Chapter 174: Creating an Opportunity - 15
Chapter 174: Creating an Opportunity - 15
The golden-haired elf approached him, struggling to hold back her tears.
Leticia stopped in front of him and stood still, looking down at Jiha.
She forced out a caustic jab.
"How can you admit to cheating so shamelessly?"
"Would you prefer I confessed shyly?"
Leticia stared down at him in disbelief. Jiha tugged on her arm.
Forced to lean closer, Leticia flinched and turned her head aside as their faces neared.
"...I don't like men who cheat."
Jiha ignored her and sealed his lips over hers.
They kissed briefly. Leticia shook her head, trying to evade him, but Jiha wouldn't let her go.
With her waist held tight against him, Leticia stopped resisting and lowered her eyes.
She had resolved that if Jiha pressed this, she would respond with utter stillness.
Jiha understood her intent, but he kept repeating the kiss, alternating long and short ones.
He didn't use his tongue. Just lips touching, briefly mingling, then parting again, over and over. Leticia's eyebrows, which she fought to keep still, began to tremble faintly.
Even in her anger, the touch of his lips made her happy in the end.
"Mmm..."
Sensing it, Jiha deliberately prolonged the kiss. Her breathing grew ragged, and Leticia finally couldn't bear it and parted her lips.
She must have thought he'd slip his tongue in, because she quickly closed them again, but Jiha had no such intention.
This act was meant to ensure Leticia would continue following him in the future.
Unable to maintain her impassive response, Leticia turned her head away to escape his kiss.
Jiha pulled her down and settled Leticia onto his lap.
After a token resistance, Leticia sat on his lap and murmured softly.
"Playboy."
"Mm."
"You slept with another woman, didn't you? Besides me."
"Yeah."
"...You're mean."
The words were short, but the genuine hurt Leticia felt came through clearly.
Leticia sighed.
"Normally, when someone gets caught cheating, they at least make excuses. But you don't even do that..."
"Right."
Jiha's clipped answers made Leticia sigh in frustration.
"Be honest with me. ...Do you just not like me very much? Is that why you act like this? Because I'm not enough?"
"No."
Jiha raised his hand and brushed it gently from Leticia's forehead to her cheek.
"I think you're beautiful. I've thought your fierce eyes were captivating since the first time I saw you."
"..."
"Your occasional posturing is cute, too. And I like how you become docile when we're alone."
"...You never say things like that normally."
Leticia hesitated, then spoke carefully.
"...For a long while, you didn't do anything at all, and I wondered if I had done something wrong. I was suddenly terrified that you'd grown tired of me. Even when I worked up the courage, you didn't seem to enjoy it much."
"..."
"You haven't really been cheating a lot, right?"
Leticia forced a smile.
The wild cat who snarled at others was now a kitten, gauging his reaction, mewing sweetly.
"If you'd truly been fooling around that much, even I would have noticed. You weren't just doing it because you wanted to, right?"
She wanted to give him an excuse. To absolve him.
Jiha closed his eyes.
That single statement told him that Leticia loved him.
She was an elf who was fierce and caustic toward others, but she was tender at heart.
A sunflower. Once she had chosen the person she looked toward, she would try to understand no matter what he did.
No matter how hard-hearted a man is, he can't be callous when a woman appeals to him like this.
Jiha opened his eyes and answered calmly.
"I'll be sorry for what comes next, too."
"..."
A sentence reduced to a single word. At Jiha's remarkably rare apology, Leticia's eyes trembled finely.
She had been the one to offer the suggestion first, to smooth over what happened before as a mistake.
But Jiha had refused it, and was telling her it would happen again.
"Once I've accomplished my goal, I'll listen to you. But until then, no."
Jiha stated it plainly and definitively.
After he achieved his goal of changing this wretched world, after he had accomplished everything, perhaps then he could afford to be gentler with a woman.
Leticia gazed at Jiha for a long moment with wet eyes, then dropped her head.
"I hate you..."
The woman realized that the man was trying to make her accept his stance.
Any normal woman would of course be angry, and someone with Leticia's strong personality would be angrier still, yet strangely, she wasn't.
The moment she heard his apology, her anger vanished like melting snow, and somewhere deep in her chest, she gave in.
She understood. He must have had his reasons.
One might wonder what was so special about a single apology, but the one who spoke it was Jiha.
He drew a sharp line between public and private. Alone with her, perhaps, but when others were around, he kept a strict distance.
Leticia was beginning to realize, almost without knowing it, that Jiha was different from other men—that even with a woman he'd shared his body with, he rarely opened his heart.
She wanted to understand. What circumstances could have driven a man like this to say he was sorry?
He could have hidden it forever if he'd wanted to.
He could have deceived her. But even when she offered to be willingly deceived, he apologized.
"...You're an idiot."
Leticia sighed at her own feelings and pressed her finger firmly against Jiha's forehead.
Prod. Prod.
A teasing gesture she would never dare if anyone else were watching.
Experience had taught Leticia that Jiha didn't permit careless behavior when others were around.
So, afraid of making a mistake, of being disliked, she had reduced the times she sought him out first, eventually finding herself in the position of simply waiting for him.
The truth was, even waiting here like this tonight had been a significant act of courage for her.
She didn't want to make Jiha angry. She wanted him to be gentler with her.
And she wanted to spend time with him.
"..."
To think she'd come to harbor these feelings for a man.
And not even an elf, but a human.
Unable to believe her own heart, Leticia wrapped her arms around Jiha.
