LADAD Chapter 10

Fierce elation coursed through Ivan's body. He realized this was why he hadn't tried to kill Amelia despite their several encounters. And that intuition brought him another understanding.

"..."

In that moment, Ivan casually struck the bottle he'd placed beside him. Tilt, the leaning bottle tumbled down below the platform.

"Oh, what should we do."

The sound of the bottle shattering could only be heard by the two of them in the prayer room. But if someone came to clean and caught the smell of liquor, or found the broken bottle, it would be just as much trouble. Amelia quickly climbed down from the platform, crouched low, and reached out to grab the broken shards.

"I'll do it."

Ivan also acted like he was cleaning up the broken bottle, crouched down, and took a shard in his hand. Then, feigning clumsiness, he deliberately scraped Amelia's delicate finger.

"Ah!"

Amelia involuntarily cried out from the stinging pain. Ivan didn't miss that opportunity.

"Are you alright?"

Without hesitation, he grasped Amelia's slender finger where blood was beading. Then he drew Amelia's finger to his mouth and touched his tongue to the wound. The metallic scent and taste of blood were completely absorbed. Even the warm body heat—all of it belonged to a living human.

"What, what are you doing?"

Amelia, finally snapping back to awareness, jerked in alarm and yanked her hand back. Ivan slowly suppressed the corners of his mouth that had unconsciously lifted before raising his head.

"Ah, I did it without thinking."

Ivan ran his tongue across his lips and answered casually. Since he claimed he'd acted on instinct, there was nothing she could say to that. Amelia simply gripped her stinging finger and turned red.

"I'll take care of it, so leave it alone."

Ivan rose to his feet, pulled out the bag he'd stored the bottle in from his jacket, and carelessly kicked the broken pieces into it. Not a trace remained of his flustered behavior from moments before.

"Amelia."

It was good he hadn't heeded Rodan's words. Ivan thought this as he called Amelia's name with honeyed sweetness. A voice made all the sweeter for being false.

"Yes?"

Amelia answered at once. Her gaze clung to him as if spellbound.

"Why are you afraid of dogs?"

Ivan asked.

"I was bitten before. It hurt terribly."

Amelia answered while stroking her shoulder with her hand. Even so, she kept watching Ivan's expression. Her manner made it clear she didn't want to displease Ivan again.

"And you bled?"

"Of course I did. I'm human, aren't I? I nearly died."

Yet even while being cautious, she apparently felt she had to speak her mind. Amelia replied as if she'd heard something odd. It was a strange attitude, not treating herself as anything special.

"You're right. What a foolish question..."

Ivan murmured with a face touched by the faintest smile. An ordinary human, no less. Amelia seemed utterly oblivious to how bizarre her answer sounded.

"Is there anything else you'd like to try next time?"

So he resolved to be even more tender with Amelia. The more Amelia stayed oblivious, the better.

"Next time?"

"We promised to meet again next time."

At Ivan's words, Amelia nodded eagerly. As though afraid he might change his mind. Such a simple-minded response.

"Then..."

"Yes."

"I heard there's food that's skewered like this and sold. With seasoning applied on the outside."

Amelia hesitantly spoke. It was amusing how she roughly described the appearance with her hands.

"Chicken skewers? I'll try to bring some next time."

However, Ivan completely hid such feelings and faced Amelia with a smiling expression. Amelia laughed, unable to hide her joy.

"I'm glad I met you."

And she whispered how glad she was to have met Ivan. Unaware that the most dangerous creature to her was darting his tongue right before her eyes. Ivan savored his mockery of foolish Amelia to the fullest.

"In case the liquor smell clings to you, we really should head back now. Don't worry about the cleanup—I'll handle it."

Amelia's eyes darted about with an expression that asked if this was really all right.

"Okay."

But she had to agree. If she stayed away too long, someone would surely come searching for her immediately. Around midnight, Louise always came looking for Amelia. To make sure she hadn't escaped and was properly in her bedroom. If Amelia was missing, or present but reeking of alcohol, it would raise suspicions.

"Next week we..."

But parting like this felt regrettable.

