episode_0050

Thus, Seraphina had no choice but to accept Mark’s proposal.

Instead of making the result of this spar his victory, Mark changed the conditions of the duel, replacing the result of the spar with Ropel with the result of a later spar with Seraphina.

As for Seraphina, under the condition that she would never speak about the facts of the spar that day and Mark’s tricks, she was able to receive an advanced healing potion and give it to Ropel.

Fortunately, the potion worked well, allowing Ropel to escape the brink of death.

After that, he was carried to the infirmary and received intensive treatment, greatly improving his condition.

However, the aftereffects were significant, leaving him unable to leave his bed for a while.

She certainly made the choice out of necessity to save Ropel’s life, but she was so ashamed of herself that day.

If it had merely been a verbal agreement, she would have opened her mouth long ago to expose Mark’s despicable actions.

However, due to the oath of silence made as a condition for receiving the potion, Seraphina could not speak the truth of what happened in the dueling arena that day, not now, nor in the future.

If only she had been stronger, couldn’t she have forcibly taken the potion from Mark that day and helped Ropel?

If that had happened, Ropel would have gained the honor of winning against Mark with dignity, while Mark’s sinister true self would have been revealed, causing his reputation in the world to plummet.

Or, the incident that initiated all this, Ropel volunteering to participate in a dangerous spar on her behalf, wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Perhaps going back even further, her father wouldn’t have designated Mark as the successor instead of her.

All of this happened because she was weak, because her talent was insufficient.

The more she thought about it, the more a dark sense of guilt, that all of this was her own fault, overwhelmed her.

It was at that moment, when her heart had fallen into an infinitely deep and dark abyss.

Suddenly, she felt something warm on her hands.

Along with a familiar touch that felt strangely soft, even though it was a rough hand with calluses.

“…Seraphina, are you okay?”

Ropel, who was lying in bed, had taken her hand as she came to visit him.

His face looked so dark and gloomy that even though he had just taken medication for treatment and rehabilitation and was on the verge of falling into a deep sleep from its effects, he couldn’t bear it and spoke to her.

“…Ah! I’m fine. However… I just had a few things on my mind.”

She realized that she had unknowingly revealed her emotions on her face.

She quickly regained her composure and coolness, returning to her usual cold yet charismatic expression.

“Are you really okay? You’ll have to spar with Ropel in about a week, maybe less, so you shouldn’t overdo it.

I don’t know what Mark was thinking when he did that, but it’s a precious second chance.

You shouldn’t ruin your body before you even start.”

“Haha… I appreciate the thought, but that’s not it, so I’m fine…”

“I’m saying this because you don’t look okay.

Your eyes even look strangely hollow.

…Ah! Right!”

Ropel pulled back the blanket he was covering himself with towards Seraphina’s direction.

“Why don’t you come in here?”

“…! Wh-What…!”

“Why? You look tired, so I thought you might want to lie down for a bit.

If I could, I’d give you the whole bed, but my body isn’t in shape right now.

And I’m getting tired myself…

…Did I say something strange?”

“Ah… no… That… that’s…”

Seraphina’s crimson red eyes reflected Ropel’s current appearance.

Due to the severe aftereffects of his injury, he had been lying in this bed for quite a long time.

Because of this, the most he could do for washing himself was wiping his body with a wet towel.

Naturally, the condition inside the blanket where he had been lying for a considerable time must have been filled with his warmth and scent.

Perhaps he had sweated while lying down, as his skin faintly showed through her white T-shirt.

Moreover, the way he opened his blanket himself and revealed his embrace was even alluring.

…Gulp

?!

Seraphina was now horrified by her own actions.

Not only did she look at the man who had fought for her with his life, and an injured one at that, with sticky eyes, but for some reason, she even swallowed.

She had thought it before, but recently, especially when she was with this man, she would unknowingly show behavior unlike her usual self.

In the first place, her current bad mood wasn’t simply due to fatigue, but the shame of her own regrettable actions.

There was no reason for her to lie in the same bed as Ropel, let alone right beside him.

