Chapter 111: A Little Protective

It felt as if my neck was about to snap.

I was pulling at the fingers around my throat, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pry even one of them loose. My feet slid against the wall, searching for something to brace against.

My lungs were burning.

My eyes ached as though they were about to pop out, and my vision grew blurrier with every second. As the pressure inside my head increased, I could feel blood building up in my face and eyes.

A few seconds.

If I stayed like this for a few more seconds, I would die.

And the last face I ever saw would be that of the world’s strongest Guardian.

The Ice King.

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in his blue eyes. Not a single muscle in his face moved as he looked at me.

With that expression, he looked less like a hero who saved people and more like a cruel demon growing bored as he killed someone.

An urge to laugh rose inside me.

It was the last thing I needed right now.

Was I really going to die like this?

Just because they thought I was a girl?

But I’d never said I was a girl.

I’d tried to tell Yukie. That was why I’d wanted to meet her today.

Then why?

Had they decided that on their own, only to blame me for it?

This isn’t fair.

My lips trembled. I opened my mouth, trying to draw in air, but only a muffled sound escaped my throat.

The man’s face was fading from my sight.

No.

If I was going to die like this, I would at least fight back with everything I had one last time.

Against the strongest man in the world. The corners of my mouth lifted.

I turned the dagger back into a bracelet and grabbed his wrist with both hands. As I tightened my grip, I tried to dig my nails into his skin.

One of my fingernails broke. Then another.

Even the pain spreading from my fingertips was nothing compared to the pressure on my neck. I didn’t pull my hands away. I gripped his wrist even harder.

Look at me.

I activated Azure Flame.

Blue light seeped out between my palms.

Then the flames erupted.

The darkness in the alley vanished in an instant. The walls, the frozen ground, and the man’s face appeared beneath the blue light as the flames rising from my palms wrapped around his arm.

I didn’t think about how much stamina I had left.

Or how large the flames had grown.

I only wanted to burn the hand squeezing my throat.

When my vision darkened again, the flames went out.

Steam rose from the man’s arm.

His sleeve was gone where I’d gripped him, and the exposed skin was slightly red.

That was all.

I’d used everything I had.

And all I’d managed was to redden his skin.

For the first time, the Ice King looked away from my face. His eyebrows rose slightly as his gaze dropped to his wrist. Then he looked back at me.

His fingers opened.

I fell.

As my knees struck the ice, I clutched my throat with both hands. The first breath that filled my lungs hurt. The second turned into a cough.

"Kh... Hah..."

I doubled over, coughing. Every attempt to breathe sharpened the pain in my throat and brought tears to my eyes.

The shadow over me didn’t move.

"Why is Lucian’s son in my house, going after my daughter?"

I struggled to raise my head.

The man stood over me.

"What are you after?"

For several seconds, I stared at him.

Lucian’s son.

He knew who I was.

I gritted my teeth.

"You... psychopathic ice cube..."

Another cough interrupted me.

"You’re asking that after trying to kill someone?!"

He didn’t answer.

I swallowed, tasting blood, and continued.

"Why don’t you ask your daughter? Or are you afraid she’ll find out her father’s an obsessive psychopath?"

His gaze hardened.

The anger running through me instantly gave way to panic. Why was I provoking him again?!

Damn my mouth!

Keeping my hand against my throat, I hurried to speak.

"There’s been a misunderstanding."

My voice cracked.

"Really. I can explain."

For a while, he only stared at me. My uneven breathing filled the silence between us.

"Explain."

I tried to swallow. Even though the pain made me grimace, I didn’t stop.

"I met Yukie while exercising in the park one morning. She was actually the one who came over and started talking to me. At first, I didn’t realize she thought I was a girl. Even after I found out, I just couldn’t find the right opportunity to tell her I was actually a guy. Everything I knew about her family came from what she’d told me. I only found out who you were today..."

His expression didn’t change.

"I’d finally worked up the courage. I was going to tell her everything today, but Cedric stepped in, and I ended up having to come to your house."

I took another deep breath.

He kept looking at me.

"This has nothing to do with my father or my family," I added. "I don’t live with them. You must know they kicked me out. I’m the last person in the world who would do anything for them."

That last sentence came out more harshly.

This time, I didn’t try to soften my voice.

The man silently studied my face for a few more seconds.

"I see."

"..."

I see?

Was that really all he had to say?

