MHHC Chapter 120

Resonance

"…"

"You drive me mad."

Drive me mad. The voice sinking as if submerged sent a faint tremor through Adelheid.

The pounding sensation from her heart spread throughout her body. His heat touched directly against skin heightened and sensitized with anticipation.

Ah. The moment that gasp escaped her lips, he buried his face against her nape as if unable to endure any longer.

Yet their skin didn't touch. He maintained a hairline gap with obsessive precision, barely enduring from just beyond that threshold.

The breath that occasionally escaped through Valentin's clenched teeth burned excessively hot. It flowed as rich stimulation along the pale, fragile nape she'd exposed.

In certain moments, that alone felt sufficient.

"Valentin…"

At her voice, grown moist and saturated, he jerked his head up with a start. As if her tone had restored his senses, faint self-reproach marked his refined features.

But it lasted only an instant. His gaze immediately clouded again.

"…"

He looked down at her with eyes like a predator glimpsing a deer trailing blood. The eyes of a starving beast.

It seemed he might shatter his elegant pretense at any moment and bare the sharp teeth he'd hidden.

She could see him barely suppressing that impulse beneath a single layer of reason. If he lost his grip on sanity for even an instant, he might devour her whole from head to toe.

Not metaphorically—as literal savagery.

"Even now, you emit… an excessively sweet fragrance."

He forced the words out with difficulty. His throat rippled as he swallowed with effort.

"It's hard to restrain myself. My instinct knows that your pure authority would benefit me. My reason is crumbling faster than I anticipated… Even if I barely manage to endure for now…"

He tried to smile and failed; his refined lips twisted into something like a fracture.

"Someday I might lose this shallow patience and break your ankles."

"…"

"So you can't run away. So I can take you whenever the impulse strikes me."

The crude succession of words flushed Adelheid's pale cheeks vivid red. The sun might be setting, but the surroundings remained bright.

To hear such explicit words in a space this exposed—not even a bedroom…

The moment Adelheid lowered her eyelids in confusion, he grasped her chin and tilted it up so she couldn't escape his eyes. The gaze meeting hers burned with unparalleled intensity.

"I would prolong such an existence endlessly—wretched for you, rapturous for me."

She might have trembled slightly without realizing. Whether from fear or anticipation remained unclear.

Valentin gazed long into Adelheid's soft eyes. As if that alone could anchor his reason in place.

"So learn to wield authority as quickly as possible. Before your beast escapes your control."

Valentin whispered those words and reluctantly released her.

The places his hands had touched burned so hot that when he withdrew, even the cool air felt frigid.

When Adelheid reflexively reached to hold him back, Valentin caught her wrist and lowered it. Then he retreated several more steps. His smile tasted bitter.

"Until you can handle authority skillfully… it would be better not to approach me this way. I don't know when I might truly harm you."

He'd spoken honestly, intending to instill proper wariness, but Adelheid only felt pity for Valentin.

"But then you'll have no choice except to feel pain until I become proficient."

"Then you'll have to learn quickly. Occasionally, before authority overflows your vessel, stroke me with a single finger."

"…"

"I'll try somehow to endure my hunger with that."

Valentin, having tightened the leash of reason once more, smiled at her.

In his attitude of instantly recovered composure, no trace remained of his desperate state moments before. That gap somehow made her feel desolate.

"Now, Adele. Come here."

Valentin already stood in the clearing's center, gesturing for her approach. Adelheid moved to the position he indicated.

"Begin with resonance. Close your eyes calmly and breathe. Feel the earth's pulse beneath you, the wind, the forest's whispers."

Adelheid felt somewhat confused, having expected something grander from instruction on wielding authority. Close her eyes and feel the wind?

"Will this… truly help? I expected to learn something more practical."

"Magic loads your will artificially onto mana, but divine authority is closer to commanding the world itself. The deeper your resonance, the more naturally things will move in response to your will."

