Chapter 49
I also told Veilt and Joshua about the conversation I had with the boss yesterday. I said that while there’s no physical evidence, I’m certain based on my convictions.
As expected, Veilt and Joshua also agreed that those two were definitely the ones who transferred the curse and were quite fired up about it. Especially Joshua…
“That’s right! I knew something was off! I was there too, you know. I was badly injured, so I don’t remember that day clearly, but one thing is certain. There were definitely three spears created by the curse.”
“Why are you only saying this now?!”
“After that, my memory cuts out, so I thought they had hit three people in a row! I just thought Germain was the unlucky one who got caught in the middle!”
Joshua and I ended up grabbing each other by the scruff of the neck, but once we realized how pointless it was, we held hands and made up.
“Tch!”
What ‘male lead’ and ‘female lead’ are they talking about?
From now on, I’m the female lead, and the boss is the male lead!
“Why are you clicking your tongue?”
“Because the more I think about it, the more resentful I feel… Huh?”
I looked at the boss with surprised eyes. Lately, I’d been following him around quite a bit, but I couldn’t stay attached to him all the time. That’s because the spaces I could go to were limited.
In other words, the boss could only roam the 3rd floor.
No, I mean!
“Why are you on the 1st floor?”
He made a sad face.
“…Because you’re here.”
“No, no! That’s not the point!”
Unlike my flustered self, the boss was perfectly calm.
I hurriedly looked around. Joshua was nowhere to be seen. That meant it was okay for me to be out this far, that I wouldn’t harm anyone.
“Boss, it seems the range has expanded to the entire mansion!”
If he’s come down to the 1st floor, that means he can now go anywhere in the mansion.
I grabbed the boss’s hand and jumped up and down with joy.
“Are you that happy?”
“Of course! Aren’t you happy, Boss?”
To be honest, I’d been anxious because there had been no sign of my divine power increasing any further since then.
I was really on edge, worried that it might hit a plateau at some point, or that this was actually a form of torture, giving me hope only to… But seeing the range expand this much, I couldn’t contain my joy.
It meant that my divine power was steadily affecting the boss, even if I couldn’t feel it.
‘In that case, could he possibly even go outside?’
It was a bit hasty, but it couldn’t hurt to check.
“Since we’re already on the 1st floor, let’s try going outside the mansion too.”
“…Outside?”
“If it doesn’t work, then so be it. Let’s just check.”
I soothed him, telling him not to get his hopes up too much.
He and I headed for the front door. He hesitated in front of it, but I swung the door wide open.
It was completely dark.
Even though Titia opened the front door and stepped outside, the surroundings were dark, as always.
‘Guess it’s not time yet.’
I couldn’t even feel the wind blowing from outside. Titia’s hair was swaying, but all that touched my body was the chilly air.
“Boss!”
Titia called out to him and reached out her hand. Looking at her hand, which had come inside the front door, Gerbrandt slowly reached out his own.
When he took her small hand, Gerbrandt felt something strange. The always cold air had changed. It felt as if a warm wind was blowing from somewhere.
The moment he took one step forward.
Whoosh—
The wind blew. A very strong wind swept past his body. At the same time, Titia’s black hair fluttered wildly.
The wind blew fiercely, as if pushing back the darkness.
The dark space cracked.
Bright light seeped in through the fissure. That dazzling light struggled desperately to force its way in through the small crack.
Finally.
Crash—!
The pitch-black shell that had imprisoned Gerbrandt shattered.
The bright sun hanging in the sky shone intensely upon him, as if declaring it would never show him darkness again. And beneath it, he saw her.
Titia, more radiant than ever.
“How is it, Boss?”
The girl, who seemed to be gesturing for him to come quickly while smiling, was clearly visible under the sunlight.
His pupils shook. It was so bright it hurt, an ache that reached his heart.
‘The sun…’
He didn’t want to close his eyes, but it was so bright he unconsciously squeezed them shut.
