Chapter 135: The Lord is With Us (56)
Chapter 135: The Lord is With Us (56)
While the servant stood frozen in place, utterly dumbfounded, I stepped straight into Senior Delphine’s room.
It was late at night. Moonlight was pouring in through the expansive windows.
Bathed in that light was a woman with brilliant golden hair.
Her hair boasted a color so vibrant it looked as if it had been woven from gold thread. Her eyes, resembling rubies, stared blankly out the window—a color that served as the very symbol of the Yurdina family.
She was sitting on the windowsill, silently taking in the night scenery. The dim lighting only served to accentuate her smooth, pale skin.
She was dressed exactly as I had seen her before.
A thin gown draped over her pure white naked body, a garment that left none of the seductive curves of her figure to the imagination.
Seeing it again, I realized the outfit was far too provocative for a man in his prime.
So, I cleared my throat with a dry cough and offered Delphine an awkward greeting.
“……Senior Delphine.”
The woman’s gaze slowly drifted toward me. When our eyes met, there was a brief silence.
It felt as if time had momentarily stopped.
Within that stillness, Delphine’s pupils gradually dilated, and her lips parted and closed repeatedly.
And then, finally, a feminine scream erupted.
“Kya, kyaaaaaaak! H-how did you get in?!”
Delphine shrieked, hurriedly clutching her robe shut. As she recoiled, a sense of unmistakable terror flickered in her eyes.
Talk about overreacting. I shrugged and spoke to her.
“I broke the door down. I told you I was coming in, anyway.”
“I—I said I wanted to be alone!”
“I said I was coming in; I never said I needed permission.”
It was an incredibly brazen thing to say.
Delphine opened her mouth as if to snap back, but I moved faster.
My eyes spotted a table. It was the same spot where I had sat across from her once before.
I strode over, pulled out a chair, and sat down in the spot opposite where Delphine would be.
A single wine glass sat upon the table. It seemed to be something Delphine had prepared for herself.
Adopting a relaxed posture, I picked up the glass and examined it.
It was a high-quality piece. Truly a glass fit for the successor of the Yurdina family.
Then, looking at Delphine—who was staring at me with a dazed expression—I flashed a slight smile and asked:
“……Care for a drink?”
Upon hearing the suggestion, Delphine had the exact same look in her eyes as the servant I had seen just before entering the room.
It was a look I had seen many times before.
I decided not to bother deciphering the intent behind it.
Delphine Yurdina was terrified of Ian Percus.
He was the man who had etched countless wounds and humiliations upon her body.
Her knees would tremble just standing before him, and on days when he pulled out that hand axe, the prideful light in her eyes would be replaced by sheer dread.
The fact that she feared Ian was that obvious.
Nevertheless, Delphine had clung to a tiny shred of pride.
The confidence that even if she couldn't defeat Ian, she could at least be of use to him.
Even when she bickered with Elsie, Delphine never doubted that she would be more helpful than her.
No matter how many times she suffered defeat, she was still the direct bloodline of the Yurdina family—the Golden Lion of the North.
She didn't care that she had looked ridiculous playing the part of a maid or a pet in the process.
That was the only pride Delphine had left. Even if it turned ugly, she had to hold on and cling to it somehow.
However, the battle at the orphanage had been enough to strip away even that last ounce of self-esteem.
At first, she thought she was being quite helpful.
When they were subjugating the monkey-like demonic beasts, Delphine’s performance was particularly notable. She had formed the core of the phalanx alongside Ian.
But the situation began to change the moment they entered the cavern.
For instance, the first battle against the Flesh Seeds.
When Ian didn't return for a long time after deciding to face the Flesh Seeds alone, the worried group turned back the way they came.
And there, they saw him.
The man with the glowing golden eyes.
The martial prowess he displayed against the swarming Flesh Seeds afterward was overwhelming.
Every time a Flesh Seed lunged at him, blood and brain matter were sprayed into the air. His unrelenting violence dominated the blood-soaked landscape.
Six of them—monsters that were incredibly difficult to deal with—were slaughtered like mere flies in less than a few minutes.
Watching Ian pounce on the last one and swing his axe like a madman, Delphine recalled the terror etched deep into her mind once again.
Her legs shook uncontrollably. She wanted to collapse and scream right then and there. That feeling of wanting to vomit—she became certain as she watched the scene of brains and flesh being splattered into a pulp.
I must never resist him.
This man knew no moderation. If she ever tried to defy Ian again, she might be the one lying there, turned into a mushy soup of mixed blood and flesh.
