“I heard you were hurt. Are you alright now? Has your arm recovered?”

Kasha’s cold rejection didn’t seem to affect him at all.

It was always like this. Her lies, her secrets. There was no way he wasn’t hurt by all of it.

His transparent eyes were filled with nothing but worry.

His eyes, sparkling like a jewel crafted by an artisan, were a blend of various shades and tones of purple.

They possessed a much deeper and more sublime light than the purple diamonds set in the emperor’s crown.

Perhaps that was the reason.

Why Kasha also couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Why her heart kept pounding like a teenage girl’s.

Kasha forced herself to look away.

“My condition is better than ever. So please, do not disturb my walk.”

Since when had she stopped feeling nervous when speaking in front of him?

The number of times she stammered had also decreased significantly, but even if she did stammer, she no longer felt intimidated.

It was probably because of his gaze that always looked at her directly.

Leon didn’t care if she stammered, if she wore high-prescription glasses with disheveled hair, or if she went on for hours talking only about magical tools.

He simply looked at her. At the real her inside the shabby shell, the one everyone else had turned away from.

From the beginning, he never looked down on her and was the first to reach out to her when she was being ostracized.

Even when she revealed the secret of the curse and proposed a contract relationship, he might get angry but never ignored or treated her carelessly.

He looked into her eyes, listened to her words, and at times silently followed her, naturally reaching out whenever she needed help.

Since when? Whenever he did that, she fell into the illusion that she had become a very important person.

As it repeated, at some point, a small belief sprouted within her. That she, whom a good person like Leon cherished, might really be a precious person.

And gradually, she began to stammer less not only in front of Leon but also in front of others.

It was only recently that she realized the identity of that belief was called ‘self-confidence’. It was different from the venom and vengeance that awakened herself after returning from death, and the survival instinct.

And in front of Leon, whom she met again after half a month, Kasha felt another unfamiliar emotion.

Just by looking into his eyes and feeling his presence, her chest tickled and her entire being felt fulfilled.

The late summer sunlight that used to sting her skin suddenly became cozy, and his hair fluttering in the slow river breeze was dazzlingly breathtaking.

To the point where she had the crazy thought that she wouldn’t mind being preserved in this moment forever.

And as soon as she recognized that fact, a huge sense of anxiety welled up at the same time, making her chest feel stuffy.

She inhaled and grabbed her solar plexus with her hand.

“Kasha. You don’t look well. Are you still having trouble sleeping these days?”

His hand, which was about to grab her right away, stopped in mid-air. It was because he saw Kasha’s expression. Her pale face was distorted with intense emotion as if she had seen something frightening.

Leon’s hand fell powerlessly.

On the other hand, Kasha still couldn’t take her eyes off his hand, which was clenching as if squeezing something.

His rough knuckles that held a sword every day, his body temperature that had become so familiar. The moment she thought of such things, her heart rate rose rapidly.

‘This is crazy.’

It was only a few days ago that she had decided to distance herself from him.

Even without Anthony’s warning, the fact that Leon had romantic feelings for Kasha was becoming clearer by the day. He even seemed to have no intention of hiding it at all.

‘Why? When he doesn’t even know who I am or what purpose I have yet.’

It was the same now.

In front of the nobles of the capital who were clearly watching them as a spectacle, he loudly called her name and unhesitatingly followed her.

And even now, he looks at Kasha with those eyes. Eyes that seem to hold a fireball in his chest.

“Kasha. I won’t ask why you left the villa in such a hurry. You must have had a reason.”

He doesn’t even question her suspicious behavior.

Why she changed rooms with Eve every day, why she disappeared as if running away in a situation where she could be falsely accused of murder.

Kasha removed her hand that was holding her solar plexus and glared at Leon.

“Are you a pushover?”

A sharp tone escaped her lips without realizing it.

But she couldn’t help it. The fact that Leon was losing his judgment and acting recklessly like her old self.

The fact that he was being used by her without even realizing it, no, even if he knew, he couldn’t even say a word of suspicion.

Then how was Kasha herself, who made him this way, any different from Simon?

‘From the beginning, I approached him with the intention of using him, no different from Simon.’

Along with the self-loathing and the fear that she might ruin Leon, she frowned fiercely.

