Please Kill Me - Chapter 119
Was it because he wanted her?
Not knowing the reason tormented him. The memory of their kiss haunted him.
Leonid’s gaze settled on the sleeping Yekaterina.
She was someone who hardly ever truly slept. Although she often spent her time at Rostislav in what seemed like napping, she was usually just sitting with her eyes closed.
If someone approached, she would immediately wake up, always alert and cautious.
The only times she likely truly slept were beside Leonid. Except for the nights Leonid stayed awake to keep watch, he had never seen her sleeping. She always slept later and woke up earlier than he did.
Thus, this was practically the first time Leonid could clearly see her sleeping face.
The dark eyes that often stirred his emotions were now hidden under her eyelids, with long lashes casting shadows on her cheeks. He recalled the previous instance when she had closed her eyes in front of him, a moment that had felt like a glimpse of death.
Now, with her eyes closed, she seemed completely different—full of life and vibrancy.
Leonid watched her for a long time, feeling that he might never have such an opportunity again.
* * *
The next morning, Yekaterina woke up.
“…?”
The cave was bright. Despite the extinguished fire, it was clear that the sun was already high in the sky.
Considering that Yekaterina usually woke before dawn, this was unusual. She quickly sat up and realized someone was lying beside her, appearing utterly exhausted.
“…Finally awake, I see.”
“Leonid?”
At her call, Leonid’s eyebrows twitched. He looked far more worn out than the last time she saw him, as if he had spent the entire night wrestling with his thoughts and unable to sleep.
What surprised Yekaterina more, however, was the fact that he was right next to her. From their positions, it was clear that he must have been holding her while they slept.
“Why are you here?”
Leonid’s eyebrows furrowed sharply.
“What do you mean, ‘why’? Surely you’re not going to tell me you don’t remember what happened yesterday.”
“I remember. We kissed.”
It was a sensation unlike any she had felt before—hot, sweet, and intensely stimulating.
Yekaterina couldn’t fathom why she had felt such an overpowering urge to kiss Leonid, but she had found the experience immensely satisfying.
“People often describe a kiss as fireworks going off in their head, but that wasn’t the case for me.”
Still, it had been an undeniably pleasurable sensation. So why did it seem like Leonid’s expression was growing colder with each word she spoke?
“At least you remember that, so that’s something. But do you remember anything after the kiss?”
“…Not really.”
Come to think of it, when did she fall asleep? Do kisses usually end like that? As Yekaterina tilted her head in puzzlement, Leonid sighed.
“If you don’t remember, that’s fine. It’s not particularly important.”
“But I want to know.”
Yekaterina blinked, her innocent expression fixed on Leonid. He couldn’t resist those expectant eyes and finally began to speak.
“…Think back to yesterday. Didn’t you do things you normally wouldn’t?”
“That’s true. But I wanted to then.”
“Most people would call that not being in your right mind.”
Leonid said, rubbing his face in frustration before continuing.
“You were under a spell yesterday.”
“A spell?”
Come to think of it, Leonid had mentioned several times that she was not herself, that she was under some sort of enchantment.
She had dismissed it as him trying to push her away, but maybe that wasn’t it.
Leonid, reading the confusion on her face, sighed again.
“It’s like the protective magic at Offenbach. Did you think only Offenbach had such ridiculous magic?”
“I’ve never really thought about it, but now that you mention it, it makes sense.”
Offenbach’s protective magic was indeed powerful. That two people could fall from a sheer cliff and emerge unscathed—how was that even possible?
But Offenbach’s protective magic made that possible. In a family that already pursues extreme strength, having magic that can make the strong even more invincible is a bit unbalanced.
It’s an issue she hadn’t considered before, since she had never focused on the magic itself. But if she assumes that other families, at least the central two families and the imperial family, have similar magic, it all starts to make sense.
“Does that mean you have such magic as well?”
“Yes.”
Leonid affirmed lightly, tapping the corner of his eye.
“This is the proof.”
“So, does that mean you can survive a fall from a cliff?”
“That’s Offenbach’s magic. When Rostislav falls from a cliff, they die just like any ordinary person.”
“I see.”
