CH 74

Before Cesare pulled her away, Catherine quickly said she was sorry.

“That’s not what I think. It’s not that I didn’t trust Cesare. I thought if I asked you to make me stronger, you’d end up protecting me more strictly than just teaching me. That’s why I came here to learn magic from Giovanne Busperfield!”

The atmosphere was strangely calm. It’s true that Cesare was right in her arms, but she raised her head up to look at his silver hair once more. The answer came a long time later.

“I thought I just said it. That’s what I expected.”

If it wasn’t a mistake, the small sigh that had pierced the end of his words had completely disappeared. Soon, warm energy covered the backs of Catherine’s hands, which wrapped around Cesare’s stomach. Even though she didn’t check, she could tell that it was Cesare’s hand. 

“But why are you holding on to me like this? I tried to look out of the window.”

…Out the window? He doesn’t want to go out?

Catherine looked through the glass window in the drawing-room at Remor, who was still swimming around the city and at Queen, who was next to him.

She quickly took off her body, as if she were embarrassed. No, she tried to pull it off, but Cesare held her hands tightly to prevent her from running away. 

Catherine couldn’t do this or that, and she stuttered so badly that it was unbelievable.

“I, I’m sorry. I thought you were just leaving.”

“Well, you don’t have to be sorry.”

She carefully raised her head again. Cesare looked back at Catherine’s face, with his characteristic soft smile.

“C, cough!” 

Damian, who coughed loudly, moved at a rapid pace.

“Damn disease… I’ll go out and rest for a while. Yeah? Call me when you’re done.”

Tak. The door closed and there was silence in the drawing-room. Even though Damian is no longer there, the shyness seems to have doubled.

Catherine tried very hard to pull her hand away, but Cesare held on to her even tighter, as if he was playing a prank on her.

“If you had asked me to teach you anything about lifespan, I would have done so.”

That’s right. It’s not that Catherine hasn’t thought about it. It’s just that she was reluctant to make that choice.

“I hate that.”

“Why?”

When she tried to explain why, it felt like there were thorns in her mouth, but she knew it was right to answer these questions honestly.

“To Cesare… Of course, I don’t want to be treated like that, even if it’s doing me a favor.”

What nonsense is that? Catherine thought so, too. However, there is nothing she can do about this.

Cesare loosened Catherine’s arms and turned around to face her. But he didn’t let go of her hand.

“I don’t quite understand. What does that mean?”

“…I don’t even know.”

Ha. Cesare let out his dumbfounded laugh.

“It’s driving me crazy.”

He told her he wasn’t mad. Catherine looked at him and gently waved his arm. Cesare looked down at her with his expressionless face but didn’t pull out his shaky arms.

“…Are you upset? I’m sorry. I know I was being too selfish.”

“You know that?” 

“You said you weren’t mad?” 

“I didn’t. I’m just asking.”

Isn’t his voice too hard for that?

But he told her twice that he wasn’t mad, so she decided to trust Cesare’s face. Meanwhile, Catherine quickly opened her mouth, recalling the existence of Belial, which she had forgotten.

“Cesare. I saw Belial here. I think she was Giovanne’s partner.”

Cesare’s face changed in an instant, and she stopped waving his arms.

“…Are you sure?”

“It was the same face I saw in the abyss. People called her Bell, and she had long blonde hair and was very tall.”

Cesare immediately agreed with Catherine’s description.

“It’s Belial.”

“Is Giovanne the devil’s contractor?”

“It is very likely.”

But she didn’t get the same feeling in Giovanne as in Percyville. Catherine was anxious because she didn’t know if he was the same.

‘A human who offers a 10,000 sacrifice to summon Belial the Great Devil.’

When asked if Giovanne seemed like that, Catherine could say absolutely no. So many people wouldn’t have followed Giovanne if he had been so cruel. Cesare read her anxiety and spoke in a calm tone.

“Because I broke the abyss right away at that time, Belial and Behemoth wouldn’t be aware of your existence. Asmodus has a shady personality that enjoys himself when he comes across something interesting, so there won’t be much fuss for a while.”

After some thought, he praised Catherine’s decision.

“So… it might be better to be closer to Belial. It’s good that you came here alone, Catherine. Belial’s meddling would have been tremendous if I had accompanied you.”

Catherine also thought his argument was quite plausible. Even though the compliment might just be a pep talk to calm her down.

“Cesare.”

“Tell me.” 

“I want to ask you something. This is what I felt while meeting Behemoth’s contractor a few days ago—”

Cesare’s gaze became sharp.

