I Captured the Enemy Who Tried to Kill Me - Chapter 8
Pain. It hurts. It’s painful.
For Kaisis, who had been moving since childhood to handle Gates and fulfill his duties as royalty, pain was as familiar as his own soul.
He knew no sense of liberation.
The uncontrollable power always shook his insides and stirred his mind.
Unable to turn away from those who depended on and followed him, he had lived accepting terrible suffering and pain with utter weariness.
The only things sustaining him were his fierce pride and arrogant sense of duty.
But then.
‘What is this?’
It was warm and soft.
Something fragrant seemed to caress him.
It grasped his outstretched hand, suggesting he no longer needed to suffer alone.
He pulled it desperately, pleadingly.
He wanted to bind it to his side, preventing it from going anywhere.
He instinctively knew that with this, he wouldn’t be in pain.
Intense obsession and possessiveness boiled within him.
For the first time, the powers that had sprouted like ice picks lowered their heads and obeyed docilely.
It felt terribly good.
In this ecstatic joy, he realized this was the bliss Awakened Ones feel when they meet their proper Guide.
Which meant…
Had he found his Guide?
The fate he had desperately yearned for. His match?
“…!”
His eyes flew open.
Kaisis experienced for the first time in this moment how clear and fresh morning hours could be.
Everything was vivid.
And he could freely extend his power without pain.
It felt like he could do anything right now.
But.
“Why is no one here?”
Happiness instantly turned to displeasure.
No one was by his side.
Cracks appeared on his sculpture-like face.
He reached out to grasp the bed sheets that still seemed to retain warmth.
What came to mind were fragmentary images.
The abundant, soft hair he had grasped in his hands, though he couldn’t remember the color.
Brightly shining golden eyes.
An unknown woman.
Just then, a knock sounded. After commanding them to enter, the knight commander with a pale face opened the door and knelt down.
“What happened?”
“We’ve captured and detained everyone who used the drug, Your Majesty. We were on standby in emergency mode because your energy was about to go berserk, but…”
“My energy stabilized?”
“…Yes.”
If the empire’s only SSS-class went berserk, no one knew what disaster would follow, so if the anticipated incident had occurred, the knights would have moved according to protocol.
In other words, no one had seen whoever had descended by his side.
“Someone was here.”
He knew. He knew he was smiling slowly.
Running his hand through his hair felt refreshing.
A strong Guide who could perfectly conceal their energy, one he had never seen before. That was his match.
Impatience stirred within him.
“Find them.”
If they disappeared, he just needed to chase them down.
“No, I will find them.”
He would draw them out and keep them by his side.
The knight’s eyes filled with delight when their gazes met.
How long had they waited for this moment? The owner of the reins who could calm that overflowing power!
“Could it be, Your Majesty?”
“I have found my Indoja.”
He didn’t know why they had disappeared after calming him so tenderly.
Did they dislike him? Had they heard rumors that the Emperor was insane?
Or were they in a position where they needed to hide their identity?
Even though becoming the Emperor’s Guide would guarantee wealth and honor for life, their traceless disappearance was quite vexing.
Still, it was fine. Persuasion would come after drawing them out.
He was an emperor, but also an excellent hunter.
His blue eyes shone like a predator seeking prey.
“I will definitely find them.”
It seemed like something interesting would unfold for the first time in a very long time.
***
According to the maid’s report, Luias was fortunately safe without a single hair harmed.
And my mental state…
Was not safe at all.
‘Aaaaargh!’
The moment I saw the half-naked body of the sculpture-like handsome man, glistening in the morning sunlight.
I nearly screamed out loud, but managed to hold back by pinching my thigh.
The half-naked man before me was Kaisis.
Last night, Kaisis and I…
Ugh!
‘What, what have I done?’
Oh God.
Who would have known that guiding that began with a kiss would end so intensely?
I was profoundly frustrated.
‘I didn’t know it would be that effective.’
Originally, Guides transfer energy through contact with Espers.
