The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 61.1

Throughout my life, the only physical contact I’ve had with the opposite sex was grabbing them by the collar.

But suddenly, in the middle of the night, I received a kiss on the cheek.

Eliza, who was asleep, had invaded my personal space.

I felt a primal fear, the kind that I couldn’t trace the origin of, and turned my head.

Eliza’s sleeping face was inching closer.

‘Noooo-!’

I internally screamed a pitiful cry and quickly returned my head to its original position.

Eliza’s lips touched my cheek.

At least I managed to preserve the purity of my lips.

‘Wh-what is this…!’

I glanced at Eliza again, cautious that the same thing might happen.

Fortunately, this time, she stayed calm.

‘You, you little…! I’m going to scold you! Huh? Even though you’re my master, I’ll still scold you! Do you think I can’t do it? I-I can!’

Unlike me, Eliza remained utterly peaceful.

She slept soundly as if there were no problems or hardships in the world.

Completely unaware of what she had just done.

‘Haa… What on earth is this, ugh….’

I wanted to let out a deep sigh, but I couldn’t for fear of waking her up.

In the end, I just swallowed it back down.

‘…Seriously.’

I wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion or amusement that hit me belatedly, but a similar emotion surged within.

I let out a quiet, dry laugh.

‘I swear, I’m experiencing everything in this life….’

A kiss. And from Eliza, no less?

If someone had told me this before my possession, I would have completely ignored them.

There are limits to nonsense.

‘What kind of dream are you having?’

Eliza, smiling in her sleep, unlike her usual self.

And that kiss, which didn’t seem at all like something Eliza would do.

She must have been dreaming of something, and it manifested in reality.

A kiss in a dream usually means it’s a good one, right?

I don’t know much about Eliza.

But who could make her smile like this?

Based on her sleep-talking so far, the most likely candidate would be her biological mother.

Though I don’t even know her name.

“Heh… Hehehe….”

Eliza laughed like a child.

She wiggled closer and clung to me.

‘This isn’t good for your health, you know.’

After enduring this misfortune in the early morning and holding back several sighs, I ended up just hugging Eliza.

Just like I used to.

She laughed again, rubbing her face against me as if she liked it.

‘Stop laughing. You’re going to make me get attached.’

Why do I feel like I’m being choked by this kid?

What wrong did I do to Eliza?

Or maybe.

Could it be?

Perhaps.

The tragedy has already passed me by?

‘That time hasn’t come yet, but maybe due to some change in our relationship, such things won’t happen anymore….’

I held Eliza.

Not because I had to, but because I wanted to.

The small warmth that fit perfectly into my arms.

The pleasant smell of her soft hair.

It was unfamiliar.

No, it used to be unfamiliar, but now it wasn’t.

It’s comforting.

‘If not for the tragedy, I would….’

I quietly closed my eyes.

What will become of us?

***

The anemone in the cage.

Eliza hugged her knees and stared at the flower.

Just looking at it made her happy, and she watched it quietly all day long.

The mere sight of it brought a bright smile to her face.

“So pretty.”

A firefly that had gone outside returned.

The little creature flew in, leaving ivory-colored trails in the void like a line, having discarded a few leaves outside the cage today as well.

Eliza extended her hand happily.

As if it were only natural, the firefly landed softly in her hand.

Eliza was in a good mood, bouncing as she walked.

Inside the cage, where many fallen leaves had disappeared.

There was now space to dance.

The ivory light of the firefly perched on her hand sparkled like a gem on a ring.

“Thank you.”

When Eliza expressed her gratitude, the firefly flapped its wings briefly as if in response.

She sat down in front of the anemone again.

The firefly, sometimes perched on her hand, occasionally landed on the petals of the anemone.

Everything was fine.

But suddenly, a shadow was cast.

Following the pattern of the cage’s bars, shadows were etched on the ground like stripes.

“Huh?”

The presence of a shadow meant there was light.

Eliza looked up.

Beyond the cage.

A large bright light was hanging in the sky.

Ivory in color—it was the moon.

A full moon.

The shape of the moon divided by the cage’s bars resembled a sliced cake.

“Wow.”

Eliza exclaimed in pure wonder.

A world of cages dangling in darkness.

There was now light outside.

A round moon had brought its light.

The anemones bathed in moonlight shimmered and bloomed more vibrantly.

Eliza also laughed more brightly.