I couldn’t look away from his face. Had he already decided to kill me, no matter what I told him?

The Ice King bent down.

The moment I saw him reach out, my shoulders tensed. I wanted to pull back, but my back was against the wall.

My eyes closed on their own.

His fingers touched my hair.

He slowly stroked my head once.

"You’re a good boy."

I opened my eyes.

"Huh?"

What was this supposed to mean?

The man who’d been about to break my neck a moment ago was stroking my hair.

When he withdrew his hand, I realized I’d pressed myself even harder against the wall.

He held out a small potion bottle.

"I’m sorry."

I looked at the bottle.

Then at his face.

"I get a little protective when it comes to my children."

A little?

The laugh trying to escape my throat turned into a cough. My fingers trembled as I raised my hand to take the potion.

Opening the cap proved harder than I’d expected.

When the man moved his hand, I froze. But he didn’t touch me. He simply straightened and waited.

I brought the bottle to my lips.

The first swallow made me grimace as it passed down my throat. Then warmth spread through my chest. The sharp pain in my neck eased, and the ache in my back faded.

I could breathe a little more easily.

Closing my eyes, I slowly filled my lungs.

This time, I didn’t cough.

"Are you all right?"

I raised my head.

"Yes... Thank you."

I wasn’t sure I should be thanking him. This psychopath had nearly killed me just a few seconds ago, after all.

I looked down at the empty bottle in my hand and breathed out.

"I’m grateful you saved my daughter’s life," he said.

My fingers stilled around the bottle.

"That’s why I’m letting you off with a small punishment. But next time, you won’t get off so easily."

I slowly turned toward him.

"What do you mean?"

"Aren’t you Oromaru?"

"..."

Orochimaru.

Oro-chi-ma-ru.

For some reason, my first thought wasn’t about how he’d found out. It was that he’d gotten the name wrong again.

After staring at his face for a while, I cleared my throat.

"Um... I’d prefer to keep that a secret."

He inclined his head slightly.

"My mistake. Don’t worry. I’ll keep it a secret."

He said it so casually that I couldn’t figure out how to respond.

He knew I was Orochimaru. Or he’d found out a few seconds ago.

And yet...

My gaze shifted to the hand that had just been squeezing my throat.

A small punishment, huh...

Bracing myself against the wall, I stood. The potion had taken away most of the pain, but my legs still felt weak. Now I could feel the exhaustion Azure Flame had left behind more clearly.

I couldn’t tell whether he was waiting for me to leave or had something else to say.

I stayed quiet for a while. Then I asked the one question I still hadn’t asked today.

"So... can I keep seeing Yukie?"

His expression turned cold again.

Great. I shouldn’t have asked.

I gripped the empty bottle a little tighter. As the Ice King looked at me, I felt my jaw tense again.

He was thinking.

For far too long, as far as I was concerned.

Finally, he held out his hand.

"Give me your number."

"What?"

"You want to stay friends with my daughter, don’t you?"

I nodded.

"Personally, I’d prefer you to cut off contact with her completely."

I started to open my mouth, but he continued before I could speak.

"But doing that to her would make me a really bad father."

My gaze drifted to the wall where I’d been dangling just a moment ago.

I swallowed what I’d been about to say.

"So there’s no problem as long as I keep you under my control."

"Uh... Okay."

I took out my phone. As I turned on the screen, I noticed my fingers were still trembling slightly. I gave him my number, and he typed something into his own phone.

A few seconds later, the device in my hand vibrated.

A new message had arrived.

[Leon: (?•?•?)?]

I stared blankly at the screen.

Then I raised my head and looked at the man in front of me.

He was putting his phone into his pocket.

Leon.

The world’s strongest Guardian.

And that emoji.

"..."

Seriously?

"It’s late, so go home. You could run into someone dangerous at this hour. I’ll call you when I have time."

You’re the only dangerous man here, you psychopath!

After saying that, he turned away. I was still holding my phone as he began walking toward the end of the alley.

"Good night."

By the time I realized I should answer, he was already several steps away.

"Good night..."

His footsteps faded into the distance. For a while, I didn’t move.

I had a potion bottle in my hand and a cute greeting from the world’s strongest Guardian on my phone.

I touched my neck. It didn’t hurt anymore.

But I still remembered the pressure of his fingers around my throat.

The phone screen went dark in my hand. I stared at my reflection in the black glass.

"What the hell did I go through today?"