Chapter 133 - North Korean rabbit

Episode 133

I repeated Arpad's words back to him verbatim.

"If you don't shake me around so much... I think I'll be fine."

Honestly, I felt quite dizzy from losing so much blood.

In this state, Arpad shaking me around was not helpful for regaining my senses. Quite the opposite.

Perhaps he finally realized this from my words, as Arpad's hands, which had been frantically checking my wounds and condition, abruptly stilled.

The strength drained from the hands that had been so fierce and passionate just moments before.

Instead, a cautious touch and gaze, as if handling a cracked glass bottle, swept over my entire body.

A muttered whisper, laden with a metallic timbre, echoed.

"You don't look fine at all."

Huh? It's not that bad.

Of course, I'm a bit dizzy and my whole body aches, but I think I'm fairly intact.

Especially considering it's the price for calming Arpad's madness.

Before I could say anything, Arpad moved first.

He tore the lining of his shirt and wrapped it around the cut on my palm.

During the process, the chains binding his neck and limbs clattered and got in the way.

Surprisingly, he clicked his tongue once as if annoyed and then shattered the chains.

*Crunch!*

My mouth fell open as I watched the chains, as thick as two of my fingers, break.

'Wait, how did he endure those chains when he was mad and out of his mind?'

They didn't break during all that commotion earlier?

As I stared in shock and disbelief, Arpad muttered somewhat awkwardly.

"Don't worry. When I'm mad and out of my mind, I can't break these chains. I can only shatter them when I can handle my magical power normally, following the set sequence and pathways."

"......"

Arpad seemed to be judging the state of his madness quite objectively.

As if he had studied it.

Otherwise, he couldn't have prepared such special chains.

Once again, I felt the emotions churning in my chest begin to stir.

Right now, Arpad couldn't possibly know my subtle mood changes.

After administering first aid to my wounds and examining my overall condition for a long while, he finally let out a long sigh.

And then, for some reason, he asked a question tinged with a hint of resentment.

"Why on earth did you come here? You couldn't have not known it was dangerous."

Judging by his expression, I hadn't misread the resentment.

I felt quite wronged.

'Hey, shouldn't you be thanking me first?'

Even more than that, I felt hurt.

That's why. A sulky voice came out first.

"I came *because* I knew it was dangerous."

"What?"

The usually pale area now had a small abrasion and grime from rolling on the floor, clearly visible. The red and black marks drew distinct lines.

I was so angry about that. So I spat out words bristling with thorns.

"I came because it was obvious you'd be here alone in this dark corner, wallowing in self-pity. And I was right, weren't I?"

Arpad made a face as if he found it absurd.

My mood, of course, worsened further.

Thanks to that, I could fire off words rapidly, without any hesitation.

"Even if you're tied up with chains like these, holed up alone, trying to protect your surroundings from yourself, what's the point?"

I picked up a piece of the broken chain and threw it against the wall in a fit of anger.

"No one appreciates it! Even your father fears and guards against you!"

"...!"

"Do you think that by doing this, the people who are scared, fearful, and wary of you will look at you with even a little pity?"

It would be the opposite.

They'd just think you're truly a dangerous being who needs to be bound.

So they'd try to guard against you or kill you somehow.

Or, like Gaspard, try to use you for their own desires.

No one would understand or pity you, yet this man alone...

Yes. He was utterly alone.

Even I wouldn't have known if I hadn't come here myself last night.

What state Arpad was in.

How desperately he was protecting his surroundings from himself.

Once again, the image of Arpad when I unlocked and entered this door from outside last night came to mind.

The bloodshot red eyes and madness didn't instill any fear in me now.

Because the living him was different from the corpse that became an experimental subject in my memories.

Different from the monster that thrashed about, trying to quench an insatiable thirst by tearing apart and drinking the prey, me, right before its eyes without reason.

I remembered Arpad, bound in the darkness, refusing the blood I offered.

My chest ached. Something hot welled up, threatening to spill from my eyes.

To keep from crying, I stiffly raised my head and actively got angry.

"Who said you could mope around alone in a place like this!"

"......"

For some reason, Arpad stared blankly up at me.

Then he muttered softly.

"...It's the first time I've been scolded for that reason since my mother passed away."

"So you're angry? That someone who's not your mother is telling you off?"

"No."

Arpad carefully approached me on his knees.

"I like it too much."

And gave an absurd answer.

"Do it more."

I forgot all about the heat in my eyes and the sadness, anger, and hurt that had been churning and filling my chest.

* * *

'She worries about me, gets angry, and even scolds me...'

If it were the usual Arpad, the moment he realized that, he wouldn't have let the other person be.

But now he made the opposite choice. He didn't get angry or try to kill.

He decided to give an absurdly foolish answer.

"So you're angry? That someone who's not your mother is telling you off?"

"No."

He could have given a cooler, more composed-looking answer.

'If that doesn't work on this woman, it's completely meaningless.'

That's why, without thinking, he expressed the pure sincerity that sprang forth as it was in words.

He judged that would actually work on Hilia.

To be honest, creating a cage to confine himself in the underground tomb was merely an objective judgment.

'The more damage I cause to my surroundings due to madness, the weaker my position will become.'

So he just devised a method to control himself.

He never once thought it might look pitiful or evoke sympathy.

If anyone thought that and showed it, he would never have left them alone.

Arpad Istrid had been above others since birth.

He was a predator, a ruler.

He considered that position and attitude utterly natural and showed no mercy to those who tried to overturn it.

Like that Ludwig fellow who didn't know his place and tried to covet his position.

Or the women who acted as if they pitied and wanted to save him.

Arpad despised and loathed all of them terribly.

But.

But this time was different. So very different.

She worried, pitied, and felt sorry for him. She even got angry because of it.

She threw herself in to save him. How that was possible was a secondary issue.

The suspicions and illogicalities didn't even register.

Only the fact that Hilia had done it for him was important.

This fact was so sweet. So much so that if this were a dream, he wouldn't want to wake up.

He was amazed that it could make the disgusting, wretched world seem beautiful and bright.

The corner of the underground tomb where rat carcasses rolled around was more valuable and beautiful than the highest, most noble place in the imperial palace.

Because she had tried to save him here.

Because she had pitied him, her eyes reddening, thinking he was sacrificing himself alone here.

That's why.

Arpad willingly decided to become a foolish idiot.

"I like it too much. Do it more."

Then Hilia's expression, which had been moist with pity, sympathy, and sadness, stiffened in bewilderment.

"What...?"

She looked like she didn't understand what she had just heard.

Arpad felt he could do anything to win this woman's heart now.

He had the resolve to act like the pitiful, pathetic being he usually despised.

He was willing to beg for her sympathy.

"Anything from you is good. Pity me, get angry at me, scold me as much as you want."

Just moments ago, Hilia's eyes were reddening as if she would cry.

But at Arpad's desperate words, her entire face soon flushed red.

"Wait, I thought you were a foolish idiot, but you... are you a pervert?!"

"......"

Truly, his wife had a knack for ruining the mood.

He decided to seal that mouth with his own lips.

"...!"

Hilia's eyes, which had widened in surprise, slowly closed.

The countless kisses repeated last night continued once more.

But there was one crucial difference.

It was an act committed by both parties in their right minds, for no other reason.

Romance, Fantasy,