The Villainess is Scared of Thunder and Lightning (3)
The Villainess is Scared of Thunder and Lightning (3)
Renoa grabbed Irion.
Unlike a typical master who didn't particularly give orders or assign chores, Renoa was desperate at this moment.
She threatened him with a look that said, 'If you don't listen to me, I'll use every means in the world to ruin you.'
In the end, Irion brought a chair and took a seat next to the bed.
"I don't think you're that stupid, but I'll advise you just in case. You'd better not try anything funny."
"......."
"And once tonight passes, forget everything. Otherwise, I'll fry your brain."
Renoa lay on the bed with her eyes closed.
Her voice was calm.
Every word she spat out was bloodthirsty.
She was no different from her usual self.
Except for the fact that she had pulled the blanket up to her chin. Except for the way she flinched every time the thunder rolled.
Looking at her, Irion's eyes were cold.
'This damn thing is... a villainess?'
She seemed like a completely different person from the Renoa in his memories.
Just how scared of thunder and lightning was she? At this rate, he wondered if she had died from being struck by lightning in her past life.
"I don't know why Bibi took her vacation on a day like this. Haa.... She really lacks any sense for work. All she knows how to do is idle around."
Renoa grumbled jjong-al-jjong-al without stopping. When the thunder struck, she would fall silent for a moment, then start chattering jjong-al-jjong-al again.
Irion let her talk to herself, barely listening.
Then, Renoa would peek with one eye to check if Irion was still in his place before closing her eyes again.
About thirty minutes passed like that.
'Is she asleep?'
Renoa had grown quiet. He could probably leave now. Thinking that, Irion was about to lift his butt off the chair.
"I don't believe I said you could leave yet."
Renoa caught him like a ghost.
Irion let out a sigh.
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
"Do you think I can sleep in this weather? And how do I know what kind of harm you might try to do?"
"I told you, even if I wanted to, I can't because of the contract."
"That sounds like you'd do it if you could."
Irion raised his fist and then lowered it. If it weren't for the master-servant contract, he would have given her a smack.
"Then I'll call a maid. It would be more comfortable for you, Gong-nyeo-nim, to have a woman here rather than a man like me."
"Those loose-lipped things would be thrilled to gossip if they saw this, and you want me to call them? Are you in your right mind?"
"......."
Is this a villainess or just a baby pretending to be one?
'I almost said... Florencia didn't hit her for nothing.'
In the end, Irion was stuck sitting there.
He decided to just give up on sleeping tonight. Anyway, there was no training the day after an expedition.
As time continued to flow aimlessly.
"You...."
It was a voice that broke the silence. Renoa's voice, as she softly opened her mouth, was so small and faint it was almost buried by the sound of the rain.
"Back then, why did you step in?"
"When?"
"When that old wom— the Duchess came. You stepped in on purpose. What were you thinking?"
It was a question she brought up while trying to act indifferent, but it was a doubt she had been harboring inside for quite a while.
"I stepped in because I wanted to be liked by the Duchess? I thought of it as an opportunity for success."
"......."
Renoa stared at him intently. Her gaze seemed to say, 'Did you really step in with that intention?'
Unable to withstand that gaze, Irion scratched his head and spoke again.
"Well.... It's just not right to see, you know. A girl getting hit like that."
"......."
"So I just gave it a shot. I was lucky. I thought I'd take a few hits, but I got through it safely."
"......Mind your own business."
Renoa's voice as she said that was blunt. However, it wasn't thorny like usual.
The restless feeling was similar to when she had received the gift from Irion before.
'Because it's not right to see a girl getting hit....'
Renoa secretly chewed over Irion's words.
She had guessed he stepped forward because 'she was his master' or out of 'duty as a knight.'
However, the answer that came back was an absurdly one-dimensional reason that could never pass in the Edelheid Ducal House.
The words used to describe Renoa in the Edelheid family were extreme.
To the servants, she was an untouchable, noble Gong-nyeo-nim, and to the family members, she was nothing more than a filthy illegitimate daughter.
There was no place for an ordinary girl who should be pitied and protected. Renoa had never expected it either.
And yet.
A slave, lowlier than anyone, treated the Gong-nyeo-nim of the kingdom as a mere girl.
A perspective so unfamiliar, excluding the shell and titles that bound Renoa.
'He's not just normally crazy.'
But for some reason, that arrogant attitude made a corner of her chest tingle strangely.
—Beon-jjeok! Kkwagwang!
"Ugh......."
Thunder struck the mansion once again. The wind and rain shook the windows violently.
"Um, Gong-nyeo-nim?"
"Agassi."
"Pardon?"
"Call me Agassi. How long do you plan on calling me Gong-nyeo-nim?"
Irion thought it was pretty much the same thing, but since Renoa seemed to want that title, he followed along obediently.
"Then, Agassi. Do you plan on staying up all night?"
"Why."
"It's not that, but I think I might be able to help you a bit."