“…Boss, are you crying?”
He heard her surprised voice. Faster than she could step back inside the entrance, he stepped out.
Titia’s eyes grew wide. She took a step back to widen the distance, watching him intently, trying to see just how far out she could come.
Crunch.
Feeling the sensation of soil rising through the soles of his shoes, the scent of flowers, and seeing her standing with that scenery—more beautiful than anything—behind her, Gerbrandt rushed forward and hugged her with all his might.
Titia shone brilliantly.
Enchantingly so.
The boss rushed outside the mansion. He had run with such force that his glasses flew off and tumbled to the ground.
He stepped over them, ran to me, and pulled me into an embrace. The moment he buried his face in my neck, an unfamiliar sensation swirled through my body.
I couldn’t help but tremble. The sensation was so unfamiliar that I flinched and hugged his body tightly. His sobs landed on my neck.
Even in the midst of this, a gentle hand softly stroked my back, as if worried about me, calming me down.
I could feel the strange sensation that had been coursing through my body gradually subsiding along with his touch.
“This is…”
“It’s divine power.”
He cried and pressed closer to me. My neck was quickly soaked with his tears. His hot breath touched my skin, making me feel feverish even though the weather wasn’t hot.
His arms were intertwined, holding me so tightly there was no gap, as if he would never let go. Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I twisted my body slightly, but the arms wrapped around me only grew stronger.
“Just for a moment… Just like this…”
At his desperate plea, I quietly stayed in his embrace and patted his back.
‘By the way, this energy…’
He said it was divine power.
It wasn’t visible, but I could feel the energy that had been swirling all over my body calming down, to the point where I could even sense it rippling around the boss’s body.
‘So this is divine power.’
It was the first time I’d felt divine power. Just as I was concentrating, trying not to forget the sensation…
I saw a faint golden light on my hand. Something…
I moved my hand and slipped it between our closely pressed bodies. Whether he flinched or not, I instinctively placed my hand over his heart and pressed down.
The fierce beating of his heart was vividly felt in my palm. Simultaneously, I felt as if that energy was being absorbed into the boss’s heart.
He grabbed my hand on his heart tightly, slightly pulled his body away, and looked down. The golden light was being absorbed into his heart.
“…Tia.”
He called my name anxiously with a deeply subdued voice.
The boss licked his dry lips and gripped my hand tightly.
“This, this was absorbed by you, right? That’s a good thing, right?”
The golden light couldn’t be bad!
This is totally a good thing. Right?
In my excitement, he bumped his forehead against mine.
“Yeah.”
“So the curse isn’t completely broken?”
“Not yet. But… I can see the sunlight.”
He laughed while crying. As if that alone was something to be moved by.
I wiped his tear-soaked cheek. He leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. He didn’t move a muscle, as if he wanted to feel all of this.
Only then did the sight of the boss under the sunlight properly register.
His warm, soft-toned wheat-blond hair reflected the sunlight, shining with a subtle golden light.
His eyelashes, moist with tears, his slightly reddened eyes, his high nose bridge, and the lips below it.
His strong neckline and the trapezius muscles following it, his broad shoulders and slim waist, his hands so large they could easily envelop mine, and his long legs…
He was a sculpted handsome man, to the point I felt angry at Serael’s demon for keeping a man like this locked away in a dark room.
I brushed his disheveled hair back behind his ear and smiled.
“My prediction was right, Boss. Under the sunlight, your eyes and hair look like gold. They sparkle.”
It was truly beautiful.
His closed eyes slowly opened. His beautiful wheat-colored pupils, damp with moisture, stared straight at me.
As if captivated by that gaze, I couldn’t move.
His large hand gently brushed against my waist and pulled me closer. Our bodies, which had been slightly separated, pressed together more intensely than before.
My face flushed red at the unfamiliar body heat and sensation, and I tried to look away, but he stopped me.
“Tia, don’t avoid me.”
