Chapter 9: Another Kiss
Beneath the roses, the secret is kept.
The fragrance of the flowers drifts slowly, and the emotions beneath their shadows are written as secrets but read as love.
Nelly lowered her head in a near panic, unsure how to react. She took another sip of red tea and began to fiddle with the scone.
Karsus watched her silently but intently, his gaze as if it wanted to swallow her whole. His voice grew fainter, but the fire in his eyes burned even brighter. “Nelly, I’m not afraid of death. Because before that, I will see you.”
Nelly looked up in horror.
He has memories of every single time?!
Each time the game was cleared and reset, the characters encountered in the other storylines would also be reset. Every time, Nelly had to accompany a different hero and meet, get to know, and part with each character all over again. She had thought that Karsus would also be reset each time. But clearly, she was wrong.
—”From a long, long time ago, I’ve only loved you.”
The sentence suddenly popped into her head. Nelly couldn’t help but tremble. She didn’t remember Karsus saying that before. If that was the case… it could only have happened on the day that was erased.
A chill ran through her entire body. Something had been wrong since just now. She had actually forgotten about the gap in her memory, and she had actually… felt her heart flutter more than once.
Karsus was controlling her again.
Nelly couldn’t help but feel terrified. This dark emotion seemed to trigger a deeper, irretrievable memory, a hollow void that made her head ache again.
I can’t let Karsus find out. She mustered all her strength to avoid acting abnormally. She said drily, “Is that so…”
Karsus had clearly noticed the strange shift in the atmosphere. He seemed a little stiff, as if he hadn’t had a chance to observe her reaction. He looked back at the fragrant flower bushes, his expression blank. His eyes were redder than the most vibrant red rose in the garden, but the shadows that fell across them made them seem cold.
Nelly took a slow breath and said casually, “It’s very windy here. How do you protect the roses?”
Karsus glanced at her, the color of his eyes faintly cold. He didn’t answer, instead changing the subject. “Would you like to take a walk in the garden?”
Nelly gave a soft assent. Karsus stood up first, walked to her side, and offered his arm, but he didn’t look at her. Nelly hesitated for a moment before taking it. Only then did he turn his face to gaze at her. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her again, and she couldn’t help but tremble.
Karsus once again silently avoided her gaze. He reached out and plucked a drooping briar rose from nearby, twirling it between his fingertips. He gave her a light, flirtatious glance from under his lashes, then let his fingers go, allowing the pink flower to fall to the ground.
His series of actions was truly baffling. Nelly couldn’t figure out his true intentions, and her nerves grew even more taut, her posture becoming somewhat stiff.
But at that moment, the demon king who looked like a young boy regained his usual composure and asked her nonchalantly, “Which kind of rose does Nelly like?”
Nelly had no particular preference for flowers. She was very nervous, and with a blink, she answered casually, “White roses, I guess.”
Her gaze was slightly lowered, so she didn’t see Karsus’s lips suddenly tighten.
The black-haired young man quickly relaxed his expression and nodded peacefully. “I like white roses too.”
With that, he stopped, bent down, and picked a delicate, snow-white flower, bringing it to his nose for a sniff. He glanced at Nelly, and the corner of his lips, peeking out from the side of the petals, held a mysterious, inscrutable smile. A breeze parted the vines on the trellis, and a ray of sunlight lit up his eyes.
It was a very charming little gesture.
Nelly felt her heart flutter uncontrollably again. She bit her lip, trying to stay clear-headed.
But at that moment, Karsus tossed the flower behind him, and the pad of his thumb brushed against her lips, stopping her action. As if completely unaware of the ambiguity of the gesture, he said calmly, “Don’t bite.”
The cool temperature of his finger on her lips was so distinct it created the illusion of heat.
Nelly turned her face to the side, not knowing how to respond. But the arm Karsus had linked with hers moved to her waist, and with a pull, he brought her closer, lowering his head to find her lips with unerring accuracy.
Compared to this one, the previous kiss could be considered a mere peck.
