I Captured the Enemy Who Tried to Kill Me

I almost screamed.

I was so startled that my heart felt like it would burst.

The Emperor, Kaisis, was fully conscious and in his right mind!

Is this even possible?

‘Am I dreaming?’

From what I’ve observed so far, the system’s power was absolute.

If that power had been flimsy, I would have immediately escaped from the imperial palace and lived pretending not to be Duke Ariel!

So no matter how much the man before me was the strongest in this world, he shouldn’t have been able to freely escape the system’s constraints.

‘That’s how it should have been, right?’

Unconsciously, I tried to retreat a step back and escape, but my firmly held wrist was pulled.

And Kaisis spoke.

“My Indoja.”

I froze.

Goosebumps spread all over my body.

What did this person just say?

‘What’s with his voice?’

I wondered if this was really the same person.

The Emperor’s voice had always been cold and fierce, threatening to devour me, so his current soft tone felt too unfamiliar to me, like oil spread smoothly.

Then I realized.

The blue eyes looking at me were different from the sharp gaze I had seen during the day, the one that could freeze a person’s heart.

‘The system’s power isn’t completely ineffective.’

Could it be that this stubborn man had somehow managed to partially escape the system’s power?

‘Was that even possible?’

I felt somewhat intimidated.

Indeed, the man before me was the one I should avoid most to safely complete my quest.

“Hey, you promised.”

“What?”

“That you wouldn’t look for me.”

I needed to know.

How much does this overwhelming man currently remember and recognize?

‘He’s not seeing me clearly. But he seems to vaguely recognize me for sure.’

The only clear thing was that the man didn’t realize who I was.

If he had known that his mate, whom he had been trying to find somehow, was Duke Ariel, who was close to being his enemy, he wouldn’t have been so calm!

“Are you afraid of me?”

Ugh, please.

I trembled slightly at the waist, holding back the curses rising within me.

Having been forced to face Kaisis all this time, the dizzying fear I first felt had largely disappeared.

But we were a pair that could never improve our relationship.

The gaze Kaisis gave me as Duke Ariel was perfectly that of looking at an enemy or foe.

It was cold as ice, and sometimes contained contempt for a despised object.

I, who was excellently performing as Duke Ariel, had also been trying to dislike him sincerely.

‘So he’s not the type to hold hands and sweetly ask if I’m scared or not.’

It was then that the expression of the man, who seemed to have seriously misunderstood my silence, began to change.

From the expressionless perfection I knew, gradually, to sorrowful eyes that seemed disappointed.

“So it is.”

Hey, please. Could you not do that?

“Is that why you run away every time?”

My hand was pulled.

Without hesitation, he gently rubbed his lips on the back of my hand…

‘Aaargh!’

If I hadn’t covered my mouth with one hand, I would have screamed.

Not only because of the chilling goosebumps spreading, but also because that damn man’s wounded expression was too powerful.

‘I know very well that it’s not real.’

I had seen, to the point of disgust, how high-level espers trying to impress their Guides could act like nine-tailed foxes, how they could deceive their true feelings and prostrate themselves.

And yet…

“Th-that’s not it.”

I found myself saying that without realizing.

“I’m not scared.”

Looking at the blue eyes that seemed moist and sparkling, goosebumps kept rising and I felt terribly uncomfortable.

That was really why.

‘Absolutely not, because that Kaisis reminded me of my past sel,f who only faced rejection.’

But just for that one phrase.

“Really? Is that true?”

His desperate gaze, looking eagerly at someone he couldn’t properly see with sparkling eyes like a child, was quite desperate.

Throughout all this, he still held my hand tightly without letting go, and judging by the energy flowing in bit by bit, he must now be relieved of the terrible burning pain.

Seeing how desperately he was holding on despite his grip being gentle enough that I could break free if I truly tried, I couldn’t say anything.

That’s Kaisis over there.

The relationship between me and that person is the worst.

While I was lost in thought, frowning slightly, the awakened one who seemed to misinterpret my expression began to ramble excuses.

“I didn’t break the promise. I just wanted to remember a little more.”

He opened one hand and showed it to me.

I narrowed my eyes.

Well, well? I wondered what crazy thing this insane person had done.

“Is that a magic stone?”

It looked like he had embedded a monster’s magic stone into his palm.

…Man, are you crazy?

He frantically made excuses, seeming to sense my chilling reaction.

“Just for this moment. I wanted to recognize. I wanted to remember. I absolutely wasn’t trying to break the promise.”

Right, whatever he put into his body wasn’t my business.

The most important thing was that those appeasing words were blatant lies!

‘I know very well that you’re making efforts to find traces by pushing the magicians during the day.’

I wanted to grab him by the collar and shout, “You liar! Everything you say is a lie!” but instead…

“…Why did you do that?”

“Because I’m desperate.”

“….”

“Because you don’t show me anything.”

Because it was so different from the Emperor I saw during the day, I ended up making him talk without realizing.

Meanwhile, the hand that was holding mine tightly, suggesting he wouldn’t let go, gradually pulled me closer.

At this rate, he might even try to sit me on his lap, so I was putting all my strength into my heels.

Hey, stop. That’s far enough, okay?

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

But the awakened one, whose eyes had gone wild from the energy transmitted through the intensifying contact, only knew how to move forward.

The hand covering the back of my hand grabbed my elbow, then pulled at my waist.

With the strong scent of a man’s perfume, his breath touched my skin.

And the noisy ding!

[Collect guiding points!

Proceed with the sudden quest for you.

Points are awarded according to intense guiding contact.]

Ah, right. I was here now to get points…

“Ugh!”

I almost screamed because of the man kissing the tips of my fingers with quick, delicate touches.

At that moment, I couldn’t think about quests, points, or anything else.

‘This is the first time I’m guiding Kaisis who’s half-conscious, right?’

Somehow, my face flushed hot.

After kissing the tip of my middle finger, he slightly raised his eyes at my startled reaction, looking too leisurely.

‘You’re not this type of character, are you?’

For me, who was used to Kaisis’s nasty and hateful words, this was a big shock in many ways.

Forcing my involuntarily curling fingers to straighten with my other hand, the awakened one before me whispered with a voice that could bewitch people.

“You… are not used to contact.”

With a voice like a fully satisfied beast.

“You’ve never had another awakened one by your side except me.”

With a voice suggesting nothing could be more pleasant.

“Isn’t that right?”

Or as if that’s how it should be.

And to my great embarrassment, I was dazed by that man’s smile.

Despite being such a hateful and frightening Emperor, his smile, spreading with goodwill,l was overwhelming.

I became a little scared.

Because I felt like I could understand the feelings of ancestors who were bewitched by nine-tailed foxes and lost not only their bundles but even their livers.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

But the force gripping my wrist seemed to have gotten a little stronger.

Ah, while I was momentarily stunned by that wonderful smile, His Majesty’s mood seems to have instantly soured.

“Don’t tell me. Have there been others who received your power? Where? How many?”

He seems to be smiling more brightly than before, but to my eyes, which know his foul temperament well, it was clearly visible.

‘That’s jealousy… right?’

The feeling was quite uncomfortable and strange.

The idea that this person would feel jealousy because of me.

Hey system, is this situation really okay?

Suffering from guilt about the sunshine heroine, I looked at the neat fingernails of the man who was clinging to me, suggesting my power was incomparably sweet.

What’s the big deal about this?

“There weren’t any.”

I found myself telling the truth without realizing it.

“No one has ever liked my power.”

The story of ‘me’ that I had never spoken of since opening my eyes in this world.