༺ The Lord Is With Us (56) ༻
I walked straight into Senior Delphine’s room while the employee was still frozen in place.
It was late at night. Moonlight was pouring in from the wide window.
And she sat there under the moonlight. A woman with brilliant golden hair.
Her hair was shining, as if it were woven with golden thread. The eyes staring blankly out the window were the same ruby-red color as the symbol of the Yurdina family.
She was on the windowsill, silently admiring the night scenery outside. The dim lightning made her white, smooth skin stand out.
She wore the same outfit as the one from my last time here.
A thin gown that covered her naked body, but failed to conceal the mesmerizing curves of her body.
And just like last time, her outfit was too stimulating for a healthy young man in his prime.
So I cleared my throat with a dry cough and gave an awkward greeting to Senior Delphine.
“…….Senior Delphine.”
The woman’s gaze slowly turned to look at me. When our eyes met, silence settled in the room.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still.
And in that moment, Senior Delphine’s pupils gradually dilated and her mouth repeatedly opened and closed.
Soon, a high-pitched scream erupted from her lips.
“Kyaaaaaaaaa! H-How did you get in here?!”
Senior Delphine quickly started covering herself up as she spoke. Fear was prevalent in her eyes as she hesitantly backed away from me.
What a drama queen, I thought to myself. I shrugged my shoulders and spoke to her.
“I broke the door in. I told you I was coming in in the first place.”
“I-I told you that I wanted to be alone!”
“I said I was coming in. You didn’t say anything about needing permission to do so, right?”
It was a very shameless thing to say.
Senior Delphine opened her mouth to protest but my action spoke faster than her words.
My eyes found the table. It was the same table where I once stood face-to-face with her.
I stepped forward, pulled a chair and sat across from Senior Delphine’s seat.
There was a wine glass on top of the table. It seemed like Senior Delphine had already prepared it in advance.
I leisurely lifted the glass and inspected it.
It was a luxurious product. It was indeed one worthy of the heir of the Yurdina family.
I then asked Senior Delphine, who was looking at me with her eyes glazed over in stupor.
“…….Shall we have a drink?”
Senior Delphine, who heard my suggestion, had the same expression as the one the employee had on his face moments before I entered the room.
A look I’ve seen countless times from somewhere before.
I decided not to bother reading the intention behind it.
**
Delphine Yurdina was afraid of Ian Percus.
He was a man who gave her countless wounds and moments of embarrassment.
Her legs gave out whenever he stood in front of her and fear clouded her eyes the second he took out his hatchet.
As such, her terror for him was all too clear.
Even so, Delphine still had a little bit of pride left.
That even if she couldn’t beat Ian, she could at least be a little bit of help to him.
Delphine had no doubt that she would be more helpful than Elsie even while arguing with her.
Being defeated once didn’t matter since she was still the Golden Lion of the Yurdina family who protected the Northern region of the empire.
In the process, she knew it was a little funny to act as a maid and a pet but that didn’t matter.
It was the only pride Delphine had left. She had to hold onto Ian no matter how ugly of an appearance it was for her.
However, the battle at the orphanage was enough to take away the last shred of self-esteem Delphine had.
She thought she was very helpful to Ian at first.
Delphine’s performance was especially noticeable when chopping up the monkey beasts. She, with Ian, formed the core of the defense team.
But things started to shift once they entered the cave.
For example, her first battle against the flesh seeds.
A long time passed after Ian went into the cave to face the flesh seeds alone, so it hadn’t been long before the group got worried and went back the way they came from.
And that was where the saw.
A man with blazing golden eyes.
The skills he used to subdue the rushing flesh seeds was overwhelming.
The flesh seeds’ blood and brain fluids scattered in the air as they approached him. Unrestrained violence engulfed the blood soaked scene that they all saw in front of them.
It only took a few minutes for him to kill six extremely tough monsters as if they were mere flies.
As Delphine watched Ian rush to attack the last flesh seed while swinging his hatchet wildly, fear was engraved into her mind once again.
Her legs shook under her. She wanted to collapse onto the floor and let out a scream. She felt like she was going to vomit at any given moment. Watching the monsters’ brain matter and flesh spatter in the air like pulp convinced her even further.
That she must not rebel.
There was no such thing as “to a certain degree” to this man. If she tried to rebel against Ian again, she might become like the flesh seeds––a mixture of blood and flesh that would become a gloppy soup.
Delphine, barely able to straighten her stumbling body, vividly memorized Ian’s act of violence with fearful eyes.
