A Fallen Holy Knight Is Obsessed With Me (12 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 16
A hand burning hot.
It was almost unbelievable how he could have endured such intense heat within his body all this time.
She could feel his feverish warmth—distinctly higher than Kasha’s naturally low body temperature—seeping deep into her own.
An aggressively inhuman heat. A desire no human body should ever bear.
For a brief while, she had shared the burden of that seething force within him.
Anyone witnessing the scene might have mistaken them for newly enamored lovers—
blushing in confusion, holding hands, utterly unsure of what to do next.
In truth, it had been a thick, heavy moment, tangled with confusion, anger, fear, and desire. How long had it lasted?
“S-Stop.”
As if suddenly snapped out of a trance, he jerked his hand away from hers.
Turning his back, he clutched his forehead. Kasha gazed after her hand, now empty, with a faint trace of disappointment.
It had been so warm.
‘I’m just as desperately lonely as you are.’
Her lips twisted into a bitter, mocking smile.
“Just leave.”
Lion commanded in a hoarse voice, the turmoil he felt bleeding through his words.
“Lord Lion…”
“You’re… far too dangerous. I’ll send you a letter soon. Until then, don’t come near me.”
He looked utterly desolate, like a crouching beast. He cried out again, almost pleading.
“Go. Please.”
As he spoke with his back turned, his silhouette seemed to merge with the image of the ruined temple’s final moments.
‘Could this woman truly be the villainess Kasha?’
She remembered his empty eyes murmuring those very words.
Kasha said nothing more. Bowing her head slightly, she quietly stepped out of the room.
[This is the timeline separator]Just as Kasha closed the door behind her, descended the stairs, and approached the entrance to the drawing room—
sniffle… sniffle…
“…?”
The muffled sob of a child. Drawn as if by instinct, Kasha turned toward the sound.
On the sofa in the drawing room—where she had been seated earlier—crouched a small girl with platinum hair. The infant’s face from the portrait in Lion’s study overlapped seamlessly with this girl’s features.
‘Eve Aranias.’
She recognized her instantly; the girl bore Lion’s face unmistakably.
Why was she crying all alone?
Without thinking, Kasha moved closer.
Sensing someone’s presence, the girl lifted her head, her reddened eyes wide with surprise.
“Who are you?”
Delicate violet eyes set in features identical to Lion’s—Kasha couldn’t help but smile.
“I’m Kasha Lyuschno, a guest of your older brother Lion. Nice to meet you, Eve.”
Eve tilted her head, puzzled that this visitor already knew her name without introduction.
“A guest of Brother Lion? You’re the first lady visitor I’ve ever seen coming to see him.”
Her tear-damp eyes sparkled instantly with curiosity. Meeting that pure gaze, Kasha gently asked,
“But… why were you crying all alone? Should I go call Brother Lion for you?”
Eve shook her head firmly, her expression sullen.
“No. Brother Lion is always busy… Lately, he won’t even let me get close. I guess I must really annoy him.”
Kasha recalled Lion’s sorrowful eyes when he’d spoken of Eve at the ruined temple and wanted desperately to tell her it wasn’t true. Yet she also understood, roughly, why Eve might think so.
From what Lion had told her before her regression, Eve’s mother had passed when she was only three, and Grand Duke Oscillote was perpetually absent and indifferent toward his children—so Lion essentially became a father to his younger siblings.
Eve, the youngest, had especially adored him—and rightly so. In that lonely ducal mansion, Lion was likely the only adult who ever scooped her up and showed her affection.
But after the Curse of Lust manifested, even that became impossible.
He must have instinctively avoided physical contact with anyone—man, woman, or child.
Judging by when Kasha had lost her mana stone and the past Lion had described before her regression, it was probably about nine months since his curse had first awakened.
And Eve had been lonely for exactly that long.
Just then, Eve stood up and cautiously sat beside Kasha, whispering softly.
The sweet, soft scent of a little child wafted toward her.
“Um… can I ask you just one thing?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Um… Have you ever hosted a tea party, Lady Kasha?”
“…A tea party?”
Of course she hadn’t. She’d never even attended one.
“You see… I’m supposed to host one soon, but… well, there’s really no one in our household I can ask for advice about it.”
Eve confided earnestly, her expression troubled.
“Baron Fenilton’s daughter hosted one last week, and everyone praised her endlessly. Her mother decorated the venue so beautifully. But I…”
Her voice trailed off.
Without a mother, she had no one to turn to—that was plainly what she meant.
So that was why she’d been crying alone. Though she was the sole young lady of House Oscillote, she was still just a ten-year-old girl with no one to share even such an ordinary worry.
