Chapter 79: Here is not easy to take care of the lady here

After two weeks of taking care of Leah, Sihyun came to one conclusion.

“She’s such a handful.”

Sihyun sat on the sofa, drinking coffee, and ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

He observed Leah, who was sprawled out on the kitchen floor a little distance from the sofa, staging her own protest.

“Huuuuh… Sihyun…! Are you truly not giving this one pudding today…?

“You already ate seven. You shouldn’t eat that much pudding in one day.”

“Ugh…! That’s too much…! This, this is an unfair treatment, and this one formally protests!”

“I’m sorry, but our house doesn’t have a department that handles complaints, so it’s no use.”

Leah was a girl who threw tantrums whenever something didn’t go her way.

This was already an improvement, as Sihyun had painstakingly taught her basic common sense and manners whenever he could.

Originally, it was even worse.

Crying tearfully was a given, along with locking herself in the bathroom and refusing to come out, or glaring from under the covers in a corner of the bed, and so on.

In some ways, these expressions might have seemed cute, but when it happened several times a day, it was enough to drive you mad.

– “Leah, from now on, if you have a complaint, let’s promise to only lie sprawled out on the floor.”

– “Then will Sihyun grant this one’s request?”

– “Not exactly… but for now, let’s just unify the way you express your dissatisfaction. Besides that, I’ve seen over thirty ways you’ve expressed it in the past two weeks. It’s hard for me to understand.”

– “Hmm… In return, promise to give this one lots of pudding!”

Three days ago, after a dramatic agreement with Leah, the method of expressing dissatisfaction was unified.

Not that Leah’s tantrums decreased, though.

‘Anyway, it’s impressive that I’ve gotten used to this kind of household scene in just two weeks.’

– Slurp.

Sihyun had now reached the point where he could calmly drink coffee, leaving Leah to pout and throw tantrums.

“Hiccup…! This one, this one is a knight… I, I won’t cry…! This one can express her dissatisfaction proudly— Hiccup!”

Leah was now sitting under the sofa, tearfully staring at Sihyun.

She was subtly trembling, doing her best to hold back her tears.

‘Both Luna and Leah… honestly, a beautiful girl looking up from below has too much destructive power…!’

Sihyun tried his best to act unfazed, closing his eyes and drinking his coffee. He felt that if he kept looking at Leah’s tearful violet eyes, he would give in immediately.

“Sniff, sniff…! S-Sihyun, this one won’t move an inch from the living room until you give in…!”

– Scamper!

Leah scurried back to the living room and began her protest by lying sprawled out again.

Had about thirty minutes passed like that?

Sniffle, sniffle.

Sihyun rose from his seat when the kitchen floor was about to be soaked with Leah’s tears and approached her.

The girl was curled up on the floor, softly sobbing.

– Thud.

Sihyun sat down beside Leah and spoke softly to her.

“Leah, look this way for a moment.”

“Sniff…! N-No! This one doesn’t want to see someone like Sihyun…!”

“Is it because I didn’t give you pudding?”

“Th-That too, but… this one feels like Sihyun doesn’t cherish this one. You often scold me… and constantly teach me this and that…”

In fact, Leah had accumulated a lot of complaints recently.

She was a powerful monster and a knight, but Sihyun treated her only as an immature girl.

“If only this one could use her strength, humans would acknowledge and fear this one as a terrifying monster… but strangely, this one can’t use any strength…”

“……”

Leah secretly wiped away her tears with her hand so Sihyun wouldn’t see.

– Tap.

At that moment, something cold touched Leah’s cheek.

“Nyaah…? S-Sihyun?”

“It’s the vanilla pudding our Knight Leah likes. It’ll taste even better chilled, right? Haha.”

“Sihyun clearly said he wouldn’t give this one more pudding today… why are you giving it to this one again…? Is it because this one did something good?”

Until now, Sihyun had given Leah pudding as a reward whenever she did something well or applied what he taught her effectively.

He hadn’t given her any otherwise, so the girl couldn’t understand why he was suddenly giving her pudding.

– Pat-pat.

Sihyun patted Leah, whose violet eyes were wide with question, and answered her.

“Haha, the pudding I’m giving you now isn’t because you did something good, Leah.”

“Then why are you giving it…?”

“Just because I don’t want Leah to cry anymore. There’s no other reason.”

“Sihyun, you don’t like seeing this one cry…?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it; it hurts my heart. Isn’t that strange? Leah cries, but why does my heart hurt? Haha.”

“This one doesn’t quite… understand what you mean…”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to understand it now.”

– Stroke.

Sihyun smiled slightly and gently stroked Leah’s head.

At that moment, an unknown emotion began to well up in the girl’s chest.

‘Again… this feeling… this strange sensation I get whenever Sihyun touches this one…’

Her heart felt like it was turning into soft pudding. A strange emotion she had never felt before.

‘This is strange. It feels… ticklish… It’s similar to when Sihyun first gave this one a name.’

She should immediately push away this rude hand that dared to stroke a knight’s head.

The girl tried to grab Sihyun’s arm with both hands to pull it away, but somehow, she couldn’t exert any strength.

It was as if she secretly wished he would stroke her more.

“Sihyun… why are you taking care of this one?”

“Hm? You were begging me to take care of you, and now you’re suddenly asking that?”

“J-Just asking…! You promised to teach this one what this one is curious about!”

Leah’s violet eyes sparkled as she stared up at Sihyun.

Sihyun began to ponder how to answer the girl’s straightforward question.

‘Hmm, it probably wouldn’t be good to mention the reward money or the story of the apocalypse as reasons.’

No matter how simple and worldly-ignorant Leah was, she would surely be heartbroken if she knew he was taking care of her for materialistic reasons.