Furthermore, the reason he was saying such things must be because he was talking nonsense due to the sleepiness caused by the medication.

Thinking rationally, politely refusing would be the right thing to do.

Surely, that should have been the case.

“Then, I shall intrude.”

!?!?!?

Having said it herself, she couldn’t help but be surprised again.

She clearly intended to say that she appreciated his kindness but had to refuse, yet she said this!

Still, it wasn’t too late.

She had to quickly correct this slip of the tongue…

Squeeze

When she came to her senses, she was already inside Ropel’s blanket, and moreover, tightly held in his arms.

Seraphina had crawled into his blanket of her own accord, and Ropel, who was on the verge of falling asleep from fatigue, accepted her body and held her.

Realizing this fact only now, she was momentarily flustled and almost jumped up from the spot, but soon calmed down at the warm comfort she felt around her.

It wasn’t the warmth felt from the blanket’s insulation, but clearly the warmth emanating from his body temperature.

Furthermore, the feeling of his firm body, strongly trained through consistent effort, was transparently felt through a single layer of her shirt.

At the same time, the subtle scent of him emanating from her nose, almost touching his collarbone, was not unpleasant at all, but rather strangely sensual.

“See… Isn’t it comfortable…? It would be good to take a deep nap like this and rest while clearing your head…”

With those words as his last, Ropel finally fell asleep from the effect of the medication.

Even while asleep, he gently placed his hand on my back as if hugging a doll.

…Indeed, his words were true.

She couldn’t understand why, and hated to admit it, but it was the same before and now; whenever she was in his arms, even though it was just the simple act of being held, her body and mind felt at ease.

Perhaps it was because there was something in him… a ‘fatherly’ quality she had never properly felt since she was young.

Thinking back, since she began wielding a sword under the name of the Serion family, she thought she had discarded all feelings unrelated to swordsmanship that were misguided.

Her father had always been strict and cold, but he was still a person who expressed love for his family.

However, after the unfortunate incident involving her eldest brother, Richard Serion, he became the infinitely stern person he is today.

Gradually, under the influence of such a father, the warmth that flows between a typical family, that is, warmth, disappeared from the Serion family, which soon led to Seraphina Serion being given the moniker ‘Cold Rose’.

She didn’t hold any resentment or dissatisfaction towards that fact.

She had fully expected this way of life from the moment she bore the noble name of Serion.

Of course, inwardly rationalizing it that way, it would be undeniable that she felt a sense of emptiness.

However, that emptiness was being filled by this man whom she hadn’t known for long.

Indeed, when she talked with this man before her eyes, and looked into his eyes… she couldn’t help but feel a somewhat fuzzy feeling deep inside her heart.

When she was doing special training with him, that is, sparring with him, she hadn’t properly recognized this change in her feelings.

She thought that even though her gaze gradually moved as if tracing his body and her heart pounded, it was just the effect of training, nothing significant.

But returning to the present moment, Seraphina couldn’t help but realize, even if she hated to, that this feeling was not ordinary, but something special.

Especially when she recalled his appearance, putting his life on the line solely for her during the match with Mark, she felt an inexplicable surge of exhilaration.

What was the true nature of this feeling, she wondered, but she didn’t have the confidence to face it immediately.

For now, she just wanted to surrender herself to the warmth that filled her body.

It felt like she was finally truly breathing and her heart was beating.

She even felt like she wanted to stay with him like this forever.

Yes, just like this, always…

…

…

Burst open! Bang!

“Ropel, are you okay from the injury from Mark? I was worried, so I brought some extra blankets and clothes.

How’s your body doing right…?”

“Ropel! My… my potion I made myself will be even more effective than the medicine in the… the infirmary…!

It’s… it’s an experimental work, but this one I brought is quite…?”

Lilith and Elizyo burst into Ropel’s hospital room with excited faces.

Having met each other on the way, they seemed to have run, as sweat beaded on their foreheads.

One thing that came into their line of sight and left them speechless.

A woman covering herself with the same blanket on the same bed as the sleeping Ropel, Seraphina Serion.

The gaze of the two women turned instantly cold, pouring down on her sharply.