She would never, ever rebel against him.
She repeated that to herself over and over again.
It was the same during the next battle.
While Delphine was fighting off the monkey beasts, Ian single-handedly took the demonic human’s head.
When they went to get rid of the flesh nest, Delphine actually ended up becoming a burden.
She let her ankle get bitten by one of the flesh seeds, making Ian unable to receive support from Elsie.
And above all, he continued to move forward without wavering even though his body was completely broken down.
He was strong. It was enough to send a tremor down her spine.
Even Delphine, who had a strong competitive spirit, couldn’t continue a battle if she was mortally wounded. But the man still devised a plan for victory until the very last moment before death.
In the end, he won.
With his limbs partially bitten off and his back dripping dark red poisoned blood, even as he vomited up blood and his damaged internal organs, he achieved victory.
She couldn’t bear it. How could she face a person like that?
After that day, Delphine locked herself in her room and brooded all day.
She was weak.
All sorts of unknown emotions bubbled up in her heart.
Delphine’s depression worsened amidst her feelings of inferiority and jealousy.
Then today, out of the blue, he decided to pay her a surprise visit.
After hesitating for a while, she had no choice but to reject Ian’s offer.
She just couldn’t bring herself to face him.
Delphine was terrified that her ugly feelings would be uncovered and chose to hide inside of her room instead.
And the result was the situation that was unfolding in front of her.
Delphine, trembling with shame, poured wine into Ian’s glass as if she were a serving maid.
Ian sniffed and savored the fragrant scent of the drink.
“…….Mm, that’s amazing.”
Of course, it’s wine that you can’t afford to buy even if you save up your pocket money for a year.
She wanted to argue back, but there was no way she would dare to rebel against Ian.
In the end, she just lowered her head and sat across from him.
She sipped her wine helplessly.
She felt pathetic, not being able to do anything against her junior. She glanced at Ian here and there while adjusting her clothes.
Ian smiled as if he was taken aback by her wary eyes.
“You were so confident before. Why are you like this now?”
That question made Delphine shiver.
At the time, she was confident she would be able to take Ian in a battle but she wasn’t so sure anymore.
Rather, she would do as he said if he decided to threaten her with his hatchet.
Even now, she was pouring wine into Ian’s glass wordlessly.
She might even take off her clothes if Ian told her to.
No, she was certain that she would if he commanded her with his hatchet out.
Delphine will definitely take off her clothes. Even if he asked her to do more than that, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to resist.
That was the sorrow of the weak when facing the strong.
The situation was the exact opposite to when she initially sat down at the same table with Ian.
However, it was too much for her to admit that fact in front of the person who sat in front of her. All Delphine could do was tremble slightly in her seat and keep her mouth shut.
Regardless, Ian continued to sip his wine. His attitude seemed to say that he didn’t expect an answer from Delphine from the get-go.
He asked her in a plain voice.
“I heard you’ve been locked in your room these days without even the slightest hint of coming out……”
Why do you think I’m doing that? She was about to glare angrily at Ian and accidentally made eye contact with his golden eyes in the process of doing so.
She was immediately discouraged.
While slowly lowering her gaze, Delphine spoke with as much defiance as she could muster.
“I-It has nothing to do with y-you…..sir.”
She felt miserable while adding polite words to speak to him, glancing to examine his face while doing so.
When Delphine’s face turned to look even more gloomy than before, Ian nodded as if he agreed.
“Well, that’s true too. I mean, locking yourself in a room is also a part of your freedom as well.”
Did he come here to ridicule me?
Delphine’s eyes slightly bulged out at that thought.
The inferiority complex that she had been harboring inside of her started to boil.
Since he was strong and the victor, he may have come to make fun of Delphine, who was weak and the loser.
Maybe he was feeling joy seeing her transfixed and submissive to his every word.
Even if that was the case, Delphine no longer had the heart to rebel against Ian.
She just lowered her head while swallowing down her anger.
While Delphine was secretly chewing on her lower lip, the man called out to the woman in a low voice.
“……Senior Delphine.”
The wine glass lowered onto the table with a thud.
Delphine deliberately avoided Ian’s gaze. She wasn’t confident enough to meet his eyes.
The ridicule, the contempt, and the sense of defeat that she would feel when she faced him.
She was afraid. She hated everything about this situation. She just wanted to slump to the ground.
But what Ian said next was so unforeseen and different from what she predicted.
“I came here to say thank you.”
Delphine’s dazed gaze turned towards him.
