30 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
Grand Duchess's Fiance is a Warrior from Hell 30
"That's not the problem."
Reikart muttered, alternating his gaze between the fireplace diligently spreading warmth and Alisha's sleeping face.
He tended to highly value his self-control.
However, the pain inflicted when Lua rose was of a kind that exceeded his endurance.
Holding Alicia Lane's hand made the pain disappear.
Alisha's mere touch relieved the pain.
He wondered how such a situation was possible, but he didn't have the capacity to think that far right now.
Reikart wasn't foolish enough to flounder in pain when he knew the outcome for certain.
It was the same the day he first met Alisha.
The buzzing in his head vanished as soon as her hand touched him.
At this point, he had no choice but to admit it.
His savior, who had descended from the sky one day.
Reikart gently brought his hand to Alisha's sleeping face.
The eyebrows on her sleeping face twitched slightly.
Her defenseless lips parted slightly as if to speak, then closed again.
Reikart quickly pulled his hand away and took a breath.
He tried not to sigh at his insensitive heart, which was throbbing painfully.
He turned his face toward the backrest and pretended not to notice their hands clasped together.
He found his situation amusing, unable to let go of the other person's hand even in this emergency.
His pretense didn't last long.
Before long, Alisha woke up.
Awakened from her sleep, Alisha rubbed her face and was startled to realize she had let go of Reikart's hand.
Rubbing her still-sleepy eyes, she groped for the man's hand she had dropped with her other hand.
She let it go when her urgent hand brushed against his side, but he didn't let it continue when it tried to reach his thigh.
Reikart gently snatched the wildly moving hand.
"It's alright to let go for a moment. Are you awake?"
"Oh, Your Highness. Are you awake? How is the pain?"
Still not fully awake, Alisha was a little out of it.
Reikart sat up and simultaneously pulled Alisha, who was sitting on the floor, up to sit next to him.
Alisha moved absentmindedly.
Even so, the two didn't let go of their hands.
"Isn't the floor uncomfortable?"
Reikart looked at the carpeted floor with dissatisfaction.
"It's okay."
Alisha smiled lightly.
When she was in hell, she slept just fine on bare ground or in rock crevices.
Alisha, who had been laughing casually, suddenly realized that the distance between herself and Reikart was very close.
The man's dazzling face, still showing signs of illness, seemed to shine uniquely today.
His expressionless face, which clearly showed that he was watching her every move, was interesting to the point that it was difficult to look away.
Although he had no expression, all sorts of expressions like embarrassment, difficulty, awkwardness, shyness, and shame flitted across his face.
It was the same with holding hands.
He was focusing all his attention on their joined hands while pretending not to care at all.
It was surprising that someone who seemed indifferent to worldly affairs was fidgeting over something as trivial as holding hands.
Alisha realized that something was wrong when she had the illusion that Reikart, who was much larger than her, looked cute.
The man was a member of the imperial family who was born into nobility and had lived being waited on hand and foot.
It was a wrong attitude to feel sorry for him, pity him, or feel sorry for him.
Even his taciturn appearance, which she couldn't easily speak about, looked pathetic, and she wondered why she was like this.
His expressionless, hesitant face was pitiful.
"Alisha."
Reikart, who had been silent for a long time, spoke surprisingly easily.
Alisha, who had been waiting, turned her gaze to him.
"Yes."
"I know I seem strange right now."
Reikart said with a face that seemed lighter than usual.
After hesitating for a moment, Alisha slowly shook her head.
"No, Your Highness. Rather than strange, I'm just curious. Would you tell me?"
At Alisha's words, embarrassment filled Reikart's face again.
Alisha showed a generous attitude, as if understanding his worries and difficulties.
"Alisha. Don't reveal to anyone that you know what I'm about to say. Promise me."
"I promise."
The words of promise were seamless.
"I don't know where to start. I can't tell you the root cause, and I don't even know it properly. I only know the result. I am 'bound' to Tessen."
"To Tessen...?"
"I can't live if I leave Tessen."
Reikart's words were disjointed, like his warning.
It was difficult for Alisha to understand what he was saying right away.
"Pardon?"
Reikart had been wandering around outside Tessen just fine.
"Normally, when I leave Tessen, I suffer from the pain of having my brain eaten by bugs. It's not that there are real bugs in my head, and it's not clear whether it's a curse or something. That's how I feel when the pain gets severe."
"That time..."
Alisha's complexion turned noticeably worse.
"You suddenly got worse when we first met. It's usually not that bad. It's just to the point of hearing annoying sounds of bugs eating something."
Reikart said casually, as if talking about someone else's story.
It's annoying enough to have just one bug flying around your ear.
"..."
It was hard to imagine what it would feel like to have bugs wandering around in your head.
"What's really hard for me is now."
"Now?"
"I don't know how to say it when the second moon, Lua, rises. To put it simply, I feel like I'm going to die. I feel burning pain, stabbing pain, the pain of being crushed by a huge being, the pain of being squeezed. It's a disease, but it's a disease that doctors can't cure."
