Time Limit

Chapter 12 ( It’s Called Operation Jealousy)

Lariette’s face, which ordered him to take it off, was infinitely pure. But in her eyes, there was an insidious darkness that could not be hidden.

Asrazan’s neck stood clearly and moved downward.

Seeing his motionless appearance, Lariette slowly reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt.

“”Do you want me to take it off?”

She rolled her eyes playfully and whispered softly.

Asrazan still had his characteristic indifferent eyes, but the circumstances were not so. He felt his body heat up.

Lariette decided to take his silence as yes. So, without hesitation, she unbuttoned the top button of the shirt that was filled to the end.

“Ugh….”

As the touch of a cold finger brushed past his collarbone, Asrazan groaned a little without realizing it.

Fortunately, Lariette didn’t seem to hear it.

“I-I will take it off.”

He replied hurriedly and clapped her hand. In fact, Lariette just shrugged and said yes.

Frowning his brow in embarrassment, Asrazan hesitated and began to unbutton his shirt.

She sat on his bed and watched him undress. When he recognized it, his hands kept trembling and trembling.

It was very nice to see the handsome man unraveling his shirt clumsily with his long, smooth fingers. Lariette barely restrained the corners of her lips from going up against her will.

His face, even pretending to be cool, was disheveled as usual because he had just woke up. It was refreshing to see this kind of appearance rather than always being perfectly prepared.

The black shirt slowly unfolded, revealing a body with clear curves.

Despite the thick bandages wrapped around them, his large muscles were showing off his presence.

Lariette swallowed saliva involuntarily at the appearance of his firm chest and clearly cleaved abdominal muscles.

After releasing the last button, Asrazan looked at her with trembling eyes.

“Should I take off the bandages?”

“That… I should touch your skin… you do, but….”

She hesitated and refused to answer. I couldn’t even pull it off and force him to become a half-naked person in front of me.

For a moment, there was a subtle tension between them. His eyes moved and his lips trembled, but no words came out.

“Hah…”

After a short sigh, Asrazan took off the bandages without hesitation. And what was revealed was a colorful body.

His perfectly sculpted, muscular body was full of all kinds of scars. There were countless minor cuts, especially on the lower left chest, near the heart, embroidered with black marks that looked like shreds.

The blue-stained body was obviously that of a dying person. Asrazan confirmed Lariette’s reaction with her shaky pupils.

Despite his horrific appearance, she was not greatly disturbed. But it was only an appearance, and on the inside, she was screaming in shock.

“Then let’s check it out.”

Lariette pretended to be relaxed and reached out towards his chest.

His strong, protruding upper chest and her fingers touched, and then a white energy ran across his body.

The curse on the upper body was deeper than I thought. After checking the condition, she continued to speak with a sad face.

“I think it will take some time to clean up. The amount of the curse is too much than the amount you can accept at one time….”

“Is that so.”

If the curse could be lifted, it would have taken years. Asrazan glanced at Lariette’s fingers intermittently and thought.

Strangely, all my nerves were focused in that direction.

“Shall we try it once?”

Lariette quickly regained her energy and opened her hands vigorously. Then she placed a hand on his firm chest.

Asrazan shivered and trembled, looking at his chest and her hands alternately in disbelief. It felt like my ears were getting hot.

It was Lariette with her eyes closed while she was already concentrating, so she didn’t say anything.

Soon the warmth spread through his body, and a tickling sensation floated over his chest.

It took quite a while compared to when she was cleaning his hands. Asrazan clenched his fists and just endured the moment.

The blue blotches around his heart had faded little by little, making it hard to notice. The black marks were still there, but when the skin color returned, it became more lively.

Time passed like an eternity for Asrazan, and Lariette slowly removed her hand.

A cold sweat ran down the back of her neck.

“Hah, not yet, for a while, I have to do more…”

“Wizard. Are you okay?”

Lariette lowered her head and let out a hot breath.

More mana was consumed than she had expected. It was barely enough to avoid running out completely.

Her arms were trembling as she rested on the bed. It felt like all the power had gone out of my body. She tried to hold on as much as she could, but her arms were already out of her control.

Eventually, as the supporting power disappeared, Lariette’s body collapsed forward in an instant.

Exactly, towards Asrazan.

“……!”

“Ugh…”

Illustration 

Asrazan, who instinctively accepted her, deeply regretted his actions. It was because Lariette’s body and Asrazan’s half-naked body overlapped like an embrace.

“Ugh, I’m sorry.”

Wait a minute, I’ll lean on you for a moment. Lariette, who had barely maintained her mind, whispered as she exhaled a deep breath.

