~CMWDD 13~
Chapter 13
Olentia frowned sharply as she looked at him, and Dimidius continued speaking.
“I could feel divine energy. You may not be aware of it, Lady, but you were clearly born with it. Since I am a half-demon, half-human… I can sense with certainty whether someone has divine energy or not.”
“Th-That can’t be. I’m just an ordinary person.”
Olentia glanced down at her own hands and tilted her head. No matter how she thought about it, divine energy and herself didn’t seem to belong together. The only suspicious thing was that she had become Pieta’s contractor. Other than that, there was absolutely nothing.
Seeing her flustered, Dimidius spoke in a subdued voice.
“If that’s the case, then let’s move quickly. It’s getting late.”
It turned out that when he entered the forest earlier, he had torn the hem of his cloak and tied it to a tree branch. Olentia had followed, seeing only the pale light, without thinking twice.
Afraid she might get lost, Olentia trailed behind him closely.
“Ah! Let’s go together!”
Then her foot caught on a stone, and she staggered. Darkness overwhelmed her vision, and all she could do was flail her arms.
Her body tumbled downward, downward—she was about to smash her face against the ground. The face she had cultivated beautifully for 23 years.
It was at that moment.
A large hand scooped her up around the waist. His strength was as powerful as a fisherman hauling in a shark.
Suddenly cradled in Dimidius’ arms, Olentia let out a shallow gasp.
Radiant moonlight poured down over the two of them.
The faintly bitter scent of the forest.
His cologne, his broad chest—it was all as it had always been.
Was this the third time now? Being ridiculously scooped up by him like this. She feared she must look utterly helpless.
Olentia couldn’t open her eyes from embarrassment.
In that position, she fidgeted with her hand resting on Dimidius’ chest. Somehow, her heart felt like it would explode.
Then Dimidius brushed Olentia’s tangled hair aside and said,
“I cannot exactly carry a clumsy Lady around in my pocket, you know.”
Only then did she recognize him as the Dimidius she knew.
‘Why is my heart racing? And… carrying me in his pocket? Him… could he possibly mean me?’
So flustered, Olentia couldn’t even stop him from brushing her hair aside. She just stared blankly at him. With her hand on his chest and her head lifted, the sensation was strange.
‘This… feels like he expects a kiss or something.’
Though she had no experience, she felt as though she had seen a similar scene in the illustrations of a romance novel.
Startled at last, she pushed hard against Dimidius’ shoulder.
“Go away!”
Dimidius, who had only saved her from tripping over a stone, grumbled.
“You’re harsh toward the one who saved you. You nearly smashed your glorious face against the ground just now.”
Olentia stroked her shivering arms and said,
“This won’t happen again.”
“…What do you mean? You won’t fall again?”
“Yes. I won’t be foolish enough to fall. I’ll take care of everything myself!”
Olentia’s voice, now sharp and tense, was full of excitement. Her puffing chest heaved with each word.
She disliked constantly needing Dimidius’ help. If Socor had seen this, he would have treated her as someone who needed protection again. She detested that notion.
“Maybe it’s better to just let me fall. Then at least I’d get a wake-up call! Right?”
By getting hurt, healing, and facing such situations repeatedly, perhaps she would gain the strength to face Socor.
What Olentia wanted was to become a capable adult with real strength.
But there was absolutely no reason to be angry at Dimidius. As he said, he had done nothing wrong and had only helped her.
Yet, she still ended up doing something foolish.
‘Ah, why did I do that… I just got worked up.’
Embarrassed, Olentia bit her lips, and Dimidius, perfectly at ease in the quiet forest, said,
“If you let your guard down, you’ll get hurt again, just like before.”
‘Before? When?’
Seeing Dimidius’ gaze shift toward her neck, Olentia let out a wry laugh.
“Oh, it’s… fine. It didn’t hurt that badly, so we didn’t even call Count Odor’s physician. Uncle doesn’t even know, you know? Whether I have a wound on my neck or not. He really is careless. Not knowing what happened to his only niece on the train.”
Fortunately, it had only been a slight scratch. Even if it lingered, it wouldn’t leave a scar.