"Can't be cured..."
"If I leave Tessen when Lua is up, the pain gets worse and I die. I've never tried it, so this information isn't accurate. Even inside Tessen, the pain is so extreme that I couldn't try it."
Reikart smiled with a slightly relieved face as he finished speaking.
It wasn't a situation to be smiling about.
"Your Highness."
"Don't make that face. I've met a great being now."
Reikart said with a smiling face.
It was the brightest face she had seen since she met him.
It was hard to take her eyes off his purely smiling face.
"Who is it?"
Alisha's purple eyes trembled uneasily.
Considering the context, it seemed that the great being the man was talking about was herself.
It was hard to understand how she had become such a being, and she couldn't believe it.
Could it be me?
Alisha said so with her expression.
"Alisha."
Reikart called Alisha with a smiling face.
He was calling her name.
But it sounded like he was answering a question.
"Yes."
Her purple eyes were still lost.
"Just as I accepted when you proposed a deal, I hope you will accept the deal I'm making."
"A deal...?"
Instead of answering, Alisha looked at the man who was making a strange deal with a disrespectful gaze.
"Hold my hand when I'm in pain in Tessen. I'll give you anything Lady Alicia Lane wants, except for imperial positions. I don't care about anything else as long as it's not the throne or the Empress's seat, but fighting the imperial family is troublesome."
Reikart said in a light tone.
Perhaps because he was born into the imperial family, the man seemed to regard dukes and nobles as stones on the side of the road.
"Is all I have to do is hold your hand?"
Alisha retorted with a slightly dazed face.
"Yes."
Reikart answered diligently.
"...Do I get to ask for something every time I hold your hand? Or is it just once and then it's over?"
Alisha meticulously checked the conditions with a dazed expression.
Conditions were important in a deal.
"It would be good to decide by mutual agreement depending on the scale."
Reikart's face was calm.
On the other hand, Alisha's face was full of disbelief.
"All I have to do is hold your hand..."
"That's enough. You're already holding my hand, so tell me if there's anything you want."
"The Aquamarine Set at Lilliese Detached Palace?"
Alisha said with a dubious face.
"In that case, I'll have to give you what you want every time I hold your hand. And the aquamarine set at the detached palace is already yours. I'll write you a deed of transfer if you want permanent ownership."
"That much..."
Alisha made a disgruntled face at the man's arrogant words.
"However, there is one more condition to this deal."
Alisha thought, "Of course," at the belated addition.
"What is it?"
Reikart was more serious than ever.
"No one should know that the pain disappears when I hold your hand. Especially the Emperor and the direct line of the imperial family. It would be better for even you not to know for the sake of secrecy, but I can't do that because it would be deceiving you."
It was a bewildering statement.
"The pain disappears when I hold your hand?"
"Yes, all the pain disappears."
Startled purple eyes stared at Reikart.
"Why shouldn't the imperial family know?"
"Because then they'll make you the Grand Duchess Tessen tomorrow."
Alisha shook off her surprise and looked at the man.
There was something strange about his words.
"Your Highness."
Reikart was speaking with a nuance that he wouldn't marry her.
"I hope this deal will last for a long time."
"Just the deal?"
"Don't marry me, Alisha."
Reikart Tessen whispered with a handsome face.
The man, who had been worried about letting go of Alisha's hand until just now, spoke as if he had no regrets.
This was indeed deception.
The large hand that had been overlapping Alisha's hand gently slipped away.
"Your Highness, your hand..."
Alisha tried to hold his hand again.
Reikart shook his head and stood up.
"It's alright for a moment. Please stay for a long time today as a visitor. It would be good if you said you would nurse me. I usually don't let anyone come, so you don't have to worry about anyone seeing."
Reikart turned around with a cheerful face.
There wasn't even a hint of regret or disappointment.
Alisha's hand, which had been groping for his hand, returned to its place awkwardly.
"..."
Alisha was stunned, as if she had been hit in the back of the head.
It was absurd.
She felt an indescribable sense of defeat and displeasure.
Ridiculous.
Alisha wanted to shout.
Who was it that begged her to hold his hand last night?
She wanted to point it out with a strong laugh, but it was cowardly to say such things to a sick person.
She didn't want to become a petty person.
However, she couldn't help but feel frustrated.
"What, what..."
The soft bass voice that rang softly in her ear was vivid.
'Don't marry me, Alisha.'
It wasn't that Alisha particularly liked the Grand Duke, had fallen in love with him at first sight, or had fallen in love with him.
However, at Reikart's words, she felt as if she had been rejected by a man she had never confessed to.
Perhaps because she had vaguely thought that she would live as a business couple since he was engaged to her, the shock was great.
Rejection was bound to be unpleasant.
What made the man's rejection particularly unpleasant was that it was such a firm and gentle rejection.
