Night fell.
In the Red Mangrove Swamp, the humidity was terrifyingly high.
The temperature plummeted, and the cold wind sliced through the air like a knife, digging into the marrow of one's bones.
Leo was doing alright. Although those purple Kuromi pajamas looked ridiculous, they were at least thick enough to provide some warmth.
Lucrezia, however, was in a miserable state.
Her tattered princess dress was practically useless against the cold; she might as well have been wearing nothing at all.
She curled up by the fire, just centimeters away from the flames, yet she couldn't stop shivering.
The sound of her teeth chattering clattered incessantly. Her lips had turned a bruised purple, and her small face was as white as paper.
Leo watched her, looking as though she might drop dead at any moment, and sighed.
If this girl froze to death on the first night and took him down with her, it would be the world's worst joke.
"Come here," Leo said, patting the grass mat beside him.
"W-what for?" Lucrezia clutched her chest warily, shrinking back with a shudder. "This... this princess refuses... you pervert... you're definitely up to no good..."
"My pajamas are huge; there's enough room for two to squeeze in," Leo said, rolling his eyes. "If you catch a fever in this hellhole, you're as good as dead. And if you die, I'm going to the grave with you."
"I won't! You smell! You're a bad person!" Lucrezia refused with what little dignity she had left, even though her body was no longer listening to her.
"Fine, freeze to death then." Leo pulled his pajamas tighter. "When you're a frozen corpse, I'll pose you in a nice position and admire you like a statue."
"You..."
A gust of icy wind blew past. Lucrezia shuddered violently, feeling her mind grow groggy and her limbs lose sensation.
Ultimately, the instinct for survival triumphed over her pitiful pride and fear.
She shuffled toward Leo, hesitating with every step.
Leo didn't waste any more words. He reached out, hauled her over, and tucked her into the oversized rabbit-themed pajamas.
"Mmph!"
Suddenly surrounded by warmth, Lucrezia let out a muffled groan of comfort.
It was so warm...
Though this man's embrace was hard, he didn't smell of blood or filth like she had imagined. Instead, he radiated a... steady, reassuring heat.
"Don't squirm. Move again and I'm throwing you out."
Feeling the stiffness of the cold, delicate body in his arms, Leo gave a grumpy warning.
Lucrezia huddled against him, listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat. Her heart, which had been lodged in her throat and wound tight with defensive tension, miraculously began to settle.
Warmth is the most effective weapon for shattering psychological defenses.
When her body was no longer freezing, the suppressed grievances and despair surged up like a dam breaking.
"Ugh... sob..."
After some time, a suppressed, fragmented sobbing woke Leo from his light sleep.
Leo frowned and opened his eyes.
He saw Lucrezia curled in his arms, biting her lip hard, her ruby-red eyes brimming with tears.
She was trying desperately to endure, not wanting to show weakness in front of this 'bottom-feeder pervert.'
But those traitorous tears still turned into large, hot droplets, falling like broken strings of pearls and quickly soaking the chest of Leo's pajamas.
Cold, hunger, being hunted, the threat of death...
In just a few days, she had fallen from the clouds into the mud. The image of her father's tragic death, the fear of the Command Seal failing, the despair of nearly being sold to goblins...
This overwhelming, irresistible pressure finally tore through her fragile shell—the one she constantly used to bluster and 'hiss' like a defensive kitten.
"Hey," Leo frowned, sounding a bit impatient. "What are you doing in the middle of the night?"
"Waaaaah—!!!"
His voice seemed to flip a switch on a reservoir that had been holding back a flood.
Lucrezia could no longer hold it together. she buried her face in Leo's chest, her hands clutching his collar tightly as she wailed.
"It's so cold... I'm so hungry... sob... Father... Mother... why... why did it turn out like this..."
"I don't want this... I want to go home... I want to eat warm... p-pancakes... I want to drink black tea... waaaaah..."
Her cries were shrill, filled with a desperate, childish anguish.
Leo's body stiffened instantly.
He instinctively raised his hand, wanting to push away this brat who was rubbing snot and tears all over his pajamas.
"Shut up. If you keep crying..."
But he looked down and saw her face, contorted with grief and streaked with tears in the firelight.
Those red eyes that usually glared at him with such pride were now filled with helplessness and terror, like a puppy abandoned by the world.
Leo's hand paused mid-air for half a second. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to push her away.
Damn it, kids are such a hassle.
"Are you done yet?" he lowered his voice, his tone carrying a trace of flustered irritation. However, his hovering hand moved to pat her trembling back, albeit in a stiff and clumsy manner.
"Keep crying and I'll toss you into the swamp to feed the crocodiles right now."
"Sob... you... you... big meanie! You only know how to bully me... you jerk! Bottom-feeder! Bumpkin! Thief!"
Feeling the patting on her back—which wasn't gentle and was even a bit rough—Lucrezia's crying didn't stop. Instead, it was as if she had found an outlet.
She sobbed while using her soft little fists to strike Leo's chest over and over.
"It's all your fault... it's your fault for stealing my button... sob... give me back my button..."
"..." Leo rolled his eyes, letting her vent.
These little punches felt more like a massage than anything else.
After about five minutes of fussing, the strength in her strikes faded, and her wailing turned into soft whimpers.
As the flood of emotion subsided and her tears ran dry, her reason began to return.
Lucrezia lay against Leo's chest, feeling that rough hand still occasionally patting her back.
He... didn't push me away?
He's even... comforting me?
Even though he has a foul mouth and threatened to turn me into a specimen, he didn't actually throw me out.
Lucrezia's little head, still marked with tear stains, suddenly began to whir with thought.
This jerk... he's definitely soft-hearted!
A very faint glint of girlish cunning flashed deep within her red, swollen eyes.
Though intense shame remained, Lucrezia keenly seized upon this 'weakness.'
She suddenly pushed herself up a bit from Leo's embrace, using her dirty sleeve to haphazardly wipe her face. She tried to reclaim her haughty posture, but her voice was thick with nasal congestion and a forced sense of 'toughness.'
"Hmph... d-don't get any ideas! This princess... w-wasn't crying!"
She avoided Leo's gaze, her eyes red, but she deliberately put on a stubborn front.
"I... I was just... that's it! The smoke was too thick! It got in my eyes and... made them water! You're just a bumpkin who can't even start a fire properly!"
"Right, right. It was the smoke, the wind, the sand in your eyes."
Leo didn't bother exposing her clumsy excuse and closed his eyes again.
"Go to sleep. You can have everything you want in your dreams."
Lucrezia bit her lip, looking at the man resting with his eyes closed.
Though her plan hadn't fully formed yet, she seemed to have found a new path to 'taming' him.
The ordeal had drained all her energy.
She swayed slightly, ultimately unable to resist the extreme exhaustion and weakness, and slumped back down.
This time, she didn't resist. Instead, she submissively found the most comfortable position, clinging to Leo like an octopus before falling into a deep sleep.
The corner of her mouth even held a faint, lingering smile of a successful calculation.
Feeling her breathing steady, Leo let out a heavy, turbid breath mixed with exhaustion and annoyance.
She's just a little kid after all, but this Life Link thing is still a major headache...
If this girl suddenly decides she doesn't want to live anymore, wouldn't I be dragged down with her?
Sigh...
I need to find a way. At least until I can break this damned Life Link, I can't let her die...
He opened his eyes in the darkness, looking up at the starlit sky obscured by the forest canopy.
Rate on N.U.