"Let's meet again next week."

Just as Amelia was about to say they should definitely meet again next week, Ivan interrupted her words. And he said what Amelia was about to say for her.

"Yes."

Amelia, who had been staring with round eyes in surprise at having her words stolen, smiled bashfully like a child. Then she gave a gentle reply and took a step.

"Goodbye, Ivan."

Of course, before completely leaving the prayer room, she deliberately turned around once more to say goodbye.

"..."

The prayer room door leading to the main palace where Amelia lived swung shut. The moment it did, the smile vanished from Ivan's face as if it had never been there, after he'd so graciously seen Amelia off.

"I suppose I'll be going."

Ivan carelessly grabbed the bag holding the gathered fragments and stepped forward. Then he pushed open the prayer room's side door and slipped through. Security around the building's flanks, where there were no alternate escape routes, was rather slack.

"When the devil is that Eric fellow coming?"

Besides, the guards at each gate were busy preparing for the changing of the watch. They spotted Ivan emerging from the prayer room but only checked his identification and waved him through.

The palace where Amelia resided was walled off by high barriers on the temple's north side, and the annex prayer room was understood to be off-limits. Not that this was any formal regulation. The priests simply found it bothersome to submit to guard inspections every time, so they avoided the area altogether. On top of that, the long stretch of peaceful days without incident had likely bred carelessness.

Naturally, approaching Amelia inside was an entirely different matter. The palace where Amelia lived had a rather odd layout. While the main building's exterior had minimal staff—just sentries at the entrances—the interior swarmed with attendants.

Blocking intimate approaches from the outside while simultaneously trapping the person inside in a tight net.

"..."

So was Amelia Escliffe an innocent victim trapped inside?

"What nonsense."

Ivan clicked his tongue. The idea that a woman living in luxury, being cherished like gold and jade in the temple, was imprisoned was ridiculous.

In any case, thanks to that strange structure, Ivan could easily pass through the entrance to the palace where Amelia stayed.

"Going out again?"

Ivan presented his identification badge to the guards stationed at the gate connecting Amelia's residence to the temple. They verified the name listed as Ricky and clicked their tongues in disgust. They didn't even tell him to pull down his robe's hood.

"If you get caught doing this, you'll lose your novice priest status too. Recently, the holy knights have started patrolling outside to catch guys like you, so be careful."

Ricky's face was unknown since he never stayed attached to the temple, but his existence frequenting taverns was already famous.

"If I get caught, there's nothing I can do."

"Sigh, go on."

At Ivan's cheeky response, the guards clicked their tongues but allowed him to leave. Ivan departed the temple without any constraints. At the same time, the heavy toll of bells rang out behind him. The sound that announced midnight had come and no one should be moving outside the buildings.

"How dare she talk about immortality."

Ivan stood tall as if he had stopped upon hearing that sound. Then he muttered in a voice faintly mixed with laughter.

Of course, he had never believed in the temple or the sacred maiden. As a human being, he thought it was impossible not to age or die. However, he couldn't help but consider the one-in-a-million possibility.

What if Amelia really had lived for 200 years and had an immortal body? Wouldn't that mean he'd be fighting an unwinnable battle for life? That slim possibility had made Ivan hesitate.

But now Ivan was confident in his own speculation. Amelia was just an ordinary human. Her strangely naive behavior was because she was still young, and her attachment to Ivan, whom she'd only known for a short time, was because she'd lived her entire life forbidden from contact with outsiders.

"Then how was that thing born?"

Ivan recalled Amelia's naive face. There was no way an ordinary human could have been born of her own volition.

"..."

Ivan turned to look back. The beautifully adorned prison huddled beneath the pale moonlight. Like the secret it concealed within.

"Well, there's no rush."

Soon Ivan turned his eyes from the gate. Strange as it was, he felt no urge to discover that truth right now. More accurately, there was no need to rush.

Either way, he'd learn of it soon enough. Amelia would trail after Ivan of her own free will. Ivan need only entice and exploit, or kill, the Amelia who would chase after him in devotion.

If Amelia's existence lay within his shadow, it would be no trouble at all.