“Kasha.”

But despite hearing a clear insult, Leon still looks at her with those eyes.

A cold sneer appeared in Kasha’s deep pink eyes.

“…Or are you a fool? The reputation of being a perfect knight in both civil and military affairs… seems to have been a false one. I think… I chose… the wrong person… for the contract relationship.”

“……”

Kasha realized for the first time that she could spew such venom at someone.

And the fact that it was directed at someone who liked her, the person for whom she felt pure and warm flutters for the first time since she was born, was so pathetic that she could have laughed.

Feeling a piercing pain deep in her solar plexus, Kasha deliberately narrowed her eyes as if sneering.

She had to do that. So that he would be wary of Kasha again and stay away from her.

‘I shouldn’t have proposed a contract relationship in the first place.’

If the mastermind was really the person she expected, the relationship between Leon and Kasha was no different from a trap that would devour each other.

And the situation Leon was in was much more dangerous than she had thought.

‘In this situation, I can’t be Leon’s weakness too.’

Above all, what drove her crazy was the fact that even if Kasha revealed everything now, he might not push her away and instead try to protect her with all his might.

Because she had already noticed that every day, a quiet certainty was being added to the way he looked at her.

His uprightness, which was often disparaged as being old-fashioned. It was much firmer and stronger than Kasha had imagined.

Much more so than common sense or stereotypes.

‘No, that can’t happen. I was trying to save you. Not to put you in more danger.’

Kasha kept her back straight and made her eyes colder. She tried to borrow the tone of the most arrogant women she could remember. Like Odette or Jasmine.

“Sir Leon Aranias. I have… a lot of things… to do. Right now… I don’t want to be… disturbed. So… please leave me alone. Unless… there’s something else… I need to take care of… for you.”

She deliberately borrowed a sneering tone at the end of her words.

Because she was used to hearing the way high society women belittled others while pretending not to, from her previous life.

At that moment, Leon’s eyes clouded for the first time upon hearing her words.

Even though it was exactly what she intended, her heart sank for a moment.

Because she might have really hurt him.

Looking at the confusion reflected like a mirror in her eyes, Leon slowly opened his mouth. He looked resolute as if he had made up his mind about something.

“You’re right. There is something you need to take care of for me.”

“Yes…?”

At the unexpected answer, Kasha’s words became slurred without realizing it.

Then Leon leaned in and brought his face close to her ear.

Kasha’s field of vision was filled with Leon’s broad chest. When she looked up in surprise, his distinct collarbone was visible through the white uniform shirt, and when she turned her head to the side, his chiseled jawline and handsome earlobe were so close that she felt like she could touch them.

She didn’t know what to do like a small animal that had been captured.

“Kasha.”

At that moment, his firm voice tickling her earlobe. She was so startled by it that it took her a moment to understand what he said next.

“I think the aftereffects of the curse have subsided.”

“…What? What did you say?”

Kasha belatedly asked back in surprise.

“The aftereffects of the curse. Dealing with it was part of our contract, wasn’t it?”

His breathing still sounded close to her ear. And his pleasant low-pitched voice.

But before she could be captivated by that sweetness, Kasha hurriedly pulled away and examined his face.

He seemed fine.

Then has he been suffering from the aftereffects alone for the past few days? And I left him alone without even knowing that?

Her guilt-ridden eyes quickly examined Leon’s expression and breathing.

‘There are some blood vessels visible in his eyes, but he just looks tired. But his ears are definitely red.’

To check if he had a fever, her white hand touched his forehead.

At that moment, a small gasp-like sound escaped his mouth.

At that moan, which showed a clear and intense trace of desire, Kasha was startled and removed her hand.

Then Leon, who had been looking down at her actions the whole time, quickly grabbed her wrist as it fell away.

An accurate and fast movement that captured prey in an instant, and a hot body temperature. Kasha was at a loss for words.

“So, I need you, Kasha.”

“……”

“You can call me a pushover or a fool, whatever you like.”

He approached even closer, still holding her wrist.

Their bodies were pressed together, and his scent wafted strongly. The sound of a heartbeat could be heard closely, though it was unclear whose it was.

“Any name you call me, whatever it is. Kasha Lyuschino.”