Kasha asked calmly,
“Hmm… What about a relative?”
“Aunt Shilla visits often, but she’s far too strict and fussy. If I held a tea party with her help, everyone would suffocate to death. Ugh.”
Just imagining it seemed to weigh heavily on Eve, her lovely eyebrows drooping.
Kasha pondered for a moment.
A tea party…
She knew nothing of such things herself, but this might be a good chance to grow closer to Lion’s family.
And remembering that Eve was a victim of the mana stone incident, Kasha simply couldn’t pretend not to hear her distress.
She murmured carefully,
“Hmm… Maybe I could help you.”
“Really?”
Delighted, Eve shot up from the sofa.
“But for now, keep this a secret from your brother.”
“Why?”
“He’d surely say no. He doesn’t believe in accepting help without a reason.”
“Well… You really do know our brother well.”
“Once the date and venue for the tea party are set, send me a letter—at Count Lyuschno’s estate.”
“Okay!”
Thrilled at the prospect of secretly corresponding with an adult, Eve beamed brightly.
Her fresh, blooming smile made Kasha smile in return, almost involuntarily.
[This is the timeline separator]After sealing their little conspiracy with Eve, Kasha stepped out to the front entrance. The waiting butler courteously opened the door for her himself.
The late afternoon sun poured in fiercely, carrying with it the garden’s thick, warm air.
Kasha hurried down the steps.
‘The coachman must have waited quite a while. I should hurry.’
As she descended the stairs, holding her skirt, an odd chill ran down her spine.
‘What’s this?’
She paused and turned to look back at the mansion.
Just then, she caught sight of a curtain fluttering in one of the second-floor windows.
‘Could it be Lion? But his study isn’t in that direction…’
Kasha tilted her head in mild confusion, then continued down the stairs.
All the while, a sharp, dark gaze remained fixed steadily on her back.
[This is the timeline separator]Five days later.
Kasha’s room on the second floor of Count Lyuschno’s estate.
Sena placed several envelopes beside Kasha, who was buried in blueprints.
“Young miss, please have lunch first. If you don’t want to come downstairs, shall I bring it up for you?”
“Are these for me?”
Pretending not to hear Sena’s question, Kasha picked up the envelopes.
There were three in total.
One was from the Imperial Library. She quickly tore it open—but her expression darkened immediately.
‘…As expected. They denied my loan request.’
She was, as she’d told Lion, working on developing a method to convert arcane artifacts to operate on divine energy instead.
Creating arcane artifacts itself wasn’t difficult—
she had already completed her own research on them in her previous life.
But actually implementing the idea of converting standard mana-powered artifacts to run on divine energy wasn’t as simple as it sounded.
‘I need to finish this conversion development as soon as possible.’
She was under pressure from many sides, yet couldn’t obtain the books she needed.
Before, Simon had always procured whatever books or materials she required, so she was completely inexperienced in such matters herself.
Finding a blacksmith capable of turning her blueprints into actual arcane devices wasn’t easy either.
‘I really do need people to help me.’
As she thought this, she picked up the second envelope and glanced at the handwriting on the front.
Flick.
But as soon as she recognized the script, she tossed it straight into the wastebasket.
“Oh dear, young miss… You really have decided to break things off with Master Simon, haven’t you?”
Watching Kasha’s action, Sena whispered with wide eyes.
The second letter had been from Simon.
“Yes. Obviously. If he comes looking for me again, just say I’m not here.”
Sena nodded vigorously at Kasha’s words.
“Yes, absolutely. Honestly, it feels awkward to say this, but I always thought he was… well, a bit off. The way he’d rudely order you around, his constant arrogance…”
Once the dam broke, Sena’s complaints about Simon flowed without end.
Lately, Sena seemed far more at ease with Kasha than before.
Though slightly awkward, listening to Sena’s chatter somehow relaxed her mind—and gave her a chance to practice speaking, too.
Kasha gave a vague nod and picked up the third envelope. Her expression brightened instantly.
‘Finally, it’s come.’
She quickly opened the letter. Seeing this, Sena hurried out of the room.
‘I should at least bring her something to eat—she’ll forget again. She was eating well for a while, but now she’s absorbed in something again. Come to think of it, I never noticed before, but lately, when she’s focused like this with her glasses on… she looks kind of cool…’
Unaware that Sena had left, Kasha began reading the letter inside the envelope.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
It’s cute that he is taking care of her, also confused what to do next.
The father is very disappointing. I wondered if he had married his wife out of obligation, as she was a saintess, and now that she is gone, he is going down a spiral.
This chapter was just frustrating, only enemies trying to scheme against our couple