Chapter 94: So I Love You
Leonard had originally snuck in to tell Bliss his story. He hadn’t been able to find a chance to meet her since the knight tournament. Especially since Caelan had stationed several layers of knights to prevent anyone from approaching Bliss.
They weren’t people whose eyes he could easily avoid. If it had been the Blast duchy, he could have entered easily.
Then he caught his chance. He saw a knight with the Emperor’s orders entering the Adrian mansion and knew it was about the duchy’s matter, so he waited. While Caelan was preparing to go out, he snuck into the mansion and as soon as Caelan left, he could meet Bliss whom he had longed for.
Seeing her face made him smile involuntarily and his body relaxed from happiness. As expected, Bliss didn’t put on any forced smiles.
Moreover, he was so happy when she spoke to him familiarly. However, the joy didn’t last long.
Bliss denied his feelings and pierced Leonard’s heart painfully while being wary of him. Though he was lucky to meet Bliss today, he was gripped by the fear that next time, even without Caelan, Bliss wouldn’t meet him. So Leonard decided to take Bliss away. If he stayed by her side and showed his heart, she would surely acknowledge him.
If he treated her better than Caelan did, she would acknowledge him.
“You’ll get divorced anyway.”
Bliss stopped struggling at Leonard’s meaningful words. She had somehow ended up lying on the bed with him on top, his eyes curved in a smile.
“Anyway?”
Why would he say such a thing?
“It was a marriage with a purpose from the start. Since Count Bonita granted what Caelan wanted, the marriage happened, so it will break for the same reason.”
When he mentioned Count Bonita, Bliss’s eyes widened.
“Why do you think I stayed by Count Bonita’s side? It was to find out how they pushed you into this place.”
Leonard spoke like a child wanting praise.
“To find out…”
Bliss mulled over his words and connected the Leonard from the original story to the current one. When Bliss died in the original story, his tears were love for her, and since he said he would find the cause of death no matter what, she thought he might have information. She had given up trying to find out, but in the end, Leonard knew about her.
“Then the one who interfered with that relationship…”
“Was me.”
Leonard’s fresh voice rang out. He was smiling innocently like a child who had played a dangerous prank.
“You call others two-faced, but how are you any different?”
“…What?”
Unable to escape Leonard’s embrace, Bliss spoke while gritting her teeth.
“You said your feelings for me were twisted, right? Even now. If you love me, shouldn’t you wish for my happiness? You’re just like those others you hate so much, trying to break me.”
“…No. That’s not true.”
The smile disappeared from Leonard’s face. He denied her words without looking at Bliss.
“No, it is true.”
Bliss shot invisible thorns at Leonard while hiding her anxious heart. Since she had dropped the flowerpot, someone would surely come running. If she could just hold out a little longer…
“Then let’s confirm it.”
Confirm?
Though it was hard to tell if Leonard’s expression was smiling or angry, he grabbed Bliss’s wrist.
“Stay by my side and see me every day to confirm. If you still think I’m strange after that, then I’ll accept it.”
Leonard forcibly lifted Bliss and approached the door. Despite Bliss deliberately engaging in conversation to buy time, Leonard started moving before anyone else could arrive.
While she was debating whether to scream or not, Leonard wrapped his arms around Bliss as if embracing her and covered her mouth.
“Mmph!”
Though Bliss tried dragging her feet to avoid being taken away by him, she was too easily pulled by his strength. And just as Leonard opened the door…
“Leonard.”
Caelan stood there, breathing heavily.
Bliss, whose nose and mouth were completely covered by Leonard’s large hand making it hard to even breathe properly, blinked her eyes to look at Caelan.
“Welcome back.”
While glaring at Leonard, Caelan gave a gentle greeting to Bliss. As if relieved, Bliss’s eyes closed and her body, which had been forcibly holding out, went limp.
“Hah!”
Leonard immediately drew his sword and lunged at Caelan. The sword that seemed about to pierce through his stomach was rendered ineffective as Caelan twisted his body to the side, and immediately the offensive and defensive positions switched. As Caelan swung his sword toward Leonard’s eyes, their fight began.
While blocking Caelan’s attack, Leonard lost his grip on Bliss, and she was placed in a corner of the room. After collapsing there for a moment to catch her breath that had been blocked, Bliss got up supporting herself against the floor at the sound of the sharp wind.
