CH 81.2

After dinner, everyone went to bed. As usual, before going to bed, the children talked excitedly about the time they played with Cloud. Katarina was normally the one her younger siblings asked questions to but today it was her.

Is Cloud Oppa that good?

The younger siblings replied without hesitation.

Veeery Good!

They wanted their Cloud Hyung to stay with them forever.

Katarina smiled bitterly at their words.

When he first came, she was wary of him. When he demonstrated the bizarre act of juggling with logs, she was horrified.

However, those negative feelings faded over time.

Because Cloud was always genuinely kind to her and her younger siblings.

‘I wish he could stay…’

She also had a similar fantasy.

She hoped these ordinary pleasant days would continue in the future.

However, Katarina was not an unsophisticated child like her younger siblings.

She was fully aware that these happy days wouldn’t last long.

After making sure that everyone was asleep, she changed into her dancer’s clothes and went out with her saber.

She basked under the soft moonlight and removed the bandages.

Flexing her arm no longer gave pain.

‘This is the end.’

In fact, her arm was healed a few days ago.

But she hid it.

Because she vaguely felt it.

As soon as her arm was healed, the lives of her and her siblings will go back to when he was not there, not a part of their lives.

Humans are social animals.

When adequate safety and happiness are guaranteed, they want to settle.

The same was for Katarina.

She lied with herself, wanting to continue the past three weeks of happiness. If she so decided and made up her mind, there was a chance.

But she couldn’t.

Her memories of that day, stained red with her parents’ blood, did not allow her to rest.

So Katarina danced, and danced.

To awaken her body that had been drowning in peace.

To avenge blood with blood.

And…

In order not to be discouraged by the happiness that would disappear.

[Segment 1: The Dance of the Butterfly.]

The caterpillar that hatches from the egg turns into a pupae, and when it breaks the hard shell it turns into a butterfly…

Her dance was interrupted.

Was it because of the three-week hiatus that caused my body to stiffen?

No. It can’t.

The Dance of the Butterfly was a very basic dance. She had never stopped dancing on those moves since she was fully trained.

But what was happening now?

‘I don’t know.’

It just… felt as if she didn’t have the motivation to dance right now. Maybe she would be able to after he left tomorrow. Katarina turned back to return to her bed.

And she stiffened.

“Why don’t you dance for a while longer?”

Cloud leaned against the doorframe and looked at her.

“Weren’t you sleeping?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I just had my eyes closed. Rather, why don’t you dance?”

“I just… I don’t feel like dancing today.”

“Hmm…”

Cloud thought for a moment before approaching Katarina.

“Uh… uh…? What are you doing..?”

“Stay still.”

Cloud put a hand on Katarina’s back and made her follow him. He pressed on the bottom of her belly button with the index finger of his right hand, holding her close to him.

“Hey?! Wh, what are you doing?!”

Startled, Katarina tried her best to shake him off, but Cloud slyly avoided it.

“How do you feel?”

“What would I feel… uh…?”

Cloud’s fingertips tingled.

Something strange started to flow through her blood. She trembled at the unfamiliar feeling.

“What’s this..?”

“Mana, Ki, Ether. It’s an inexplicable force with many names. From now, I’ll control this to match your dancing. Remember the feeling.”

“You want me to dance? In this state?”

“Don’t mind me. I’ll know how to dodge the blade.”

“No… that’s not the problem…”

Katarina, who had been biting on her lips, reluctantly started dancing at Cloud’s urging.

“Katarina, focus.”

Not long after she started, she was pointed out why her sword dance was so dull.

Katarina was embarrassed.

From an objective point of view, Cloud was a very attractive member of the opposite sex.

Not only because of his looks, but also because of his demeanor.

Besides, having seen Cloud’s caring side for the past three weeks, Katarina has developed a crush on him.

She was close to him, and he was close to her.

How could she dance with composure?

Her heart was pounding, her head flaming, and her tactile senses were concentrated on the hand on her back.

But that was only for a while.

As Cloud began manipulating mana in earnest and mana began to dwell in her sword dance, Katarina’s consciousness instantly fell into the sword dance.

In the past, even though she reproduced the movements perfectly, she always thought she was lacking something.

It was natural for her to indulge herself madly in finding the answer.

A caterpillar becomes a pupae, and a pupae becomes a butterfly.

[Segment 1: The Dance of the Butterfly] ended successfully.

Katarina dropped her arm without continuing her dance.

Closing her eyes, she recalled the feeling from earlier.

How was it different from the dance she used to perform before?

The energy around her was different.

To be precise, her dancing changed the energy around her.

After coming back to her senses and even indulging in the newfound answer, she opened her eyes.

Turning her head slightly, she found a smiling Cloud. Seeing her smile, Katarina inadvertently asked.

“Why are you staying at my house?”

A question she had been storing inside her for the past three weeks.

She was curious, but a feeling always tugged in the back of her mind, fearing that he would leave if she found out.

Yet, she took the leap of faith.

“Uh..?”

“Why are you staying at our house?”

“That’s… as I said before, there are various circumstances…”

“Lie. The way I see you, you’re not an ordinary person. You must be a famous adventurer somewhere. I don’t think you would have problems staying at the inn just because you are a foreigner.”

“…”

“Then tell me the real reason. Why are you with us…”

Katarina’s words stopped.

For now she felt that something was touching her ass.

That something was hard, thick, and long.

And she, Katarina, was not a woman completely ignorant of the opposite gender.

Her eyes trembled.

“Y, you, you can’t be…”

“Yes? Ah, this is a misunderstanding… No, it’s not a misunderstanding when I think about it.”

Cloud nodded as he crossed his arms. He said to her with a serious expression.

“I got an erection because of you, take responsibility.”