Chapter 127
My lower back throbbed. Even after pressing a warm compress to it, the ache refused to fade. I was dying over here.
“Whine….”
“…Ha.”
After being tormented for more than half a day, I’d ended up sulking—and Lycian, in response, had transformed into an absurdly adorable fox and begun showering me with aegyo.
Where did he even learn to pull the beauty trap—no, the fox trap(?) like this?
I grabbed fistfuls of his fluffy fur and scolded him as I ruffled it mercilessly.
“Acting cute now isn’t going to help, you know?! You ridiculously cute fox!!”
“Yip!”
The fox let himself be manhandled without resistance. Even when I flipped him onto his back and scratched at his belly over and over, he only yipped and wiggled, clearly enjoying it.
“You pervert, you like being bullied like this?”
“Mm.”
“Unbelievable….”
No matter how I tried to punish him, to the fox it was nothing but a reward.
After glaring at him in disbelief for a moment, I gave up tormenting him and flopped flat onto the bed.
Immediately, the fox climbed onto me and sprawled across my stomach, tail swishing lazily.
“Get off. You’re heavy.”
“Kyung….”
“Don’t act cute. You’re not cute at all.”
“Kiing….”
The fox stretched out his long snout and planted a quick kiss on my lips.
I let out a disbelieving laugh—and then he stuck out his tongue and started licking my face all over, slow and thorough.
Pervert. Whether he was human or fox, he loved licking—
“…….”
The moment I remembered what had happened barely fifty minutes ago, my face flared hot.
I grabbed the fox and shoved him off to the side, then rolled onto my other side.
“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”
“Whine, whine….”
“No more playing! I’m sleeping!”
“Really? We still have a lot to talk about.”
“…!”
A human voice suddenly sounded behind me.
I whipped around—and there was Lycian, meeting my eyes, smiling with a crescent-eyed grin.
‘You wicked creature!’
Unlike me, whose entire body was blotched and ruined beyond saving, he was spotless. Not a single mark on him.
For some reason, that made my blood boil. I should’ve bitten him harder—why didn’t I?
I kicked him haphazardly and snapped,
“Why are you using me like a canvas? What am I supposed to do about how I look? How am I supposed to face Marian and Chelsea when I get dressed? And here! This spot is way too visible…! What were you thinking, leaving marks somewhere like this?!”
I pointed at the side of my neck, demanding an explanation. Lycian winced faintly before answering,
“Muriel, ah… that spot… If you wear something with a high collar, it won’t show.”
“It’s early summer! How am I supposed to wear high collars without suffocating!”
“W-Wait, stop kicking.”
We bickered for over five minutes before I collapsed onto the bed, exhausted by my own temper.
Lycian slid in behind me and wrapped his arms around me from the back, leaning close to whisper into my ear.
“Honey, let’s have a serious talk.”
“Who’s your honey? Call me Master.”
“Master….”
Lycian, who had absolutely no pride when it came to me, immediately became a slave again.
I turned to face him and warned,
“If you leave marks somewhere obvious again next time, I really won’t let you off.”
“How exactly won’t you let me off?”
“?”
Why was he looking at me with those bright, expectant eyes?
‘Unbelievable.’
I let out a half-laugh and shot back,
“I’ll (censored) you and then (censored). Scary, right?”
“Wow, I’m really looking forward to it.”
“You’re insane…. Get away from me.”
“Ah, why? I won’t tease you anymore.”
Lycian slid down slightly and burrowed into my arms instead.
For someone over 190 centimeters tall, he was always trying to curl up and fit himself against me like this.
“Muriel…. You’re my savior. I remember clearly now.”
I had been combing my fingers through his hair when I paused.
He slowly lifted his head and looked up at me, smiling with his eyes.
“We really met again.”
In that moment, something I’d once said to thirteen-year-old Lycian surfaced in my mind.
‘Let’s make sure we meet again.’
