Chapter 21: The Smile I Couldn’t Forget

Whenever Mikeron Leilight looked at Leviat Kinesis’s crimson eyes, he was reminded of a boy who had breathed strength into him when they were young.

Every time they met, that boy would thoroughly hide himself in a robe far larger than his own body.

Though the boy had been reluctant to share his name or age, Mikeron vividly remembered the smiling face and the color of his eyes, which had been briefly revealed by a sudden gust of wind on the last day he saw him.

Crimson.

That boy possessed vibrant, passionately crimson eyes.

Although more than ten years had passed, Mikeron had never once forgotten that boy.

Even when he felt he could absolutely never recover, he stood back up solely by keeping that boy in his thoughts.

Perhaps that was why.

Whenever he crossed paths with Leviat Kinesis by chance, he was invariably reminded of that boy, leaving him with a complex and subtle feeling.

Even when he tried not to care, his eyes strangely drifted toward him.

“Ah.”

“Count?”

On the final day of the spring festival, sensing he had bumped into someone, he turned around to find Leviat Kinesis standing there.

Since it was the first time seeing him since receiving the brooch, Mikeron felt a wave of gladness.

Just as he was about to address him, a scream echoed.

“Aaah! Kyaaa!”

The sharp, ear-piercing sound snapped him back to reality.

Preoccupied with Leviat, he had temporarily forgotten who was standing right beside him.

Expecting a terrified face, Mikeron looked straight at Mariel, but contrary to his expectations, he saw a countenance full of venom.

Flustered, Mikeron turned his gaze back to look at Leviat.

“Ugh…”

For some reason, it was Leviat who wore a terrified face.

The sight of him, pale as a sheet with his hands trembling violently, looked pitiful.

“I’m sorry. I-I am sorry…”

Blurting out apologies in a voice drowned in confusion, he turned his back and ran off somewhere.

“Count!”

Because Leviat’s retreating figure looked perilously fragile, as if about to crumble, Mikeron reached out his hand.

If he ran now, he could easily catch up to him.

However, two hands reaching out from behind wrapped around Mikeron’s waist, clinging tightly.

“Mikeron, I’m scared!”

Mariel’s hands were trembling slightly.

The moment he felt that vibration, Mikeron gathered his thoughts once more.

In the situation just now, the person who should have taken priority was Mariel, yet he had almost tended to Leviat first.

Mikeron shook his head and looked after Mariel.

“Mariel, let’s go somewhere quiet for now.”

“Sob, hic. Mikeron…”

As Mikeron attempted to lead him to a secluded spot, Mariel buried his face in Mikeron’s back and began to shed tears.

“I regret saving Leviat Kinesis.”

A voice filled with resentment echoed, and the arms wrapped around him squeezed tighter.

Mikeron subtly knitted his brow.

“If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have saved him. I should have realized it from the moment I saw those ominous eyes.”

“…”

“A human like that… for everyone’s sake, we should kill him as quickly as possible…”

“Mariel.”

Though he knew Mariel spoke out of anxiety, Mikeron found it difficult to listen in silence.

As Mikeron called his name and pulled him away, Mariel’s pupils shook.

“I think you are too agitated right now. It would be best for you to return and rest.”

“What? No! I’m completely fine! Today is the final day of the festival.”

“You were crying just a moment ago. Let’s go. I will escort you to the carriage.”

“Mikeron, you…”

Mariel wore a hollow expression of disbelief, but soon narrowed his brow in irritation.

“No, I won’t go back. I’d rather walk to calm my mind.”

“I think it would be better to head back now.”

“No, fine. I want to walk alone for a bit, so let’s separate and meet up in front of the fountain once the fireworks are over.”

Mariel turned his back testily and vanished into the crowd.

Mikeron watched the departing Mariel with a flat gaze.

Both the gaze Mariel had directed at Leviat earlier and how he suddenly snapped in irritation mid-cry.

Though there were many questionable points, Mikeron pushed the doubts from his mind with effort and brushed back his bangs.

At present, he was far more concerned about Leviat than Mariel.

He couldn’t comprehend why Leviat, who was rumored to have persistently stalked Mariel, had turned pale as a sheet upon seeing him.

Deciding that he must search for Leviat, Mikeron set off.

***

Mikeron spent a long time wandering around searching for Leviat after that.

Only after searching the street stalls, the riverside, the plaza, and every place he could think of did he barely manage to find him sitting beneath a tree.

During his search, the day had grown dark, and the fireworks were already beginning.

Confronting Leviat once more, his complexion looked better than earlier, as if his condition had recovered in the meantime.

Mikeron sat down beside Leviat after exchanging a few words.

Though Leviat kept glaring at Mikeron as if looking at an uninvited guest, his expression shifted the moment he spotted the brooch.

“The brooch!”

“Since it’s a gift you gave me, I could hardly go without wearing it. Does it suit me?”

Though Leviat didn’t know, Mikeron wore the gifted brooch from time to time.

He had simply worn it today without much thought, and never expected the very person who gifted it to him to see it.

“It’s not completely intolerable.”

“It is an honor.”

It was a highly generous evaluation coming from Leviat.

As a smile naturally formed on Mikeron’s face, red fireworks soared into the sky.

“Ah, those fireworks look like your eye color, Count.”

People deemed crimson eyes, which resembled those of a devil, as ominous.

However, Mikeron thought differently from them.

Crimson eyes were passionate, alluring, and intense like the sun.

Therefore, he believed Leviat’s eyes possessed a flame-like color fitting for the Kinesis family.

