Pardon the Abduction, Holy Knight - It's an Emergency - Chapter 3.2
***
Adriel’s red eyes, gazing out the window, were filled with the clear, cloudless sky.
As Rosemary took over the room, Adriel naturally began to spend time in the living room, and this had become his daily routine.
“…Hah.”
Adriel’s expressionless face, staring at the sky, cracked.
It was because Rosemary’s face had appeared in his mind while he was thinking about the relationship between demons and Oberon.
“Damn it.”
He unconsciously muttered a small curse.
Recently, Adriel often found himself consumed by an inexplicable feeling when thinking about Rosemary.
It was a feeling that was difficult to define in any words, something he had never experienced before.
Rosemary Ferial.
She was an evil woman who, true to her infamous reputation, would stop at nothing to achieve her goals.
Adriel had defined her as such from the moment he first saw Rosemary.
But since he started staying in this house, that solid thought began to waver at every moment.
A strong appearance that didn’t match her frail body. And her clumsy words didn’t seem like comfort. Adriel’s heart crumbled several times a day.
He must not be bewitched.
Every time, Adriel would steel his heart again.
She was a ruthless woman who even made a contract with a demon to kidnap him.
And then she suddenly said she would release him and thrust a strange contract at him.
He didn’t believe the contents of the contract that said she would willingly release him in the first place, nor did he intend to sign it.
The enemy of his family,
His mission.
Having confirmed the demon with his own eyes, he absolutely couldn’t let it live.
The plan remains unchanged.
Pretending to comply and waiting for the moment when their guard is down to kill the demon.
After returning to the temple, finding and exacting revenge on the demon that killed his family.
It was a plan that wouldn’t change, just like his firm resolve.
However, one fact continued to grate on his nerves like a hangnail.
If he kills that noisy demon, Rosemary Ferial will die too.
Even though it shouldn’t matter to him what happens to Rosemary, just thinking about that fact strangely twisted his insides.
Am I sympathizing with that woman?
Sympathizing with a woman who kidnapped and tried to harm him. He found himself ridiculous.
“Keke… Kekeke… Master is now…”
Adriel’s nerves sharpened as he swallowed a bitter laugh.
The demon’s laughter could be heard from the room where Rosemary was staying.
Feeling somewhat irritated, Adriel got up from his chair and approached the room.
“There are too many after Master.”
As the demon’s voice became clearer, Adriel’s brow furrowed deeply.
“But from today, Master is Wit’s. Wit’s. Kekeke.”
Bang-!
The slightly open door was violently kicked open.
Adriel’s cold gaze fell on Wit, who was laughing wickedly in his fairy form.
“What are you trying to do, demon?”
“Huh?”
Wit, who had been smiling wickedly, looked unusually flustered.
“Huh? How did Adriel get in?”
“Don’t try to change the subject, answer me, demon.”
“Adriel shouldn’t be coming in? Really shouldn’t?”
“Where is your master now?”
Despite Adriel’s question, Wit kept repeating the same words.
But the confusion was brief. Wit shouted urgently.
“Get out, get out of here! Stupid Adriel!”
At the same time, Adriel felt a strong invisible force pulling him backward.
Adriel quickly grabbed the doorframe to avoid being dragged away. The strong grip caused cracks in the door and debris fell.
“Are you resisting now? You, Adriel? Weak little Adriel?”
Wit fired questions as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but Adriel felt like he was the one who wanted to ask.
What’s happening to my body?
He, who had been powerless against the demon’s strength, had recently been resisting the demon’s power, albeit slightly but definitely.
Was it not just his imagination that the feeling of aura flowing through his body had changed recently?
“Eek…! Get out, get out quickly!”
Wit flew over Adriel’s head as the situation didn’t go as he wanted.
The fine silver hair was roughly pulled by small hands.
“Get out! Get out, stupid Adriel!”
“Where is the lady?”
