Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: A Piece of Affection (1)
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It looked better than I expected.
Amid the rush of relief, I looked at the senior. Sca and Ricardo, who had been sitting in chairs, turned their heads to look at us, and Ye-hyeon, who had been leaning against the dresser, lifted his head.
None of them looked too upset.
I let out a sigh of relief.
“How’s the condition? Where were you stabbed?”
I quickly stepped inside and looked down at Ami.
Ami looked up at me and grinned.
“Side!”
What?
My eyes widened, and Yoon, who had followed behind me, let out a “Huh” from the back.
Yoon was holding a Java Chip Frappuccino in his hand.
The sight of a cold man in a black suit that seemed to absorb even a single ray of light holding a Frappuccino was pretty funny.
The master stood beside me with an incredulous expression.
“Stabbed in the side?”
“Yeah. But all the vital organs are fine.”
“And you had him go buy this?”
Ami beamed and held out both arms.
“My digestive system’s intact, so I can eat, right?”
“No.”
Ye-hyeon and Sca replied at the same time.
The senior’s round eyes drooped dejectedly.
Yoon turned to Ye-hyeon without smoothing his faintly furrowed brow.
“You eat this.”
Ye-hyeon took the Frappuccino in bewilderment.
He had taken it, but the way he stared down at it, wondering what to do, was funny. Ami’s mutter of “Ye-hyeon oppa, eat it deliciously for me…” was funny too.
The current situation wasn’t funny, though.
Who stabbed her?
From the fact that she was hospitalized, it seemed like a knife coated with Green Dream. That meant they had targeted Ami specifically.
The moment I saw the message saying “Ami was stabbed,” I floored the accelerator like a maniac, so I didn’t know the details.
Yoon, who had shoved his hands into his pockets and was looking at Ami, spoke.
“Explain.”
“Okay.”
Ami explained the situation.
While receiving the Java Chip Frappuccino, someone hidden in the crowd approached and stabbed her side before leaving. She hadn’t sensed their approach or departure. So she insisted they were skilled, and that deliberately avoiding vital organs was intentional.
Yoon listened to his little sister’s words while rubbing his brow with his right hand.
Once she finished, silence fell.
A silence that made everyone in the room tense.
Yoon let out a massive sigh.
It was a big, deep sigh.
“You got stabbed because you were distracted by the Frappuccino?”
“Ow!”
Ami got angry.
“No!”
“What do you mean, no.”
Yoon seemed to barely suppress the urge to flick her forehead.
“It’s true.”
“No! There’s more to the story!”
Ami, who had raised her voice as if to argue, suddenly stopped.
Her round eyes rolled around.
Hm?
“Why’s Hilde’s clothes like that?”
I looked down at my clothes.
I brushed off the suit stained with blood and dirt.
“My body’s fine, so don’t worry. Please finish the story.”
“You’re really not hurt? There’s a hole that looks like something pierced right through.”
“I’m really fine.”
I shrugged off the black jacket.
“See? No injuries, right? So don’t worry and continue.”
“You’re not hiding any injuries?”
“No, really. And these holes were made by Yoon.”
“Ah.”
They nodded in understanding.
I could feel the command staff and Ricardo’s gazes soften. Why did everyone suddenly have no more questions?
The sharp curve was funny, but I couldn’t enjoy it.
There was something more important right now.
I stared at Ami, who nodded as if she understood.
She carefully met my eyes.
“…Don’t get too shocked.”
What was this?
A chill ran down my spine. I instinctively knew something was wrong, even if I didn’t know what.
I looked at Ami, then turned to those who had arrived first.
“Hilde.”
Sca suddenly stood from her seat and pulled my shoulder.
“Sit.”
“Huh? I’m really fine, Aide.”
“You look it, but sit anyway.”
The aide dragged me over and sat me in the chair she had been using.
This action heightened my anxiety. Yoon was raising his brows, signaling what was going on.
What’s going on.
As I grew anxious, Ami hesitantly opened her mouth.
The explanation followed.
Once it ended, silence descended.
In the heavy silence, I stared at the floor for a long time with my mouth shut.
My ears rang. Like I was inside a plane taking off.
What the hell…
“Don’t blame yourself.”
Sca said.
“It’s absolutely not your fault.”
“Yeah. And I think this culprit is the same person who kidnapped Hilde.”
It was Ami’s claim.
I, who had been leaning forward, lifted my head. The hospital room past midnight.
Only Yoon was looking at Ami. Ricardo, Sca, and Ye-hyeon all had their eyes fixed on me.
Ami looked at me with her round eyes too.
“Right, Hilde? Hilde didn’t sense it either, right?”
“Ah.”
I nodded.
“That’s true, but…”
“Hilde was just walking down the street at the time, right?”
“Yes… I was heading to the grocery store to buy dinner.”
“See!”
Ami looked at Yoon triumphantly.
The master raised one eyebrow.
The young senior didn’t back down.
“It wasn’t because I was distracted by the Frappuccino! Hilde didn’t notice either!”
“There’s no guarantee it’s the same person.”
“The culprit this time wasn’t caught on CCTV either.”
Ami declared solemnly.
“It was the same when Hilde was taken. In a place full of people and cameras, they perfectly found the blind spots, approached without a sound behind skilled fighters, and they know Hilde. How many people in the world fit that?”
“Ami.”
I called out to the one staring into her big brother’s eyes.
I tried to hold back until the conversation ended but couldn’t endure it. The people in the room turned to me. Those who had been there first had faces holding back what they wanted to say as they looked at me.
I pretended not to notice their expressions.
“I’m sorry.”
Thwack!
A pillow hit me.
“Don’t apologize!”
The senior, who had thrown the pillow at my face in an instant, snapped sharply.
“You think I told you this to hear an apology?!”
Scary.
