The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 141
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The first thing that came to mind was the black light that had been like spider webs.
I wondered if I had been captured by that power, but I soon shook my head.
‘For some reason, it doesn’t seem like this space is trying to harm me.’
It was some kind of intuition.
The dark space surrounding me simply existed.
Though I felt as if I had been left alone in a vacuum with all my senses blocked, somehow I wasn’t anxious or afraid.
‘Still, I can’t stay here forever. Should I look around once?’
When I carefully stepped forward, strangely enough, I felt something hard like a floor beneath my feet.
I slowly moved forward.
I still couldn’t see anything, but why was that?
There was no hesitation in my steps.
‘It feels like I’m exploring a familiar place.’
It wasn’t unfamiliar.
Just like how I wouldn’t panic if the lights suddenly went out in my own home.
After some time had passed, I, who had been wandering through the space, slowly sat down.
‘But I don’t see anything like a door.’
Regardless of my mental stability, I couldn’t see a way out.
Would I have to stay here forever?
As I considered various possibilities and tapped the floor, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Wait, if there’s a floor…’
There would also be a ceiling.
No, was the place I was standing actually the floor in the first place?
Would the way to move in this pitch-black, vast space be completely the same as the physical laws of reality?
I lifted my head abruptly and smiled slightly.
‘There it was.’
In the vast space, there was exactly one point of light.
The moment I realized that, I stood up and walked not forward but upward, heading toward the light.
The moment I finally grasped that light.
Pop—
‘…Wow.’
Color came to the space.
Even though light that hadn’t existed before poured in, my eyes weren’t dazzled. As if I had been aware of the light from the beginning.
So.
‘Right, very bright light is the same as very deep darkness. In the aspect that you can’t see anything.’
Perhaps I had known instinctively.
That this place wasn’t actually dark.
My observational skills and intuition as an appraiser had been unconsciously at work.
And the person who taught me that this was important was…
「Elisha.」
Grandfather?
I ran toward the voice that seemed to echo in my head rather than reach my ears.
The place I was in now was home. The house on the hillside that I had handed over to Hugo as debt.
So that’s why it felt familiar, I thought for a moment.
What I saw as I passed through the door like a breeze was.
「Your name is Elisha. It’s a name Beatrice chose in advance.」
Grandfather from his younger days, and me lying in a cradle.
Me from twenty years ago, not long after I was born.
And Grandfather, not long after he had stepped down from his position as Duke Rionet.
「That child would have loved you if she had seen you, surely…」
Grandfather’s voice was mixed with regret and sadness.
Was he missing his daughter who had left this world? When I unconsciously felt heavy-hearted at that clearly felt emotion.
「Abubu-?」
Young me babbled.
As if answering Grandfather’s words.
In addition, I placed my small hand on top of Grandfather’s hand, which had been a little distance away.
「Buu, uuung!」
It was exactly as if I was comforting him. Without knowing anything.
Grandfather seemed to unconsciously try to pull his hand away.
But soon he slowly turned his hand and held mine.
「Yes. …We’ll be able to get along well. Right, Elisha?」
「Uung!」
「Haha.」
Grandfather, who gave a hearty laugh, reached out his other hand and patted my head.
Then, after hesitating for a moment, he put a necklace on me.
The red necklace I had been wearing since I was too young to remember.
「I thought I would become your path… but perhaps, you might become my path.」
Grandfather stayed by my side until I fell asleep, and after confirming I was asleep, he got up.
After carefully covering me with a blanket, Grandfather headed to the kitchen.
It was the moment I saw what Grandfather picked up.
‘That’s…!’
「…Yes, this is as far as it goes.」
I knew the identity of the black liquid that Grandfather stared at intently before pouring it out.
‘That’s water boiled with Root of Blindness! But why would Grandfather from that time have that?’
It was when I fell into confusion.
Everything stopped abruptly.
As if to remind me that this wasn’t reality.
Was it a dream? An illusion? Or was it showing me what I wanted to see?
