CH 4

Sig was aware that Britia Lockhart had snuck up behind him.

However, he let it go. He did so because he felt that a small woman could not possibly pose a threat to him.

Then something unexpected occurred.

All of a sudden, his hair began to stand on end all over his body. It was such a strong sensation that he couldn’t help but hold his breath.

Sig suddenly recalled the gossip surrounding her. When he saw the person whose energy he didn’t perceive as being particularly extraordinary, he quickly forgot about it.

Britia Lockhart claimed to be able to see the souls of the dead.

“I asked what you were doing.”

No matter how closely he looked at it, she had average energy aside from the fact that she was beautiful. However, Sig could clearly sense something inside of her and realized the strange thing he felt was her doing.

However, he was unable to truly understand what she was doing.

Never before had he experienced such a bizarre emotion. The feelings he was experiencing now were ones he wouldn’t even experience if he went outside or if he had the chance to fight a mutant monster he had never seen before.

If he had to describe it more clearly.

What he was feeling was probably fear of the unknown.

From the Spirit of Darkness that wounded his left eye!

It was similar to the way he felt back then!

“Britia Lockhart.”

Could it be that this woman had powers similar to those of the demon?

How could he possibly turn his back on such a person?

He almost lost his life. Sig was ashamed of his mistake.

“I-I… .”

Britia trembled in fear as she saw Sig’s eyes burning with rage.

“Duke of Turas, calm down. Has my Britia offended you somehow?”

As Earl Lockhart stepped in and intervened. Sig let go of Britia’s arm.

“Tia, what’s going on?”

In a low voice, the Earl asked her. But the reply didn’t just tumble out of her frozen lips.

“You were trying to hand the towel to Duke-nim. right?”

The Count asked, looking at the towel in her hand.

“No, she must have touched me.”

Sig adamantly denied it. There was no way he felt so strongly threatened by just trying to hand over the towel.

He was certain she had touched and attacked him. He couldn’t tell where it was on his body, but she was clearly trying to do something.

Britia cried out. She had dared to wipe the Duke of Turas’ tail only because she thought he wouldn’t notice.

Because so far, no matter how much she touches others’ tails, no one else had felt anything! nobody!

“Looking at that face, it looks like she did something.”

But how did he notice that she touched him?

Britia noticed that something was wrong as she observed Sig’s expression becoming more serious.

“Do you intend to keep your actions a secret from me until the very end?”

Sig put his hand on the sword he was wearing at his waist.

“Duke of Turas!”

The Earl hid Britia behind his and advanced, appearing to be guarding her. After that, an arm extended in front of him.

“After all, you didn’t come here to enjoy a peaceful party.”

Before Sig knew it, Leon, who had been keeping an eye on the situation, came over and told his brother and sister to hide behind him.

“You’ve come to fight.”

Even Leon’s friends came forward and sided with Lockhart. Then Evry raised his hands and stepped out.

“There seems to be a misunderstanding, but we really came to the party, we had no other intentions.”

“How can you believe what people say when they come to the party armed?”

The fight was about to begin.

“Wait, Lenny!”

Britia pushed the big knight brothers quickly and stepped out in front of her own brother.

“I was wrong!”

“That’s the other side who’s being sensitive just because she was holding a towel.”

Leon turned to Britia.

“Anyone can see that he is trying to fight us!”

“I beg you, Lenny, don’t complicate things.”

Britia used the back of her hand to cover his hot-headed brother’s mouth.

“I apologise. I’ll explain everything, Duke-nim.”

At those words, Sig lowered the hand he had placed on the sword. Only then did the knights take a step back, but they still did not relax their guard against each other.

Britia quickly regretted leading Sig to the drawing room. The two of them were so alone and the air was so heavy that they both pondered who should start the conversation.

“I know you touched me.”

Sig took the lead when Britia was unable to speak. Strangely, he spoke in a polite tone.

“I-I’m sorry. without your permission.”

Britia was stuttering as she spoke. She couldn’t even complete her sentence properly.

“But I don’t know where on earth you touched me.”

In front of other people, he growled and showed his tenacity, but when he was alone with Britia, he spoke politely and carefully. She took a quick look at him because she was unable to adjust to his abrupt attitude change.

“It’s a shame that I couldn’t pinpoint what you did earlier, but I haven’t lost a fight since I was 14.”

Britia was unsure of the cause of Sig’s shame. She did, however, slowly nod her head.

“But I was totally defeated today.”

Sig readily acknowledged his loss.

Of course, Britia had never fought him, so she had no idea what he was talking about.

“I still don’t understand.”

Watching Britia’s puzzled face, Sig grinded his teeth.

“I don’t even understand what you did to me.”

He looked at Britia with fierce determination in his eyes. She buried herself on the sofa after being startled by his gaze.

Britia regretted that she hadn’t brought Leon along with her.

“I realized just how arrogant I was.”

