He extended his hand.
“Wanna dance?”
Really making the most of this, huh.
With that thought, I took his hand.
Though he was in Old Human form, I didn’t know what was inside, so I worried that if he misstepped, I’d suddenly want to go ho. Thankfully, he didn’t ss up.
Instead, he said sothing that made want to go ho for a different reason.
“I wish everyone knew I was dating you. Unfortunately, I can’t announce it…”
His voice sounded oddly hollow.
I laughed in disbelief and replied,
“You’re stating the obvious. You can’t announce it because we’re not dating.”
“Haha, you know how to do it right but are so cold to .”
I didn’t respond.
Because, exactly as he said, I knew how to do it right but was deliberately holding back. Every mont, I was suppressing impulses from the drug’s effects. One wrong word, and he’d likely think he’d already won.
Realizing he wouldn’t get a good response, he changed the subject.
“This is fun. My perspective’s so much lower—it’s refreshing. I feel like I’m almost 20cm shorter than my original height. It’s wild how different the world looks depending on height… Actually, it’s more surprising that most people see the world from one height their whole lives.”
“Do you also find it surprising that the Earth is round?”
“You really don’t like …”
“No way. Toughen up a bit.”
“People who love each other don’t talk like this.”
What kind of fantasy is he living in?
I almost said that but held back. Instead, I asked a question closer to the core of this situation.
“What you’ve done to so far doesn’t exactly scream ‘lover.’ It’s closer to malice. So let ask, why do you think you like ?”
“I don’t think I like you—I *do*. You’re the only one in the world who can rival .”
What kind of reasoning is that?
I felt my vision darken as I sank into thought. Is this guy another kind of magic maniac?
“Then it doesn’t have to be . That sounds less like the love you’re imagining and more like… the bond you’d build with a friendly rival. In a broad sense, that could be love too, right? So, get your head straight and let’s both go our separate ways. Doesn’t sound bad.”
“You think so?”
He responded casually, brushing off my words. Even as the song changed, he kept holding my hand and dancing.
I don’t believe he truly loves .
He’s just mistaking so strange emotion for love.
I think that emotion is closer to rivalry. His notes weren’t like those from typical fans, nor were they what a lover would write. The contents increasingly focused on magic power, magic synthesis, and “the fact that I defeated him.”
In the end, he’s mistaking his desire to compete with —a rival and enemy—for love. That’s my conclusion after reading his letters.
Looking at his face, I said,
“Then I have a question. Whatever your true feelings are, I get that you think you love . But why are you so intent on sending back on ti?”
“…….”
“We’ve never dated, yet you want to announce we’re together but don’t. With your mindset—shaking hands with a glove you dipped in water—you shouldn’t be able to restrain yourself.”
“I wanted to leave you with a mory that’d last a lifeti, but I guess I’ve left a proper one within wholeso bounds.”
I ignored his nonsense and continued,
“You’ve got so kind of calculation. You’re not sending back to the mansion for my sake, nor are you keeping quiet about eting to other Pleromas for my sake.”
What’s the calculation? It’s simple.
“Which diocese is targeting ?”
“…….”
Not the one he’s part of, but another Pleroma diocese is after .
When he said he was protecting , he ant from other Pleromas.
If he kept with him instead of sending back, another diocese might catch on and attack him.
So he can’t afford to make it obvious to them.
“You’re too sharp.”
“It’s beyond sharpness—think it through slowly, and the answer’s clear.”
“I suppose. It’s your situation, after all.”
He looked into my eyes and said,
“I can’t tell you that. But I’ll protect you properly.”
“Once that protection ends, can I stay as I am? Which diocese are you from? I’m not sure if I’m ant to be your diocese’s victory prize.”
“…….”
I raised my hand in ti with the dance’s sequence. But even when it was ti to spin, he didn’t.
Instead, he stood still and said,
“The Pentalon opening is this weekend, right? By then, you won’t have such questions.”
“…….”
I smiled.
This guy believes I’ll soon fall deeply in love with him.
His hand dug into my wrist. He stomped his foot once, and the surroundings changed.
This ti, it wasn’t spatial magic—it was definitely a warp.
We’d been under dazzling lights monts ago, but now we were in an unfamiliar mansion.
It was a spacious area that should’ve been a salon. Through a large window in the wall, I could see a slanted moon and a lake.
