Chapter 74

Cassian rested the nodding Elysia’s head on his shoulder.

The water filling the bathtub was hot, and she looked sleepy as he slowly brushed her hair. Wanting to kiss her on her round shoulder, he grabbed Elysia’s hair and draped it over one of her shoulders. At that moment, he could hear her grumbling voice.

“Stoop—”

Elysia moved his fingers across, finding traces of her hair being moved.

He was also starting to wonder if this was the reality for him. No matter how many times he overlapped his body and felt she was in his arms, he was eventually back to square one.

Cassian buried his head in her neck and took a deep breath.

“Hoo… it tickles.”

“Elysia.”

“…Ung.”

A faint reply came as if her sleepiness did not go away.

He then grabbed Elysia’s waist and pulled her closer to his body. The sound of his heart and her heartbeat sounded dizzyingly from her body touching him.

Elysia blinked her eyes slowly, then turned her head to meet his gaze. She gazed at him with her eyes narrowed, mixed with resentment.

“Again… isn’t it?”

Even without her memory, a smile leaked out at her consistent reaction. The feeling of being dragged down to the bottom lowered slightly. She didn’t remember her time with him, so he didn’t think this could happen.

Just like when he first met her, Cassian thought she was going to run away from him.

It was a little surprising that she still liked his body shape and was weak with his appearance. It made him a little curious as to what the hell he smelled like.

Anyway, it was going to be difficult, so he would have to endure it.

“I’ll stop.”

She stared at him as if to determine if it was real and saw her thick lips pout.

‘That makes me want to kiss you there. If we kiss…’

Cassian tried not to carry on his thoughts.

The red eyes stared at him before looking down again.

“Lies.”

“Looking at you like that.”

This was unavoidable. Maybe, even if Elysia looked at him with an expressionless expression, it might be like this.

As he was doing this with her, he suddenly got curious.

“It might have been a little different…”

“What?”

“Before you lose your memory, you…”

If he hadn’t said he’d watch over her, would they have been in a pretty hot relationship like the rumors Lloyd spread?

That was what he wanted to say, though she cut him off.

“Who’s better?”

“Well?”

Could it be that she is comparing the memories before and now…? Cassian’s low laugh echoed through the bathroom. He lowered his head, pressed it to the exposed nape of her neck, and kissed her lips.

Elysia frowned and asked again.

“What’s different?”

“Ummm… rather than you being different compared to when we first met.”

Cassian could not explain them all, so he chose to remain silent. With dissatisfaction, Elysia rubbed her body as she tried to get out.

Grabbing her by the waist and putting her back on his legs, she responded again from the other side.

“Why again—! You really…”

He put on a languid smile and shifted her body to sit down. As they sat facing each other, the red eyes turned downward as they did before.

“…I’m going to go to sleep.”

As Elysia moved to get her body up, she brushed the soft flesh against the wound on his shoulder.

“Hoo—”

“…Are you okay?”

Although it wasn’t a sound that was made because of pain, he could see her looking at his shoulder in surprise. She wouldn’t have to worry about it that much, though Elysia continued to apologize for him being attacked by Peloit instead of her.

When she leaned over his upper body and examined his shoulder, the sight before his eyes was dizzying.

Cassian snapped and bit it.

“Like this.”

“Uhk….”

Elysia couldn’t stand it when he seduced her with his whole body.

Cassian rationalized like that, and grabbed her waist and sat her on the edge of the bathtub. After a moment of heat in the bathroom, he took Elysia, who had fallen asleep, and headed for the bedroom.

***
Elysia wrinkled her brow, waking up from her slumber with something tickling her side. It felt too soft to think of Cassian’s hand. She glanced open her eyes and looked to the side to see his sleeping face.

‘What…’

She then lifted her blanket and reached out her hand.

“Nyaan.”

“Cat…?”

Looking at it, she pondered why she had a cat in her bedroom and caught her gaze on the necklace hanging from the neck. There was a crack in the magic stone hanging from the cat’s neck.

She wondered if there was some kind of magic engraved on it, so she held the cat close to her face.

“You’re up.”

She heard Cassian’s voice waking up from his sleep, and his lips touched the nape of her neck. He wrapped her waist behind her back and hugged her in his arms, holding the cat softly.

“I didn’t let it into the bedroom.”

The cat was seen struggling to get out of Cassian’s grasp.

Elysia thought that she was in a strangely familiar situation, and she watched it blankly. Come to think of it, a few days ago, a wizard named Ramote told her something about a cat.

“…Is that my cat?”

At her question, he nodded his head.

Elysia took the cat back in her hand. As she reached her hand to examine the necklace, the cat grabbed her finger. A small, sharp thing pierced her finger and she felt a tingling sensation.

Elysia frowned and groaned briefly.

“Ack…!”

