The Nerd Turned Out To Be The Tyrant - Chapter 77

“I don’t know…I guess it’s because your hair color looks pretty today.”

 

‘Hair color.’

 

As soon as Dominic finished speaking, a sharp pain came as if someone had hit her with a hammer.

 

People came to Luce in surprise as she collapsed on the floor unable to swallow her groaning.

 

“Oh my, Luce. What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

 

“No, I’m, I’m fine.”

 

“You don’t look all right at all, you. Hey, Dietrich! You’ll have to carry Luce on your back.”

 

“Don’t you have any herbs at home, Dahlia?”

 

“Is there such a thing?”

 

Her mind went round and round.

 

“I’m fine… I’m really fine. I’m telling you, so I can go by myself.”

 

“Lucette, will you get on my back?”

 

“Sigh, so why were you so close to the fire? If your friend didn’t find you, it would’ve been a disaster.”

 

“I’m really fine—!”

 

She was on the verge of collapse.

 

Meow—.

 

A familiar cry came from somewhere.

 

“I don’t like this when eating outdoors. Cats covet human food.”

 

As soon as she heard the cry, her headache went away like a lie.

 

Luce, who turned her eyes confused, saw the black cat sitting in the chair.

 

She knew the name of the cat with its front paws on Luce’s back.

 

“Nox?”

 

Meow.

 

“Luce, is that your cat?”

 

“No wonder it’s been around for a few days.”

 

“It must have been frightened by the fire and ran away. Did you still come to see the owner?”

 

The sight opened slowly.

 

It was natural for Luce to turn her hand toward Nox.

 

“I will leave first.”

 

Luce, who naturally hugged Nox without realizing it, stumbled and moved.

 

Dahlia’s voice stopped Dominic from running. She’s sick, don’t bother her, something like that.

 

For some reason, she thought at first glance that the usual Dahlia would have told Dominic to take her to the end, but that hazy thought didn’t last long.

 

The place where Luce arrived, walking slowly while holding Nox, was the place where Dietrich had left the farewell party.

 

The burnt house.

 

Pillars were all crooked from being burned, and stairs were leaning dangerously.

 

‘Why am I…’

 

Did she stand close by all the time this house was burning?

 

Why didn’t she leave this place after inhaling a lot of smoke?

 

‘Since my house has collapsed in vain, I want to protect the house of a person named Chelsea… What was that feeling?’

 

It wasn’t readily understood, but the only reason why it could be explained was that.

 

Otherwise, how could she have been staring blankly until just before she collapsed at the burning house of a woman she had never met.

 

As if possessed, she stepped onto the wooden deck, and Nox cried at the same time as the wood that had turned to charcoal crumbled.

 

“Mmhm. I’ll take a look. Just a little.”

 

Luce went into the burned-down house, talking to herself because she didn’t know who she was talking to.

 

It seems that Chelsea’s house was a two-story house.

 

The fire may have started on the first floor, but the second floor still had the shape of a tree.

 

‘Can I go up?’

 

Sadly, as soon as she put her foot up, the stairs broke down helplessly.

 

No matter how high she jumped, she didn’t think she could enter the second floor.

 

Luce was forced to change her mind to look around the first floor.

 

Chelsea seemed to have quite a wall of arrangement.

 

The dishes were half melted, and the locations of the tea utensils were all neatly arranged.

 

It wasn’t just that. Since it is a house on a hill, it is a place where sunlight hits well, so all precious things are organized so that they don’t receive direct sunlight. It was a stage where the organized shape seemed obsessive.

 

‘Control Freak?’

 

Meow—.

 

“Eung, a little more.”

 

Seeing that there are several shiny needles, she seems to be a person who usually enjoys sewing.

 

Looking at the binder iron, which is probably the trace of the file folder, it seems that she was a person who was good at organizing documents.

 

Round marks were left on one side of the cupboard, but judging from the size and soot lines, it must have been where the gold coins had been.

 

Thinking of the villagers who stole the gold coins after putting out the fire, Luce began to check the house closely.

 

Luce, who had been looking around the house without paying attention to the soot on her hands, stopped in one corner of the kitchen.

 

‘Picture frame?’

 

A golden frame, which had not yet melted, was placed on the kitchen table.