This could be a simple contact where skin touches skin, like holding hands or hugging.
But there were cases where that wasn’t enough.
In such cases, more intimate s****l acts.
That is, exchanging saliva or literally sharing a bed to supply guiding energy.
Like last night.
Like Kaisis and me!
“Ugh.”
I covered my face.
Even without looking, I knew Hillaria’s face would be bright red despite her normally cool exterior.
In my defense, despite being a 10-year veteran, having no experience with kiss-based guiding was absolutely not my fault.
How could I have any kind of contact with people who would retch at the mere touch of my energy?
‘That’s why I lost control.’
It was my first time too.
That strange sensation of guiding energy naturally blending was really unusual.
Of all people, this man and I had good compatibility.
Moreover, it was my first time with an Esper who didn’t reject me. So I never dreamed it would progress that far.
Thinking back on it now made my face flush hot at the feast of skin, but I finally understood what normal Guides and Espers feel in their bond.
An Esper who accepts my energy, breathes with me, and smiles sweetly.
The act of holding hands tenderly, intoxicated by the disappearance of pain.
Honestly, it felt good.
It was also frustratingly unfair.
I was the only one who didn’t know this sensation, damn it.
It’s still vivid.
The treatment I received.
‘Hey, A-class! Guide without touching me. Got it?’
‘Touching you is like having rotten food forced down my throat.’
‘You’re unpleasant, so stay away. Why can’t you guide without touching?’
Words I’d heard countless times.
So last night was a first for me, too.
The feeling of not being rejected but cherished was so…
‘More. Give me more.’
My ears grew hot remembering the man’s whispered voice.
It was too much that I desperately squeezed out guiding energy, enchanted by the handsome smile of that unpleasant Emperor.
‘Aaaah!’
Huh, I opened my eyes wide.
Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?
“Why are you remembering that again? Get a grip!”
This morning.
The palace was quiet thanks to people keeping their distance to avoid disturbing the Emperor’s highly tense state.
That meant I could slip away and disappear like a thief.
Yet I couldn’t move an inch from my office in the palace and the bed inside it until the sun rose late.
I had done something, but I was afraid of the aftermath.
Surely that male protagonist wouldn’t remember the moment of guiding differently from the original story, right?
Where had the female protagonist disappeared to, and what would happen from now on?
“Ugh, I can’t bear to open the status window.”
Clearly last night, there was something between that man and me.
Not just the process of calming his power, but I felt a sensation of something invisible connecting.
I cut it off abruptly when I came to my senses, but something had definitely changed.
That scared me.
I was afraid it might be what I thought it was.
The deep bond that forms between Guide and Esper…
What the male protagonist should have felt for the female protagonist originally.
The Imprint.
The phenomenon where a powerful Esper becomes bound to a single Guide.
Where they connect souls and become unique to each other.
A Guide can only guide their imprinted Esper, and the same applies to the Esper.
They hold each other’s lifelines.
‘No, I’m overthinking. There’s no way that guy would imprint with me.’
Let me organize my thoughts first.
I planned to order my assistant, who was on leave, to investigate the female protagonist’s family as soon as they returned to work.
If something had happened to our sunshine female lead, I needed to resolve that first.
And dealing with the Emperor, who would be looking for m,e would make everything perfect.
‘Before he finds me, I’ll find the female protagonist myself and present her to him. That’s definitely it.’
Seeing how he sucked and licked a B-class Guide with insufficient energy in the novel, they must be a fantastic match.
Enough to make him completely forget about me from last night!
“Still, I need to check…”
Sighing deeply, I glared at the status window.
Somehow, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would be a Pandora’s box, but the status window was blinking before my eyes as if urging me to check quickly.
Fine, let’s do this. I can handle it.
Click
[Congratulations!]
As expected, fireworks went off.
I feel like I’m going to have a seizure if I see another congratulatory message.
Hey, something that’s only good for you is absolutely not something to congratulate, you know?
Gifts should be what the recipient wants.