Resonance. Did he mean those sharp, delicate stimulations that had awakened while she gazed at Valentin? That moment when every bristling hair seemed to perceive the entire world in detail?

"How will I know if I've succeeded at resonance?"

"Even with closed eyes, your surroundings will become vividly perceptible. Without barriers, even distances of thousands wouldn't matter anymore."

"How could that be…"

Possible? Adelheid almost answered negatively by reflex, then hurriedly closed her mouth.

The past, when no effort yielded even a single result, differed from now.

"I'll try."

Adelheid closed her eyes as Valentin instructed and attempted to perceive something—anything. But no matter how hard she tried, success proved elusive.

Initially she approached it seriously, but as time passed, confidence gradually eroded.

After struggling fruitlessly for some time, Adelheid finally opened her eyes again. When she drooped her shoulders in disappointment, Valentin spoke soothingly.

"Don't think of it anxiously."

"I can't tell if I'm doing it correctly. Or even if I truly can."

"If it's difficult, shall we stop for today? We still have time."

"…Just once more. Let me try one more time."

Adelheid bit her lip and steeled her resolve again. She couldn't give up just because it proved slightly difficult.

Adelheid closed her eyes again and struggled to awaken her senses. Briefly, she thought she might be succeeding.

But no matter how much she strained her nerves, her vision didn't brighten—it only grew progressively darker. She bit her lip and opened her eyes with a snap.

"I still… don't understand. How did you do it initially?"

"Well. For me it was as natural as breathing."

She found herself looking at Valentin as if he were insufferable. But soon she lost even the energy for that.

"Perhaps I can't because I'm human? You said humans can't become gods… And you mentioned before that using authority requires human belief."

"Don't worry about belief. The path has already been prepared."

"Prepared…?"

The moment she echoed him in a daze, something surfaced in her mind. Human belief, prepared paths, and oracles.

In that instant, Adelheid was seized by a strange emotion. Could it be…? Was Valentin also involved in those oracles? Not simply Morig's cruel game?

'That's impossible.'

Oracles were typically delivered by the Pope. And the Pope never left Pragma's Grand Cathedral—someone under Morig's influence from head to toe…

"Adele, please focus only on handling authority for now."

He urged gently, soothingly. As if he'd perceived precisely what she suspected.

"The 'miracles' performed through authority cannot compare to crude healing arts. If you could wield that power freely, you might even purify living corruption."

"…"

"Think about it, Adele. Morig gathers power laboriously only to purify dead ash at best, to drive monsters from territories…"

"…"

"But you could go further."

Sweet persuasion touched her ears in succession. To prevent her from pursuing that train of thought further, to make her feel more committed to the present.

"…"

Not realizing this only made her want to interrogate him more. Adelheid barely suppressed that impulse.

As he said, the priority now was learning authority as quickly as possible, fulfilling her role on the battlefield.

Because this time, she wanted to protect Valentin with her own power more than anyone.

"As you say, I'll focus only on awakening authority for now."

"…"

"Because I trust you'll speak honestly someday."

Valentin's eyes sank into turbid depths.

Admiration, submission, joy—perhaps all of it… Every emotion mixed like paint in an instant, impossible even to identify the original form.

What remained certain was that he felt somewhat relieved. Eventually Valentin nodded heavily.

"Yes. Truly, someday."

"Then please help me a little so I can do better. It seems I perceive things more clearly when you're nearby."

Was it her imagination? The closer she drew to him, the more vividly all her senses seemed to awaken.

Adelheid extended both hands toward Valentin, standing several paces distant. When he froze as if unable to move after seeing her hands, she murmured almost defensively.

"Just… as you said, even holding a single finger would be enough…"

Before the words finished, he entwined his firm fingertips with her slender ones.

Valentin took a deep breath and moved past her fingers to clasp both her wrists.

Body heat, breath—close again.

Adelheid reflexively closed her eyes watching him lower his head. The moment their foreheads touched.

"Ah…"

The gasp that burst between soft lips came sharp.