With the window at his back, he looked into my eyes and said,
“I’d never do anything to harm you. I’m not like the other Pleromas who want to tornt you.”
“You’ve already tornted .”
“Have I? I suppose you could see it that way… But don’t you know better than anyone what the other Pleromas would do if they caught you?”
“…….”
“Compared to that, what I want is pretty insignificant, don’t you think?”
He was echoing my earlier thoughts.
Yes, at least here, he hadn’t committed any cris against .
“I’ll protect you. No, Sir Nicolaus Ernst doesn’t need Pleroma’s help. I know that.”
“…….”
“But let’s make a deal. If you grant my request, I’ll be your informant. How about it?”
“Even if I bring down Pleroma?”
He just smiled.
He probably thinks I’ll fall for him and won’t do such a thing.
“You haven’t even said which faction you’re with or who’s after . And you call yourself an informant? That’s laughable.”
“I can promise I won’t betray you. And you know better than anyone that being around will naturally lead to information.”
“A promise? How am I supposed to trust that?”
Without a word, he walked past and went outside. He returned with two small vials.
He handed one with pink liquid, then drank a clear one himself.
“I won’t betray you. There. Satisfied?”
“…….”
The potion he drank likely had an effect similar to a covenant spell.
But there’s no guarantee he didn’t trick , and even if the Pope vouched for him, I wouldn’t trust his sober words.
Instead of affirming, I looked at the potion in my hand.
“What’s this?”
“Keep it. It’s a potion I’d like you to drink later.”
I glanced at him, then noticed him slump onto a sofa. I pocketed the potion and looked around.
Staying here would just lead to more nonsense from him, and he wouldn’t answer my questions properly. I needed to find a way to extract information before the weird atmosphere settled.
“Since you got the potion from another room, you must have a lab here, right? Can I take a look?”
It might sound odd by modern standards, but in this era, many nobles interested in science had labs at ho.
“Of course. It’ll be your ho soon enough.”
“…….”
I felt like everything I ate was coming back up…
Grimacing, I stord out of the room. Realizing his blunder, he gave an awkward laugh and hurried ahead to guide .
The lab he led to looked similar to those in other hos. Nothing particularly stood out.
‘I’ll check for any useful info and get out quick.’
I glanced at a table littered with vials and powders, then opened a drawer beneath it.
Dozens of small glass vials, about the size of a finger, were lying inside.
He stood a bit behind , watching with a smile, seemingly pleased that I was interested in his ho.
“That’s a lot.”
I said it absentmindedly, then doubted my eyes.
At one end of the drawer was a vial with white liquid. The na on the label was familiar.
‘This is…’
The potion I’d seen at Primrose Path and with Ludovika.
A narcotic potion Pleroma used instead of mind-control magic.
It half-clouds consciousness, creating a state similar to hypnosis used by psychiatrists of this era.
Of course, my divine power’s resistance makes it less effective on .
‘Hmm.’
This could be useful.
The ti when I drank the potion is gone. aning, they don’t know how much I know.
“Potions, huh?”
“They’re all potions.”
I didn’t respond and said softly,
“If Nicolaus Ernst did sothing less than righteous, would that shatter your illusions?”
“…Ah~”
He caught my aning a bit late.
In modern tis, that’d be a statent warranting legal consequences. Personally, I despise those who live hooked on such drugs.
But isn’t this a pretty good way to extract information from soone immune to divine power?
“Never.”
“Could you still not hate , no matter what I say? If you heard a secret, sothing unsavory, wouldn’t you feel repulsed?”
“No way. Everyone has secrets.”
He took a deep breath, then answered in a slightly unhinged voice.
It almost sounded like he was delighted.
“So, is there one?”
“Right next to you.”
“…….”
I smiled, looking at the potion I’d eyed earlier.
“Not sure if it’s safe. Is this used outside, or was it developed here?”
“It’s safe, I swear. It’s opium-based.”
He answered in a slightly quickened voice.
Opium, huh? I know it’s a pure potion, not mixed with that stuff.
Anyway…
Thanks for taking the bait so eagerly.
“Just a hobby of mine.”
I gave a faint smile and turned my head.
His eyes widened, and he slowly twisted the corners of his mouth.
I picked up two vials and asked,
“Wanna do it together?”
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