* * *
Heat flared up from deep within me, surging upward and striking my head with a heavy blow.
‘I kissed Locke!’
In an instant, the air inside the cell felt suffocating.
It was awkward and heavy. I pulled back slightly, my eyes darting around nervously.
However, there was no escaping the fact that I had just shared a kiss with him.
“You’re acting so awkward over a mere kiss; I don’t think I’ll be able to treat you comfortably after all,” Locke said.
It was true that I was flustered.
In both of my lives combined, this was my first kiss.
Furthermore, I hadn’t imagined in my wildest dreams that my first kiss would be with a man.
However, Locke was right.
In this world, sexual acts between the same gender weren’t viewed negatively.
Besides, even between people with no affection, alphas and omegas were known to lose their minds and devour each other once they entered a cycle together.
Having experienced a previous life, I knew this well.
It wasn’t something I should be this distressed about.
Moreover, if I reacted with such severity, what would that make Locke, who had just helped me?
I figured the right thing for the person who received help was to act cool and nonchalant, so as not to make the other party feel humiliated.
“I’m not? It’s not awkward at all.”
“It’s not ‘not awkward,’ it is awkward.”
“Not at all. Thanks for helping me that day. If it weren’t for you, I would have died moaning in pain from a high fever in the rain.”
“…How strange,” Locke muttered, tilting his head again.
“What is?”
“You didn’t seem like this when you were talking to that man.”
“Huh?”
“That peacock who’s of marriageable age.”
‘A peacock of marriageable age?’
I sifted through the people I knew one by one, and suddenly a face came to mind.
To begin with, I didn’t know many people.
“Do you mean… Lord Aiden?”
I told him to treat me like a friend, and now it seems he’s planning to treat every noble in the world as a friend.
To refer to a Viscount’s son as “that man”…
I stared at Locke with my mouth agape.
“Yes, that man. Isn’t he a friend too? You seemed to laugh often when you spoke with him.”
“Lord Aiden isn’t a friend; he’s my senior. That’s a much more formal relationship than a friendship…”
This time, he had referred to him as “that man” three times in a row.
As I blinked in surprise, Locke waved his hand dismissively.
“Forget it. How is your body?”
“Oh? Ah… I’m fine now. Thank you so much for your help then.”
“I’ll continue to help you often in the future. As a friend.”
He leaned in close, whispering into my ear before pulling away.
Before the tingling on my lips could even fade, his breath tickling my ear made me instinctively shrink my neck.
After a few seconds of silent, expressionless stillness, Locke let out a “Haha!” and fully backed away.
We definitely seemed closer, yet a strange sense of dissonance made it feel as though we had actually drifted further apart.
‘Why has he become so sly?’
I kept stealing glances at Locke’s expression.
Then, our eyes met.
I smiled awkwardly and shrugged my shoulders as if nothing were wrong.
At that moment, his well-formed brow furrowed slightly.
‘What now?’
When those golden eyes sharpened, my heart began to race and I felt intimidated despite having done nothing wrong.
Just as I tried to avert my gaze, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward him.
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
“Ugh!”
I almost screamed in shock.
If I had, the knight outside would surely have drawn his sword, thinking Locke was harming me, so I barely managed to swallow the scream.
Gripping my wrist, he glared at my blood-stained palm and asked quietly, “Where did this happen?”
“Ah, the wound? This was just a slight mistake…”
“A person who has never even swung a sword made a ‘mistake’ with their hand?”
“Who says I’ve never swung a sword? That day, the monster was hit by my attack—”
“It looks like it happened recently. Since it hasn’t been treated, it looks like you were injured on your way here. Am I right?”
He wiped the blood away with his thumb and bit his lip slightly.
I gently pulled my hand back and sat further away from Locke.
I was the one who suggested we be friendly, but since the “heat incident,” I couldn’t keep my wits about me due to his unhesitating physical contact.
“Kane, it’s time for the shift change.”
Right then, the voices of the knights could be heard from outside.
I suddenly remembered Cassian, who had left for the plaza.
Come to think of it, how much time had passed?
Before he returned, I had to hide Locke and gather evidence and people who could prove his innocence.
I hurriedly began to undo the restraints binding Locke’s hands and feet.
