Chapter 32: Dungeon (2-2)

Dungeon 2 part 2

“Operation Commence!”

At my father’s order, the subjugation of the Evil Spiders had begun.

With a ‘perfect barrier’ around me that nothing could penetrate, I covered my eyes with my hands and decided not to watch the subjugation.

Here and there, the sound of desperate cries would echo about.

There was no laughter in the air.

The subjugation seemed to be going well, so I was relieved to hear that.

“…Are you not going to participate, Howard-sama?”

I talk to Howard, who is standing next to me.

I was subtly telling him to stay away from me.

“Yeah. I’ll stay here.”

“…I see.”

I blatantly lowered my tone of voice.

“She really hates me, doesn’t she?”

I could tell that Howard-sama was laughing.

“Howard, you’re so persistent.”

My brother also laughed.

“I know that I’m being persistent, but I just can’t stop…”

“If you want to become a Knight Commander, you’ll have to fix that.”

“…I’m an idiot, so once I get interested in something, I can’t help but just go straight for it.”

Howard said that in a sad and lonely way…

I was concerned about him, so I shifted the hand that was covering my eyes and glanced at him.

…The muscle dog is pouting.

Howard, who seemed to have noticed my gaze, looked down at me.

…Our eyes met—!!!

I quickly covered my eyes with my hand once again.

“Lady Charlotte is like a cat that won’t be tamed.” Howard laughed.

“Charl is so cute.” My brother said with a smile.

What are you talking about!?

“I envy you, Lucas.”

“I won’t give Charlotte to you though, okay? Not. To. Anyone.”

…Did he just emphasize the ‘not to anyone’ part?

“Lucas is scary.”

“If Charlotte says it’s okay, I’ll allow her to call you ‘brother.’”

“I won’t!”

I tell him cleary.

“That was a quick answer…” Howard said with a bitter smile.

“Well…it seems that the spider subjugation is over.”

Brother softly put his hand on my head.

“…That was fast. As expected of the ‘Leah.’”

“Is the thread collection still going on? Charlotte can go ahead and wait for me.”

…Am I supposed to go through this place that’s probably full of dead Evil Spiders and their corpses…?

“Well then, Howard. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Okay.”

…Howard?

“—Kyaa!!”

The sudden feeling of floating in the air made me pull away the hand that was covering my eyes.

Howard-sama’s face was right in front of me.

…What is this situation??

It took me a few seconds to comprehend the current situation.

“Howard-sama! Put me down!!!”

I squirmed and flailed in Howard’s arms.

Apparently, I would be passing through this dungeon level in a princess carry.

For Brother and Howard-sama…is it normal to carry people around like a princess?

I didn’t like to be carried around like luggage, but…this position was just too close to the face.

“If you keep moving around, you’ll fall though. Is it really okay?”

Howard-sama looked amused.

He wouldn’t really drop me, but just thinking about it made my body tremble involuntarily.

All of those Evil Spider corpses…

Without thinking, I grabbed Howard’s chest tightly.

“Wait—! It’s okay! I’m not gonna drop you!!”

Howard started to panic, as if he thought I was going to cry. As I looked at his brown eyes swaying back and forth, left and right, I started to laugh.

“Pfft…”

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

When Howard saw me holding my mouth and laughing, he rolled his eyes for a moment and then narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“Don’t laugh at me! I was worried because I thought you were going to cry, you know?”

“I’m sorry…I couldn’t help it.”

“Really…”

His eyes were gently narrowed as he looked at me.

“Alright, we’re walking now. It would be better if you kept your eyes closed, don’t you think?”

I decided to obediently follow his words.

“Thank you in advance.” Then I nodded and closed my eyes.

“Just leave it to me.”

Howard said as such and started walking.

His arms, which were a little bigger than my brother’s, were strong and I felt secure in his arms.

I could hear his heartbeat, which was a little faster than mine…I wondered if he was nervous.

As I listened to the heartbeat, I felt my own stubborn heart begin to soften.

I was being stubborn.

I was so focused on the Howard from the game that I didn’t see the real Howard in front of me.

Howard-sama was such a dependable, funny, and kind person.

It’s okay. I am not afraid of Howard-sama.

Because he had helped me in this situation.

He was not going to condemn me…

So, I would be honest.

I’ll make sure to tell him ‘I apologize for everything,’ and also ’thank you.’

It might even be okay call him ‘Big Brother’ once in a while.

I had made up my mind.

…It was only a little while until I realized that this was the so-called ‘suspension bridge effect.’ (***T/N: Basically, all these positive feelings will be misleading in the end)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|♡| Table of Contents |♡| Support me! |♡|