I was startled by Ami’s sharp anger.
I’d never seen her this mad.
Really scary.
I reflexively shrank back.
“I’m sorry. No, I mean… not that sorry.”
“Yeah.”
Ami’s fierce eyes softened the moment she saw my reaction.
“I get what you mean.”
“Wow, it’s been forever since I saw Ami that mad…”
Ricardo, who had been watching the situation with arms crossed, chuckled.
I looked at the sulky senior beside me. Is this situation funny to you?
Sca and Ye-hyeon were smiling too. Sca burst out laughing and picked up the pillow, while Ye-hyeon pulled his mouth from the Frappuccino straw with a gentle smile.
This isn’t a situation to enjoy.
I glared at the grinning seniors before dropping my gaze back to the floor.
No.
Regardless of whether it’s my fault or not.
“If Ami’s assumption is correct—and I think it has merit—then it’s someone with a grudge against me doing this.”
“Probably.”
Ye-hyeon replied in his husky voice.
I said darkly.
“It’s one of my own kind, don’t you think.”
It couldn’t be an elder’s lackey, and anyone I knew from my past wouldn’t be young enough to pull this off.
The highest possibility was a Titan with a grudge against me. Whether they luckily entered the Core or stayed inside, I didn’t know.
The two command staff nodded in agreement with my words. They seemed to have the same guess.
I furrowed my brow.
Which bastard?
Which pathetic bastard thought to target not me, but someone around me?
Strength entered my interlaced hands.
“Hand.”
Ricardo tapped my hand with the toe of his crossed leg.
I casually unclenched my hands, then cracked the knuckles of my left hand with my right.
My gaze was fixed somewhere in the air.
“I’ll capture the culprit alive and drag them before you, Senior.”
Make them kneel and apologize to her.
“Since it’s likely someone I know, I’ll find them fastest. If you don’t even want to see their face, I’ll handle it myself.”
“Hm. But what if it’s one of your own kind who doesn’t hate you that much?”
Ami said something odd.
Everyone looked puzzled. I didn’t fully understand the senior’s words either.
Ami gazed at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression.
“I said it seemed deliberate to avoid vital spots. What if it’s a creature trying to free a captured kin from human hands?”
“Would someone like that kidnap the person themselves?”
“That part doesn’t quite add up…”
Ami tilted her head and looked into space.
“When they said ‘that white-hair,’ it didn’t seem like pure hatred toward Hilde… Maybe they think we brainwashed Hilde or something. Or maybe they kidnapped Hilde to talk, but it failed for some reason…”
“At this point, it’s not deduction; it’s delusion.”
Yoon pointed out.
Ami didn’t yield.
“But that’s the feeling I got!”
“So?”
I couldn’t hold back and retorted.
Gazes turned to me. Even Yoon turned to look.
I stared straight at Ami, who blinked.
“What does that change?”
Ami opened and closed her mouth.
She seemed unable to put her intended words into speech. The gesture of trying to speak and then shutting her mouth repeated.
The senior’s patient gown reflected in the darkened window.
I, who had been watching her with a smile, pressed my right fingertip firmly into my left palm.
“No matter the intent, targeting those around instead of the person themselves makes them…”
Ah. Command staff are here.
I quickly changed my vocabulary.
“…a pathetic bastard, which doesn’t change. Intent doesn’t matter anyway.”
“But what if it turns out they’re on Hilde’s side? Then Hilde would be torn, right?”
“Not at all. Why would I be torn?”
I retorted with a grin.
“If anything tormented me, it was not beating them when they were my subordinates. What reason would I have to be tormented for any other cause?”
“…Calm down first, Hilde.”
“Be careful too, Senior.”
I turned from Ami, who urgently addressed me, to look at Ricardo.
The senior, who had been lounging in the chair with arms crossed, raised a brow.
Seeing his ‘What’s this suddenly?’ expression, I said.
“Since they touched Ami, the next target’s likely you, Senior.”
Ricardo’s eyes widened.
They really widened hugely, and his sharp green eyes pierced me.
The senior smiled as if he’d heard every kind of nonsense living this long.
“Me~?”
…Why so surprised.
“You’re doing this because you’re worried I’ll get stabbed in the Core~?”
“No, well… Ami got stabbed.”
“So next is me?”
Ricardo let out a genuinely amused voice and wiggled his brows.
He even adjusted his sitting posture.
“Worried I’ll get stabbed while spacing out~?”
“Yes. I mean…”
I hadn’t hurt his pride, had I?
I carefully chose my words. Choose the right words, Hildebert. Words that convey my inner thoughts without offending…
After agonizing, I spoke.
“Ami Senior got stabbed too. And Ami Senior’s skills are outstanding. If you weight it by speed, it could even mean Ami Senior’s better than you…”
“Hahahahaha!”
“Eep. The fledgling rookie’s comparing the top seniors’ skills.”
Sca burst out laughing, and Ami muttered while looking into space.
“This is my first time experiencing something like this.”
“N-No, Senior. That’s not what I meant… Really not. You’re both such veterans… No, you know what I’m trying to say, right?”
“Senior… Is this how you educate juniors~?”
Ricardo teased Yoon.
Don’t tease.
I’m serious. This isn’t the time for jokes.
And don’t tease. Don’t tease like this!
It’s really scary!
“Senior, I’m saying this because you’re the second person I’ve grown fond of after Ami.”
I urgently explained to Ricardo to salvage the situation.
Strangely, Ricardo seemed surprised again. But in a slightly different way this time.
I had no leeway to observe the difference.
I just hurriedly added explanations.
With a firm resolve not to break anymore.
“So, if they pick the next target, wouldn’t it likely be you, Senior? Since you’re the second human I’ve grown fond of…”
Ricardo looked at me with his vivid green eyes.