CH 46

Feeling his unstable energy nearby, I steered my horse down to the middle of the mountain. Then, I tied the horse’s reins to a tree some distance away and walked back up. His powers were of fire and wind, so it’s best to be careful since he’s unstable.

I already knew from experience that there were times when his powers would be used regardless of his will.

Sure enough, by the time I reached the mountain’s summit once again, flames had already ravaged some parts of the foliage.

Just how much of his power did he use that he’s in such a pinch?

I knew his abilities better than anyone else, so I immediately noticed that, while it looked like there were signs that he was about to go into rampage, he was experiencing only side effects that were equivalent to that.

In the past, he often had seizures of this degree. I drew closer to him without any hesitation. It was necessary to suppress an Esper’s side effects because not only would the Esper be hurt, but also everyone around them.

After all, he landed not far from the mansion, and I also needed to check whether I truly had emerged as a Guide.

The only way for me to check was to guide an Esper. Since an Esper had practically landed on my lap and was in a daze, this was my chance.

Seeing his face up close, it’s really not a joke. Scratches upon scratches were left on his face due to his fall, and his pallor was so deathly pale that he looked blue.

Even so, having the physical features that he did, he still looked heavenly. For a split second, I was hit with the realization as to why I had no choice but to fall in love with him in the past.

As I had lived my day-to-day life with death hanging over each and everyone of my co-workers, despair so obvious in our faces, he just shined so brightly in my eyes. I couldn’t help but fall for him. And the fact that he was my Esper added even more so to the feelings I harbored.

I took off my gloves. Radial guiding alone wouldn’t be enough.

As the most basic contact point for guiding, I took his hand in mine.

His hands were much bigger than mine, and his palms were full of calluses that swordsmen typically had. It looked smooth from a distance, but it felt rough to the touch.

The hand that I was holding was scorchingly hot. Perhaps it’s due to his own fire, but it might also be due to the side effects.

The moment I was in direct contact with an Esper, the energy in my body roared and flowed outward in an instant.

It felt so strange that it was flowing so well, as if it was waiting for this very moment. This never happened when I had guided him in the past.

My energy was being passed to the Esper so abundantly that it seemed as if my body was barely containing it.

Our only point of contact was each other’s hands, and yet a considerable amount of energy was flowing from me to him.

I was using my other hand to cover his eyes. I wouldn’t know what to do if he opened his eyes and saw me.

Right now, he was still struggling to breath, each individual huff terribly warm, but he gradually became calmer as he received my energy.

I looked around and saw that the flames surrounding us were disappearing one after another, and when they were completely extinguished, I tried to let go of his hand.

But faster than I could ever do it, he took my hand again. At the unexpected pull, I faltered and fell atop him.

One big hand firmly held the back of my hand and pulled me forward, pressing me towards him tightly. Our lips hit each other roughly, and for a moment, the stinging pain made me groan.

But then, soon afterwards, his hot tongue was licking me languidly.

As if he was saying sorry for hurting me.

After licking my lips several times, even as he was unable to open his eyes, he turned his head obliquely to deepen the kiss. He broke in—his tongue intruding into my lips that were interlocked with his. I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t.

With me being in his firm hold, I had no choice but to surrender my lips to him. Slowly reaching the inside, his tongue became more and more brazen with its strokes as I guided him. His tongue swept against my teeth and wrestled with my tongue. He dug deep into me, exchanging breaths and fluids.

Urgently and impatiently receiving my guiding, he stirred inside my mouth. I was pulled into the breathtaking kiss helplessly.

He was so out of it that he instinctively brought our lips together for the sake of receiving more of my guiding. But even if we’re to say that he’s been so hungry for any guiding at all, he seemed absolutely famished.

He had the saintess here in this world, but just why did he collapse, and why was in such a concerning predicament now?

As I felt a metallic taste spreading over our clashing tongues, I forcibly pulled back, but this time, he… pulled me in and embraced me entirely. He was murmuring something, but I couldn’t understand any of it.

“Seo… missed…”

He indistinctly began to mutter a name that started with ‘Seo’, and I naturally thought that he was calling ‘Seo-yoon’.

But with just that one syllable, wasn’t it possible that he was calling someone else? Another name that started with ‘Seo’?

“I… wrong… Seo…”

I’ve heard him say something similar in the past.

As I guided him after he pushed himself to the limit, he apologized and confessed things in a grave voice.

I didn’t know he had this habit before he came to Korea…

“Ha… Tch.”

I clicked my tongue the moment I smelled something roasting. The potatoes that were still buried underground seemed to have gotten scorched. Mom’s going to be upset after learning about this…

Slightly frustrated at Ciel, who was still crushing me in his embrace, I expertly struck the back of his neck. Apart from being the Esper that he was, it’s getting difficult to be crushed in the arms of a 190cm tall man.

As he fell unconscious, I pushed his limp body aside and wiped my lips roughly with the back of my hand.

“Mom’s gonna go crazy when she sees this…”

And I was only going to guide him, so why’d he go ahead and put his lips on me? Seriously…

I checked once again if he had properly lost consciousness before getting up from the ground. Then, I shook off the dirt from my clothes and headed towards where my horse was.

Espers tended to be delirious sometimes. No matter how powerful they were, it should not be forgotten that they were still only human. And human beings all had the same skin, not as hard as a monster’s.

This man, however, seemed to pay no mind that he was human and could die like any normal person would after pushing himself to the brink.

I recall one case from the past wherein a dedicated Guide killed their Esper. Even then, all the other Espers merely thought that the departed Esper had been foolish for dying.

Mounting my horse once again, I shook my head as thoughts of the old days came to mind.

t/n: it’s only a subtle difference (*cough* spanning a few paragraphs *cough*) with the kiss scene, but this chapter’s actually from the r19 version already