“Hoo— Really.”

Elysia stared at the cat drinking her blood with a look of surprise. She didn’t even think about taking it apart, because she wanted to know how much it would eat.

Meanwhile, Cassian seemed to stretch out his arm and saw him grab her bitten finger and try to pull it out. For a moment, she felt like something was slipping away.

Elysia said as she grabbed his arm that had grabbed her finger.

“Wait.”

The hazy memories of the past made a mess in her mind. An invisible face was seen, and someone’s voice was added to the memory of a scene that came to mind without a sound. And, what was the cat’s name…?

As if its job was done, she could see Der spat out her fingers and jumped out of bed. Seeing the tiny tooth marks left on her finger, she burst out laughing.

How could this be?

Elysia couldn’t believe she had lost her memory.

There… Also, to Cassian.

She tried to call him, but she was choked and her voice was not coming out.

“Are you all right? I really need to lock it up somewhere…”

“…Uh, that’s—”

Her vision was blurry. She turned her head to look at his face, though tears kept filling up and she couldn’t see well.

A restless voice was heard.

“Wait a minute, I need to call your teacher…”

Elysia grabbed Cassian’s arm, who had raised his body.

“Cassian…”

As she reached out, Elysia wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed him to her body. His body, which had hardened with worry, slowly embraced her.

He came to the rescue, but how did he feel when he saw her kissing another man? Elysia remembered Cassian’s face the day he found her, so she couldn’t say anything to him.

“I…I’m sorry.”

“Tell me where it is. What’s wrong…”

Askin her, he pulled Elysia away from his arms and wiped away the tears. She took hold of the hand that wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“Did you sleep well?”

Although she had a lot of things she wanted to say, the wrong question popped up. Perhaps, it was because she was thinking of the tired eyes.

“….?”

Cassian didn’t understand her question and seemed puzzled. There was a hint of anxiety and nervousness over it.

She had confidence right in front of her nose, so what was she worried about…?

Guilt flooded her as she thought it was her who made Cassian like this.

“There are still blades in your eyes. Your impression is too cold.”

Elysia gently stroked the corners of his eyes and kissed them. She also pressed the frown on his forehead to straighten it out and hugged his stiff body tighter.

“Elysia…?”

“The honeymoon is over. I don’t want to leave.”

“Ah…”

Cassian breathed in briefly as though realizing something.

Her breath was suffocated by the strong embrace of his hand. Elysia rubbed her face against his chest and dug into his arms.

“Don’t protect me like that in the future. Who’s really crazy?”

She trembled as she remembered Cassian wrapped around her and attacked by Peloit… Even in such a situation, she couldn’t remember him. She couldn’t believe she couldn’t detoxify the poison while overcoming it.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. I couldn’t do anything, so…”

Elysia felt her shoulders wet and clenched her fists tightly.

It wasn’t his fault, it wasn’t her fault either.

“I didn’t do anything, except that I haven’t eaten.”

Because nothing really happened.

Well, there was one where she kissed him, but that was something Cassian had already seen. However, if she was in his position, it wouldn’t be all right, so she was wondering if she should apologize.

“No matter what you were worried about, I was locked up comfortably without anything. So don’t blame yourself.”

Maybe, he was listening to her, though Cassian’s hand was still trembling slightly.

She didn’t know how to soothe the tears dripping down her shoulders, so she panicked. She seemed to understand why Cassian was often fidgeting with her tears, so Elysia reached out her hand to push him away, but he hugged her tighter.

“…I want to see your face.”

She felt a slight loosening of strength in the hand that was wrapped around her back.

Elysia leaned back a little and grabbed his face. His eyes were red from tears, and his eyelashes were wet.

“Are you upset?”

Cassian turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand.

“Do you hate crying faces?”

“No. It’s… no, not that.”

Even though she replied in the sense that there was no way she could hate any appearance, she couldn’t finish the words with the playfulness that appeared in his eyes. As if he liked it, the look on Cassian’s face reminded her of the words he had when she tied him up in bed.

Why the hell did he say that?

Elysia suddenly felt her mood shifting strangely.

“Me, too.”

“Yes?”

Seeing him smile with his eyes closed, she was sad. Elysia leaned his body back. Does he mean that his crying face would end?

She narrowed her eyes and gazed at him.

“Huh? What made your face turn red like that? I was trying to say that I missed you, too.”

“…Where did the person who cried a while ago go?”

“I never did.”

Elysia’s eyebrows twitched.

A faint smile leaked out as they faced each other shamelessly. Is it because he was embarrassed to show tears? She didn’t think he was that kind of person.

“Madam.”

Cassian bit her palm.

Elysia stiffened her body in a hurry, remembering that she had been tormented by him until dawn.

“Then, the memories are back, so let’s have a serious conversation, shall we?”