Chapter 27.1

“Well,” Ria muttered.

I had finished the fruit on my plate and Ria’s wine glass was empty.

I guess that was the end of the conversation.

Now that I knew what he wanted, I had nothing more to ask. For the time being, it seems that I am a bargaining chip, so I should not be harmed in any way.

Ria stood up, came next to me, and held out his hand. He told me to stand up.

I had no reason to refuse, so I took his hand and stood up.

“Lydith-san, if you have any inconvenience, you can tell me anything. If I’m not here, the wood nymphs will be fine.”

“The wood nymphs adore Ria-sama, don’t they?”

“The werewolves and the wood nymphs are old acquaintances, both living in the forest. Unlike me, they are good people, so there is no need to be afraid of them.”

“I’m not afraid of you either.”

“That’s good to know. I was afraid that if you were frightened and cried or screamed, it would be a little troublesome.”

Ria opened the door on the opposite side of the hallway.

It was a bedroom. A wreath made of dried flowers decorated the wall, and the wallpaper was white with a vine pattern.

A large bed was placed in the center of the room, and a mirror, a closet, and a makeup desk were lined up against the wall.

At first glance, one could tell that the room has a glamorous atmosphere and belongs to a woman. Perhaps this was originally Aria’s room.

I was led by my hand into the room. When I entered the room and stood, Ria lifted me up slowly and gently laid me on the bed.

Immediately, a grassy vine-like structure reached out from the ornate black iron frame of the magnificent bed and restrained my hands.

I was tethered to the bed, defenseless, with my hands outstretched above me.

Satisfied, Ria looked down at me.

It seemed that contrary to his soft mannerisms, he has a habit of enjoying restraining beautiful, helpless girls. Astaroth was the same way, but perhaps it is possible to have distorted tastes after living for so many years.

I think it is more correct to say that it is not because they have lived so long, but because they have met a beautiful girl who could turn countries upside down.

I, entwined with ivy, must be aesthetic enough to look like a painting..

If Clive and others saw me, they would say, “Oh, my goddess, what a charming… I’d like to help you right away, but first, please wait while I call the painter,” and then they would call the painter. There is no doubt about it.

“Lydith-san, does it hurt?”

The hands with the vine entangled in it move to some degree when I pull at it with a clench, and it doesn’t hurt.

Shaking her head, Ria-sama smiled in relief.

If he is worried, I hope he will reconsider engaging in this kind of behavior.

But I am sure that my glamour and sex appeal will never stop, and I can understand why Ria would go off the rails.

As for me, I would gladly accept his dominant affection.

But it would be difficult to live if I had to be restrained 24/7.

“Dear Ria, Gilbert-sama… ”

I asked, wondering when the negotiations would start,

“Gilbert will probably be here soon. When he realizes you are nowhere to be found, he will suspect me first.”

That was probably true.

Gilbert-sama seems to care about me even though he says this and that, so he will notice as soon as I disappear from the castle.

It’s also pathetic to just sit here and wait for him to do so.

What I can do now is to talk to Ria-sama and win him over.

And I would like to have him negotiate with Gilbert-sama as peacefully as possible. If possible, it would be best if the relationship between Ria-sama and Gilbert-sama could be restored.

Ria was about to leave the room, so I stopped him.

“Excuse me, Ria-sama.”

“What’s wrong, is there something wrong  Lydith?”

“I won’t run away. I would appreciate it if you would remove this ivy.”

It would be a good pretext to stop him.

I held out both my hands so that Ria could see the ivy tangled around my arms.

The deep green vines, almost black, that wrapped around my white, thin arms were cruel enough to invite sympathy..

Ria squinted and looked at it for a while.

“You’re probably a smart person, then again, you’re probably a tough and strong person. I don’t trust your verbal promises not to run away.”

“I’m not the daughter of Duke Annemaria right now, so I can’t swear on my family name, but I won’t break my promise.”

Ria must have felt like continuing the conversation a little longer, he was standing near the door of the room, but when he came up to me, he sat down on the side of the bed.

He crossed his long legs, looked at my arms, and traced the border between the ivy and my skin with his fingertips.

He has ears like a wolf, so he must have a tail, too. It’s a great pity I couldn’t see it, hidden by the cloak that covered his body over his black clothes.

I like animals with pointy ears and long tails the most, so if he has a tail, I would have loved to see it.

“I believe the Duke of Anne-Maria is an ancient family in the Kingdom of Evandia that is very close to the royal family. As I recall, when the bloody Clive was picked up…. When the world was connected from the outside for a moment, I felt a hint of Clive’s magic, so I knew you were related to him. I see he’s still in your house.”

“Yeah. Clive was a vampire. He said he’d given up drinking blood.”

“Hmmm…him. That’s very patient of him. You weren’t tricked into coming here by Clive, were you?”

“The Clive I know would never try to trick me. I told him I was going to the King of the demons.”

Ria tilted his head curiously.He had been stroking my arm with his fingertips for a while now, but I wanted him to stop because it was tickling me.

“You didn’t know about Gilbert, did you?”

“What I did know was that there was a great war, and that after the war, the world was divided and we lived in different worlds. I came to melt his heart, and to bring the worlds together.”

“Why were you being chased by a beast in the forest?”

It is a long story because I have had many things happen to me since I came here.

I don’t know where to start.

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