She brought him there to explain what she had done, but for some reason, he kept on with his pointless confession.

“But no matter how much I think about it, I just can’t understand it!”

He spoke with a distorted expression, as though someone had hit him.

“Can you give me a hint?”

Hint?

Britia was perplexed and didn’t do anything but look around.

“I know this is funny.”

She did find it amusing, and she wasn’t certain what he was getting at.

“But whether you did magic or commanded a spirit. If you can tell me a little… !”

He clenched his fists.

Magic? Spirit?

Britia only realized he was having a huge misunderstanding at that point.

“Duke-nim, what I did wasn’t that kind of thing.”

“Also! If there was such a simple solution, I would have found it long ago. What sort of hidden power do you possess?

“Well, if you say it’s a secret, it’s a secret.”

He blinked and waited for Britia’s words.

“There is no big secret.”

“Haa….you’re indeed a humble person. Not at all like a fool like me.”

Looking at him feeling bitter, it became more difficult for Britia to speak.

“N-no, Duke-nim is also a wonderful person.”

“Aren’t you saying this to make me feel better?”

Britia became ever more enraged as Sig laughed mockingly at himself.

How did the story come to be like this?

“I just met Duke-nim today, but I got the impression you are a forgiving person.” 

She wasn’t sure why she was making such an effort to appease him.

“Forgiving?”

Sig wondered as if it were the first time he had heard someone say that to him.

“We’ve done rude things several times, but you’ve been generous with your heart.”

He rolled his eyes and thought for a moment before looking at Britia.

“Are you talking about how your brother treated me earlier?”

Did she accidentally remind him of that?

Britia was stunned for a while.

“That’s also true, and insulting the Duke… “

“Did you mean a Mad Dog?”

When Britia apologized on behalf of Leon, he slightly frowned.

“I don’t care about that.”

Rather, he stated that Leon appeared to take good care of his home and family, and that he was a talented individual whom he admired.

“Duke-nim has a big heart.”

Complimenting someone who called him a mad dog.

She didn’t think he was crazy at all, but why did people call this person by that name?

“You are making fun of me.”

When he abruptly glared at her with fierce eyes and gripped his fists, Brittia, who thought the rumors were excessive, realized she had made a hasty decision.

She gave him praise, so why was he so enraged?

“The duke seems to keep misunderstanding, so I’ll tell you my secret quickly.”

Then Sig’s cold eyes softened a little.

“I know this may sound odd, but you see I can see things that are invisible to other people.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

Britia asked in surprise, and he nodded calmly.

“Do you see dead souls?”

“Oh, you heard the rumors.”

He was surprised to know that she could see the tail.

“If you have such power, why didn’t you choose the path of a knight like your brother?”

Sig appeared to be sorry for her as he said.

“It’s not too late for you. It is your ability, regardless of your physical conditioning.

Britia thought it was frustrating that he kept misunderstanding her, but on the other hand, it felt fresh.

When she said she saw the spirits of the dead, most people were afraid of her or offended.

It was the first time she had ever seen someone with such a sincere expression of regret, asking why she didn’t use her abilities.

That didn’t mean it was exciting.

“Duke-nim, I never said a word about seeing dead souls with my mouth.”

She had no idea whether he actually believed the story, but she didn’t want to keep being misunderstood.

She had to answer and apologize for touching him. She was unsure whether he believed her.

“All I see is the tail.”

“Tail?”

Britia nodded.

“Did you ask me what the hell I do to you?”

Sig opened his right eye wide and looked straight at her.

“The Duke’s tail was wet from the rain, so I was worried about dripping water. So I tried to wipe it off with a towel.”

“…….”

“I thought that it was fine because you couldn’t see or feel it like other people.”

But she was wrong in thinking like that.

“Duke-nim, I deeply apologise.”

Britia bowed her head deeply. But no matter how long she waited, no answer came out of his mouth.

She slightly raised her head, assuming he was angry, and their eyes met.

“I was asking what was the reason for the intense goosebumps that ran up my spine.”

“I don’t know what you mean by intense goosebumps.”

When Sig jumped up from her seat, Britia raised her voice in surprise.

“All I did was touch the Duke’s tail!”

“If you want to hide your power, please tell me so.”

Also he didn’t believe it.

“If not, please touch my tail again.”

“… Do you want me to touch it again?”

When he turned around, his tail, which hadn’t moved at all, moved slightly.

“Are you serious?”

When Britia asked, he nodded resolutely.

“But.”

“If I really have a tail, touch it.”

“Mmm.”

She hesitated, then slowly reached for his tail.

“If I touch it, you won’t feel anything. Lenny too… .”

“Ugh.”

In shock at his moaning, Britia, who had been stroking his damp, stiff tail, withdrew her hand. Her purple eyes glared resentfully at him as her cheeks flushed all the way to her ears.

“Duke-nim told me to touch it!”

Britia screamed at him aloud for a brief moment, feeling as if she did something wrong to him.