But just as I released the shackles and was about to stand up, a pair of boots covered in mud caught my eye.
‘Wait… hold on.’
At 그 moment, a chilling memory flashed through my mind.
I instinctively checked my shoes again.
They were heavily soiled with mud from searching for Locke.
My blood began to run cold.
Sure enough, a terrifying system window appeared before my eyes.
[Mission: Boldly push your servant, Locke, in a place where people are gathered. While stepping on his thigh with your boot as if to humiliate him, recite your line. Choose one of the examples below.]
1. “I tried to wipe off the mud. Why does it feel like I’m just getting even filthier filth on me?”
2. “Keep in mind that your place is flat on the ground, serving as a rag to wipe the mud off my boots.”
I bit my lip and squeezed my eyes shut in distress.
Currently, the prison door was slightly ajar.
That meant the hallway and the room had become a single shared space.
My boots were dirty from looking for Locke, and the required number of “people” for the mission had just been met.
The trigger wasn’t “in front of people,” but “a place where people are gathered.”
Thus, the moment the second knight appeared, the conditions for the stage were complete.
‘Damn system window. I thought it had been too quiet.’
Every time I tried to repair my relationship with Locke, a mission condition was met.
It was as if the system was insisting there was a line between a villain and a protagonist that must never be crossed.
[♥]
I only had one heart left.
Therefore, I couldn’t fail the mission.
I carefully scanned the mission details, looking for any possible loophole.
“Lord Cedric is requesting a prisoner visitation. No other reports. Handover complete.”
“The Young Lord? No, report received. Takeover complete.”
I heard the sound of the knight’s boots as he finished the brief shift ceremony.
It sounded like he was heading up the stairs.
If the door connecting the first floor and the basement closed, the “stage” recognized as a single space would disappear.
Furthermore, the condition of “people” would also vanish.
If that happened, the mission would be marked as a failure.
My heart began to tighten. I had to complete the scenario before the knight left.
In my distress, I glanced at Locke, who was still staring at my palm.
There was no condition in the mission stating that the other person had to hear my lines.
Having no time to hesitate, I hurriedly cupped both sides of his face.
Then, whispering “Just a moment,” I pushed him over.
It was to perform the next part of the instruction.
Even if I pushed with all my weight, Locke’s physique was enough to withstand it.
So, I aimed for a moment when his guard was down.
It must have been the right move, as Locke’s body went down quite easily.
His black hair spilled across the cold stone floor as he lay flat.
His eyes, which were usually half-hidden by his bangs, were fully revealed.
Inside them, those two eyes—shining as brilliantly as if they were burning—stared straight at me.
His lips, which curved beneath a nose sharp enough to cut my other palm if I touched it wrong, parted slightly.
“What is this now?”
I felt as though a soft feather had landed on my heart.
Even though he was someone I shouldn’t feel this way about, anyone would lose their soul to someone who possessed a face that made even a man’s heart pound and a voice that felt like it was melting.
The sound of the receding footsteps firmly shook my soul awake before I could be enchanted by him.
‘Now!’
I applied pressure to the hands cupping Locke’s face.
I used my palms to press down on his ears as hard as I could.
Before Locke could resist, I quickly pulled my body away from where I was hovering over him.
As I did, I let the tip of my boot brush against his thigh.
For a split second, I felt the twitch of his thigh muscle through my shoe.
Steeling myself again, I spoke to him in a voice as tiny as a single drop of water falling from the ceiling.
“I tried to wipe off the mud. Why does it feel like I’m just getting even filthier filth on me?”
Locke simply fluttered his long, languid eyelids a few times without a word.
He didn’t take any particular action.
Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t heard my voice.
‘He’s going to get up soon and ask why I pushed him. What excuse should I make?’
The sweat on my palms was proof of my nervousness.
Though I was acting calm, my heart had been thumping like a criminal’s for a while now.
I removed my hands from his ears.
Just as I was sighing in relief, thinking I had finished all the system window’s instructions and waiting for a heart to appear—
Locke, who had grabbed my shoulder, suddenly pulled my body back down.
Then, as soon as our faces were close, he tickled the inside of my ear with a languid voice.
“I was full of expectation… why are you just getting up?”
* * *
