Chapter 1 - Part 1
Huge thanks to Crissymac for the kofi! (2/3)
***
That night.
Lelia sat hugging her knees in bed and blinked nervously.
She was only reading dozens of announcements for the alchemy lottery game.
She didn’t know why the service was about to get terminated. The remaining days were changed to [9] because it was past 12 p.m.
“…”
‘Do I have to live without this system now?’
‘What about the remaining ingredients? What about the debt I borrowed?’
She also wondered if she should make medicine in advance and take it all out.
There was also another one.
Alchemy no longer served as a conversation partner.
There was no answer that came back even if she called several times.
When asked why the hell was it doing this, the last answer came like this.
- [=͟͟͞͞(•̀ω•́ ‧̣̥̇) Hey… I need to get rid of it, so please don’t call me anymore. :’)]
*(meaning don’t talk to me)*
“…”
Honestly, she was disappointed and dejected.
Since she ran away from the Imperial Fortress when she was young, she had no choice but to rely deeply on alchemy.
Lelia bit her lips and held back her tears.
She didn’t want to show any signs of crying to someone who would come soon.
She blinked her eyes, which were filled with tears, several times and recalled today’s events.
She proposed on impulse, but she meant it.
She also expected Oscar to happily accept it. But Oscar was…
“…”
His expression immediately hardened at Lelia’s proposal. Soon, Oscar’s eyes contained feelings of joy and excitement.
But it lasted a while. He muttered in a trembling voice as if in conflict.
“…You’ll regret it. I’m…”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t deserve you.”
She was frustrated. It was the first time she was proposing in her life, but she couldn’t believe she got such an answer…
But Oscar’s expression was desperate.
Those eyes filled with guilt were even desolate.
Seriously, he seemed to believe that Lelia would regret it.
“Come to my room tonight.”
“…”
“Let’s talk again then.”
Lelia said that and turned around. Her heart was pounding.
She felt strange about the answer, whether it was a rejection or not.
She was waiting for Oscar without falling asleep until so late at night.
Fortunately, Becky didn’t come to the room today.
At that time, she heard a knock.
At the sound of a small knock, Lelia jumped up and headed for the door.
But when she opened the door, she didn’t find Oscar.
“Griffith? What’s going on?”
Griffith was smiling in front of the door, his hands behind his back. It was a polite smile.
“I have something to say.”
“At this hour?”
“Yeah. Can I come in?”
But Oscar was about to come soon.
If they run into each other…
“I know Oscar is coming. It’s because I have something to tell you before that.”
“…”
At his words, Lelia nodded and opened the door.
Griffith lit up the dark room and sat on the sofa.
Lelia approached the other side of the sofa with a shawl around her shoulder.
Griffith’s expression was calm as usual, but somehow her anxiety arose. It’s so peaceful.
“…Lelia.”
His red lips, which had been tightly closed, fell off.
At that moment, Lelia noticed something different than usual in Griffith.
Griffith’s neck was red. Lelia jumped up and tried to get closer.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wait a minute.”
Lelia firmly spoke and grabbed Griffith’s chin and lifted him up.
As expected, she didn’t see it wrong. Griffith had a red bruise on the back of his neck. It was a trace that seemed to be held strongly with a large hand.
“What’s this? Who did this?”
“Oh…”
Griffith removed Lelia’s hand as if he had never thought of it, and raised his collar to cover the back of his neck.
Lelia frowned even more.
“What is it? Who’s held your neck…?”
“It’s nothing.”
“…”
Lelia closed her lips tightly. Someone who would do this to Griffith to the point of strangling him…
Honestly, she couldn’t think of anyone other than her friends.
Among them, Oscar’s face was not difficult to guess.
“Was it Oscar? Did you two fight again?”
It wasn’t the first time the two had a fight. Last time, he was covered with wounds.
But this time…
To be honest, this wound looked more serious than the wound on the lips that had been punched and bleeding.
The signs of strangling were brutal. She could see that Oscar held it as if he would really take his life.
When asked to answer, Griffith sighed as if he couldn’t help it.
“…It’s nothing. I can’t help it because it’s my fault.”