“Honestly, from the moment we met in the contaminated zone, I knew it was you. I didn’t remember your face or voice clearly—but someone with power that strong, with such a unique ability… There’s only one person in the world like that. Muriel.”
“…….”
“You saved me however you pleased… and then suddenly disappeared. Do you have any idea how flustered I was? You didn’t even tell me your name.”
“No, that’s….”
It wasn’t that I’d meant to hide it—I’d just… forgotten to say it.
“You kissed me all over, and then you just left. Don’t you think that’s a little cruel?”
“Hey, that’s—! You were a kid!”
“I was thirteen, and you kept treating me like a child.”
“Thirteen is a child!”
“The more I thought about it, the more unfair it felt. So I decided I’d find you no matter what. And when we met again… I planned to lock you in my castle and never let you take a single step outside….”
‘Y-You lunatic.’
Obsessive male lead alert!
Ding!
The target’s affection toward you: ∞🖤
You don’t have to tell me.
I already know it’s infinite!
‘So that’s the mystery behind his affection level….’
Why, it had been ‘????🖤’ from the very beginning…!
‘He’s been obsessing over me since he was a brat!’
Ding!
〈Tip〉 The meaning of the ‘Pitch-Black Heart (🖤)’ is ‘madness, obsession, longing’!
Be careful not to get locked up by Lycian! Muriel still has many things left to do!
(ß ^∇^)
‘That emoticon is pissing me off.’
You’re telling me to be careful—so why are you giving a thumbs-up? Who are you mocking?
Once you complete your entire mission, it won’t matter if you get locked up by Lycian!!
(ß ^∇^)
‘Hey!!’
I almost punched the air.
Lycian’s voice followed softly.
“…But if I really tried to lock you away, you’d hate me, wouldn’t you?”
“…….”
Wait. Why can’t I answer that immediately?
The normal response would be, ‘Of course I would, what kind of question is that?’
So why won’t the words come out?
Even if Lycian locked me up, I…
‘…I don’t think I’d be able to hate this fox!’
What is wrong with me? Have I lost my mind too? Did my frontal lobe short-circuit?
“Still… I want to tuck you somewhere safe, hidden away where only I can see you. Forever.”
I had to respond to that insane statement somehow, so I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Worry about yourself. The Witch of the Crescent Moon is still targeting you, isn’t she? Who are you talking about hiding somewhere safe? If I’m in danger, I can just escape into my subspace—but you don’t even have that option….”
“But you’ll save me, won’t you? Just like you did ten years ago.”
“…….”
For a split second, Lycian overlapped with the thirteen-year-old boy I’d met in the past.
And an indescribable, strange feeling welled up inside me.
As if our meeting really had been fate.
Lycian smiled softly, as though he already knew my answer without needing to hear it.
“After you disappeared ten years ago… your existence faded from other people’s memories almost immediately. Even my own memories tried to scatter like sand slipping through my fingers. But the words you said to me—I repeated them over ten thousand times so I wouldn’t forget.”
‘Ah… so that’s why.’
Only then did I understand why Mikhail hadn’t recognized me.
As a ‘Wanderer of Time,’ I had been erased from the memories of those I met in the past.
Like a ghost who was never meant to leave a trace.
“Muriel…. Do you remember?”
“…?”
“You promised that if we met again, you’d marry me. You didn’t forget, did you?”
“W-When did I ever? I never made a promise like that!”
This fox was trying to scam me in broad daylight!
“Muriel, that’s cruel. You stole the heart of a thirteen-year-old boy and don’t even remember.”
“Hey, when did I ever—!”
“And we’ve already (censored) and (censored) this much—how are we not married? We just haven’t had the ceremony. Or what? Are you planning to take my virginity and toss me aside?”
“Y-You…. Shut that mouth of yours right now.”
Watching me tremble, Lycian finally burst into loud laughter.
That sly bastard… He’d been teasing me from the start!