Episode 129
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 129
Stumbling into Evan's arms, Elysia blinked, then stared blankly at her own fingertips as if only now realizing she had been strangling him.
Cain’s face twisted in annoyance at the unexpected turn of events, and he glared at Evan. With a smirk, he glanced at Elysia and muttered, “More and more surprising. What did you do?”
Beyond the door Evan had opened, a crowd of murmuring students could be seen. Cain raised his hands lightly, signaling an end to it. The man who had been murdered spoke, his expression calm.
“You must have something to say to me.”
“I don't know what you're talking about. Were you dreaming?”
“I didn't expect much, but… you're truly the worst.”
Despite Cain's mocking tone, the agitation in his voice was palpable. With a deadpan expression, Evan pulled Elysia into his arms as if to make a point.
As if his mood had soured, the composure on Cain's smooth face crumbled. Evan placed a light kiss on her forehead and warned Cain with a frigid expression.
“And I'm sorry to say, but El will never cross that line.”
He remembered Elysia's confession—that if he were to disappear, she might shatter her own convictions with her own hands. I'll make sure that doesn't happen. All I have to do is not disappear.
Glaring at Cain, he bit out the words in a cold tone.
“Because I'll be there to stop her.”
With that, the man turned on his heel and left the room, supporting the staggering Elysia.
Cain didn't even think to wipe the liquor staining his body. He watched the two of them leave, then flicked his gaze toward someone beyond the door.
He saw the face of Edgar Harvey, pale as a dead fish. Evan, who was striding toward the exit, also turned his eyes to him.
Horrified, Edgar flinched and began to back away, trembling. Evan opened his mouth as if to say something, but after a glance at Elysia, who didn't look well, he seemed to decide it wasn't worth the effort and continued on his way.
*
As if her legs had finally given out, Elysia collapsed the moment they left the banquet hall. Evan had no choice but to pick her up and carry her back to her room. A weary voice mumbled from within his arms.
“You should have waited in the dorm…”
“So, I shouldn't have come?”
“…No. You did well.”
Shaking her head, she gave a bitter smile and rested her forehead against his shoulder.
“If you hadn't come, senior… a murder might have actually happened.”
Evan gently set Elysia down on the bed and stared down at her. In that instant, she reached out, pulled him onto the bed, and unsteadily climbed on top of him.
Before he could process the situation, her pale hands began to roughly unbutton his shirt.
“You, what are you—!”
He tried to stop her, but the buttons were already halfway undone. Elysia pulled his shirt open without hesitation and began to run her hands frantically over his body—from his firm chest to his broad shoulders, and down to his toned abdomen.
Evan realized her touch wasn't meant to be sensual, but was a desperate search for injuries. He gave up resisting and remained still. After checking his face and head, Elysia's expression went blank as tears began to fall.
Evan glanced awkwardly toward the kitchen, worried she might actually dehydrate at this rate.
“El, I'll get you some water. First, you should drink…”
“Don't go.”
Her voice was thick with emotion as she pulled him into an embrace. His mind grew hazy. Barely clinging to his reason, Evan patted her back, his fists clenching tightly at the sight of the sheer fabric of her dress.
“It's okay, I'm right here. Don't be anxious—”
The lips that were uttering words of comfort were suddenly blocked. Clinging to his neck as if he were a lifeline, Elysia clumsily pressed her lips to his.
Evan slowly cupped her jaw, tilting her head up, and parted her lips. He tried to be patient as their tongues met, but he couldn't help his breath growing ragged from a kiss far deeper than usual.
He tangled a hand in the back of her hair, pulling her closer as he sat up, deepening the kiss. A soft moan, mingled with a sob, echoed in the room. A soft thump brought him back to his senses. Their positions had been reversed.
He almost reached for the dress he'd wanted to strip off her since the moment he first saw it, but he managed to catch himself.
He met the gaze of Elysia, who was panting beneath him, looking up with tear-filled eyes. He felt his throat go dry. Not now. Elysia needed to calm down.
To suppress the desire stirring inside him, he deliberately changed the subject.
“I followed you because you called for me… I let my guard down. You must have been so scared. It's okay now, calm down.”
“Don't go.”
“I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.”
He took her hand, still cold and pale, and pressed it to his own cheek, forcing a smile as he soothed her. The woman with tear-soaked eyes caressed his cheek, then began to touch his body once more.
It was just a touch of confirmation, but his breathing quickened. Ah, this is getting difficult. He gave a strained laugh and pulled back slightly.
“Your body is so cold. Go wash up first. I'll get the bed ready… Okay?”
Elysia nodded silently and staggered toward the bathroom. He sighed, about to sort out the awkward situation, but froze at her next words.
“I can't do it alone.”
“…Huh?”
A stupid sound escaped his lips before he could stop it. Her gray eyes, their meaning unreadable, stared at him.