“What did you do wrong?”
“I…”
Griffith blinked. The pure eyelids closed and opened repeatedly.
“That’s what I’m saying…”
He hesitated.
Then the corners of his mouth went up soon. It was a bitter smile.
“I found out Oscar’s secret.”
“…”
At that moment. Lelia got goosebumps.
For some reason, Griffith’s smile looked so happy.
Obviously, the expression was bitter, but the emotion underneath it was definitely pleasure.
Lelia asked, hiding her shock.
“Secret… What do you mean?”
“Well, this is hard to say with my own mouth. I don’t think it’s right to tell others’ secrets…”
“…”
“But… I’m worried that the secret will put you in danger.”
“…”
“I want us to stay here and be happy forever. You, me, Oscar, Romeo, and Kalix.”
Lelia swallowed her dry saliva. It was not easy to hide the tension.
Griffith persistently looked at her slender neck and continued.
“Lelia. I really like this place. I regret that I wanted to go to a temple while this kind of place existed.. Your family is really nice to me.”
“…”
“You really seem like my family. You know, they’re not my family in their home country…. Thanks to you, I have a real family. Grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt… Everyone is precious to me.”
Griffith’s words touched her heart. She could tell that he meant what he said.
However, somehow, it was difficult to purely enjoy his words.
It may be because she could peeked at the cruel joy that covered that smile a while ago.
“So I want Oscar to repent of his sins and be comfortable.”
“…”
At a whisper, Lelia raised her head.
What do you mean by sin?
“Oh, he happens to be here.”
As she turned to Griffith’s words, she saw Oscar coming through the window.
Entering without a sound, he approached with a cold look.
Then he grabbed Griffith by the collar.
“Oscar!”
“…”
When Lelia grabbed his hand, Oscar’s eyes shook.
Red eyes stared at her.
She could feel the infested anger.
“Don’t, don’t fight. Please…”
When Lelia begged, Griffith also said, drooping his eyebrows.
“Yeah, Oscar. Stop it because I’m sorry. I don’t want to do this with you in front of Lelia.”
“…”
Oscar’s hand, grabbing him by the collar, trembled and soon lost strength.
“…Ahh.”
Griffith frowned while touching the area as if his bruised neck hurt.
Lelia looked anxiously at Griffith and said,
“Griffith, you’d better go back and heal first. I think I need to talk to Oscar.”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
Griffith raised his body and bowed his head to Lelia.
Then he whispered very quietly in her ears as if telling a secret story. Warm lips slightly touched the earlobes.
“Please forgive Oscar, Lelia.”
After that, the voice was so small that you couldn’t hear it unless you really paid attention.
Lelia crumpled her forehead at the following whispered words.
“…”
After saying that, Griffith left the room with a small smile.
Lelia blinked as if surprised and clenched her fist.
“Lelia.”
She heard a voice calling behind her back.
Oscar stood sadly as if he had sinned.
“…”
Lelia still showed her back to him, and quickly displayed the system screen.
Then she took out a medicine from the inventory and held it in her hand.
Without hesitation, she opened the bottle cap and drank it.
“Lelia, what are you doing…”
Then she turned around and approached Oscar.
Staring at those confused red eyes, she grabbed his cold face and pulled him.
She kissed him as he was, and cold liquid flowed into Oscar through her lips.
His throat, which swallowed the liquid that came into his mouth, gulped. Lelia whispered little by little, facing her lips as she was.
“…Oscar.”
“…What did you feed me?”
“I… I don’t care about anything.”
“…”
“So tell me.”
“…Lelia.”
“Don’t be in pain alone. Okay?”
She whispered as if begging. Oscar closed his eyes. It was in an instant that the medicine worked.
The medicine Lelia fed him was a strong drug.
A drug that makes you answer only the truth when asked.
“Lelia, Oscar will never tell you the truth. He will be in pain alone forever… Maybe he will run away because he is sorry for you. So forgive Oscar, please.”
“As a friend, I’ll ask for you.”
Lelia asked, recalling the words Griffith whispered in her ear a while ago.
“What are you hiding from me, Oscar?”
***
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