I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 128

 

Carson’s eyes were eerie as he gazed at Rex Begonia, devoid of any emotion.

 

But despite the look, Carson was actually seized with a rage unlike any he had ever known. It was a fury so fierce that his gaze was calm.

 

Seeing Carson’s eyes, Rex Begonia laughed like a madman.

 

“Hmph, hahaha!”

 

No, he was truly insane. He knew he wasn’t normal. For four years, he had been slowly losing his mind while dreaming of Leen.

 

It was only because he was so insane that he went to the Duchy of Lysianthus, in the heart of enemy territory, to find Leen.

 

That’s when I realized that I thirsted more for Leen as a person than for the title of Duke of Begonia.

 

Begonia had long since ceased to be significant to him.

 

Even when he was mortally wounded in the abdomen and could barely keep himself upright, his mind was filled with thoughts of her.

 

That’s why he sentenced Roel to death for attending Marquis Lou Ananas’s succession party.

 

That was the price to pay.

 

The price of seeing Leen’s face, the face I dared not see myself.

 

Long years of not seeing her had left me hungry and thirsty. I would have gladly accepted the death of myself in Lysianthus if I could have seen her once.

 

But the moment Rex Begonia finally laid eyes on her after so long a wait, he realized that he must not die yet.

 

The joy he felt when he caught sight of her. The ecstasy.

 

If he could feel this just by looking at her, what would it be like to have Leen for himself?

 

Desire rose in him. He wanted her, no matter what it took.

 

She couldn’t be killed or captured by Carson, not now.

 

Or to put it another way, I didn’t care, as long as it wasn’t them. Now that I think about it, I remember him having a funny nickname.

 

‘Serial Wrist wrangler.’

 

That’s how they used to slit the wrists of anyone who offended them.

 

Aim for the right hand or the left. Of course, the right hand held the sword.

 

Or both?

 

Alas, both seemed a bit of a waste.

 

Leen’s hair was soft and nice, but I’m sure it’s the same elsewhere.

 

For a long moment, Carson and Rex Begonia’s gazes locked.

 

It was Carson who broke the silence first.

 

“Do you know why I’ve let you live all this time without killing you?”

 

“Well, did you think I wasn’t even worth the trouble?”

 

“No. Because I wanted to let Leen dispose of you.”

 

Rex Begonia’s gaze naturally shifted to Leen in Carson’s arms.

 

“How dare you look away.”

 

In that instant, Rex Begonia’s eyes glazed over as though they had been painted with ink.

 

In the midst of his blindness, he heard a voice without pitch.

 

“Good thing you have two eyes, so you’ll have something to spare for Leen, right?”

 

Rex Begonia felt pressure being applied to his eye sockets.

 

Like the wizard he was, Carson was pulling out his eye and squeezing it.

 

“I suppose I can touch one of them first.”

 

Instead of the tingling sensation of flesh on flesh, panic flooded his mind, but a smirk escaped.

 

Leen, this was the one you chose after rejecting me?

 

Was that really your choice?

 

The Duke Carson was his own kind. A man who didn’t care about anything but what mattered to him.

 

Even if it meant his own life. If his own kind was chosen, there was no reason why he shouldn’t be.

 

There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her if it meant being affectionate.

 

In his younger days, he’d deliberately raised his hand to see her cry. But now he could hold back that desire.

 

‘After all, I had endured it for four years.’

 

If she wanted, he could give her an impersonation of the Duke Carson.

 

Rex Begonia spread his arms wide and grinned.

 

“Just kill me.”

 

In truth, he knew Carson would not kill him.

 

‘Why kill me?’ he thought.

 

Such a waste when there’s so much to enjoy if he doesn’t kill me instantly.

 

Carson’s gaze shifted from Rex Begonia to Leen in his arms.

 

‘I don’t know if she felt his gaze, or if the timing was right.’

 

Leen gave a small whimper and grunted.

 

A twinge of impatience rushes through him. He’d removed the spell, but she’d feel better if she were to see a doctor.

 

I’d better get her to the Duke’s residence.

 

“Leen is the judge, not you.”

 

“She’ll want me dead, too, won’t she?”

 

“I won’t allow you an easy death.”

 

‘I knew it.’

 

As if a spell had been lifted, Rex Begonia’s vision slowly cleared.

 

The first thing he saw was Carson’s frosty form in his eyes.

 

Carson’s eyes twinkle and he smiles.

 

“Just know that this is just a taste.”

 

Poof—

 

With the sound of something popping, Rex Begonia’s scream rang out loud and clear.

 

Though expected, the pain was unbearable.

 

When he struggled to open his other eye and looked at Leen, the two of them were long gone.

 

A maniacal grin appeared on his face.

 

“…Hahaha. Too bad, I wanted to see a little more.”

 

🍃

 

Moving to the ducal chamber, Carson gently lays Leen down on the bed.

 

And then he went to summon a doctor…

 

He was stopped in his tracks by a hand tugging at his collar.

