A Wish to Grab Happiness - Book 13: Chapter 358

Chapter 358: Meat Eaters

…I’ll bet everything I can reach, and I’ll definitely reach out and show it you.

I moved my lips and slowly took Philos’ hand. I thought I would receive a strong refusal, but surprisingly, she accepted my hand promptly.

I didn’t know what kind of feelings she had about this situation. I would be happy if she took my hand willingly, but considering her state, she probably took my hand reluctantly.

No, maybe she was trying to use me this time, just like I used her. After all, in the past, she was the one who used the nobles who were several ranks higher than her with the palm of her hand. Whether she had natural ingenuity or not, I didn’t know.

To be honest, I braced myself for the negative impact of my actions. What I did was so rough and tough that it felt excruciating. It seemed as if my heart was gripped by guilt.

Did she even know that?

I overlapped my gaze with Philos’ and tried to profess a few more words. However, on that moment, the silver hair swayed right at the edge of my vision.

「…Wait, Lugis. Just now, what selfish things have you been throwing out of your mouth? 」

I could see Caria dancing with her beautiful silver eyes. Her pale cheeks were now tinged with red. She pouted her lips and showed off her sharp canine teeth.

Unmistakable. It was a manifestation of the fact that the person named Caria was feeling more and more frustrated. It was an expression that one wouldn’t forget.

I could see there was a fiery emotion floating in the back of her silver eyes.

I felt my blood running extensively to my fingertips.

What a bad taste. This time, it was too much. I clearly crossed the line.

Was she mad at me for interrupting her words earlier? Her voice swelled with irritation between each word she declared.

「You easily throw yourself away, I know that…but did you forget to entrust your back to me? I don’t think it’s too late to say that your body doesn’t belong to you alone anymore.」

With her lion-like ferocity, Caria flipped her long eyelashes. Her breath retained enough heat to make her surroundings boil in response.

I would certainly have her support. But wasn’t this a slightly different story? Besides, I just said that I’d do everything I could do. It was not like I threw my body away.

I tried to twist her words the same time, but to no avail. With a grin that reminded me of a bewitched smile, Caria closed my lips with her fingertips.

「What is it, Lugis? If you have an excuse, I’ll listen to it. But be careful with your words, because if you break the bloodline oath…I don’t know what will happen to you.」

She closed my lips while raising her hands lightly. I could see that her silver eyes were sparkling considerably.

Her eyebrows frowned and her cheeks distorted.

It was awful. The moment I saw those silver eyes, I understood that she wasn’t telling a joke. If she said she’d do it, then she’d do it for sure. I clearly knew that trait from the old days.

And it seemed that she wasn’t the only one who had feelings of resentment towards me.

「Yes. Speaking of promises, Lugis. You seem to be drawing a very large map, but I don’t remember hearing about it.」

Filaret spun a few words while swinging her black eyes and hair. She seemed calmer than Caria, but the tremor in her voice didn’t change her inner heat.

To tell the truth, I didn’t remember telling anyone about the details of this incident.

Actually, I didn’t know how much I could call this story credible, and I wasn’t sure if I could handle it well. Therefore, I thought that it wasn’t worth putting into words until I was certain.

Filaret’s lips drew a beautiful line on her cheeks. It was a beautiful, yet strange smile.

「Listen carefully, Lugis. What am I to you? Of course, I don’t expect you to say that I’m just a comrade.」

Her words were endlessly soft, as if they were embracing me. Even the way she touched her ears was gentle.

However, what was stuffed deep inside those words was a very strong will without a single flaw. It felt as if she wouldn’t allow any excuses, since her black eyes were staring at me with intensity.

C’mon. There’s no way I’d forget. Filaret, you’re my accomplice. At the same time as I answered that, I could see that her mouth was strangely filled with saliva and her skin became sticky.

「That’s right, then it’s strange, isn’t it? I wonder if the duty of an accomplice is just to report the incident without consultation. What do you think, Lugis? I want you to choose your words carefully.」

Her words took a gradually turn to the worst. That behavior almost made me want to escape from this place at once.

Understood. Sorry. It was bad from my part. I was reflecting about it deeper than the bottom of the earth. So c’mon, why push me further than this? I was starting to feel like I had no escape. It felt like my limbs were trapped.

Unable to find the right words, my fingertips began to waver. Unbeknownst to them, my mind started to swim in the air. Then, my head naturally changed its direction towards Philos.

If possible, I would like to receive some kind of support or words to calm down my heart. I wanted a gaze that gave me some solace. After all, Ann, who always did that kind of thing, wasn’t here anymore.

After receiving my gaze, Philos nodded slightly and spoke. Her white eye narrowed slightly.

「What I understand is that you mean that, after putting aside all those contracts, you will be my ally?」

Philos looked straight ahead while asking.

I see. Apparently, she misunderstood the meaning of my gaze. No, judging from the strangely protruding corners of her lips, her statement was probably a kind of revenge.

The silver, black, and white eyes stared at me as if ready to consume my flesh. I made a noise while swallowing my saliva. There was a strange numbness even when I breathed.

It was useless. Not a single word came to my mind, which should always be lightly muffled. My brain remained tightly restrained and did not respond to anything.

I had a very bad feeling. No matter how I answered, my body would be stabbed from the side and behind.

Sweat licked down my spine, and my heavy breath flowed backwards inside my throat.

Taking the silence as some kind of reply, Filaret continued to speak. Each word seemed to pile on my back as heavy weights.

「Besides the matter of Philos Trait’s royal bloodline, or the magical beast disaster’s subjugation. Lugis, you’re still hiding something from me, aren’t you?」

My heartbeat increased tremendously. My breathing suddenly became rough.

Caria agreed with the words spoken by Filaret and nodded. Apparently, there was still a mountain of things to talk about.

Right now, they didn’t have the slightest hesitation to spew them out.

「You’ve been like that for a long time. You’re strangely familiar with new types of magical beasts, and you know the internal circumstances in each city. To begin with, what’s true in all of this, huh?」

Caria wanted me to clarify that part while asking with a sharp smile on her face.

It was useless. It was really no good.

With my cheeks twitching, I sat down on my bed. Then, I lowered my head. I couldn’t seem to find a way out of this anymore.

In any case, they cornered me like a pack of wolves. Or should I say I was swallowed by them? No, maybe it was both.

「…Sorry, I have no excuse. I’ll definitely settle it with you after everything is over. So please forgive me this time.」

I moved my mouth to speak after leaving the chewing tobacco in my pocket. These were the words I finally came up with. I should’ve been able to just turn my mouth around, but if I did poorly, I would’ve died in their hands. Therefore, I just asked for their forgiveness.

While placing my hands on my head, I continued to bounce my lips.

「So you want to know the truth? The real me? Fine. Right now, there’s someone here who knows me best.」

If it were not for this mess, I wouldn’t have been able to face “her” because of my embarrassment. I couldn’t avoid it anymore.

If that’s the case, shall I say hello at least? And so, I decided to visit the person who raised me as her adoptive son.