A Reunion, Misunderstandings, and an Ultimatum

Did he find out? Did he catch on? Did he notice?

“I thought it was strange.”

As I was trembling with tension, gripping the handle of Leviathan, Loktis, who had been looking at me disapprovingly, clicked his tongue.

“I wondered why you kept using some bluish sword lately, so you had lost that fork?”

“Ah, uh! Yeah! I was too embarrassed to say anything, so I wanted to keep it a secret, but I got caught. Ahaha, ahaha!”

Thinking this was my chance, I burst out laughing.
To think Loktis treating me like a fool would actually be useful here.

“So about that! Could I take him to my room to talk? He’s practically my lifesaver….”

“You’re always so clumsy. Hey! Deal with this beast-kin visitor.”

Loktis shook his head as he watched me babbling, then gestured to someone in the distance.

“She says she wants to take him for a bit to talk. Not a high-risk level, just an appropriate one.”

Two Empire knights approached and placed an artifact resembling a control handcuff and pet collar on his wrist.

It’s not strictly necessary in Midvalen since weapons cannot be drawn and attack skills cannot be used, but beast-kin are treated differently.
Because everyone knows beast-kin possess immense physical strength even without skills.

“If you try to use magic or apply a certain amount of force to your wrists, an electric current will flow through the handcuffs and stun you. The same goes for the collar. A single word from Shinbi-nim and you won’t be able to move an inch.”

Loktis, with his chin raised, showed a side befitting a Knight Commander for the first time in a while and spoke in an overbearing tone.

“You’d better not try anything funny. This isn’t the lawless zone you used to live in, so remember that clearly.”

‘Handcuffs. It reminds me of our first meeting.’

Of course, Karvan wasn’t listening to a word of it and was just spouting things like that in the Varg language.

‘The day you chose me and engraved the stigma.’

“…N-now! Will you come this way? Hahaha, right this way.”

‘You mean the day my life ended!’
Swallowing my inner thoughts, I roughly pulled the man and headed to my room.

I had never been so glad to have moved my room to a secluded area thanks to my status as the Skollcat’s guardian.

“…….”

“…….”

Until we stepped onto the mana-operated platform and reached the top of Midvalen’s main tower, neither of us said a word.

I just stared straight ahead as if an SL-grade artifact had dropped in front of me.
My profile burned inside the elevator, and the back of my head burned as we walked, but I absolutely did not look back.

“…You.”

Only after dragging the man into my room and locking the door did I speak.

“Just why are you doing this to me…!”

“I missed you. Bi.”

I was rendered speechless by the casually thrown words.

I almost wavered when he played his Joker right from the start, but I shook my head fiercely.

“Why didn’t you show up a little earlier to say that?”

‘Stay calm, don’t get agitated, don’t get drawn in.’
I reminded myself internally before opening my mouth, yet a heated tone burst out anyway.

“Is that what you have to say after showing up for the first time in three months? You missed me? …Hah.”

The man just stared at me intently without saying anything again.

Only then could I take a closer look at Karvan’s appearance.

Seeing that he didn’t have any particular injuries or new scars, I was relieved that he seemed safe…, ‘Relieved? What am I thinking? Snap out of it!’
I caught my thoughts, which were about to flow naturally, and frowned deeply.

“Why, did you finally need me after wandering off as much as you pleased? I guess you have a favor to ask?”

“I was looking only for you the whole time. Chased by the Grim Reapers.”

‘Bullshit. I barely saw a single Observer during the three months I was back in Bahalgras, so it’s obvious he’s just trying to gain sympathy.’
I forced my wavering heart to harden and glared at him.

“Don’t lie. They don’t even chase me anymore, so what….”

“The Grim Reapers don’t chase you anymore? That is fortunate.”

I was about to snap at him to stop talking nonsense, but my mouth was shut again by the look in his eyes, which were filled only with worry.

“A-anyway! I’ve already made a fresh start, and I was just about to forget you when you showed up.”

“Did you not miss me.”

Ugh, an irrelevant answer I haven’t heard in a long time.
But now, I didn’t get flustered and returned it exactly the same way.

“…Whatever. So? What’s the reason you couldn’t find me the whole time but came looking for me exactly today of all days?”

“I haven’t heard your answer to my question.”

“I didn’t miss you! I finally sorted out my feelings and settled down, so why are you showing up again to interfere with….”

The words I was grumbling faded away once again at the large hand suddenly held out to me.

“I was drawn by a glimmer visible from afar, and I found this.”

With a trembling hand, I picked up what was lying on his palm.
It was unmistakably mine, right down to the leaf part being slightly worn from me constantly fiddling with it.
The very thing that had been hanging from my left ear until just a few days ago.

“Y-you, you, where did you get this….”

A few days ago, it was the cherry blossom earring I threw into the lake in front of Midvalen in a fit of anger. The one Karvan gave me as a gift.

“Following the light, it finally became visible. The entrance to Dowongyeong.”

“…….”

“So I thought it was a signal you sent.”

