Chapter 2 Part 11: A Delusion for the Sake of Delusion

There was no room to be crushed by the gleam emanating from those red eyes.

“It’s because I have a headache.”

Even a flimsy excuse could gain credibility if delivered smoothly and naturally enough.

At my unwavering answer, Killian muttered quietly.

“A headache.”

Then he narrowed his eyes and scanned me as if searching for something.

“Hmm…….”

He’d apparently already seen through the fact that I was brushing him off half-heartedly.

Not that I’d expected not to get caught anyway.

“Well, whatever.”

My goal was just to get out of the immediate situation.

Creak.

The door to the top floor opened and the small white figure came walking in, panting.

While an uncomfortable atmosphere lingered between the Tower Lord and me, he seemed to have barely caught up on his short legs.

Killian turned his head slightly to check on the child, then made a wicked expression.

“It was about time for maintenance anyway.

If you won’t tell me properly, I’ll just find out myself.”

Let’s go.

The Tower Lord rose abruptly and grabbed my wrist again.

“The child stays there.”

He stopped El, who was about to follow again.

The place he headed for was the spacious bathroom attached to the bedroom.

As if he’d foreseen my return at this very hour, the tub was filled with hot water.

“Strip.”

“Excuse me?”

“Did you not hear me?

Take off that garbage and get in the tub.”

In a short time, it had gone from a rag to garbage.

Despite my reluctance, the simple clothes I was wearing were all too easy to slip off.

Sorry to Gideon, but these seemed like something Killian would throw out the moment we left, so I tossed the discarded clothes carelessly on the floor.

The tub was just the right size to stretch out in, and the water wasn’t too hot—it felt perfect for relaxing my muscles.

If only the Tower Lord, who might do anything at any moment, weren’t here, it would have been heaven.

Of course, Killian showed no sign of leaving.

The two-thousand-year-old boy placed a chair by the tub, sat down, and rolled up his sleeves.

With one hand he held my arm, and with the other he slid a soft cloth over my skin.

“Quite the experience.

Getting bathed by the Tower Lord.”

“Bathing.”

Killian let out a scornful chuckle.

“Checking the condition of my belongings and tending to them—that’s not usually called bathing.”

He was still a man with an incomprehensible mindset.

Whatever he thought he was doing, from the receiving end, it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Doesn’t everyone imagine it at least once—a machine that washes you while you lie still?

“Your bone structure really is good.”

If only he’d stop saying perverted things.

“Slim enough, well-proportioned.

It almost looks like I could snap it if I applied pressure.”

“With those hands?”

“What, you don’t think I can?”

“Those hands look like they’ve never held anything heavier than a glass.”

“……What?”

The Tower Lord frowned and tilted his head, then burst into laughter.

“Should I take that as a seduction?”

So…… he took my words as flirting?

As in, I wanted to top him?

“Unfortunately for you, I’m not a pedophile.”

“Haha!”

Good.

The moment he dropped the cloth he was holding and burst into laughter, the ring on the wizard’s hand glowed.

Before I could look away, a strange sensation accompanied a change in the wizard’s form.

As if years had fast-forwarded—from a boy to a young man.

“I can change this shell into whatever I want, you know.”

A slightly lower voice.

The man’s smiling eyes made him more than adequate as a sexual target.

A perfectly proportioned adult male body, prominent Adam’s apple, toned arms.

His face, which could be called either beautiful or handsome depending on the viewer’s perspective, hovered dangerously within my range of taste.

If a man like this had seduced me for a one-night stand in reality, I probably would have agreed without a second thought.

But why.

“It seems you don’t like it…….”

Thump.

Thump.

The nerves in my relaxed body snapped to attention, and I felt my heart race.

An instinctual tension took over my entire body, like a herbivore before a predator.

“How strange.

You must know I’m quite lenient.

Especially with you.”

His red eyes appeared darker than usual.

Like blood flowing thick and heavy.

“The fact that you’re afraid means you’ve done something wrong—something that warrants fear.”

His ring-adorned hand gripped my wet neck.

Not tight enough to cut off my breath, but with enough force to feel the pressure and pain.

“Be smart, Rudan.”

At the same time, I felt something leaving my body.

It was a strange sensation.

Something I hadn’t even known existed until now, something that had been churning up to my throat as if about to spill over, was slowly—very slowly—seeping out through the point of contact.

Killian covered my eyes with his other hand, as if soothing a child getting a shot.

“Keeping you captive, breaking you—none of that is particularly difficult for me.”

So if you’re hiding something, it would be wise to confess before you test my patience.

His smooth voice tickled my ear.

It was a voice with a strange power, as if kneading my brain.

If I kept listening, I felt I wouldn’t be able to endure without spilling everything in my head.

Soon I understood.

The vague fear toward him, the sensation of being dominated, and the faint sense of relief that came with it—none of it was entirely mine.

These were sensations engraved in ‘Rudan’s’ instincts.

“Your eyes are back.”

Killian’s face filled my now-cleared field of vision.

I stared at him with wide eyes.

“Much better.”

In that brief moment, the black gem in his ring had turned a vivid red.

‘It wasn’t my neck he was gripping.’

It was that damned tattoo.

***

While Killian lounged on the sofa drying my hair, El sat at my feet, burrowing into my knees and acting spoiled.

“I wanted to bathe with Rudan too.”

“We didn’t bathe together.

He just unilaterally attended to me.”

“I told you, it’s not attending.”

Killian, back in his boyish form, hummed a tune as he moved his hands, looking thoroughly amused.

He was such a fickle person—I should probably make some progress while he was in such a good mood……

“Ah.”

“May I visit the academy sometime soon?”

“Why there, all of a sudden?”

I couldn’t exactly confess that I was planning to find someone connected to Nieta and escape from here.

Thanks to the kid in my line of sight, coming up with a decent excuse wasn’t too hard.

“This kid said he wanted to go see it.”

“Hmm.”

Didn’t work?

“From what I’ve seen of his magic, he doesn’t seem to need to enroll at the academy.

Graduation isn’t mandatory for all wizards, after all.

Are you planning to join the Tower or become part of Imera?”

“Can I?”

“……If you want?”

“Then I’ll think about it.”

To the audacious young wizard, Killian didn’t particularly scold him.

He just let out a scoff, as if amused by the chatter.

He’d been a child abandoned on the street, hadn’t he.

As if recalling something, Killian muttered with distant eyes, then nodded slowly.

“It wouldn’t hurt to visit once.

What you learn at the academy isn’t just magic—you can learn etiquette and culture to integrate into noble society, fill that empty head with knowledge…….”

Given the way he talked, I wanted to scold him.

But the conversation seemed to be heading in a positive direction, so I didn’t add anything.

Sure enough, Killian soon gave his answer readily.
“Fine.

Go and look around to your heart’s content.

When are you going?”

His gaze was fixed on El.

“If it’s alright, even tomorrow.”

“I’d love to go with you and show you the taste of power, but unfortunately, I have to visit the palace that day.

You’ll have to go alone.”

“Yes.

I’ll do that.”

The permission had been granted regardless, so I answered cheerfully—and only after some time passed did I realize something was off.

‘You must bring an escort.

At least four—no, six would be better.’

Gideon had definitely said that.

It wouldn’t have been strange for him to send a bunch of useless hangers-on.

But he was just letting us go like this?

“Is something the matter?”

My questioning look must have been rather obvious, because Killian asked.

I just grinned and shook my head.

If he was going to make things easy for me on his own, there was no reason to stir up trouble.

“No.

I’ll be going, then.”

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