The two men were crossing swords again. More fierce and intense than during the knight tournament.
“Don’t think you’ll win this time.”
Leonard shouted while swinging his sword mercilessly. In the knight tournament there were limits to attacks since they couldn’t take each other’s lives, but not this time.
Even though Caelan was in healthy condition with all his previous wounds healed, Leonard would drive his sword into his body. Even if he had to pay the price with his own heart.
Leonard’s sword aimed only for vital points that would be fatal even with the shallowest stab.
“Hah!”
As Leonard’s sword struck mercilessly, wounds were accumulating one by one on Caelan’s body. It wasn’t shallow blood from cuts. Every time the sword entered and left his body without being completely avoided, blood sprayed.
However, Caelan defended against Leonard’s attacks. When there was hardly anything in the room not stained with Caelan’s blood, Bliss called out to him.
“Caelan!”
She couldn’t think about whether her call would break Caelan’s concentration. She was anxious about him being in danger from Leonard’s sword.
But as if Bliss’s cry was a signal, Caelan’s swordsmanship changed. His sword, which had only moved defensively until now, was increasingly going on the offensive.
It was swordsmanship so fast that even Leonard was struggling to block. It was like the knight tournament. At first it seemed Leonard had the upper hand, but at some point things changed.
“No…”
Leonard showed his anxiety, feeling like he would lose to him again. So Leonard too now began attacking while ignoring defense.
“Absolutely…”
I won’t lose.
When Leonard swung his sword at the neck, Caelan raised his sword and soon a strong impact sound rang out. As their swords clashed, along with a sound like striking the blade itself, Leonard looked with eyes that couldn’t believe what had happened to him.
Half of his sword had flown off from Caelan’s strike.
Through that gap where his attention was stolen, Caelan struck Leonard’s neck.
“Ugh!”
If he had swung the sword straight through it would have severed the neck, but at the last moment he struck with the sword handle instead, ending the fight with Leonard falling unconscious.
“Cae…lan. Are you alright?”
When Caelan nodded, Bliss immediately ran and hugged him.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.”
After Bliss let out a sigh of relief, she looked at Caelan’s body. Blood was flowing enough to wet her hands.
“What should I do.”
Thinking that he was hurt again because of her, tears were welling up in Bliss’s eyes. As if not even feeling the tears flowing down her face, she hugged Caelan’s body.
“Are you okay?”
“I won’t collapse or faint so don’t worry.”
When Caelan gestured toward the outside, knights who had been there since who knows when entered. Two grabbed Leonard’s arms to forcibly lift him, while another stood in front of Caelan.
“Tell His Majesty the Emperor we caught the one who tried to assassinate the duke. My body bears the marks of his swordsmanship as evidence.”
“Understood.”
After quickly clearing the scene and leaving at Caelan’s instruction, this time the butler tactfully brought a doctor.
They went to the adjacent room and Bliss watched as Caelan received prompt treatment.
“Leonard told me he did it…”
Thinking that the reason Caelan let himself be hurt by Leonard was for evidence, Bliss mumbled softly.
“You carved that into your body with your own body. Why did you do that? I could have been a witness.”
“To make sure he couldn’t escape.”
Caelan responded calmly. Since all the wounds had missed vital points, though there was a lot of blood spilled at first, it soon stopped.
“He’s someone skilled in schemes. Your testimony alone might not have been enough.”
“And it’s okay for you to get hurt?”
At Bliss’s words asking if this wasn’t too much, Caelan glanced at the doctor. Just then, the doctor who had finished all treatment went outside, and Caelan pulled Bliss’s hand to sit her in front of him.
“Bliss, look at me.”
“I can’t.”
Though it was for evidence against Leonard, all of this originated because of her. Feeling like Caelan was solving everything for her, Bliss couldn’t raise her head. She could only think that this happened because she was too incompetent.
“It’s okay, look into my eyes. Bliss.”
“Caelan, later. Later…”
When he tried to lift her chin to make eye contact, Bliss tried to avoid it but their eyes met.
Caelan was smiling.
“Why… are you smiling?”
“I love you.”
“…Caelan?”
“I wanted to catch him more definitively because I didn’t want to lose you to Leonard. I won’t do it again.”
“Saying such things…”
“I absolutely won’t get hurt again. So I love you, Bliss.”
Bliss couldn’t hold any more reproach against Caelan.