CH 8.12

Sarah clasped her hands and started pleading.

However, to my eyes, she merely appeared to be burying the situation so she could win sympathy votes.

‘Additionally, her crying act is terrible.’

I tilted my head.

Then I looked down at Sarah, who had come in front of me, and threw words.

“I can’t trust you.”

“Sniff, w-what?”

“You’re really bad at acting, so there’s no point in pretending to cry.”

It would be easy to hide if you were doing it with a lot of people. It would serve as a distraction. I can’t really stand to see her clumsily acting teary, though. Right now, I can’t tell if she’s crying or laughing.

‘I came from the land of dramas, are you seriously trying to fool me?’

I’m capable of doing much better.

I raised the assistant’s chin while clicking my tongue.

“Take a good look. Crying is not like that.”

As soon as I finished speaking, tears welled up in my eyes.

I have no idea how to act in any other way, but I can cry incredibly well.

I abruptly removed my hand from Sarah and stepped back.

Then I whispered in an aggrieved voice.

“I trusted you. How could you do this?”

“Huh… ?”

“My heart hurts so much, like it was on the verge of breaking because of you. Why did you have to do that? If you only didn’t do that, we all would have gotten along so well.”

Sara seemed very perplexed. She was probably trying to get sympathy votes and drive her colleagues to console her and forgive her. However, the mood changed back to ambiguous when I unexpectedly started crying. I changed my expression again in front of Sarah.

“You are fired.”

“M-Miss!”

“Do you want to be dragged out, or will you go out on all fours?”

The knights quickly moved forward to stop Sarah from trying to jump on me. It’s as if she thought that everything would be fine just by shedding a few tears. If she really believed that, she is gravely mistaken.

Sara was crying when I looked down and ice-coldly responded.

“Wait for a damages suit at your home.”

* * *

I was extremely busy after that.

I slept for about two hours after drawing the harnesses until morning.

And as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning, I went to work immediately after eating, received a report on the progress, and checked every single accessory.

The newspaper was summoned yesterday afternoon to send out a report.

Now that we’ve found the traitor, we can reveal it.

That the knights would stand on stage half-naked.

Of course, ‘Terran Hours’ even provided a list of knights who would model.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to Evershal on a plane to check how far the construction was going.

Thinking I might die if I created everything with painting magic, I left the digging of the artificial lake to the workers.

Build and open an amusement park in Evershal. Even just that one matter made me really busy.

Since I collapsed unintentionally, I was thinking of summoning the rides slowly after some time, but I never thought this would happen in the middle.

I was just trying to teach Peridot a lesson, but when I came to my senses, it had already turned out like this.

Somehow, I seemed to have a knack for creating more work for myself.

Actually, I don’t think I would be working as hard if the assistant hadn’t sold show information. ‘

I wouldn’t have to draw men’s harnesses!

Of course, that made the show greater, but it was primarily due to my ability to deal with crises.

I didn’t appreciate it at all because it was a situation where if I was a normal person, not a painting wizard or a transmigrator, I would have been f*cked up so bad.

I went downstairs to the greasy-smelling dining room after splashing cold water on my face to jolt my sleepy mind.

After that, I placed something on the table and massaged my aching arm.

It was the first harness that was completed and called out at dawn.

“This is a harness for men.”

“Is the material leather?”

“Yeah. To be honest, if the knights wear this on their bare bodies, people might get nosebleeds.”

I said that without thinking and pulled out a bowl of crispy salad.

Then, the hand of Lacius, who was cutting the meat for me as always, flinched and stopped.

“Why would their nose bleed?”

“Because it’s sexy…?”

“… … .”

“Hmm, why not? For men, blood rushed to their lower body, right? Women’s blood, on the other hand, rushed to their heads.”

I swung the fork and replied.

In fact, I am so tired that my head is literally blank.

I’ve drawn more than 20 male garter belts and harnesses.

Each of them had to have a little different design, so when there were about 10 of them, my eyes started to get blurry, and I felt like I was going to collapse at any moment.

Since the last few days, I’ve only slept for seven hours total.

That’s how I managed to finish it, so to be honest, just talking like a normal human being was already amazing of me.

It was then.

“That harness, please let me try it on first.”

“Huh?”

“It won’t be a problem, right?”

“Yeah, there’s no issue, but…”

Why all of a sudden?

I rubbed my hazy eyes while attempting to maintain mental clarity.

In fact, I wasn’t sure if Lacius’ words were real or the product of my own imagination.

“Then I’ll try it on.”

In the midst of my confusion, Lacius pulled the harness from the table and set it in front of me.

He then gracefully stood up and undid his shirt’s buttons.

“……?”

Um, is this actually happening?

Is it because of the sunlight that comes in through the large window?

Or was it because the sunlight appeared to flow like a river of light through his blonde hair?

Seeing Lacius’ face in the morning always seemed unreal, but it is especially so today.

Lacius slowly unbuttoned his shirt with his thick, smooth fingers. 

Even the movement of the fabric slipping over his shoulders was playing in slow motion.

‘Gasp.’

Gulp. Suddenly, my mouth feels dry.

Then, I came to my senses. My whole body was tense, and I felt like all my hair was standing upright.

Lacius’ exposed, bare body was too dazzling.

Those powerful muscles, which were developed during actual battles, did not appear excessive. I can see his arm muscles moving, despite the fact that he only moved it once.

My eyes cleared up, my heart pounded, and my blood pressure rose.

My body was flooded with adrenaline, and I nearly passed out, but I persevered.

“Do you wear it like this?”

Lacius placed the harness straps on his shoulders and attempted to connect them to his chest. But because it was his first time seeing it, he struggled. I quickly stood up and walked towards him.

“I’ll do it, take a close look.”