Please Kill Me - Chapter 29
I’ll protect you.
Yekaterina said this with a hint of determination.
Leonid touched his lips, then his forehead. He rubbed his face and then spoke.
“Yekaterina, sorry, no, not sorry. Are you in your right mind?”
“I think you should at least pretend to be sorry when you say that.”
“Drop it.”
Leonid growled out his words and took another deep breath.
It wasn’t the fact of sleeping together that was the issue. Leonid wasn’t so fastidious or driven by desire to find fault in that.
However, aside from that, he had his social status and dignity to consider.
Though Yekaterina came as an intruder, she was now under his protection as a guest, and he couldn’t afford to start rumors by sleeping in the same bed with her.
Yet, Yekaterina seemed to care less about such matters.
“Do you even realize what you’re suggesting?”
“I said let’s sleep together.”
“I doubt I’d get much sleep with you next to me.”
“Is it because you can’t sleep with someone else nearby?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then, is it because you like me?”
“Can we drop that misunderstanding already?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect your honor.”
Yekaterina responded nonchalantly and then lifted the body wrapped in a blanket, throwing it out of the window with a thud that echoed through the quiet garden.
It all happened before Leonid could say anything.
“…What are you doing?”
“Disposing of a body.”
“In my garden?”
“Do you have a particular attachment to your landscaping?”
“No, but still.”
“Then bear with it. Keeping it inside would make it rot due to warmth. Outside, it’s cold, so it should stay intact till morning.”
Leonid lost any will to argue against the eyes that seemed to be pacifying a whiny child.
“Fine, do as you wish…”
Leonid decided to end his question there.
With each conversation filled with misunderstandings, he felt more like a fool.
That woman, she’s impossible to reason with.
No, to be more precise, common sense doesn’t apply to her.
Even now, Yekaterina had thrown a neatly wrapped body into someone else’s garden and was tidying up her knife as if nothing had happened. It was not exactly incomprehensible behavior, but it felt like building a wall with one brick out of place.
Leonid’s sharp intuition was screaming at him.
If he doesn’t clarify things now, he’s bound to face considerable trouble.
Feeling this intense for the first time since he encountered a first-grade monster as a lone knight, he rubbed and then released the pressure on his eyelids.
He needed a bit of resolve before speaking again.
“Yekaterina, let’s make one thing clear.”
“What is it?”
“You can handle the aftermath of the assassin as you like, but you can’t come into my room again.”
“What if there’s danger?”
“I’ll have guards on watch. Protecting me is something others can do too.”
As long as they can wake Leonid up in time, that would be sufficient.
“It doesn’t have to be you, understand?”
“But you’re injured, and the others are weak.”
Leonid almost blurted out the truth but swallowed it back.
“…Even injured, I can protect myself well enough.”
“It’s a waste of resources. No one will get hurt if I’m here.”
“And when will you sleep?”
“I only need a little sleep during the day.”
“Don’t you know living like that will run you down?”
“I’m going to die before the season changes anyway. What’s the point in being healthy?”
Leonid was then reminded of a fact he had forgotten. That Yekaterina’s very presence here was to seek death.
‘My head hurts.’
It felt like being trapped in a maze with no exit. Not that this feeling was new to him.
Every time he spoke with Yekaterina, he felt this way.
As Leonid lost his words, Yekaterina continued.
“I don’t understand why you’re rejecting my offer. This is my way of repaying the kindness you’ve shown me. You deserve it.”
“What part of ‘I don’t want it’ did you not understand?”
“Where did you hear ‘I don’t understand’?”
“You don’t understand? Then, how could I possibly sleep comfortably with you in my bed?”
“Of course, it would be uncomfortable. But it’s better than getting hurt. Being in the same bed is the best cover. No assassin would barge into a bedroom with a guard in it.”
“This is driving me insane. Is it just the bed you think is the problem?”
“Isn’t it?”
At that, Leonid paused for a moment. The sight of Yekaterina’s innocent eyes looking at him only added to his turmoil.
“…The issue is you being in my bedroom, period.”
“Why?”
“Damn it, because it’ll start rumors around the mansion! That you and I have that kind of relationship! Do I have to spell this out for you?”
“No, I’m not unaware but…”
Yekaterina tilted her head slightly as if weighing something, then met his gaze again to ask.
“Why would that be a problem?”
“…What?”
“Is there someone for whom such rumors would be troublesome?”
For example, like a fiance or a lover?
“I understand you’re not currently involved with anyone.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s okay for there to be rumors about you and me.”