When he voiced his long-held thoughts exactly as they were, no reply returned for a moment.

Just as he wondered if he had spoken out of turn, a slightly softened voice, rather than his usual prickly tone, reached his ears.

“Your eyes look like the ocean, Duke.”

The moment praise emerged from the lips of someone who did nothing but complain, Mikeron doubted his ears.

Though he thought he might be dreaming, his voice and every single expression felt far too vivid to be a dream.

“That brooch, I bought it because it reminded me of your eyes. It’s nothing grand, but I hope you like it.”

Mikeron had assumed Leviat had casually chosen something to present as a basic gift, but realizing it held his heart struck a chord.

It was a strange sensation, but it didn’t feel bad.

Rather, it felt incredibly refreshing and pleasant.

His gaze, fixed on Leviat, simply wouldn’t leave him.

“So that was why.”

“Pardon?”

“I like it truly, deeply.”

He was infinitely happy.

Though he couldn’t fathom the exact reason why he felt so happy, his mood was simply wonderful.

Strangely, in front of Leviat, Mikeron found himself unable to overthink anything.

Perhaps because Leviat expressed his dislike without filter, making him that much more authentic and unpretentious.

Mikeron smiled honestly, following his heart.

Even after that, Mikeron conversed with Leviat about various things.

Since Leviat had always pushed Mikeron away first, they had never shared such a prolonged conversation.

During their conversation, Mikeron realized that Leviat didn’t actually hate him.

After all, Leviat’s attitude itself was entirely different from before.

In the past, Mikeron could practically feel hostility crawling from Leviat’s gaze alone.

“So what you mean right now is… you don’t dislike me, then?”

Perhaps hit right on the nerve, Leviat babbled and poured out words of denial.

Watching Leviat struggle to deny it made Mikeron find him cute, bringing a smile to his lips once more.

The time spent with him was enjoyable.

To the point where he wished this time could last forever…

However, their pleasant time did not last long.

Once the fireworks—which felt as if they would last forever—concluded, Mikeron bid Leviat farewell and turned around, thinking he must return to Mariel now.

In that moment, Leviat grabbed the edge of Mikeron’s clothes.

Until now, Leviat had only wished for Mikeron to vanish quickly from his sight, never stopping him in this manner.

Mikeron turned around in surprise.

“I had fun as well, Duke.”

Leaving his sharp voice behind somewhere, a warm tone pierced Mikeron’s ears.

The narrowly curved corners of Leviat’s eyes and his lifted lips caught Mikeron’s gaze enchantingly.

The fireworks should have already finished.

Yet Mikeron felt the illusion of sparks flying around Leviat.

Mikeron couldn’t take his eyes off his face.

It felt as though time had briefly frozen.

The smiling face of the boy he had seen for the last time overlapped with Leviat’s face.

How could he ever forget that smile?

It was an expression he had never forgotten, even in his dreams.

Though Leviat quickly stiffened his expression as if he had never smiled, the enchanted Mikeron stared blankly and exhaled dazedly.

His face grew hot, and the surroundings suddenly felt warm.

His heart pounded wildly, and he felt in high spirits, as if he could fly into the sky.

It was a fluffy, sweet feeling, as if the pink cotton candy he had seen at a street stall while searching for Leviat was swirling inside his heart.

Worried that the loud thumping of his heart might be heard, Mikeron hastily departed.

On his way back to the carriage after parting with Leviat, Leviat’s brightly smiling face swam chaotically in Mikeron’s head.

Recalling that moment brought heat to his face once again, and his chest tightened.

‘Perhaps Leviat Kinesis is that boy.’

Mikeron firmly covered his lips, which were curving upward, and offered his gratitude to the Goddess of Spring.

If this wasn’t a destiny bestowed by God, what on earth could describe it?

He wanted to grow closer to him.

He believed that even if the other party kept pushing him away, as long as he approached slowly while showing sincerity, Leviat would eventually recognize his feelings.

And once they gradually drew closer and achieved the intimate relationship he desired, he wanted to ask him seriously.

Whether he remembered the events of their childhood.

***

Recently, rumors circulated within the capital.

Rumors that Leviat Kinesis had resumed stalking Mariel Esgard.

Having heard the rumors not only from nobles he met recently but also from his aide, Mikeron crumpled the documents resting on his desk in an instant.

Though he thought there must be an error, believing it couldn’t be true, the words Leviat had spoken to him on the day of the banquet spun repeatedly in his head.

“Yes. It seems I am simply unable to forget Baron Mariel.”

Just what was Mariel to make Leviat throw away everything?

‘If I had been the one to save his life instead of Mariel… would things have been different?’

He felt a crack forming.

Something inside Mikeron shattered and collapsed to pieces.

If Leviat had thought of Mikeron even a little bit, there was no way he would have resumed something like stalking.

But the returned rumors meant that, to Leviat, the time spent with Mikeron held absolutely no value.

“Why…”

Mikeron muttered anxiously.

After the festival, he had been slightly excited by the thought of being able to grow closer to Leviat.

However, as if reminding him that the side Leviat had shown that day was merely a single night’s dream, Leviat went beyond pushing him away, ruthlessly crushing Mikeron’s expectations.

And now, he had even discarded the promise made on his honor.

Mikeron let out a deep sigh and ruffled his hair into a complete mess.

‘It would have been better if I had known nothing at all.’

Mikeron had no desire to oppose Leviat.

He didn’t want to get hurt, nor did he want to inflict pain.

Mikeron could only pray that the rumors were entirely false.

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