“Get out before the master comes out!”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but I won’t let you have your way.”
“Master shouldn’t see you before Wit!”
“Why not?”
It wouldn’t be the first time a demon tried to pull some dirty trick.
Strangely, the thought of it being directed at Rosemary made his anger rise even more.
“Because Wit mixed an aphrodisiac in the bath Master is using!”
“……”
Thud-
For a moment, Adriel’s strength left his hands and he fell backward.
Adriel blankly mulled over Wit’s words.
That woman with an aphrodisiac…?
Adriel knew well what kind of aphrodisiac the demon was talking about.
Hadn’t he almost been forced to drink the aphrodisiac made by this self-proclaimed love fairy before?
“Now’s the chance! Quickly close the door before Master comes out…!”
“Where do you think,”
Just before Wit could close the door, Adriel sprang up and pushed his hand through the gap in the door.
“Eek! Let go!”
Wit slammed the door hard. But Adriel didn’t let go until the end.
Instead, with strength from who knows where he suddenly flung the door open and strode in.
“Wh-What are you doing?!”
“Make an antidote right now.”
Adriel’s eyes, which had pushed Wit to the front of the bed, took on an ominous color like dark red blood.
It was because of the fire that rose in his heart as he imagined Rosemary falling in love with that demon.
“I’ve been too lenient…!”
Wit, whose pride was hurt by being overpowered by Adriel again, emitted a powerful energy as if everything until now had been just a joke.
“Ugh…!”
The recoil caused Adriel’s body to fall forward. But he had to quickly grab the bed leg to avoid being dragged away, without even having time to feel the pain.
And that’s when it happened.
Adriel’s eyes caught sight of a long stick hidden under the bed.
He immediately reached out and grasped the stick.
And just as he was about to channel his aura to swing it at the demon…
“Sir Knight?”
At the gentle voice, Adriel froze like a well-trained dog.
His head turned stiffly towards the direction of the voice.
The bathroom is connected to the room.
Rosemary, who had just come out, was patting her still-damp hair with a towel.
“……”
“……”
Adriel slowly raised his gaze. And he met blue eyes that seemed to have captured the clear sky he had seen just moments ago.
“Because Wit mixed an aphrodisiac in the bath Master is using!”
As he faced those eyes directly, Wit’s voice echoed in his mind.
Wit, looking back and forth between Rosemary and Adriel, screamed.
“Master, look at Wit, not Adriel! Huh? Is it already too late? Master, no!”
The first person Rosemary, who had drunk the aphrodisiac, encountered was Adriel.
Adriel tightly gripped the stick he had almost dropped.
Calm down. It’s not like this is anything new.
She was a woman who loved him so much she even kidnapped him before. Nothing would change.
But even knowing that…
Thump thump-
Adriel’s heart began to beat violently.
“Sir Knight.”
Rosemary’s gaze lowered.
Adriel’s Adam’s apple bobbed prominently.
“Please calm yourself, my lady. You are currently under the influence of a demon’s aphrodisiac.”
“Master? Master, come to your senses! Wit will make an antidote! Master!”
Even after the explanation, Rosemary continued to approach Adriel.
“You must come to your senses. The demon’s manipulation…!”
As Rosemary lowered her body to meet his gaze, Adriel held his breath.
“D-Don’t do this.”
“No! Get away! Get away from that filthy thing, Master!”
Adriel, barely exhaling, managed to speak with a trembling voice.
“You mustn’t do this…”
He didn’t want it like this. Not like this, not with these insincere emotions.
Within breathing distance.
Rosemary gently wrapped her hand around his, which was holding the stick.
“If you do this…”
You mustn’t.
Don’t…
Don’t…
Just as Adriel tightly closed his eyes in anticipation of what was to come, it happened.
Translator
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lurelia
Known for turning pages faster than I move in real life. Warning: May suddenly vanish into fictional realms, leaving behind only a vaguely potato-shaped indent on the sofa.