But lying with a completely different reason wouldn’t work either.

‘If you lie, it just gets harder to manage as more lies pile up. It’s probably best to just rephrase things a bit?’

– Flash!

“Nyaah…?! S-Sihyun?”

“The floor is cold, so come here first, Leah.”

Sihyun picked up Leah, who was lying on the floor, and gently laid her on the bed.

“You’re curious why I take care of Leah and treat you kindly?”

“Hmm… is it because you want this one’s strong power, like the white-clothed researchers at the guild…?”

“Not at all. I want to be with Leah even if you have no power at all.”

“……Why?”

‘Why? Because it’s easier to solve the apocalypse if Leah has no power, of course!’

Honestly, if she had powerful strength from the beginning like Luna, I’d be too terrified to treat her carelessly.

…Since he couldn’t say that, Sihyun decided to make a suitable excuse.

“Hmm… well, because Leah is pretty? Hahaha.”

“Sihyun, you think this one is pretty…?”

“Of course. Even though you pout more often, that’s cute to watch too.”

“K-Knights shouldn’t be called cute…”

The man’s words, simply stating that he wanted to be with the girl because she was pretty.

“I know you’re a knight, Leah, but I wish you’d just be an ordinary girl in front of me.”

“Why…?”

“Because it’s Leah’s true self that only I can see. I prefer that pure Leah. Hahaha!”

The man calmly stated that he liked the girl for who she was, not as a knight or a monster, but just as she was.

“You’re a bit of a tomboy and throw tantrums often, but I like that Leah.”

“……!!!”

The girl was stunned by Sihyun’s sudden confession.

‘S-Sihyun fell in love with this one at first sight…?!

Of course, what Sihyun said wasn’t a confession but merely a deflection, but for the pure Leah, its effect was tremendous!

“Hmph…! T-That kind of talk won’t be enough to tempt this one! A knight should not be swayed by any temptation— Mmph?”

“Hehehe, you say that, but your body is honest, isn’t it?”

Sihyun scooped up pudding with a small spoon and put it into Leah’s mouth.

“What are you doing— *munch-munch*, this one is talking— *nom-nom*, you shouldn’t do that— *chomp-chomp*…”

“It’s not very convincing when you keep eating it well while saying that.”

“Huh…?! A-As expected, the sweetness of pudding is incredible! This one kept taking it without realizing it…!”

“Are you feeling a bit better now, Knight?”

“Hmm… P-Perhaps a little better… this one isn’t sure.”

Sihyun wiped the pudding from Leah’s lips with his hand.

Each time his soft, warm touch reached her, her heart felt soft, like the spring sunshine tickling her cheek.

‘Sihyun is truly strange…’

The soft bed and warm blanket. And feeling the lingering sweetness of the vanilla pudding, Leah unknowingly blinked a few times.

‘This is strange… This body is getting… lighter…’

All the emotions, tantrums, tears, and unfairness accumulated today now felt faint.

As the stone in her chest slowly melted away, sleep naturally began to creep over the girl.

“Sihyun… This one’s eyes keep closing…”

“Now that you mention it, the sun has already set, hasn’t it? It’s a bit early, but I’ll put Leah to sleep first.”

“Hmm… aren’t you sleeping, Sihyun…?”

“How can the guardian fall asleep first? I’ll go to bed soon after Leah’s asleep, so don’t worry.”

– Pat-pat.

Sihyun gently stroked Leah’s head so she could sleep more comfortably.

Leah, with half-closed eyes, stared intently at Sihyun and clutched the hem of his clothes.

“Sihyun… aren’t you going to say the goodbye today…?”

“Haha, I guess Leah feels awkward if I don’t say the goodbye now?”

“Hmm… This one can’t sleep well without hearing it.”

Among the four greetings Sihyun taught her, Leah especially liked the last one.

“Leah, see you again in your dreams today.”

“Hmm…! Sihyun, see you again in dreams…!”

Leah slowly closed her eyes, feeling the sweetness of the pudding and Sihyun’s warm touch.

Just like that, as if Sihyun’s ‘see you again’ greeting was a lullaby, Leah fell into a deep sleep as if by magic.

“Good night, Leah.”

When Leah was completely asleep,

[Ding!]

A Notification Window appeared and whispered softly in Sihyun’s ear.

[Ugh… S-Sihyun-nim is a playboy…!]

“What am I supposed to do if I leave her alone and she cries all day? I had no choice. Cut me some slack.”

[Howuuu… What a mess will unfold if Luna finds out later…! I am afraid!]

“Ahem, let’s think about that later… Notification Window, let’s talk.”

[About what?]

Sihyun carefully sat on the bed, making sure not to wake Leah.

“About the apocalypse-level monster, Noblesse.”

****

While Leah was sweetly sleeping in Sihyun’s arms,

in the Briefing Room of the Guild of Dawn’s Light, a beautiful blue-eyed girl was conversing with a man, exuding an air of displeasure.

“So… why did you come to Korea?”

“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I believe this is the first time since New York? Have you been well, Master Victoria Crawford of the Eden Guild?”

“Just answer my question, Chris Evans. As the Master of the Eternal Guardians Guild, why are you, who should be in America, suddenly in this country?”

“Hahaha, you’re still as prickly as ever. I, for one, am quite happy to meet you after such a long time. Anyway, the reason for coming to this country… there’s only one, isn’t there?”

The reason why the man with a snake-like tongue and chilling eyes, visible through his perpetually narrowed slits that always concealed his emotions, personally visited Korea.

“I heard there’s a girl in Korea who calls herself an apocalypse-level monster but has no power whatsoever… Where is she now?”