Nelly struggled hard, but Karsus held her tightly against him. His arm was around her waist, his body heat was against her chest, his face was inches away, and his lips and tongue were entwined with hers. Her strength was too small, too weak; she couldn’t stop him at all.
The small cut she had just made on her lip began to bleed, and the metallic taste spread as they tangled together. The bitterness of the blood mixed with the thick, cloying sweetness of the surrounding fragrance, creating a strangely psychedelic flavor.
For a moment, Nelly felt like she was suffocating. But her mind wandered, and she remembered something from an otome game she had played back in her own world. It had said that when the scent of roses becomes too strong, it smells like the rust of blood, nauseating.
Nauseating.
Nelly shivered, bit down hard on Karsus’s lip, and, taking advantage of his momentary pause, used all her strength to throw him off. Then, she slapped him hard across the face.
She herself was stunned.
She didn’t not regret her impulsive action, but she couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction. Take that, you arrogant, domineering Demon King! Take that for being so self-centered!
Karsus leaned against a stone pillar, wiping the blood from the cut on his lip with the back of his hand. His face, hidden in the shadows, looked very gloomy. His tone was a little detached. “Do you hate me that much?”
Nelly closed her eyes wearily. “This kind of behavior makes me hate you.”
“Then what should I do?” Karsus’s voice was a little hoarse. He covered half his face, and the one eye that was visible was a tragic red. He asked her in a raspy voice, “What should I do for you to like me?”
At that moment, he looked like a wounded beast—in pain, desperate, yet with the spirit to fight to the death at any moment.
Nelly felt the same fear she had felt that day in the throne room, watching Karsus approach step by step. She took a step back, but mustered the courage to stand up straight and answer clearly, “Please, first let me trust you.” Her voice trembled slightly, but she continued, “Right now, I can’t… I can’t be sure if you will really keep your promise. If you have no intention of letting me go home… and are only prepared to accept the outcome of me staying. I can’t possibly trust you.”
Karsus’s fingers slowly slid down from his face. He stood up straight, his gaze like a flame with a layer of ice over it, chilling and scorching. He spoke very softly, with almost no fluctuation in his tone, which only made Nelly’s hair stand on end. “Nelly, please tell me, have you ever really thought about staying?”
Nelly knew her answer was crucial. She was standing on thin ice, and if she wasn’t careful, she would fall into the fiery hell beneath.
But she couldn’t show her calculations; she had to seem natural, unhesitating.
Nelly knew she wasn’t good at lying. At a time like this… it seemed she could only take another path.
She stared at Karsus for a moment, and her eyes gradually reddened.
Ever since she had been transported to this strange world, Nelly had never cried. She had been trying her best to find a way home, giving her all to that goal every single day.
Of course, Nelly often felt fear, anxiety, and helplessness, but she didn’t allow herself to think about those things. Just like when she had filled out her college application with nothing but medical schools, she could only charge toward her goal with single-minded focus.
But after coming to the Demon’s Lair, her goal had become blurry and distant. For the first time, she felt that she might really not be able to go back. Now, just thinking about it, trying to remember her family’s faces, the furnishings of her home, a strong sense of loss and despair would come flooding in like an open dam. She didn’t have to feign it; she was sobbing uncontrollably.
She had originally intended to use tears to muddle through, but in the end, she couldn’t control it at all. She sobbed and curled up into a ball on the ground, burying her face in her knees, just wanting to cry her heart out, hoping that when she opened her eyes, she would be back in the normal world.
Karsus looked at a loss.
He clumsily squatted down, reached out a hand, but then pulled it back.
Nelly peeked out from between her knees and said in a hoarse voice, “I’m tired. Can we just stop for today?”
Karsus wordlessly placed his hand on top of her head and stroked her slightly messy hair. He teleported with her again, arriving in the corridor outside Nelly’s room.
Nelly stood up stiffly, walked past Karsus without looking at him, and slammed the door shut.
The flickering torches cast shifting light and shadows. Karsus stood in place for a while, then turned and looked at his palm. There, resting quietly, was a small, six-sided glass vial with a narrow mouth. The liquid inside was a reddish-brown, like tea.