I’m Not Doing This With A Friend – Chapter 127

Author: Nikss

Thump—

Leen’s legs gave out, and she slumped back into her place.

Rex Begonia looked down at her, not bothering to help her up.

“Hah, haha.”

He let out an inarticulate chuckle, and his whole body shook with a shudder.

Ecstasy washed over his face.

“Finally… we meet. It’s been a long time, Leen.”

Leen couldn’t hear whatever Rex Begonia was saying.

She’d been half-heartedly at ease, in truth, ever since she’d realized that Carson had carved her heart with the seal of a companion.

She figured that even if she had to face Rex Begonia, she could just as easily call for Carson.

After all, Carson would come to me at the slightest call.

But the reality was different. When she actually saw him after not seeing him for so long, and at such an unexpected moment, she couldn’t think of anything else.

Nothing but immense terror ruled her.

Rex Begonia looked at Leen and smiled with familiar satisfaction.

“…Just as I’ve pictured you in my head all these years, only more beautiful.”

Rex Begonia studied Leen from head to toe.

She could feel his gaze clearly, even though she wasn’t looking at him.

Like a snake crawling over her body.

“Now… I can’t even lay a hand on it for fear of wasting it.”

Rex Begonia lowered himself so he was at eye level with her.

“You’ve got a good draw. The best deck I could ever hope to play.”

His dazzling silver hair glistened in the sunlight.

“To think you’d run away to the academy and try to woo a swordsman. My little Leen has a good head, and a good ability, huh?”

He reached out and stroked her frozen cheek.

“Very clever and cute.”

His voice was gentle and soothing, like a child’s.

Suddenly, the mood reversed, and the smile faded from his face.

“But what can I do, I don’t care if it’s a Lysianthus.”

Rex Begonia lifted Leen’s hair and sniffed her scent.

“I know I won’t win against the Lysianthus, but I’ve learned something in the four years I’ve been away from you.”

He let go of her hair, and the silky black strands slipped through his hands like sand.

“That nothing is more important to me than you.”

A dark madness flashed in his eyes.

“I don’t care if the Dukedom of Begonia falls or not, as long as you’re by my side.”

Rex Begonia’s face brightened, as if he’d remembered something pleasant.

“I saw you go into the café, and then, and now.”

He paused and leaned his face close to Leen’s ear.

“You were always alone, weren’t you?”

Rex Begonia raised his hand in a signal, and his knights from all sides surrounded them.

“You didn’t bring an escort, did you, or that Duke Carson you’ve been flirting with?”

Frozen in place like a statue, Leen winced at the name Carson in her ears.

“Oh… Leen. If you were going to avoid me, you should have kept your guard up the whole time.”

Laughing slowly, Rex Begonia grabbed Leen’s chin and forced her to look at his face.

Forced to face him, Leen’s otherwise frozen time slipped away. Her heart pounded frantically and her breathing quickened.

“There’s something I want to ask you, Leen.”

Her focus blurred from hyperventilating.

“Did you sleep with that bastard?”

“…”

“No, I don’t think I need to hear that, because if you get dirty, I’ll cover you with my scent, so there’s no trace of him left. Every inch of you.”

His face was suddenly filled with amusement.

“I don’t know if you had fun out there. But it’s time to come back to me. Now, come here.”

“No, please, no, no!!!”

He reached out to help Leen up, and she struggled to her feet.

Instinct drove her to move, not wanting to touch him. With all the strength she could muster, Leen shoved Rex Begonia roughly away with all her might.

But it was Leen who stumbled, and she curled up in a tight crouch, covering her head with her hands.

It was a position she’d adopted to protect her head and stomach whenever Rex Begonia had put his hands on her.

Her face pressed against the rough floor, she shuddered, unable to feel the pain.

She opened her mouth to mumble something, unaware of what she was saying.

It was none other than Carson’s name.

“Caon, Caon, Caon, Caon, Caon, Caon….”

Companion’s Seal was a spell that required mana in your voice to trigger.

Mere muttering did not make Carson appear.

