Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 139
He had started walking away with a short farewell, but suddenly looked back. I had just been about to say goodbye to his retreating back, so our eyes met. What was it?
Caesar turned his body completely and stood facing me again, then held my head with both hands. I hunched my shoulders sharply, wondering what he was trying to do, and then he lightly kissed my forehead.
It was a light kiss, like a leaf fluttering down and brushing softly against my forehead.
“May the blessing of the World Tree be with you.”
I was so surprised by his sudden action that I didn’t know how to react. So I stood there frozen and dazed until Caesar disappeared between the trees.
“…What was that, all of a sudden.”
Only after Caesar had completely vanished did I suddenly come to my senses. Belatedly, I scrubbed my unpleasantly tingling forehead with my sleeve and turned around.
Then, unintentionally, I remembered my kiss with Kyle again.
“Stop thinking about it already…”
It was just a kiss with no meaning, so why did it keep coming to mind? I felt like I was going crazy.
More than anything, the most annoying part was that because that kiss hadn’t been too bad, I kept thinking that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to try it one more time…
I seem to have lost my mind.
Did the paralyzing tea perhaps have an effect that made people lose their grips on reality, too? I forced myself to shake my head and quickly moved my feet.
I was about to return to where the group was, when Kyle suddenly popped out from behind a large tree. I was so startled that I almost screamed.
“Kyle? What are you doing, without even making your presence known…”
“I was making my presence known. You were just distracted somewhere else.”
“Don’t tell me you were eavesdropping on our conversation…”
I asked unpleasantly while going over the conversation I had with Caesar. Fortunately, we hadn’t said anything that couldn’t be discovered.
But Kyle seemed wronged by my interrogation and shook his head quickly in surprise.
“No, I wasn’t eavesdropping. I can really swear it. I didn’t hear any of your conversation.”
His tone was urgent, as if he was truly innocent. Lying had always been my specialty, and Kyle was rather far from it.
“Fine, we didn’t discuss anything important anyway.”
I answered as if it was no big deal and tried to walk again, but Kyle blocked my way once more.
“I didn’t hear the conversation, but I saw that guy kiss your forehead at the end.”
“What?”
But at Kyle’s next words, my expression stiffened this time. Even if he hadn’t eavesdropped on the conversation, it was true that he had followed me.
“Were you watching me?”
It had been the same with Derek too. Why exactly did Kyle care so much about my relationships with other people? It felt as if I was being suspected, so I didn’t feel good about it.
Did Kyle still think I was suspicious? I couldn’t guess what was going on inside his head at all. Seeing me frown, Kyle quickly opened his mouth.
“It’s not like that. I was worried, so I was only watching from a distance. I remembered that guy holding a sword to you, so how could I feel at ease?”
I was a little irritated, but it wasn’t as if I couldn’t understand Kyle’s feelings. Still, Kyle was the only one who truly worried about me, after all.
“…We didn’t talk about anything special. He said he was leaving and only left his farewell with me, and what you saw was… apparently a farewell greeting between forest fairies.”
I didn’t know if forest fairies really greeted each other that way, but I just glossed over it like that. Fortunately, Kyle seemed to believe me obediently, because he didn’t say anything else.
“And he gave me this as a gift. He said it was a potion made from World Tree leaves.”
“A potion? Like what was in the tea?”
I took out the small medicine bottle I had put in my pocket and showed it to Kyle. He examined the bottle with a reluctant gaze. It seemed he couldn’t trust it because he was reminded of the tea we had drunk.
“He said it was just something like a medicinal herb with the effect of a blessing. Along with that, he sincerely warned me that the place we’re going is truly dangerous. He said we could lose our lives.”
“So, are you worried, Lysian?”
Kyle gently wrapped his hand around the hand I was holding the medicine bottle with, as if enclosing it in a fist. I didn’t know why, but the skin his warmth touched stung and tickled.
“…A little.”
“No matter what happens, I’ll protect you first. I promised you from the start. So don’t worry.”