“You do it for me, senior.”
Silence fell.
He slowly rose to his feet and stood behind Elysia. He traced a finger up the soft curve of her waist. Elysia flinched and turned her head to look at him.
As his hand went to the first button, he placed a light kiss on her neck and murmured, “You need to rest.”
“…”
“You need to be calm right now, Elysia.”
His touch, filled with undeniable desire, toyed with her wrist. He sighed and tried to keep his touch as chaste as possible, fighting the urge to let his hands linger as he undid the buttons.
Evan gritted his teeth as the straight line of her spine was revealed against her pale skin. He undid just enough buttons for her to take the dress off herself, then took a step back.
The moment he did, Elysia closed the distance he had created, wrapping her arms around his neck. Resting her forehead against the man's pounding heart, Elysia whispered.
“My stability is you, senior.”
Tears welled in her narrowed eyes. The woman's hands, which had been on his shoulders, slowly slipped inside his shirt.
Evan tensed at the cold touch on his bare skin and looked down at her. A whisper, wet with tears, tickled his neck.
“So right now, what I need is…”
His frozen mind ignited with heat.
The man bent down in a rush and kissed her as if to devour her. There was the sound of fabric sliding against skin, and then, with a soft rustle, the dress he had unbuttoned fell to the floor.
As he gripped the soft flesh of her inner arm, he noticed the faint traces of blood on Elysia's arm. With an anxious sigh, he pushed her into the bathroom.
A heavy splash sent water spilling over the sides of the tub. He gripped the wrist of the woman who was trembling from the hot water and meticulously washed the blood from her hands and arms. He gave a bitter smile and muttered.
“So much… blood.”
“…”
“Why are you crying…”
He stared blankly at the blood spreading through the clear water, then pressed his lips to the tears streaming down Elysia's cheek, which was flushed from the warm bath.
It hadn't felt real, but washing away the blood made him realize it was. There were no wounds left, but it was definitely his blood… He had literally died and come back to life.
“How… No, never mind.”
He had been about to ask about it, but he shut his mouth. He remembered the look on Elysia's face, how she had stared down at him as if she were about to collapse. He would have to ask someday, but not now.
Instead of useless words, he lowered his lips to hers. Just before they touched, his lips parted in a whisper.
“Don't think about anything right now.”
Lips parted, tongues tangled. As he caressed her ear and traced the line of her teeth, a pleasant sound escaped the woman's throat.
He pulled her into his arms without hesitation. With a series of splashes, the water surged and spilled out of the tub.
I want to show you that me being by your side is real. So you can feel safe, so you won't tremble in fear.
He grips her firmly, strokes her, caresses her. So you can feel me.
“I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.”
Adding one more phrase to imprint his existence on her, he willingly gave himself to the woman who was struggling to forget a terrible nightmare.
Nuzzling his nose against her cheek, he confessed his love endlessly. Telling her how much he loved her, how this love pierced his heart every day until it was almost unbearable.
With every tender confession, devoid of any crude words, tears streamed down Elysia's feverish cheeks.
An affection of indescribable, undefinable depth poured out.
*
Cain slowly rose to his feet. Drip, drip. Drops of wine fell onto the pristine white floor. As if on cue, handkerchiefs were offered to him, but he waved them all away with a flick of his hand.
Putting on a mask-like smile to hide his displeasure, he recalled the image of the man who had walked into the hall perfectly fine.
A man whose death he had confirmed with his own eyes had returned from the dead…
As Cain was leaving the banquet hall to board his carriage, someone grabbed his wrist. He grimaced in annoyance.
“S-Senior… W-we need to talk… about what to do n-now…”
“And why should I do that?”
“B-Because we're… accomplices now. So… Ugh!”
It was a deserted night. Cain shook his wrist free as if swatting a fly and kicked Edgar in the knee. The man collapsed pathetically to the ground, trembling as he crawled.
Just as he tried to push himself up with his arms, Cain planted his shoe on his hand and looked down at him coldly.
“Why would I be your accomplice?”
“B-But we definitely… killed Senior Sylvester together…”
“I have no idea what you're talking about. It's not murder if the victim is alive. I suppose I was the only one who saw that bastard walk out of the hall perfectly fine, wasn't I? Or maybe your eyes weren't open wide enough.”
Edgar blinked at Cain's sudden change in attitude. Cain stared into Edgar's eyes as if lost in thought, then muttered with a blank expression.
“Should I tear those half-open eyes wider for you…”
Seeing the weak, confused flicker in Edgar's eyes, Cain spat a vulgar curse through his teeth and kicked him in the solar plexus.
As Edgar choked and gagged under the merciless assault, Cain grabbed him by the collar and smiled his usual gentle smile, as if nothing had happened.
“You want to make up for your mistake. Don't you?”