Barely steadying her staggering body, Delphine watched Ian’s violence with eyes full of fear, engraving it into her memory.
Never, ever will I defy him.
She reinforced the vow she had repeated to herself countless times.
It was the same in the next battle.
While Delphine kept the monkey-like demonic beasts at bay, Ian took the head of the Fiend single-handedly.
When they went to destroy the final Flesh Nest, she had become nothing more than dead weight.
She had inadvertently let her ankle be bitten, preventing Ian from even receiving fire support from Elsie.
And above all, that image of him moving forward without wavering, even though he was battered and broken.
He was powerful. It was enough to send a shiver down her spine.
No matter how strong Delphine’s competitive spirit was, she couldn't have continued the fight after sustaining fatal wounds. Yet, the man devised a way to victory until the very last moment before death.
In the end, he won.
With his limbs bitten, dripping dark red blood from being poisoned, and coughing up mouthfuls of gore and entrails, he seized victory.
She simply couldn't compete. How could anyone stand against a human like that?
Since that day, Delphine had shut herself in her room, ruminating on her gloom all day long.
She was weak—pathetically so.
A feeling she was experiencing for the first time in her life seethed in her chest.
Inferiority and jealousy—within those ugly emotions, Delphine’s depression only grew deeper.
And then, today, Ian had suddenly come to find her.
After hesitating for a long while, she had no choice but to reject Ian’s proposal to meet.
She simply didn't have the confidence to face him.
Terrified that he might discover her hideous emotions, Delphine chose to hide in her room.
And this was the result.
Trembling with shame, Delphine poured wine into Ian’s glass, feeling as if she were a maid attending to him.
Ian sniffed the air, savoring the fragrant aroma of the wine.
“……Hmm, this is excellent.”
Of course it is. It’s a wine you couldn't buy even if you saved your allowance for a year.
Delphine wanted to snap back like that, but there was no way she dared to defy Ian.
In the end, she just sat across from him with her head bowed low.
She sipped her wine listlessly.
She felt pathetic, being unable to do anything in front of a younger man. As she did, she stole glances at Ian and adjusted her clothes.
At that wary gaze, Ian let out a dry, incredulous laugh.
“You were so confident before. Why are you like this now?”
Delphine’s body shuddered at those words.
Back then, she was confident she could suppress Ian no matter what he did, but now, Delphine had no confidence that she could win against him.
In fact, if he were to pull out his hand axe and threaten her, she would have to do whatever he said.
Look at her now—unable to say a word at a single comment from Ian, pouring wine into his glass.
If Ian told her to take off her clothes, she might actually do it.
No, if he commanded it while holding his hand axe, it was a certainty.
Delphine would strip. She wouldn't be able to resist even if he demanded something more.
That was the sorrow of the weak before the strong.
It was the exact opposite of the situation when they had first sat across from each other.
However, she couldn't bring herself to admit that fact in front of him, so Delphine only let her shoulders tremble slightly without opening her mouth.
Regardless, Ian just sipped his wine. His attitude suggested he hadn't expected an answer from Delphine in the first place.
He asked in a flat voice.
“I heard you’ve been holed up in your room lately……”
And whose fault is that? Delphine tried to shoot a sharp glare at Ian, but she ended up meeting those golden eyes.
Her spirit broke instantly.
Lowering her gaze slightly, Delphine exerted the maximum amount of defiance she could muster and said:
“It—it has nothing to do with you… sir.”
Her situation felt miserable as she instinctively added the polite honorific while gauging Ian’s reaction.
As Delphine’s expression grew even more somber, Ian nodded as if agreeing.
“I suppose that’s true. Well, it’s your freedom to rot in your room if you want, Senior.”
Did he come here to mock me?
At that thought, Delphine’s gaze turned sullen.
The inferiority complex she had been harboring began to boil.
Since he was the strong one and the winner, he might have come to make fun of Delphine, the weak loser.
He might be feeling a sense of euphoria seeing her submit and unable to move at his every word.
Even if that were the case, Delphine no longer felt like resisting Ian.
She only bowed her head, chewing on her frustration.
Just as Delphine was biting her lip out of Ian’s sight, the man called out to her softly.
“……Senior Delphine.”
Clack. The wine glass was set down on the table.
Delphine pointedly avoided Ian’s gaze. She didn't have the confidence to meet it.
Ridicule, contempt, and the sense of defeat she would have to feel upon facing such a look.
She feared and hated it all. She felt like just breaking down right there.
However, the next words Ian spoke were different from what she had imagined.
“I came to say thank you.”
Delphine’s eyes lifted, blinking in dazed surprise.