If They Get Obsessed, I’m Doomed - Chapter 17

Chapter 9.2

Ariel was instinctively drawn to the title, which was clearly meant to address someone with a high ranking. She cautiously lowered her body and pressed herself against a nearby wall to where she could hear the conversation.

‘Is this another target?’

Holding her breath, Ariel poked her head slightly around the corner of the ivory wall. Beyond, obliquely obscured by the landscape, she could see two figures with their backs to the setting sun—one was a tall man, and in front of him was a woman wearing a bonnet with her shoulders shaking.

“Amelia.”

“I’m not going to apologize! I know it’s blasphemous, but…!”

“If you know that it’s blasphemous, then do you know what the punishment will be for this action?”

The girl’s shoulders stiffened as if she was frightened.

“…B-but—! Your Highness, my…my heart! You’re trying to cut me off like that… so…!”

“I thought you had a bad head, but it turns out you’re just emotionally uncontrollable like a toddler.”

“You really… you…were just joking, weren’t you?”

“….”

“That’s a lie… isn’t it…?”

“….”

“…Your Highness.”

“Don’t cry. It’s getting ugly, just like your family.”

Slap!

Hearing the insult, the woman raised her hand furiously and slapped the man across the cheek. His face half turned, and his exposed cheeks were flushed.

Ariel stared at the two of them, unable to hide her shaky gaze.

The man’s face slowly returned to its original position. At the most brilliant height of the sunset, the man’s blond hair fluttered, revealing a face as smooth as a sculpture. Even from a distance, the heterochromia eyes were eerily beautiful—the color of the deep blue sea and blade-like silver eyes—two eyes of different colors peered over the woman’s bonnet.

All of a sudden, his eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed a stranger.

Momentarily, he accurately found her and their eyes met. With her heart pounding in surprise, Ariel’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth, but the man raised his index finger to his lips, ‘Shh,’ quietly and stealthily.

Ariel involuntarily covered her hand over her mouth, dutifully following his signals.

The corners of the man’s lips went up smoothly, and he flashed her an insinuating smile. It was a flirtatious smile, almost seductive.

On the other hand, with her head bowed from crying, she didn’t see his smile as her sobs only intensified. As he brushed the back of his hand across his flushed cheeks, the smile was erased from his face looking down at the girl in front of him. Similarly, the deceptive warmth disappeared, replaced by a bitterly cold expression.

“That’s two hits.”

“Your Highness… I-I’m…”

“Alright. I’ll let it slide, so leave.”

His gentle tone strangely reminded her of Skylar. Their voices were a little bit alike, but the feeling he gave was utterly different. Excluding his appearance, his facial expression and personality were completely different.

The woman whimpered and turned around, lowering her head as she ran across the lawn. At the same time, her fear was visible in her quick fleeing steps.

She was scared after committing it, the fact that she put her hands on him.

The man who was left alone glanced at the woman running off into the distance. As if measuring the distance, his gaze was blank, and it was desolated with only that much emotion. The woman was soon out of sight, not even a single strand of hair could be seen, and even the sound of her furious footsteps had faded as well.

The garden fell silent.

With his face looking into the distance, a faint smile crossed his young face. Ariel’s mouth went dry as the overwhelming tension coursed through her.

She was strangely nervous.

Just in case, she didn’t forget to quickly move the phone from her sleeve to the inside of her coat.

The sunset sky painted the lawn a crimson color. With his back to the dreamy landscape, the man slowly approached her. Slowly, the grass crunched under his foot as he stepped onto them. His shadow lengthened, reaching between the landscape and the corner of the wall.

“I’ve shown you an ugly sight, I apologize.”

His voice and tone were fresh and light, and the man’s eyes were gentle as he bent slightly to her waist and peered into her eyes. His face was strangely beautiful. When she looked at the eyes of a different color, she had the illusion that she was facing something that wasn’t human.

Overwhelmed, Ariel stiffened as she forgot to react for a moment.

Bzzzzzzz—

The cell phone, hidden deep inside her coat, vibrated.

All of a sudden, the man gently tugged at her right hand before lowering his head and placing his forehead on the back of her hand. His forehead was hot against the back of her hand. It felt like he was having a fever.

“I want to talk to you for a while, but I’m not feeling very well right now.”

He whispered softly, pressing his burning forehead against her hand, and the flowing blond hair tickled the back of her hand.

A sigh escaped through his fingertips.

A strange tension built up, heightening her senses. Ariel was rather perplexed. She couldn’t figure out why this man was doing this.

Eventually, the man removed his forehead away from the back of her hand and slowly raised his face. With a beautiful face, he squeezed her hand and smiled brightly. He seemed like a completely different person than the one who had treated the woman earlier.

“Don’t tell anyone what you saw today.”

The low-pitched voice he exhaled was soft, and it sounded sweet. He was very kind to her, a stranger, even though she was the one who caught a glimpse of his affair…

Her lips were still stiff.

She couldn’t answer or ask any questions, so in the end, Ariel just nodded. Seeing that, the man’s heterochromia eyes curled up into a crooked smile as the last of the sunset burned behind him.

Brilliantly, it shone like a halo.

Ariel’s breath was caught in her throat. Her mind reeled from the scene she had created.

Clenching her lips, she tried to stay calm.

Meanwhile, the man’s bent eyes snapped back to normal. Even so, his smile seemed to deepen.

“See you next time.”

With a small bow, he carefully released her hand as Ariel also slowly lowered the hand that had been drawn to him. The man gave her another wide grin before turning around. He gradually drifted away slowly, then completely. He remained unexpectedly kind to her until the end. It was weird for a complete stranger, or was he only acting like this with people he’d never met before…?

For just this brief moment, Ariel could see the woman in the bonnet running away crying… but she only knew how she felt.

A dangerous atmosphere where you be sucked into and dazzled in an instant

His duplicitous kindness, where he could spit out cruel words and then turn generous, making you want to hang on for dear life…

The man had a way of breaking a person’s heart in a short amount of time. At that moment, she understood the woman’s anger and rage as she clung blindly. It was the only feeling she could know in an unknown moment.

The skin against his forehead was still hot.

Ariel ran her tongue through her parched mouth. The sensation of sharpening the blade on a delicate move. The tension that slowly built from it rose, and it was intense, even if temporary… he seemed skilled at this. It wasn’t something he’d done once or twice.

As she reflected on the situation, Ariel had a sudden realization that what the man did was an obvious temptation.

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