Chapter 91: - The Lord Is With Us (12)

༺ The Lord Is With Us (12) ༻

Golden hair, crimson eyes, and pure white skin.

Combined with flawless facial features, she could only be called an attractive woman. Her beauty was better described as a work of art rather than a combination of genetics and luck.

She was a picturesque northern beauty.

Her name was Delphine Yurdina.

Her sharp jawline and piercing eyes reflected her fierce nature and prideful heart.

But despite being the heiress to a prestigious family, her usual regal demeanor was nowhere to be found.

Right now, saying she looked ‘helpless’ seemed to be a better description.

Her mouth was slightly agape, and her eyes were clouded over.

Her pupils remained devoid of light as she gazed at me before slowly regaining herself.

The first emotion that flashed across those crimson eyes was surprise.

Then shame, followed by fear, before slowly settling into a murky despair.

Only pain remained in the eyes that once dripped with nothing but boredom.

The once prideful girl jerked her head away, unable to maintain eye contact.

She chewed on her lips, and after a brief moment, a pained voice leaked through.

“......Why are you here?”

I didn’t know what to say.

Honestly, although I managed to meet her, the words came up short.

The only reason I was here was to figure out what had happened between her and ‘Ian’.

But no matter how I looked at it, it just wasn’t the right time to bring that up.

As it seemed impossible to ask her directly, I figured it would be best to steer the conversation in that direction.NewW novels updates on nov/el/b(i)n(.)com

However, she didn’t look pleased to see me, and judging from her behavior, our conversation was likely to never make progress. After all, I could practically taste the negativity oozing out of every fiber of her being.

This was problematic. It seemed like she and ‘Ian’ had already gone past the point of no return, rendering my plan to manipulate our conversation ineffective.

With a heavy sigh, I responded to her question.

“Are we not close enough for me to visit you?”

“No, we’re not.”

Her body was shivering even as she spoke, and when her crimson eyes focused on me, I was taken aback and rendered speechless.

Tears began to well up around her eyes.

The senior I knew never showed her tears to anyone. She was a strong-willed woman with an obsession for strength and disdain for the weak.

Simply put, the tears flowing from her eyes were a testament to her shattered pride.

Only someone whose entire self-esteem had been crushed to bits could wear such a sorrowful face.

“Have you come to laugh at me, to see what the person you trampled on looks like?”

“No, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.......”

“Or are you here to warn me because you think I’m going to step out of line and retaliate?”

Delphine let out a hollow chuckle as tears streaked down her cheeks from her eyes.

Trembling, she tightly clenched the hospital quilt. She tried to glare at me, but when our gazes met, she averted her eyes, seemingly horrified.

Senior Delphine quickly wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, making her seem even more pitiful.

She resembled a small child struggling to hold back her tears.

“......Don’t worry, I have no intention of retaliating.”

“You destroyed everything. Not just my pride, but everything else too. Now, I have nothing left.”

“N-No, i-it wasn’t just a few.......”

Delphine started mumbling indignantly, but her timid voice made no impressions whatsoever.

Instead, it only made me frown harder.

“Then what was it if it wasn’t a few injuries?”

She shrank back even further as her head drooped down.

She seemed to have something to say, but every time she looked into my eyes, which were burning with a subtle anger, she ended up averting her gaze in fear.

I chuckled to myself as I observed her pathetic behavior.

How much could she really have been hurt?

I thought that at most, she was probably stabbed once here and there, but that was far from enough.

Her behavior would have made sense if she’d been tortured until she became minced meat, but even Senior Elsie, who was unrivaled in her brutality, would never stoop to committing such gruesome acts.

Thinking up to that point, I felt it was unlikely that Senior Delphine had been subjected to such a cruel fate.

Convinced of my presumption, a series of verbal attacks erupted from my mouth.

“Just twice! You’ve only suffered defeat twice! Do you think you’re the only one who had been stuck in the intensive care unit? I had experienced defeat numerous times, and there were plenty of times when I couldn’t win even if I tried my best. But you’re acting like this just with two losses?”

“N-no... It’s not about my loss, it’s what happened afterwa-“

“Enough!”

I shouted, cutting off her words.

She stammered, unable to continue. I thought it was nice that she was being obedient at the very least.

“I don’t want to hear any more excuses, Senior Delphine. I think you need to fix your mindset.”

I walked over to her as I slipped a hand under my clothes. Seeing me approaching, Senior Delphine’s face turned pale in fear.

She immediately hid under her covers, and a shaky cry escaped from under them.

“D-Don’t! I told you I’d never bother you again! I even kneeled!”

But I didn’t stop. I trudged on, and before I knew it, I had closed the distance completely.

“I-Is it because I was being rude again? I-I was wrong, so please...! Just not to the point I can’t ho-“

Bang!

My hand slammed down on her bedside table.

And as if that were a signal, Senior Delphine began to scream.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Pl-Please, please spare me! Anything but my swor-.... huh?”

But no matter how much she screamed, no violence was inflicted on her. Senior Delphine, who had been shivering under the covers for a while, gently pulled them back with a perplexed look.

Her crimson eyes peeked out from under her blanket and traveled to the bedside table where my palm had landed.

A document laid there.

It was the list of orphanages that the Saintess had given me.

Her eyes flickered back to me, unable to comprehend what this was all about.

I looked back at her and asked.

“Are you free for the next practicum?”

“Y-yes, sir... I don’t have anything planned for now, but...?”

I was a little bothered that she was speaking formally even though it was probably because of how terrified she was, but I knew that pointing it out would only make her feel worse, so I cut straight to the point.

“Then, let’s go together.”

Judging by the blank look on her face, I decided to spell it out for her.

“Spend 2 weeks with me.”

If I had to describe her expression, I would say it resembled that of a Magic Department graduate’s face after learning the thesis they had spent months working on was thrown into the paper shredder.