“Behemoth’s contractor?” 

His question had both light doubts and clear boundaries. Catherine looked at him blankly for a moment.

‘Huh? Did I not tell you—’

So she didn’t.

Damn, it seems as if she cheated on him and told him about it when she went to Busperfield.

Catherine swear she wasn’t hiding it with a nerdy mind like ‘I didn’t want my old man to be found out’. She simply forgot about it because she put it off.

“Yes, the contractor is Percyville Benedicto Fahenrichin from the Vatican.” 

“How do you know that?”

“I ran into him at Beaton Blue. As soon as I saw him, I knew he was a contractor for Behemoth. Probably it was the same with Percyville.” 

Catherine noticed it right away. Cesare’s expression was not very good. To make matters worse, his gaze seemed to be sharp enough to cut melon husks.

It was the first time Cesare had a face like that since he first discovered the ability to dispel magic.

“You sound very friendly.” 

It sounded sarcastic at first glance. But Cesare isn’t like that. Catherine comforted him and quickly changed the subject. 

“What I want to ask is… Giovanne didn’t feel that way at all. So Giovanne is not a contractor for Belial, right?”

Cesare answered with a face that looked as cold as ice.

“Theoretically, that’s true. But it’s hard to be sure that the proud Belial is working together. If they’re in a relationship that they didn’t sign a contract with anyone like I did before I knew you, he’s definitely a contractor.”

He then pushed Catherine to answer with a hint of disapproval in his voice.

“So, why do you call the knight of the lily so friendly?”

Is it because he called Percyville a knight of the lily, not Percyville? Catherine wanted to deny her relationship with Percyville more strongly. 

“What do you mean friendly? Even though we know each other, I don’t think so at all.”

“Know each other?”

Cesare narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be showing off his displeasure.

Catherine explained step by step as if she was trying to clear up the misunderstanding of her lover’s affair.

“We met once before. We weren’t very close—”

At best, she has said a few things that show she doesn’t care about each other. At times, they tried to run away together, and at other times, he went into her room without permission,  they stayed together for a few days, but now they have no relationship.

“So we knew each other’s faces and names. That’s all.”

“Is that the man who came to the mansion?”

Cesare’s question was very sharp. It made her feel uncomfortable as if she had been caught on the first affair.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then you must have met him in Lilith.”

The next thing Cesare did was look at the scene of the second affair with sharp eyes. 

“…Yes, it is.”

“Why did you tell me now?”

She doesn’t do it because she doesn’t need to. But that kind of answer feels like an obvious and stupid excuse. So Catherine couldn’t answer and had to panic.

“Are you hiding it?”

No, it’s not like that—.

“Why aren’t you answering me?”

Whatever she says, it sounds like an excuse!

“Cesare, why are you keep asking this?” 

To add to the seemingly non-existent emotion, Catherine didn’t want to talk about the other man in front of Cesare.

It would have been the same if the opponent was a servant who worked in Orléans, not Percyville.

‘This is unfair for no reason.’

She didn’t even try to flirt with Percyville when they met, so it was unfair that she had to be interrogated.

“There’s no feeling between Percyville and me. Maybe there is on Percyville’s side, but I don’t have, not even the slightest bit of dust on the table. Why do you keep asking me like I’m cheating?”

“That means the Knights of the Lily still have feelings for you.”

Cesare showed no sign of backing down. Does that make sense? But in reality, it seems a bit—.

‘You declared that you were going to be miserable.’

In fact, Percyville, whom she met on the Lilith, was miserable to live up to that declaration.

“No, I mean… I mean, I can’t get into other people’s heads, so I don’t know…”

Ah! Suddenly, Catherine realized her true feeling. 

‘Yeah, that was it. Because Percyville said such strange things to me for no reason, I naturally took it to Cesare.’

Cesare was angry even when Meow, the monster, was by her side. If he knew that Percyville, the Paladin, was sneaking around, it would be even worse. 

Somehow, Cesare’s gaze begins to cast a dark shadow. The gaze still kept telling her to keep talking without thinking about it.

He was very angry, and she didn’t know why, so she decided to tell him the truth before he got even angrier.

“Before, when he came to the mansion. He kept saying that he was willing to keep the secret. Then he said he would keep coming and he said it would be better to move the mansion.”

“…You mean that bastard?” 

Cesare’s voice grew harsh. Well, he’s still the Vatican’s favorite and a contractor of Behemoth. It won’t be a problem. Catherine nodded.

“So I just didn’t want to get any closer. Because he’s a Paladin, and Cesare is also a devil—”