurd.
But Lumina didn’t forget her role.
“Of course I like you, Young Master, but holding hands is part of the healing process.”
“Healing?”
“The same thing I did last time.”
Karayan twitched an eyebrow as if recalling an unpleasant memory.
“Aren’t you just going to collapse again?”
“Just trust me. I’ll be fine today.”
Lumina replied confidently.
The first time she used her power on Karayan, she had collapsed helplessly.
Lumina, who had guessed it was because she’d used her power recklessly without knowing her limits, was full of confidence.
‘I haven’t used my power on anyone, saving it for today.’
She had eaten well, slept well, and lived well at the duchy all this time. Now it was time to earn her keep.
With the belief that she would be fine, Lumina tightly grasped both of Karayan’s hands and used her power.
Wings unfurled from behind Lumina, and butterflies made of light descended upon them.
And then…
‘Again.’
*Squirm. Slosh.*
Her insides churned.
It felt like being sucked into a black swamp.
A cold, icy hand seemed to grip her heart, and Lumina gasped.
It was even more painful than last time; what on earth had he been doing during his time away?
‘Ah. He was getting beaten up just a little while ago.’
How could Karayan have been talking so casually amidst pain that should have made him pass out?
Had he grown numb to it?
Her thoughts couldn’t go any further.
A sensation colder and more nauseating than the drenching rain coiled around Lumina like a snake, squeezing her.
It was as if it were urging her to stop using her power at once.
She felt like she was about to be devoured by the pain.
‘No.’
Fearing the healing wouldn’t work properly if she let go, she squeezed Karayan’s hands even tighter.
‘If I can’t heal the Young Master, this contract is over. I have to endure it.’
If I can just get through this moment, I’ll be fine.
The pain is only temporary. With my good recovery, I’ll be fine again once I’m done using my power.
“You…!”
Karayan, who had been squinting slightly at the light, saw Lumina’s face, and his pupils dilated.
Tears were streaming down Lumina’s face.
She was crying silently, and a flustered Karayan said quickly,
“If it hurts enough to make you cry, then stop.”
“No.”
It was a stubborn reply.
She even shook her head slightly.
Karayan was dumbfounded.
Did she not realize she was crying so sorrowfully, with an expression like her world was ending?
Her clasped hands were even trembling like someone terrified.
“Let go of my hands. If you won’t, I’ll pull away.”
Karayan warned.
Unable to stop the flow of tears, Lumina looked up at Karayan with the most grief-stricken and wronged expression in the world.
Normally, anyone would have given up at this point.
But instead of giving up, Lumina threw herself into Karayan’s arms.
“Hey, you!”
He couldn’t just push this tiny thing away!
He was afraid that if he pushed her wrong, she’d tumble to the ground and get hurt even more.
While Karayan was stuck, unable to do anything, the fluttering butterfly wings vanished, and the healing was complete.
“Stop going around getting beat up.”
Lumina muttered as she pulled away from Karayan’s embrace.
Her face was a mess of tears and rainwater.
Telling him not to get beat up while looking even more pitiful than usual.
Karayan, with a sullen expression, was about to scold her for using her power so recklessly when it happened.
*Slump—.*
Lumina’s eyes closed, and her body swayed.
Karayan’s mind went blank as he caught Lumina, who was collapsing.
She’d said so confidently that she’d be fine.
This was the second time she had used her power on her own and collapsed.
Last time, she had hovered between life and death for days.
The pouring rain.
The unconscious, wheat-blonde girl.
And himself, completely helpless.
“A doctor. A doctor…!”
Karayan, his face instantly paling, frantically looked around.
But there was no one.
Having wandered without a clear destination, he didn’t even know where he was.
“Damn it!”
As Karayan hurriedly tried to lift Lumina into his arms, he noticed a wound on her cheek that hadn’t been there moments before.
It was strange.
The location of the wound on Lumina’s face was the same spot where he had been punched by the thugs and felt pain just a while ago.
And yet, since Lumina had used her power, he no longer felt any pain there.
A chilling premonition flashed through his mind.
“What kind of power does a lump of dough like you even have? And where did *that person* find someone like this?”
He didn’t like any of it.
He pulled the raincoat’s hood over the shivering Lumina and swept her up into his arms.
“What’s so good about someone like me?”
Karayan muttered, clenching his jaw, and ran without a destination in mind.
After walking endlessly, he spotted a carriage stopped on the rain-slicked road.
*Creek.*
He yanked the door open and climbed inside, startling the coachman.
“Sir! If you slam the door that hard…”
“Right now.”
Karayan cut the coachman off, his voice a low growl as he commanded,
“Go to the Heart Duchy.”
“Th-The Heart Duchy, you say?”
“Yes. I’ll reward you more than you can imagine, so go as fast as you can. If anything happens to this girl because you dawdle…”
“…”
“Your life is forfeit.”
His golden eyes glinted menacingly.