As Olentia finally relaxed and returned to her usual composure, Dimidius resumed walking. She followed, and suddenly his torn cloak slipped onto her shoulders.
Now wrapped in the enormous cloak, Olentia looked at him in bewilderment.
“Aren’t you cold?”
Dimidius shifted his shoulders as if uncomfortable and said,
“The cloak was a bit cumbersome. I’ll leave it with you, Lady.”
‘Even when he speaks…!’
Honestly, it didn’t seem like he was really discarding it because it was cumbersome. He probably worried about her thin attire. She was in a protected area where no one could enter, and her dress was far too light.
Olentia pondered briefly, then simply wrapped the cloak around herself and marched on bravely. With Dimidius’ cloak around her, she looked like a snowman—like the ones made by the people of the Belial territory in the Bonus Empire, where snow actually falls.
Olentia’s hair whipped violently in the spring wind as she emerged from the forest. It felt like stepping into a completely different world; the forest and the outside were utterly different.
Grateful for her black cloak, Olentia spoke to Dimidius,
“My villa is just ahead. I’ll go there now.”
Suddenly a strong wind blew, almost flipping her thin dress. She couldn’t show such a sight in front of Dimidius.
Dimidius frowned and said after hearing her,
“You mean the villa right in front of the daisy field? The one completely visible from the outside?”
“Yes. That’s right. Most of the living room is made of glass.”
Dimidius, almost entranced, moved closer to the villa. Olentia followed, puzzled.
“You don’t have to escort me,” she said innocently.
Dimidius glanced at her and let out a short sigh.
“Huh… Even when I heard the news, I thought it was terrible. Why would you stay in a place like that? Aren’t you Count Odor’s niece?”
‘What news did he hear?’
He seemed so displeased, hands on his waist. Though his mask hid his expression, she guessed he was frowning.
Olentia replied with a sulky expression,
“Well, a more important guest arrived at Count Odor’s house before me.”
“……”
“And this forest, including the area around the daisy field, is a protected zone. Not just anyone can enter. You’re just unusual, Your Highness.”
He must have used his demonic powers to enter secretly, just like when he overpowered the masked man.
Thinking of it that way, meeting Dimidius in the middle of the night seemed even more peculiar. Her hairs stood on end.
Feeling the chill at her fingertips, Olentia spoke one last time before entering the villa:
“I won’t tell my uncle anything. So please don’t mention that I saw the light of the phantom flower either.”
In the forest, where the straight-stemmed flowers swayed, Olentia stood like a single pure bloom. Her long hair fell to her waist, her thin frame was wrapped in a white dress, and she wore brown slippers made of kid leather.
She seemed to have absorbed all the white moonlight, sparkling brilliantly.
If Olentia saw light in the phantom flower, it seemed he saw light in her.
Even after returning to the mansion, Dimidius couldn’t get that image out of his mind.
But in truth, he thought of Olentia for another important reason—her ability.
Dimidius stroked the jaw behind his mask and muttered,
“If the light from the phantom flower is truly white, it must be a strong wave of divine energy. And she can see it too?”
It confirmed that Olentia could manipulate divine energy. Truly, the Apricot Tree family, the people of Armeniaca, were remarkable.
Dimidius recalled five years ago, when he first unleashed demonic power and found that divine tools couldn’t stop his demonization.
At that time, he roared like a monster, filled with anxiety at the thought of becoming a demon.
‘Bring it here immediately. I said bring the proper one!’
His eyes entirely red, his body swollen to the brink of bursting, wings of a demon writhing behind him—the aura was so intense that even the trained Belial knights dared not approach.
He growled like a beast in pain.
Feeling demonic power and hearing its roar made him feel like he became someone else entirely.
Even using divine tools opposing demonic power didn’t calm his demonization. He had first used his demonic power during the recent attack on the grand duke’s castle.
Dimidius felt the black desire within him urging him to accept the power. It was extremely tempting, almost making him lose his mind.
‘Should I just become a demon? Then I could become even stronger.’
Those were the thoughts swirling in his mind.
