CH 76

It was Damon’s voice.

Why did he come all of a sudden? Originally, Damon was supposed to be in his office at this time but why could she hear his voice outside the door?

“Ah…!”

Surprised by the voice that she should not hear, Elysia dropped the letter on the tray and the burned letter was scattered with ashes.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

In an instant, a cough came when the ashes entered her nostrils. Tears welled up in her eyes at the tingling sensation.

“Elysia!”

“Cough, Your… Grace?”

She was surprised by Damon’s sudden appearance. He had never appeared so hastily. In addition, the urgency on his face made her unsure if something had gone wrong.

“Wh, what… is the matter?”

The tears couldn’t stop because of her still tingling nose.

Elysia didn’t expect that burning just one letter would be so difficult. She couldn’t burn even that properly, so there was still about half of it left. Seeing that, she frowned at the ashes and fragments of letters scattered on the tray.

If Damon hadn’t suddenly come, she could have handled it neatly…

“Are you okay?”

“Yes… Yes?”

“Why are you crying?”

She was taken aback when she was in his arms before she knew it. Elysia didn’t even have time to refuse, and she was held tightly to Damon’s chest. Even if she wanted to get away, she couldn’t because she was afraid of his displeasure.

“This is…”

How could she say that her nose was stinging, and that was why she was crying?

She felt ashamed to say that she had acted like an idiot, to someone who didn’t seem to have made such a mistake in his life. He probably won’t understand even if she said so because Damon Raphael made no mistakes.

“Wh-why did you come all of a sudden?”

Besides, this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t suddenly burst in. She didn’t know why a person who should be in the office came without notice.

Damon, whom she met unprepared, always annoyed her. No matter how many times she promised herself, her face would be helplessly crumbling. At that level of mighty beauty, Elysia had to raise a white flag every once in a while.

“Because I heard that the wife is not feeling well.”

“…Me?”

Oh, the maids must have reported to him that she had freaked out a while ago.

Because she was trembling, Julia would be surprised to see her like that for the first time. It was Elysia’s long-standing habit that whenever she received a sudden shock, she couldn’t rest properly and trembled like a swaying tree.

Originally, she didn’t have such a weak constitution. She was just a little surprised, like any normal person.

However, the events of the day changed her.

Motiveless murder… since the memory of her previous life, Elysia suffered from severe PTSD. She shuddered at the slightest noise. She was particularly sensitive to the blood of others and even fainted when she saw or smelled someone else’s blood.

“So when I came, I was surprised to see you crying.”

Elysia closed her eyes as his firm fingers pressed the corners of her eyes. She felt her tears run down his fingers. The feeling of the water droplets forming around her eyes gave her goosebumps, and her body shuddered from the chill that ran up her back.

Whenever she was in front of him, she became helpless, like a herbivore caught by a predator.

“Why were you crying?”

She felt a sense of drowsiness at the low voice that pierced her ears. It felt as if someone had messed with her head, making it float around in the sky. Elysia was embarrassed by Damon’s presence, which she felt vividly even with her eyes closed.

“It’s stinging…”

“What?”

“The ashes go into my nose… I cried because it was stinging.”

If he had come earlier, she would not have shown her embarrassing side… She would rather die than reveal the fact that she cried when ash went up her nose. It was advertising that she was stupid, so even if she didn’t say it, she’d be caught anyway if he looked around her a bit.

In that case, she might as well have just confessed with her own mouth.

“Ash…?”

“I’m burning the letter…”

She pointed to the letter on the tray that had not yet been burned. The candle burning alone was pitiful. She needed to burn it…

“I heard the wife was unwell…”

“That was because I was in shock for a moment. And while I was burning the letter, Your Grace suddenly came and…”

Elysia expressed that she would have been fine if only he hadn’t come… no, maybe it was a good thing Damon was here now. It was nothing good to show him her weakness.

The brutal, motiveless murder left her unable to live her daily life.