 

Leen called out to him, her voice sounding precariously close to death.

 

“…Caon.”

 

“Leen.”

 

“Don’t leave me.”

 

A small shudder ran through her body. Water quickly formed at the corners of her eyes.

 

Carson carefully wrapped his arms around her. Then he spoke in a soothing voice.

 

“You can sleep. I’ll get the doctor.”

 

“Don’t leave me here alone. Okay?”

 

“…”

 

“Please…”

 

With those words, Carson could no longer say he would get the doctor.

 

In the end, he could only hold Leen until she drifted off to sleep again, hoping for tomorrow.

 

As Leen slept with Carson in her arms, she awoke in the middle of the night with a jolt.

 

He was fast asleep in bed with her, his arms around her. The sight of his face was strangely reassuring, almost embarrassing after all the shaking and shivering during the day.

 

“Ahh…”

 

Turns out I’d forgotten something about Rex Begonia.

 

I had to deliver some medicine to Nancy’s father. I promised to be back soon. 

 

Furthermore, I was starting to get nervous about the urgency of the task.

 

“…You said it was a 24-hour operation.”

 

Leen rose from her seat, careful not to wake Carson.

 

At first, she thought about asking him to come with her, but quickly dismissed the idea.

 

He would be too tired to help her. Besides, Carson didn’t like to help others. He would surely object to the idea of going to see how Nancy’s father was doing after crying all day.

 

Leen decided to sneak away, grabbed some medicine from the lab, woke up the coachman, and left the ducal residence.

 

Meanwhile, Carson slowly lifts his eyelids as Leen closes the door on the room and walks out. His brow narrows.

 

“She was restless.”

 

It didn’t look like she’d gone to the restroom or out for food. He stood by the window, staring out, wondering what if.

 

No way, he thought, they’re going to catch someone. He saw Leen hurrying out of the Duke’s house.

 

“Where are you going in the middle of the night…”

 

Carson wondered if it was right to follow her, but his thought was short-lived.

 

He knew Leen would not be pleased. But he’d been so focused on Leen earlier in the day that he’d forgotten to cast a tracking spell on Rex Begonia.

 

He’d only lost the use of one eye half a day ago, so the chances of him showing up at Leen’s doorstep while guarding the Duke were slim to none.

 

But going out in the middle of the night was worrying enough.

 

Following Leen, Carson shivered as he recognized the building she was entering.

A healing center.

 

If she was sick, she should have been seen by the duke’s physician.

 

“…Why?”

 

I asked, suddenly realizing that Leen hadn’t told me she was pregnant yet.

 

“I hope you didn’t have a stomachache from your travels during the day.”

 

Surely there was no bleeding down there.

 

No, that was unknown.

 

Come to think of it, I had seen the cut on Leen’s cheek during the day and had cast a healing spell on it, even a clean spell.

 

It could have disappeared at the same time. Carson’s mind turned white as he realized something terrible could have happened.

 

He waited for Leen outside the healing center, desperately hoping that it wasn’t the worst-case scenario he thought it was.

 

How much time had passed?

 

Leen and Carson’s outing had begun in the dark of night, and the sun was just beginning to rise.

 

Leen stumbled out of the infirmary on wobbly legs.

 

At that, Carson barely restrained the urge to jump.

 

Her expression was blank. She looked like someone who had been deeply shocked by something.

 

Leen staggered a few steps, then suddenly bent over and gagged.

 

She stood there for a long time, her stomach churning. Her tears poured down like rain, and she muttered softly into her mana.

 

“…Caon.”

 

It was Carson, eagerly waiting for me to call him, and he moved to her in a flash.

 

Leen hadn’t given him much of an explanation for summoning him so suddenly at dawn. She simply burst into tears and quietly embraced him.

 

As he hugged her back, he felt a rush of emotions.

 

‘Please, please, please…’

 

‘I hope what I think happened didn’t happen.’

 

He wanted to ask her, but he couldn’t muster up the courage to do so. Besides, if what he was thinking was true, it would be too cruel.

 

To make her say it out loud.

 

🍃

 

After that day, Leen locked herself in her room and never came out.

 

She cried all day, and when she was tired, she would pass out and fall asleep.

 

The people at the workshop tried to force Leen to eat. But she could barely keep a few spoonfuls down and washed the food away.

 

After a week of not eating anything, they cautiously suggested that Leen see a doctor.

 

Leen’s wounds hadn’t healed yet, so they didn’t want to give her another wound.

 

But something bad was going to happen to Leen if she kept on like this.

 

Knowing that the Duke’s people were worried about her, Leen accepted the offer to ease their worries.

 

After such close inspection,

 

As soon as the doctor left Leen’s room, the Duke’s people interrogated him about the results.

 

“You’re quite shaken up, but if you take care of things, I don’t think you’ll have any health problems, except…”

 

“Only?”

 

The doctor shook his head, his face grim.

 

“As expected, she’s completely out of energy.”