As the slight breeze from her mouth brushed against his body, Asrazan stiffened like ice.

Thump, thump, thump…

His heart, which he had previously doubted even existed, was beating with a loud noise.

Laying her face against his chest, she listened to the heartbeat and smiled softly.

“Actually, I was treating the priest yesterday. There is not much mana left, hah.”

“……”

“I became friends with that priest. I will control it so that it does not interfere with the rough purification, so can I treat him occasionally?”

Lariette still leaned back and raised her gaze to look at him.

As if it was difficult to maintain her mind, the pink eyelashes kept falling, covering her clear eyes.

Asrazan, who had been keeping the heavy silence, gave a weak force to the hand that was holding her shoulder. He then opened his tightly closed lips.

“Even to him… Do you do this?”

“Yes? What?”

When you heal, do you also come into contact with the priest? Asrazan, who was about to ask a question, hurriedly came to his senses and closed his mouth.

It was a question that did not need to be asked at all. The priest was a woman, and even if it was a man, there was no reason for him to care. I didn’t understand the question itself.

“… No. Do as the wizard want.”

“Asrazan.”

Lariette gently rubbed her head against Asrazan’s body and called out his name. The languid eyes that seemed to close at any moment reached him.

“When are you going to fall in love with me?”

She gently licked her plump lips and smiled softly.

Asrazan felt as if lightning struck his body for a moment. A faint shiver ran through his body.

In fact, Lariette lost her mind as she leaned against his body, leaving only those words. Asrazan, who saw this, slowly wiped his face with his hand.

“I’m going crazy….”

It was clear that he was possessed. Otherwise, I couldn’t comprehend this loud heartbeat and my burning body.

Asrazan took a deep breath and slowly move his lower body away from her.

* * *

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

Lariette muttered as she hit the pillow with her fist. The long pillow was full of puncture marks as if it had been punched once or twice.

The collapsed pillow had already shouted at her to surrender, but Lariette didn’t stop and raised her fist again.

“I shouldn’t have pushed it that far!”

She bowed her head as if screaming and swallowed the tears that were welling up.

What she regrets was the act of her sleeping while leaning on Asrazan’s chest a few days ago.

At that time, I was busy praising myself for how I could pass out in his arms so perfectly.

Asrazan accepted my body, it was not forcible sexual harassment. It is consensual skinship.

But after a day, two, or three days, I realized that it was a complete illusion. Since then, his nose has not been found.

Asrazan avoided Lariette.

At first, Lariette, who thought it was because he was too busy to meet, now realized that it was no coincidence. He was obviously running away from her.

Asrazan always had breakfast or dinner with Lariette. It was to keep the once-a-day clause in the contract.

However, unlike before when he ate a meal with her, after that incident, he drank only a cup of coffee for breakfast and often left alone saying that his portion of the meal was over.

The day he went to work at the imperial family did not return until late at night, and the day he was inside the house was nowhere to be seen.

One time, I went to the office because the butler said he was there, and there was only one cup of hot tea left.

Lariette felt the warmth of the tea and said, ‘That man has just left!’ It was like a mystery novel. However, the culprit was not caught, and she felt like she was going to burst out of frustration.

‘I’m sure he’ll be back at dawn today.’

Lariette must have taken advantage of her early sleep.

From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem like there’s much to do! Today, I am unconditionally waking up late. Lariette clenched her fists and strengthened her determination.

Knock!

And then, a gentle knock rang at the door.

Soft and cheerful sound. She quickly noticed who the owner of the knock was and called out the name.

“Doha!”

Lariette jumped up and ran and opened the door. When she met the beautiful handsome man standing in front of the door, her face brightened.

“Did you wait for me, lady?”

Unexpected hospitality. Doha, with his shiny silver hair neatly tied into a single pony, walked into her room with a grin.

“Of course! Listen, I’m talking about Asrazan again today…”

He shook his head as if tired of seeing Lariette talking about her love story. But she didn’t care and was busy talking about her concerns.

While Asrazan vehemently avoided Lariette, she was building a fairly close friendship with Doha.

Since there was no other person to chat with, this was an inevitable result.

Lariette hid any information about Asrazan’s curse, only conveying the circumstances in which she was trying to seduce him.

Doha’s dating counseling was also excellent, just as he seemed to have made several women cry. Since there was no law prohibiting a priest from dating, Lariette guessed that he must have met a lot of women.

“So… he just keeps running, right?”

“Yes! I can’t meet him, so there’s nothing I can do.”

What should I do in this case? Lariette asked for advice with a sullen face.

“I’m hungry.”