"In what way?"
"Do you remember the sensory control you used on me before? I've been handling mana quite well lately, so I think I can reduce the sound of the thunder and lightning for you."
Renoa, of course, knew that method. It was a method she had already tried countless times.
However, the technique of controlling senses requires a high level of concentration.
For Renoa, whose reason became paralyzed by fear every time it thundered, such delicate mana control was impossible.
"If you make even a slight mistake, there could be a problem with my senses. And yet you're saying you'll control my senses?"
"...I didn't hear that kind of explanation when you did it to me. You did it without a word even though there's such a terrifying risk?"
"Answer me."
"If you can't trust me, you can just stay up all night."
Irion shrugged his shoulders and replied obnoxiously.
Normally, she would have made him unable to even open his mouth at that arrogant attitude, but the current Renoa didn't even have the energy for that.
A fierce internal conflict followed.
—Ureureung, Kkwagwang!
Consecutive flashes of light. The echoing thunder easily broke her stubbornness.
"......Only the sound."
Renoa gave her permission in a crawling voice while pulling the blanket up to just below her nose.
"You only have to reduce the sound. If you try anything even slightly funny, I'll really fry your brain."
"Yes, yes. I understand, Agassi."
Irion replied casually and was about to reach his hand toward Renoa's face.
—Tak!
Renoa hurriedly swatted his hand away.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I have to have physical contact to control mana. You know that already, so why the fuss?"
"You're going to put your hand on my face, a noble's? You, a slave? Did you leave your brain behind somewhere? Are you and I the same?"
"...Then where should I do it?"
Despite trembling like a coward at the sound of thunder, it seemed she had to satisfy her petty noble pride no matter what.
After agonizing with a serious expression, Renoa reached her hand out from under the blanket.
"......The hand. The hand is enough, isn't it?"
"I thought the hand wasn't allowed either?"
"Shut up. There's no other way. Don't talk back and just do it quickly."
"Yes, yes."
Irion let out a short sigh and placed his hand on top of Renoa's.
In that instant, Renoa flinched. The touch was so unfamiliar and foreign.
Even if Renoa was an illegitimate child, a Gong-nyeo-nim is a Gong-nyeo-nim. She had never done a single chore. She had never even gotten a drop of water on her hands, and she had never even dressed herself.
To such a Renoa, Irion's hand was so rough it was hard to believe it was a human hand.
Calluses embedded in every joint. A hand covered in scars that didn't suit his small, delicate appearance at all.
Just how much effort had he put in for his hand to get to this state?
How desperately must he have struggled to survive?
Within that hideous texture, the trajectory of the life he had lived was vividly engraved.
It was rough, but not unpleasant. The sensation of warm body heat spreading over the touching skin gave her a strange sense of relief.
"Then, I'll begin. Please focus only on my voice."
Along with a low whisper mixed with the sound of rain, lukewarm mana softly painted over Renoa's senses.
The wind and rain that seemed ready to smash the windows, and the violent thunder, scattered muffled as if submerged deep underwater.
The fear that had been forced into her evaporated in an instant.
A silence disconnected from the outside world.
In that stillness, only one single sound reached Renoa's ears.
"How is it? Is it a bit more bearable?"
Irion's voice, seemingly indifferent yet kind.
It echoed roundly and softly like a water droplet falling onto a calm surface.
Warmth constantly surged from the touching hands, and a strangely pleasant scent brushed the tip of her nose.
A cozy body scent that soothed her heart to an unusual degree.
The noisy world drifted away, and Renoa's stiffly frozen shoulders slumped down.
The strength also slowly left the edge of the blanket she had been gripping tightly with her other hand.
As the extreme tension was released, a terrible sense of relief brought a wave of sleepiness, and Renoa fell asleep in no time before she could even resist.
Regular, shallow breathing filled the room. Even when it thundered and lightened, not a single groan leaked out.
Along with the sound of soft breathing, Renoa's chest rose and fell at regular intervals. The color of her lips, which had gone pale, had also returned to normal.
Renoa was sleeping soundly with a peaceful expression.
'She was making such a fuss, but she's sleeping so well.'
Since she was sleeping with her mouth shut, she looked like a different person. Just looking at her sleeping face, how should he put it?
'She looks like a pretty devil.'
He had seen too much to ever call her an angel, so a pretty devil was the best he could express.
'Should I go sleep too?'
Irion tried to pull his hand away.
—Ggwaak.
In her sleep, Renoa gripped his hand tightly. As if she hadn't given him permission to leave yet.
'You've got to be kidding me.'
He tried to gently pull his hand out, but the grip only got stronger the more he did. It was clear she would wake up if he applied any more force.
Then she'd probably say something again.
In the end, he had no choice but to wait quietly until morning came.
And the next morning.
"......Huh?"
Renoa discovered Irion sleeping face-down on the bed.
And her own hand, which was tightly holding his.