Rex Begonia’s mouth curled into a mock smile.

“If you wanted to piss me off, you succeeded, Leen. But you’d better do it in moderation.”

“Caon, Caon, Caon…”

Rex Begonia’s expression slowly hardened as Leen repeated Carson’s name.

“Shut up. That’s not going to make him show up.”

Alas.

Strangely enough, his words, which sounded like a death sentence, penetrated clearly even in his daze.

Leen cried out in agony.

“…Caon!!!”

It was all in an instant.

A blinding light accompanied by a gust of wind struck the surroundings.

Amidst the chaos, an unknown energy rushed toward Rex Begonia.

Using his innate senses, he blocked it with the sword hanging from his waist while blinded.

“Cough…!”

He was knocked back, but the recoil was unavoidable.

When Rex Begonia was finally able to see, what he saw was a collapsed Leen and Carson carrying her.

Rex Begonia immediately tried to pounce on Carson.

But, ‘I can’t move…?’

He hurriedly looked for the knights to help him, but they seemed to be just as frozen as he was.

That Lysianthus was a powerful family of wizards was best known to Rex Begonia, the Duke of the Great House.

And that Carson’s magical abilities, born to a Duke and Duchess who were said to be magical geniuses, were not unusual.

‘But I was also called a sword genius.’

So, while a clash between families was out of the question, he felt he could handle himself in a one-on-one situation.

After all, he was confident in his abilities.

However, he hadn’t expected this. To be able to hold a trained knight, let alone a commoner, for such a long time, not even a moment, with magic.

Without even casting any spells.

‘…Interesting.’

Rex Begonia’s mind raced.

He realized at once that Carson was an opponent he could not defeat head-on, no matter what he did.

‘Alas, going in circles is not my cup of tea.’

His gaze remained fixed on Leen and Carson.

🍃

After returning to the Duke’s residence at Leen’s urging, Carson lay down on the bed and wiped away a lingering nosebleed.

“Ha, I’m so happy.”

Although Leen’s aggressive touches were hard to bear, they were always accompanied by such happiness.

“…Kisses on the lips.”

Three times in a row.

“Hmph, lips already, what’s next?”

Carson’s face fell into the pillow as he realized what he had imagined. He wrestled with the pillow for a while.

“…Caon!!!”

With Leen’s voice urgently ringing in his head, Carson teleported away without a second thought.

What he saw upon arrival was a shocking sight.

Leen lay curled up on the ground, unconscious.

And standing in front of her was Rex Begonia.

The situation infuriated him, but Rex Begonia was not what mattered now.

Carson quickly dropped to one knee and picked up Leen.

She was panting, her eyes unfocused.

“Leen. Just breathe a little slower…”

“Caon, Caon, Caon, Caon, Caon…”

Leen kept repeating his name, her eyes blurry and distant, as if it were her only hope.

Like that was all she had left to cling to.

“I’m here. I’m here, Leen. It’s okay now, everything’s going to be okay.”

“Caon, Caon, Caon…”

Leen’s breathing was too fast and ragged. This was not good if it continued.

Not for Leen, not for the baby in her belly.

Carson called out to her in a firm voice, “Leen.”

There was no change.

He spoke a little more forcefully, “Leen. Listen to my voice. See who is beside you now, see who is in front of you with your eyes properly open.”

And then, as if by magic, Leen’s focus began to return.

Carson continued to echo his voice in her ear.

Finally, her pupils turned to him.

“Ca…on.”

Tears welled up in Leen’s eyes, and she breathed heavily, opening her mouth to apologize.

“W-well, it wasn’t always this, uh, this bad, but, oh, I haven’t seen him in so long, he’s so…”

Carson silently covered Leen’s eyes with his hand.

“I understand what you’re trying to say, Leen, so you don’t have to say it any harder.”

She clung to Carson. Her breathing was still labored.

“I’m scared, Caon. I’m scared. I’m, I’m so scared…”

For cases of hyperventilation, I’d have her place her mouth and nose over a paper bag and breathe back into herself.

This allows you to breathe in a lower concentration of oxygen.