The seemingly eternal moon had arrived.

***

“Hmm…”

I struggled to open my eyes.

My heavy eyelids wouldn’t open easily.

I couldn’t sleep properly because of Eliza, who was lying with her head resting on my arm.

This kid, pressed up against my cheek… No. I’d rather not think about it.

‘Today’s morning training is going to be brutal…’

Since Anna hasn’t woken me up, it doesn’t seem to be time to get up yet.

‘…But, it feels like someone’s here?’

I blinked my tired eyes slowly.

The room, softly illuminated by sunlight streaming through the curtains.

A blurry figure gradually came into focus.

‘Lia…?’

It was Lia, Eliza’s personal maid.

She was quietly looking down at Eliza.

Not waking her up, just standing there silently.

‘…Could she make an expression like that?’

As expected from Eliza’s maid, Lia usually gives off a very cold and aloof impression.

Her true feelings are hard to discern.

I’ve barely ever talked to her, so I wouldn’t know.

Anyway, she always exudes a rather chilly aura.

But now, the expression on her face as she looked at Eliza…

“……”

Ah. Our eyes met.

Her expression quickly changed.

Back to normal.

No, even colder than usual.

‘Did I just see that wrong…?’

Since she didn’t wake me up, I guess I can sleep a bit more.

Too tired to care, I closed my eyes again.

At that moment, Eliza mumbled and burrowed into my arms.

‘Sure… Snuggle in, snuggle…’

I just let her do as she pleased.

“It’s time to wake up, Lady Eliza.”

Lia flung the curtains open as she woke her.

Blinding light flooded the room.

‘Ugh… My eyes…’

Even with my eyes closed, the light stabbed through them relentlessly.

“Hmm…”

Unlike me, defeated by the light like a vampire, Eliza immediately sat up.

She yawned lazily and stretched her arms upward, arching her back.

“Hyaaaaam…”

‘So cute, even first thing in the morning…’

With sleepy eyes, Eliza fumbled around the bed.

I handed her the stuffed cat I had been sleeping with for the past few days.

Eliza accepted it and gave me a drowsy smile.

‘Don’t smile like that… You’ll make me grow attached…’

I also struggled to sit up.

No choice but to get up, even if I’m tired.

I can take a nap after lunch.

I gave Eliza a small nod.

“Good morning.”

Come to think of it, this is the third time.

Sleeping with Eliza.

But this is the first time we’ve greeted a normal morning.

The first time, Lia barged in as if she was going to break down the door.

The second time, an assassin came looking for us.

Eliza smiled sweetly.

“Yes. And you?”

“Thanks to you… I…”

Thanks to you, I couldn’t sleep.

I decided to keep that last part to myself.

Lia, who had helped Eliza up, was now fixing her clothes.

In my dazed state, I just watched the two of them.

‘Now that I think about it, they do look a little… alike…’

Eliza shuffled over toward the window.

A spot where the blinding sunlight streamed in.

The place where the plant Eliza gave me was.

Eliza, staring down at the plant, let out an exclamation.

“…Huh!”

What happened?

Before I could check, Eliza disappeared.

“Young lady?”

By the time Lia asked, she had reappeared.

It seemed she had teleported somewhere and back.

When she returned, she was holding a plant pot.

Eliza placed the pot she brought next to mine.

“Come here and look!”

Her voice sounded as excited as a chirping bird.

I slowly got up and walked over.

The pots were lined up together.

In them…

“It’s a sprout!”

A small green shoot had emerged.

Eliza turned to me with a bright smile.

The sunlight filtering through the window illuminated her face.

Her beaming smile was dazzling.

That face, smiling so widely that her teeth showed.

Her pure, childlike joy over such a small thing as a sprout emerging.

It was so unlike Eliza.

So different from the Eliza I knew.

I just stood there, blankly staring at her.

Even though she was different from the Eliza I knew,

That smile suited the Eliza I know so well.

“Indeed.”

In the end, I couldn’t help but smile along with her.

Eliza, noticing me, widened her eyes in surprise.

“This is the first time you’ve smiled at me like that.”

Feeling a bit awkward, I touched my face.

Had I?

Come to think of it, I’ve always been too nervous and flustered around Eliza to smile.

“It looks good.”

“……”

Eliza, who said that, smiled again.

And once again, I smiled with her.

A gentle, melting smile seeped into my heart.

The anemone had sprouted a tiny shoot.