 

She was in a daze when she tried to pick it up, but Nox made a sharp noise at that moment.

 

When she let go of Nox in a panic, didn’t it rush at like it was going to bite her hand!

 

“W, what’s wrong?”

 

Luce picked up the frame to avoid Nox, who was crying so hard that she could hear the metal sound.

 

Knox was scratching her calf, but her curiosity came before the pain.

 

No, rather than being curious, she felt like she had to see it.

 

Holding back the scratches on his skin, Luce turned over the frame.

 

“…Huh?”

 

It was empty.

 

As if nothing had been done from the beginning, only the frame of the empty frame was laid.

 

Looking at the frame alone, it seems to be a pretty old object, but there was not a single scratch left on the glass.

 

Perhaps what was in the frame that the owner of this house valued very much.

 

The picture that the owner must have cherished especially when she left behind important documents and even a few gold coins—.

 

It was the moment when she thought of it.

 

Meow—!

 

Nox cried loudly and then quickly disappeared.

 

“Haa, Luce!”

 

She heard an urgent voice.

 

Before she could figure out who the owner of the voice was, someone grabbed Luce’s shoulder.

 

It was the same strength and the same posture as when she was staring blankly at the burning house.

 

“…Rev?”

 

“Luce, why are you here?”

 

The disturbed breath hit her forehead right away.

 

Rev seemed to have come running in a great hurry.

 

Two of the top buttons of the shirt were loosened, and the shoes looked similar, but they were not matched.

 

It was an unfamiliar appearance.

 

It wasn’t just because the outfit was unfamiliar.

 

“Why are you here!”

 

He was getting angry.

 

It was something she had never seen before.

 

He didn’t get angry when she went up to the second floor, which was a restricted area, when she took his medicine, and even when she faked her illness with oakmoss extract.

 

It was just logically persuading and reasoning.

 

But why now?

 

Why on earth now?

 

Even under the moonlight, Rev’s pitiful eyes shining intensely were frightening at first glance.

 

“Why are you here, Luce. Why is this place?…ha.”

 

He let out a deep sigh and the back of his neck rose and fell.

 

Luce, who suddenly came to her senses, tried to shake off Rev’s hand that was tightly gripping her wrist.

 

But his grip was beyond imagination.

 

As if grabbing someone trying to run away, as if he couldn’t even feel Luce’s shaking, Rev was frozen.

 

“R, Rev?”

 

“Who told you? Who wants you to go here?”

 

“Rev?”

 

“If not, is there any other reason?”

 

“R, Rev?”

 

“Tell me why you came here all of a sudden. Right now.”

 

Luce, who breathed in, closed her eyes tightly and shouted.

 

“Revinas!”

 

“….”

 

The call seemed to have brought Rev to his senses.

 

The strength in his hand slowly loosened.

 

Luce, who took out his wrist without missing the time, brushed her arm.

 

He gripped it so hard that his handprints were white.

 

“Calm down, eung?”

 

“…Ah.”

 

“No one asked me to go here. It’s just, I was at Dietrich’s farewell party and suddenly my head hurt so much that I arrived here after walking for a walk, and while I arrived, I got curious and came in.”

 

“….”

 

“I’m sorry to the owner of the burnt house, but I was wondering what happened! That’s why I came.”

 

It’s actually a lie. There was no reason for Luce, either.

 

It was just that she had arrived at this house as she was walking, and somehow she felt like she had to see it.

 

But if she didn’t come up with a good reason, Rev’s face, which was pale, looked like it would disappear like moonlight in no time.

 

Because her friend Revinas is that kind of person. Because he is a man who needs a reason for action.

 

Rev’s white hands in the air were shaking.

 

Luce couldn’t tell if it was because he was giving strength, because he was shocked by his actions, or because he was cold.

 

“What’s wrong with you?”

 

“….”

 

“You came running wearing unmatching shoes and not buttoning your shirt properly. It’s not morally rude to look at a burnt house. You… Why are you like that?”

 

‘I’m scared.’

 

Luce can’t say the next word.

 

She’s afraid that if she says she’s scared, it’ll really become true.

 

Luce was speechless, fearing that it would become true that she was frightened by Rev’s burning red eyes.

 

Suddenly he felt distant.