She was at least able to hold on because she had a new life. If she hadn’t died that day… it was a terrible assumption. Conceivably, she wouldn’t live a normal life for the rest of her life, and she would have shuddered in fear every time. She could have given up on her own life.

“What letter were you burning?”

“A letter from my brother.”

Obviously, she didn’t do anything wrong though she didn’t know why she always felt guilty in front of Damon. Even if he found out the contents of the letter, it wouldn’t matter too much… until now.

“…You made a mistake trying to burn this?”

“I suddenly heard Your Grace’s voice… that’s why I’m just surprised.”

“It’ll be dangerous in the future. Please do not burn the letter.”

Elysia raised her head.

It was a remark that she could not comprehend, no matter what. Although it was fine today, there was no guarantee that only letters with good content would come later, so it was better to destroy the evidence immediately.

“Wh, why?”

“Because burning the letter will hurt the wife.”

“I’m fine.”

It was more likely that she would be killed by him than when she burned the letters.

“No, you can’t.”

Elysia was troubled by his determined tone. It was because when he said no, Damon really meant no. No more candles or matches would be given unless he permitted it.

“No, I’m really fine… It’s just burning a letter.”

“Please have someone else burn the letters in the future.”

Saying so, he picked up the last part of the letter she had burned. And in an instant, the piece of paper disappeared without a trace in his hand.

At the sight, Elysia swallowed her breath.

Damon didn’t even have to light a fire. The moment he put it in his hand, magic made it disappear like dust.

“Uh…”

“Julia or the other maids will do it for you.”

“Ye, yes…”

In the end, she had no choice but to reply in affirmation. It was impossible to say no. If she said no, perhaps she would be like that letter.

* * *

Damon, who she thought would return soon, strangely did not return. Of course, since this was his room, she couldn’t say anything, but Elysia was embarrassed by the way she stared at her.

“Aren’t you busy…?”

She couldn’t understand why he wasn’t going anywhere, just gazing at her. She knew he certainly had a lot to do in the office…

“Are you okay now?”

“…Yes?”

“They said you couldn’t breathe because you were so white.”

Was she that serious? Compared to before, she was much better, although she didn’t think others saw it that way.

“Yes, I’m okay. I’m fine.”

In the beginning, it was very difficult because the soul of an adult resided in the body of a child. She was in so much pain, the body of a child had only explored instincts. After she grew a little, she had no time to be sad at the pouring abuse.

Still, every night young Elysia groaned. She couldn’t escape her adult memories like nightmares.

At first, she said she was fine.

Except for the nightmares, her daily life was fine, and the chance of her seeing blood in the County was close to zero. Of course, she, too, was cautious. While there were fewer symptoms of seeing her blood, even the smallest drop of blood brought back memories of that day.

So, when she couldn’t even adjust to her blood shedding when making the veil, she felt dizzy as if she would pass out several times.

“I was just very surprised.”

“Are you usually that easily surprised?”

Originally…? Should she say yes or no?

Originally, her personality was very dull. She was not easily startled, rather she was on the dull side. However, the events of that day changed everything. Elysia was now well surprised at the slightest thing, and as she guessed, she was easily frightened.

That wasn’t the only thing. When she was terrified, she couldn’t control her whole body.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not blaming the wife.”

It seemed that this had touched Damon’s heart. Elysia hurriedly told him she was sorry. She thought it was much better, but still not good enough. She was so resentful of her own state of weakness that she was soon discovered.

“I really had no intention of blaming Elysia.”

Elysia gave a small nod at Damon’s gesture of holding her hand. Every time he pretended to be friendly, she was flustered. After all, it was right to end this dangerous cohabitation as soon as possible.

She never knew when her symptoms would manifest again. Even though she hadn’t seen anything like the smell or bloodstains of other people’s blood on him until now, she’d soon see it because Damon and slaughter were inseparable.

“Elysia.”

“Yes.”

Even now, at this moment, she couldn’t stop her anxiety. He would soon appear before her in the form she feared most, and she knew she could never stand it. She didn’t have the confidence not to pass out when she faced him with blood all over her body.

“When will you be able to tell me everything?”