Chapter 43

Episode 43

Still, it wasn’t as though he could hold Lydia in his arms forever, so in the end, Ilian had no choice but to let her go.

As she stepped back slightly, she pointed to his covered arm and spoke firmly in a determined tone.

“Then let’s resolve this issue now. Earlier, we were trying to communicate with that dragon or whatever it was, but we were interrupted by your attendant.”

Her words clearly meant she wanted him to roll up his sleeve, so Ilian, swallowing his reluctance, took off his glove, placed it beside him, and unbuttoned his sleeve to roll it up.

Because he had become so used to frequent physical contact with Lydia, he had recently forgotten what pain even felt like.

Instead, his mind had been preoccupied with the many serious thoughts that Lydia, as a person, stirred within him.

“Hold on. Just stay still for a moment.”

A faint smile appeared on Lydia’s face as she, as usual, placed her hand over the back of his hand.

But as if something wasn’t going smoothly, her delicate fingers slowly traced upward from the back of his hand.

Seeing her slightly furrowed brows, it seemed that the ‘communication’ she was hoping for wasn’t working as well as she had expected.

Wherever Lydia’s hand passed, it felt like a tingling flame brushed over him.

It was refreshing, yet there was something fundamentally stimulating about it.

His gaze fixed on her lips, which had parted slightly in concentration, barely visible. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that his eyes were drawn in instantly.

So intensely was he staring at Lydia’s lips, consumed by a sudden, ridiculous impulse, that when she abruptly withdrew with a sigh of frustration and rubbed her forehead, Ilian blinked slowly, retracing the thoughts he had just had.

‘What a ridiculous thought…’

But was it truly ridiculous?

Could there not have been some sincerity in wondering what the touch of those small lips before him might feel like?

Lydia, completely unaware of the inner turmoil he was going through, finally spoke up with a troubled expression.

“I just can’t find it. I tried to trace that sensation I felt when it appeared in the dream, but it’s nowhere to be found.”

Lydia looked utterly serious. The problem was that Ilian, on the other hand, didn’t find the situation that serious.

In fact, even if this thing—dragon or whatever it was—tormented him a bit longer, he was starting to think he could live with that reality.

For now, he just needed more time with Lydia by his side, to think about what came next.

Ilian was realizing more and more that he didn’t truly want the curse resolved in an instant, if it meant Lydia would suddenly leave.

“If that’s the case, there’s no helping it.”

“If you really want me to break the curse completely, then please be a bit more cooperative. I mean it—don’t give such half-hearted answers.”

If someone asked whether he wanted Lydia to lift the curse, he could say yes.

But if they asked whether he wouldn’t mind if their contract lasted a bit longer than agreed, he’d also have to say yes.

“Our agreed period is one year. It hasn’t even been that long yet.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be better if I could make a deal with the dragon and cut that in half?”

But it was clear that Lydia wanted to leave.

He was her client, the one who had kept her by his side using her most precious heirloom as leverage.

That was the attitude Ilian Esteban had originally expected from Lydia Solem.

At first, he had been relieved by Lydia’s simple and straightforward request—just the ring. But now, he no longer felt that way.

He found himself wishing she might also feel some other lingering attachment to him.

Does this time mean nothing to you?

The thought scattered meaninglessly. Of course, this was nothing more than a transaction where both parties got what they needed. He expected that kind of answer.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re… dissatisfied with something?”

Lydia had been aware for a while that Ilian was staring intently at her.

How could she not notice those piercing blue eyes fixed on her every time she looked his way?

But pretending not to notice and desperately hoping her face wouldn’t turn red had its limits.

She began to wonder if maybe he still had something left to say to her.

“…Aren’t you going to check my condition today?”

“Check what?”

Ignoring her question, Ilian suddenly began to unbutton his shirt, a move so unexpected it left her flustered.

After all, he had always seemed a bit reluctant to examine her condition before.

Lydia watched in disbelief as he cast off his shirt halfway without hesitation.

She began to suspect that his dissatisfaction stemmed from her failure to properly check the state of the curse, so she finally turned her attention to his bare shoulder.

“It really has shrunk a lot. It used to reach all the way here…”

Lydia’s hand swept over the shoulder area that had once been darkly stained but had now returned to normal. The curse was definitely receding.

“Seeing it like this, maybe the dragon can’t appear because it’s lost its strength.”

Magical beings, especially those not human, were unpredictable, so nothing could be said for certain.

They often had different concepts of time than humans, which only added to the uncertainty.

Still, seeing the curse clearly diminishing gave rise to the thought that, contrary to the dragon’s threats, the curse might just naturally fade away over time.

It was just as Lydia was about to sink back into another of her overly serious trains of thought.

Unable to endure the tickling sensation of the ends of her long hair brushing against his stomach, Ilian raised his right hand and caught her hand, which had been resting at the boundary of the curse.

“Why…?”

Lydia followed Ilian’s slow movement as he gently guided her hand from his shoulder down along his arm.

The hand that held hers, and the skin beneath her palm, felt unusually hot.

When he finally reached her left hand, he turned it over, lifted it, and pressed his lips gently to the back of her hand.

There was a hint of reverence in the gesture, and Lydia couldn’t do anything but watch.

But Ilian quickly let go of her hand again. As if nothing had happened.

Then he brushed her hair, which had fallen forward, back over her shoulder and said in a very low voice:

“Your hair was bothering me.”

“…Ah.”

That was all she could manage to say.

If she tried to speak further, she was sure the words would tangle in her mouth.

Her hand burned like it had been scorched, so she instinctively pulled it back and hid it within her clothes.

She was painfully aware of how blank her expression must have looked.

Maybe it was the lingering flames in the fireplace behind them. The flickering light danced across Ilian’s face, and with his strange behavior, it stirred something in Lydia’s heart. No disturbance could compare to this.

“I’ll tie up my hair. I need to find a ribbon, so, um…”

She felt she needed to get out of the situation quickly.

As she hastily adjusted her dress and tried to stand, Illian stopped her.

“No. Stay like that. If you walk around now just to find that, you’ll really catch a cold. In that outfit.”

Though the thin dress she always wore was seasonally appropriate, it didn’t suit Lydia’s current state, which seemed chilled.

As he stopped her from getting up, Ilian’s hand, which had briefly rested on hers, moved away.

Then he brought a blanket and draped it over her shoulders before sitting back down, leaving space between them.

Lydia unconsciously reached toward him, then quickly pulled back, fiddling with her hands instead.

What am I even thinking…

She found herself a bit disappointed that he had let go of her hand. Contrary to his cold exterior, he could be surprisingly gentle.

It was clear that others wouldn’t easily see this side of Ilian, hidden behind his chilly demeanor.

Why did she find herself wanting to keep seeing this side of him? Lydia didn’t know.