Doha laughed softly and muttered in a voice that she couldn’t hear. Then he reached out and gently touched her pink hair.

He wanted to put it in his mouth, just like sweet cotton candy. Of course, he didn’t mean just the hair.

“Then that’s it.”

“Yes!”

“How about making him jealous?”

Jealous? In response to the unexpected answer, Lariette asked with round eyes.

“Yeah, jealousy. There is no one who doesn’t understand his heart even when he sees you with another man.”

It’s called Operation Jealousy. Doha added, turning her hair round and round with his fingers.

On the other hand, after hearing the explanation, Lariette raised her eyebrows and made a gloomy expression. Then she answered in a muffled voice.

“I don’t have another man to make him jealous…”

Sadly, that was the reality.

Before leaving the Duchess of Blanche, she had a fiance, so there was no chance to get to know another man. It was impossible for a noble princess to make a male friend.

But that was only in the past, and things are different now. Doha kindly explained this.

“Hey, lady. You’re too much.”

He quickly tightened his fingers and pulled Lariette’s head towards him. In an instant, their faces came closer.

“I’m a man too, Lady.”

Doha whispered softly and raised one corner of his mouth to laugh. Then, after putting their foreheads together, they naturally began to pray and heal.

‘I should have said something!’

Surprised, Lariette, despite the posture she had already experienced, managed to calm her fast-beating heart.

It’s a jealous operation. She mumbled the unfamiliar word blankly.

It was quite an interesting operation. It was unknown whether Asrazan was a human being capable of jealousy or not, but perhaps he might react to seeing her with another man.

As I imagined Asrazan frowning his handsome face and asking her to stay with him, my heart was thrilled without realizing it.

However, after thinking about it for a while, Lariette soon told Doha that it would not be possible.

For some reason, I felt like I was deceiving Asrazan, and I felt uneasy. Lariette smiled proudly at the thought that she had made the right decision.

However, this proud feeling disappeared after half a day. Because she changed her mind in an instant.

* * *

It was still late at night when Asrazan returned.

He entered the Duke’s house without a sound and walked slowly towards his room.

No, he was trying to move. If it wasn’t for the voice that came out like lightning.

“Are you coming now?”

Lariette was sitting on the dark stairs with no lights turned on, looking at him.

Asrazan shuddered and looked at her without realizing it.

“… Without sleep.”

“I waited for you. Because it is a face that is very difficult to meet.”

“I would have seen you at breakfast every day.”

“Just five minutes, without answering, just drinking coffee and leaving?”

She got up with a sad look. It was well planned and came out.

I didn’t like the feeling of being treated as a person who didn’t know the reason. So today, I decided to finish it without fail. Her purple eyes stared straight at Asrazan.

Asrazan turned his head without answering and avoided her gaze. There was nothing to say at all.

Seeing this, Lariette took a step closer to him with a smirk.

“Twice a week. B must comply with A’s request to go out. Did you forget?”

If he kept running away, she thought she would bring contractual obligations. It was because she expected that he would not be able to refuse even that.

However, Asrazan’s reaction was far colder than she had predicted.

“… Can we go for a walk tomorrow in the garden for a while?”

“For awhile?”

“Yeah, wait. I am busy.”

He answered calmly in an emotionless voice. Without knowing that Lariette’s head was boiling.

It was an unavoidable action for Asrazan. Whenever he met her, he felt strange.

He was concerned about strange things, his body reacted strangely, and his heart was tickling strangely.

Such a change was unfamiliar and uncomfortable for him.

If that’s the case, he should not look at it except to purify the curse. Asrazan foolishly thought so.

And Lariette couldn’t stand it any longer and finally decided to let out the burning anger.

“You must be very busy.”

She continued with a smirk on her face.

“When I think about it again, I don’t think it’s necessary to go out and eat together.”

“… What? All of sudden?”

“The Duke is busy, so I can’t be in the way, can I?”

It was especially unfamiliar to call him a Duke for the name she used to flirt about.

Asrazan gently scanned her face to understand her intentions.

However, there was no significant difference. Lariette’s smile was bright, and her voice was also bright.

“I’m going to eat and go out with my new friend from now on, since the Duke-Keep busy-!”

It’s a must! Lariette smiled brightly and added.

Then she quickly turned around and left the place. In her heart, she was muttering cursing at him.

Asrazan, who was left alone, stood up and looked at the place where she disappeared.

He should have been pleased with her declaration that she would not eat with him in the future, but strangely, his heart ached.

But until then, he didn’t know. What is truly heartbreaking?

As long as he misunderstood the priest’s gender, he couldn’t figure it out yet.