S-Class Dungeon’s Mistress - Chapter 157
Adelaide slowly stopped. There was still quite a distance between the two of them, but everything about him was clear in her eyes.
Caladium also stood there with a confused face, presumably noticing her presence before she did. She could see his silver-gray eyes trembling faintly.
Hwiiiing-
The wind blew again. Adelaide’s fine black hair fluttered softly, and Caladium’s red hair swayed slowly. It made his handsome face more visible. Adelaide smiled quietly because it was satisfying.
“Caladi.”
She just called his name, yet Caladium’s pupils shook massively. He opened and closed his lips as if in disbelief of the situation and uttered in a harsh tone.
“You…… Why are you here?”
Adelaide shuddered slightly as Caladium gazed at her. Probably because of the bitter cold. He specialized in flames, therefore he didn’t even know that it was cold because his body was so hot, but Adelaide was different.
To leave her alone in a place like this. What the hell is that j*rk of a manager doing? His eyes glared menacingly.
“I came here to find Helheim.”
“……What?”
At her surprising words, Caladium thought he had heard it wrong because he was too far away..
In fact, the moment he saw Adelaide, he decided that she must have been looking for him. Otherwise, there would be no way Adelaide could be in a place like this.
But Adelaide grinned and shattered his expectations.
“I said I came here to find Helheim.”
“……Why are you looking for it?”
“I’m going to take it.”
After parting ways with Adelaide at Esperanza, Caladium repeatedly imagined their reunion countless times. Even though he knew that thinking about it would only hurt him more, he couldn’t stop.
However, out of his endless imaginations, a scene like this never came up. Adelaide, who by this time must have already found out what was going on with him, said that she would contend with him for Helheim. Even he, who was accustomed to betrayal, could never have imagined this.
That’s right. He was the one who told her to tear up the contract. So it was only natural for Adelaide’s attitude to change.
She won’t like me anymore.
Caladium did not respond and bit his molars tightly. Even though he was determined, his heart sank. It was rather fortunate that she was so far away. Because he couldn’t show her his ugly, distressed face.
And Adelaide continued, staring straight at him.
“That way, I think I’ll be able to win the war against the Los Halde Dungeon.”
“Are you crazy? Abaddon is backing Los Halde. If you mess with them, do you think that arrogant b*st*rd will leave you alone?”
Caladium unintentionally spat out words of concern. Then, as if he had made a mistake, he bit his lip again.
She smiled, pleased with his bashfulness.
“Yes, I know. That’s why we’re going to fight.”
“……What?”
“I will make Abaddon pay the price for touching my subordinates. With Helheim’s power, I can fight that b*st*rd more equally.”
Caladium couldn’t speak. He didn’t know what she was talking about, he wasn’t smart enough to grasp it.
Adelaide slowly walked towards him. As her face got closer, Caladium’s heart pounded even harder.
“So, Caladi. Come back to Greenville.”
She whispered. A whisper filled with the longing she had accumulated day by day.
“I know you’re worried that Abaddon would harm Greenville because of you. So I’ll show you. I’ll fight and win against Los Halde and even kill Abaddon. You must come back after that. Then I will give you Helheim.”
“……Adela.”
“I don’t want to keep you by my side just because of the war. I miss, I miss you…… so much, you’re precious to me. So I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”
Caladium clenched his fists tightly. His short fingernails dug into his skin and bled.
“I told you to rip it up. My contract.”
“No. Even if I die, I will never. If you want to tear it up, you come and do it yourself. Then I’ll give you a new contract.”
“Adela, please…….”
He bowed his head and groaned, calling out her name. Adelaide looked up at him with quivering eyes. Even though she had firmly made up her mind, when faced with him like this, her emotions soared and it was not easy to continue her words.
“Remember, Caladi?”
She struggled to open her mouth again.
“You and Lisian made a bet. A bet, to see whoever makes a trap room that would kill more warriors.”
“…….”
“Well, you lost.”
Caladium quietly closed his eyes. The way his red eyelashes trembled was pitiful.
“So, when you come back after the war, bet on something else. You should win next time.”
Adelaide smiled brightly. If they had to part again anyway, she wanted to show him only pretty things.
Caladium bit his lips again. He remained silent for a while, suppressing his confused feelings.
“Adelaide. Don’t go to war. There’s no reason for that. I left Greenville…… not because of Abaddon.”