When the elf seated on his lap sought affection, Jiha wordlessly embraced her in return.
"...Promise me just one more thing. Don't be angry when we're alone. In return, I'll do my best, too."
Leticia realized what she wanted most.
"Even if it's only when we're alone... be tender with me. If you do, I'll listen to you well."
"...Alright."
Jiha answered with Sincerity.
Even for someone as coldly rational as him, it was hard to refuse when she sought his affection so nakedly.
For all her fierce temperament and strong combat ability, Leticia's mental resilience was remarkably fragile.
On top of that, by following Jiha, she had taken part in what amounted to voluntary abduction, and had turned her back on the elf society she'd belonged to since birth.
Now, Leticia had no one but Jiha.
Leticia knew this, yet she kept her mouth shut about it around Jiha.
She was constantly wary, afraid it might anger him, or in the worst case, that he might abandon her.
He had frightened her too much in the process of taming her.
Jiha had observed her outward personality and figured this was enough. But for someone with such a tender inner heart, it had been far too effective.
"When it's just the two of us, a little bit of playful mischief is fine."
When a cat with nowhere else to go hides in the corner of a room, spending all day desperately watching his every expression, he felt the urge to treat it kindly.
"Can I ask one more favor?"
Leticia made the request while carefully gauging his reaction.
"Sometimes... it doesn't have to be often, but come to me."
"..."
"When I'm... alone, I get lonely."
It was a plea not to forget her, because she wanted to spend time with Jiha.
Even if he prioritized his work, even if he spent time with other women, she understood, but it was a request not to forget her. Jiha replied.
"I will."
"...Is that a promise?"
Leticia grabbed Jiha by the shoulders and asked again.
When Jiha nodded to confirm it, she beamed brightly, then suddenly realized her posture and panicked.
She'd gotten swept up in the mood, but sitting on a man's lap must surely look indecent.
"Sorry, I must have been heavy. I'll just..."
As Leticia tried to rise, Jiha wrapped an arm around her waist to stop her.
The man was gazing at her with composed eyes, and Leticia grew flustered.
"You've been drinking... you should sleep."
"Don't you want to?"
"...It's not that. But what if someone sees?"
The quarters were empty since everyone was enjoying the banquet, but this was a lounge—a space where someone could walk in at any moment.
When Leticia offered weak resistance, Jiha spoke in a low voice.
"No one will see."
"Even so..."
An anxious note leaked into Leticia's voice, and Jiha waited no longer.
When the man pressed his lips against hers, she stopped talking and wrapped her arms around Jiha's neck.
Jiha tenderly held the golden-haired elf, who clung to his chest like a baby bird seeking warmth, and inwardly sighed.
Was he going too soft? A moment of self-reflection struck him.
'...No. It's hard to be any harsher than this.'
Push any further, and she would break.
Even with the carrot and stick, the mix had to be adjusted depending on the subject.
Leticia came across as caustic and fierce, but her self-esteem was actually terribly low.
She was the type to put on a strong front to hide her weaknesses.
At first, Jiha had only seen her outward appearance and pressed down on her hard, and the result was that she ended up barely able to breathe.
'Is this a protective instinct...?'
He found himself wanting to protect this elf who was so much more delicate than she looked.
He wanted to be gentle with her.
Jiha was inwardly surprised by this unfamiliar feeling that had suddenly welled up inside him.
When the long, close-lipped kiss ended, Leticia stared up at Jiha, her eyes scanning his face, then gently lowered her gaze.
He could see her trying her best to hide it, but there was still a lingering sadness she couldn't shake.
"Spit it out."
"...No. I won't."
"I said I won't get mad, so tell me."
At the reassurance, Leticia finally spoke.
"I thought you might be... thinking about another woman."
"I was thinking about you."
"...Liar."
Leticia couldn't bring herself to believe it, and Jiha wordlessly stroked her hair.
Under the touch, as if he was soothing a child or handling a cat, Leticia blinked.
What Jiha was feeling was Sincerity.
"Leticia..."
"Ah..."
As Jiha said her name and brought his lips close again, Leticia closed her eyes.
Soft lips. Until now, he had only pressed his lips to hers, but now he slowly took her lower lip between his own.
He nibbled on the soft flesh and sucked slowly, savoring her at his leisure.
"Uh, mm..."
At the kiss after so long, Leticia quickly let out a heated moan.
At her sensitive reaction, lust and possessiveness tangled together inside the man's chest, entwining with his desire to be gentle with her.
While sucking on her lips, he lightly placed his hand over her breast, on top of her dress.
"Mm..."
When the man didn't stop at just a kiss, Leticia let out a surprised moan.
The tips of her eyebrows, which had been pressed together in tension while she accepted his lips in submission, trembled.
Jiha moved his hand slowly over her breast, enjoying the supple feel.
As the man's fingers moved over the fabric and stimulated her chest, Leticia breathed in ragged gasps and managed to tear her lips away.
Leticia pulled back like a frightened rabbit cowering away. Jiha pushed his body forward and toppled her onto the sofa.
Unable to resist, pinned down beneath him, Leticia covered her chest with her arms and spoke weakly.
"Not here... I don't want to do it here."
"No one's coming."
Everyone was in the middle of enjoying themselves.
"Still... someone might come."
Even though Leticia was anxious, Jiha ignored it and sealed their lips together again.
Being tender with a woman didn't mean becoming soft in every way.
"It's just the two of us."
It meant giving her reassurance.
That within his domain, she was safe.