‘No, if that were the case, why would Grandfather have Root of Blindness?’
What I heard in my ear as I couldn’t get my bearings was.
「Leave.」
It was the voice I had heard from the ruby tablet.
However, the tone was different from that time.
Somewhere quiet and gentle….
That wasn’t the end of the sound.
“…Please….”
The voice that followed was also one I knew.
‘This is, Tesagh’s….’
That was truly the last.
The surroundings turned black again, and I fell downward.
*
“…Haa.”
Flash.
My eyes opened.
This pure white ceiling is, probably….
But my thoughts couldn’t continue.
“Elisha!”
Someone suddenly embraced me.
I unconsciously accepted that embrace. Somehow it was reassuring.
The sensation slowly returning told me that this was reality, but more than anything.
‘It’s warm.’
The fact that there was someone who had been watching me so closely that they noticed the moment I opened my eyes.
The fact that there was someone who waited for me, that was good.
“Th-the patient has awakened!”
Startled by the loud voice, the medical staff who had been checking inside rushed in frantically.
After bustling about for a while with examinations and such, they withdrew with somewhat brighter faces.
“There seems to be nothing wrong!”
After those who had been explaining that I still needed a thorough examination left.
I turned my head to the person who had been holding my hand throughout the entire examination.
Red eyes met mine.
“…Ah.”
Tesagh, who had been looking at me with a somewhat dazed expression, seemed to come to his senses at our eye contact.
Then, he let go of my hand and quickly stood up.
“Sorry, I’m sorry.”
Through the gaps between Tesagh’s hands as he roughly rubbed his face, broken words spilled out.
“I, that is… I just wanted, to see you, wake up.”
“….”
“It’s my responsibility. So….”
Tesagh, who had been rambling, bit his worn lips.
“…You probably didn’t want to see me, but I was being selfish.”
Thud.
The words that fell along with his bandaged hand that had been covering his face were stabbing at himself.
Tesagh’s voice trembled as he muttered like someone who had been stabbed with a knife.
Even so, Tesagh tried to compose his expression.
“I’m sorry. Rest well, don’t think about anything.”
He seemed to think that I would hate him.
That it was natural for me to resent and hate him. That everything about me getting hurt was entirely his fault, he seemed to believe.
Then he turned around and tried to leave immediately.
I opened my mouth.
“I was happy though.”
Tesagh stopped abruptly.
“I was happy that there was someone who waited for me.”
To him who slowly turned around to look at me, I smiled.
“Thank you. For believing and waiting for me.”
“Ah….”
Tesagh, who seemed unable to breathe for a moment, approached me.
Getting closer, I could see. His eyes were red. It was as if all the color from his pupils had moved to around his eyes.
Tesagh with bloodshot eyes carefully grasped my hand.
“Right. …I should have said this first.”
Unable to grip properly, he hung his head low and muttered.
“I’m glad.”
Moisture gradually seeped into his deeply sunken voice.
“I’m really glad….”
Tesagh’s shoulders, which had been trembling slightly, quietly shook.
Was his trembling transferring to me?
Hesitating, I gently raised my other hand and softly stroked his black hair.
‘Is it okay to do this to His Grace the Duke?’
But seeing how Tesagh’s hand holding mine gradually gained strength, it seemed like the right thing to do.
After confirming that Tesagh was slowly calming down, I cleared my throat and joked.
“There seemed to be a lot of people in the corridor, what if others see you like this?”
“…It doesn’t matter.”
“I might spread rumors about it!”
Those were the words I had said when he was hurt.
Tesagh also seemed to remember those words, as a deflating sound came from him with his head down.
And the response that came back was.
“Go ahead then.”
It was exactly the same answer as back then.
Tesagh, who raised his head, was smiling faintly despite his red-rimmed eyes.
I was thinking that was better when.
“Let’s stay like this… just a little longer.”
It was a low, tender whisper.
A smile also formed on my lips as I nodded.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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