“Then why?”
Adelaide asked impatiently. She was also anxious. She didn’t want to be gripped by such fears so she concentrated on training all the time.
“Do you……. hate being with me……?”
She finally revealed her anxiety that she had kept bottled. The thought that perhaps Caladium really hated her made her eyes hot.
Upon seeing this, Caladium’s face contorted. Blood gushed out from the lip he had been biting.
“No.”
In the end, he also failed to suppress his emotions.
Caladium’s thick arms roughly pulled Adelaide’s waist. One hand gripped the back of her head tightly.
“That would never happen.”
The heat from his skin was transmitted through his thin shirt. Caladium’s arms were warm and cozy, like always. She could feel that she was about to cry more.
“But why? Why do you stay away from me…….”
Adelaide sobbed softly. She tried to hold it in, but it was impossible. She missed his embrace so much. His sweet voice truly sounded so earnest.
“I…….”
Before he knew it Caladium’s voice was already filled with emotions. He hugged Adelaide without the slightest gap and breathed a confession.
“Because I love you.”
Eyes resembling light pink clouds shook wildly. Caladium, who had now spoken his true feelings, continued speaking as if he had given up.
“I love you, Adela.”
“Caladi…….”
“I’m so st*pidly jealous, I can’t stand seeing the girl I love with another guy. That I’m the only one who gives emotions during kisses when you eat. And that I have to keep quiet as you kiss and mix flesh with the other j*rks. I can’t stand it all.”
Lisianthus decided to accept it, and Lupinus came into Greenville seemingly prepared from the moment he confessed to her, but he himself was not.
He felt like his stomach was burning every time she spent the night with another guy. When he was betrayed by his subordinates and his horn was cut off by Abaddon, his heart did not break this much.
In his three hundred years of life, Adelaide was Caladium’s greatest joy as well as suffering. So he chose to run away like a coward.
“Can you give up all the others for me?”
“Everyone from the manager, your first friend, down to your demons.” Caladium looked down at her face and whispered.
Adelaide could not answer. He just smiled sadly because it was already a reaction he expected.
“Caladi, I-”
“You don’t have to tell me. I already know it. That’s why I left.”
Caladium pushed Adelaide slowly.
“So please don’t do anything dangerous. Don’t even look for Helheim. It’s not a force your body can accept. If you can’t absorb all of its magic, you’ll easily explode to death. Didn’t that as***le tell you this?”
“D*mn, that b*st*rd keeps talking even though he doesn’t know anything.” He grumbled playfully.
“I’ll call the Wyvern. It’s cold here…… Return, Adela.”
Caladium bowed his head as if to kiss Adelaide’s forehead, but then turned his head to the other side. He took off his dark red cloak and draped it over Adelaide’s shoulder.
“Goodbye.”
Soon his body became a red flame. The large phoenix disappeared beneath the clouds without looking back once.
Adelaide, who had finally become truly alone, stood still among the swaying flowers.
Thump thump, thump thump.
Her heart was beating fast. His mischievous smile, tearful eyes, and his love confession continued to haunt her.
It was then that Adelaide understood.
‘I love Caladi.’
The reason why her heart ached as if it was being torn apart whenever she thought of him and the reason why she imagined his face every night was all because of love. It was only after the wounded man left that she realized it.
But Adelaide did not despair. Once was enough to cry like a fool when Caladi left.
She raised her head, clutching Caladium’s cloak. At that moment, the wind blew and the golden pollen guided her to the other side again.
Adelaide followed the pollen for a long time. And when she finally reached the place covered with white clouds, the pollen fell to the floor.
Right then, all the wind that had just blown softly disappeared, and the blue sky began to turn purple.
[Ganglati.]
It was a voice much bigger and deeper than the Wyvern’s. The voice was clear and noble as if it was speaking inside her head.
A bright light burst out of the air. Adelaide looked up at the sky, still clutching the cloak.
[For what reason did you come to this body’s bed?]
She wondered if this was Hela’s voice. Her eyes widened and she stammered as she spat out her answer.
“I have come to find Helheim.”
To be precise, I came here only to figure out the location for my subordinate, who is a qualified being. She was debating whether to add this or not, but gave up. Because it didn’t seem like she was speaking to a god, even though she had heard it herself.
[Oho…… Yes. You deserve it.]