‘He really came looking for me after seeing this?’
Just as I was about to waver for a moment, the shocking words I heard a few days ago came to mind.

“Don’t lie. You’ve been going around picking fights, haven’t you? I already heard everything from Radugan.”

“…Did that bastard come here first?”

“He came a few days ago. Captured and covered in wounds.”

I quickly answered, flinching at his pupils narrowing vertically like slits under bright light.

“Anyway! I heard you’ve been indiscriminately attacking beast-kin villages with my Leviathan! You had your fun and now you remembered me and came late!”

“It’s the opposite.”

“What?”

“Not now. I will explain everything later.”

“Yeah… no? What do you mean ‘later’! I’m not going to listen.”

If it weren’t for the metallic sound coming from the man’s wrist, I might have almost agreed.

“You’re a prisoner right now! I’m not going to believe your words anymore.”

Every time he moved his hand, there was a vibrating, metallic clinking sound.
It was the distinct sound of energy handcuffs.
It might be better than iron shackles, but his range of motion was still restricted, making him look uncomfortable.

‘…Ugh, whether he’s uncomfortable or not, what does it matter to me.’
I quickly shook off the distracting thoughts that kept creeping in and turned my back.

“Still, since we have history, I’ll help you slip away appropriately, so run away when you see an opening.”

“Why must I run away?”

“The Governor of Midvalen said he’s going to collect the hearts of the race chiefs. If they find out you’re the Valta, you’re dead that very day.”

This was also classified information from the Empire meeting that I shouldn’t be sharing.

The moment I turned around, snapping that I was warning him out of past affection.

“That sounds.”

I gasped at the face that had gotten closer.

“Like you are worrying about me.”

I was more surprised by the anticipation filling his eyes, wide as a full moon, than the eyes themselves.

“Are you worried I might die?”

‘His heart might be ripped out at any moment, yet he’s focused on something weird and his eyes are shining. What should I do with this crazy man.’
I looked into the golden eyes that had instantly regained their vitality and helplessly rubbed my forehead.

“Did you not understand me? Baalzeph is after your heart, I tell you! The moment your identity is discovered….”

“What about you.”

“…What do you mean.”

Instead of answering, the man leaned his body close to mine.

The moment I instinctively flinched and shrank my shoulders, a cool breath tickled my ear.

“Don’t you want to have my heart?”

With one hand on the wall behind me, he leaned his head down, his whispering voice suggestive.
When I lifted my head, which I had tucked in like a turtle, two moons were floating amidst his messy silver-gray hair.

“I will gladly accept the punishment for making you wait so long.”

“…….”

“In return, I want to hear that you waited for me too.”

The man looked down at me with the leisurely gaze of a predator that I had seen before.
The gaze of waiting for the prey that dug into the burrow to come out.
I began to feel nervous at his unchanging behavior.

“From the moment you died and disappeared before my eyes until now, I have never forgotten you for a single moment.”

The man was currently waiting for me to express my feelings.

“What about you. Bi.”

But what comes next?
As always, he never explained the situation, and it was obvious he would act arbitrarily again if he knew I had been waiting for him desperately.

‘I plan to usurp Dowongyeong.’

Perhaps he might blindly try to wipe everyone out like he did at the Igra Tribe’s nest.
It might have worked against those petty monsters, but here is different.

Because of the upcoming Coliseum, there are countless multi-racial mercenaries waiting in Midvalen, and they will support Governor Baalzeph, so Karvan can absolutely never win right now.

‘If you really intend to return to your dimension, don’t get close to that male, nya. He seems very suspicious and dangerous.’

The Skollcat’s warning words also flickered in my mind.

“…You seem to be misunderstanding something. I didn’t wait for you.”

That’s why I purposely spoke coldly.
Because I knew that if I gave him even a little opening, he would slip through the crack like frost that crumbles even boulders, and before I knew it, I would be swayed by him again.

“Why would I wait for you? I was living perfectly fine with the Empire vampires!”

‘You were totally out of contact all this time, so why show up now of all times!’
Unlike me, whose voice was gradually rising as my emotions flared, the man just stared at me blankly without a single change in expression.

“Did you think I would be happy if you showed up after months and told lies like you missed me?”

That familiar cold gaze, as if telling me to continue, made me even more stubborn.
Thinking I wouldn’t cower like before, I snapped at him even more fiercely.

“Remember the time with the Fox Tribe? I always do very, very well without you!”

“…….”

“If you really came to return the weapon, take it back since I don’t need it. Go have your fill of fighting with it.”

“…….”

“Did you understand? I don’t need you anymore! …L-leave!”

Karvan was unexpectedly quiet.
Even until I finished my seemingly one-sided barrage of words, he just looked down at me quietly without a word.

“You say you don’t need me.”

‘…Was telling him to leave a bit too harsh.’
Just as I was slightly regretting it during the prolonged silence, a slow voice fell.

“Then I guess I have no reason to be here either.”

With an unexpectedly obedient reply, the man walked right past me.
His attitude showed not an ounce of lingering attachment.

“I will leave.”