Chapter 24: Stay With Me

Liana’s room was less a room than a storage shed behind the convent. Past a thin stand of trees stood the church cemetery.

In the past, when funerals were held in town, anyone without a specific burial plot was laid to rest here, which at least kept the bodies from being gnawed by jackals and wild beasts.

Now the ground was a mess. There were too many corpses, and no time to make headstones for each one. Only wooden boards with names and rough ages, stuck crookedly into the earth.

Landon pushed Liana past his own room and glanced inside. Helentine was sleeping soundly on the bed, so he slowed his steps and moved quietly toward the storage shed.

The shed was lit. A lamp hung outside to light the path, and another burned inside. Liana had probably left it on before she went out.

Landon had once heard Aisha say that Liana had to sleep with a light on, or she would feel uneasy. That was why every oil lamp in the church had ended up here.

“You’re close with Ms. Helentine…”

It was not quite a question, and not jealousy either. She was simply stating a fact. Liana’s voice and expression were calm.

Landon guessed she was curious, so after a moment he added:

“When I first arrived in the Imperial Capital, I didn’t know anyone. While looking for a tavern to stay at, I ran into a drunk who couldn’t pay his tab, so I helped him out.”

“Ms. Helentine?”

“Yes.” Landon nodded. “Everyone in the capital seems to know who she is. They don’t dare start trouble with her. They just won’t give her alcohol.”

Helentine’s name was known throughout the Imperial Capital, though her reputation in taverns was famously bad.

Landon had little money left at the time. He used what he had earned from odd jobs on the road to cover less than a tenth of her bar tab.

The tavern owner saw that Landon was young and naive, and figured a tenth of the bill was still money. He accepted it. If he refused, he would get nothing at all.

Landon handed over every coin he had and ended up flat broke.

He had picked up a beautiful drunk professor and had no idea where to put her. Then he followed the Griffin Academy work badge on him to the academy.

Griffin Academy kept him there with a word of thanks and treated him well.

At that point, Landon still had no chance to enroll. He only spent time reading in the library. He had never seen so many books before, and he sank into them at once.

Then one day Helentine asked if he wanted to take the entrance exam. He had nothing else to do.

So he went.

“And then I got lucky and beat an instructor, which somehow earned me a second chance to enter Griffin Academy.”

“Second?”

During the walk to the storage shed, Liana had listened to his story. She had already read it once on the letter paper, but hearing his voice, his breathing, the rises and falls of his tone, felt completely different.

She was relieved, at least.

Life in the Imperial Capital had not been as painful as life in Whispering Town.

“It’s not often I get a chance like this. Can you carry me inside?”

Landon opened the door and turned back to push Liana in. Liana could not hide her selfish wish and smiled slightly.

Inside the shed there was only a bed, a table, and a chair. Everything else seemed to have been moved out. After checking that there was nothing in the way, Landon looked at Liana again.

“Sure!”

Landon would never refuse. He bent down toward Liana, and her face turned red.

“Really?”

“You don’t want me to?”

“Of course I do!”

Liana muttered, face flushed, then felt Landon’s warmth and firm chest as he came close.

She slipped her arms gently around his shoulders, like a water snake coiled around a tree vine, unwilling to let go. Her breath fell against his neck, and her lips accidentally brushed his skin.

Maybe she was possessed by some ghost. Liana actually bit his trapezius muscle. Her soft, moist lips made Landon let out a low grunt.

Perhaps reacting to the sound, Liana licked him lightly, then stuck out her tongue.

“Tastes bad.”

“Of course it does! I haven’t bathed in a long time…”

Only Griffin nobles had the right to bathe every day. Griffin had public bathhouses too, but after coming here, what bathing conditions were there? Being able to wipe himself down was already good.

Still, having a girl point out his smell was embarrassing. Landon’s ears burned.

“Hehe. But I like it.”

With that, the girl pressed her lips to Landon’s trapezius again, a little greedy.

Honestly, Landon could not be unused to it. Olivia had left plenty of bite marks on him before.

Back when their relationship had not yet become captor and captive, Olivia had given him hickeys on his neck. So being bitten so roughly and clumsily by Liana naturally brought back memories.

He did not like it.

“That’s about enough, don’t you think?”

Landon complained impatiently and set Liana on the bed. She suddenly stopped moving, her expression uncomfortable.

“S-sorry… I went too far…”

She let go of Landon quickly, like a startled bird, and scrambled back on the bed until she was pressed against one side of the shed.

She was terrified and did not dare look at Landon.

Landon was stunned. He had not expected a casual sentence to cause this.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. I got carried away. I got carried away…”

She held her head, body trembling slightly, speaking very fast, though every word was still clear.

Landon had to admit he was exhausted. He had not controlled his tone, which made her uncomfortable.

He simply did not want to remember that woman, so he had hoped Liana would not do that. Now it seemed he had hurt her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t hate it. I wasn’t trying to scare you…”

Landon let out a long breath and sat on the small bed. He reached out and gently stroked her thin shoulder.

The moment his fingertips touched her shoulder, she trembled. Only then did she raise her eyes and look cautiously at Landon.

“Really?”

“I smell bad. I didn’t want you to smell me. That’s why I said that.”

Landon shifted forward and reached down to take Liana’s hand. Her small hand was completely wrapped in his broad palm.

At first Liana resisted, but she could not break free, so she gave in.

“I don’t hate it… no matter what you become, I won’t hate it…”

Her muttering was broken and sniffling. Landon could only smile bitterly and nod, though his heart was in turmoil.

He did not dare tell her that Olivia had already broken him apart in the Imperial Capital.

He felt like a cheating wife deceiving a simple, kind, innocent husband. She trusted him so much, and all he could do was lie.

This time, Liana gently pulled his hand and pressed it to her still-developing chest. Following her arm upward, his gaze landed on her forced, slightly strange smile.

“So stay with me for a while, okay?”

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