Chapter 21

But in the end, before Lakis could hold the woman’s face and greedily pull it towards him, a noise penetrated his eardrums, stopping his hand .

Knock, knock!

“Ms . Yuri!”

A knock came from the door along with the sound of someone’s voice calling for Yuri . At the sound, Yuri’s senses faintly began to sober up . She slowly lifted her lowered eyes and immediately met with a pair of flaming blue eyes .

“Ms . Yuri, are you there?”

Once again, a voice as smooth as jade could be heard .

In the extremely quiet house with no sound other than the voice from outside, Yuri and Lakis were looking straight at each other .

Suddenly, Yuri realized the situation she was currently in . Of course, even though she had, she didn’t want to let go of Lakis’ hand . Her mind still felt a little hazy and it gave her a pleasant feeling, like she was walking on clouds . So what did anything else matter to her?

However, sensing something strange from the bug and Yuri’s reaction, Lakis came to his senses first and forcefully took his hand off her .

Then Yuri’s head gradually began to cool down .

Knock, knock!

“Is Ms . Yuri not home…?”

Hearing the careful voice which rang clear in her ears, Yuri turned to face the door . Lakis’ gaze also followed her, moving to the door .

The person standing outside the door right now, looking for Yuri, was the heroine who lived next door, Anne-Marie .

“I’m…”

Yuri replied loudly at the door, with her throat feeling slightly clogged for some reason .

“I’m coming . ”

After which, she stood upright without even glancing at Lakis .

‘Oh, this is nuts…’

As she was flooded with late realization, sighs surged to her throat . Remembering how she rubbed her face in Lakis’ hand like a puppy some minutes ago gave her a psychological blow .

If she had to give an excuse, then it was because Lakis touched her face too suddenly without giving her any chance to prepare in the first place . But even if that was the case, how to handle this…

For now, Yuri walked to the door, while thinking about how to solve this situation again .

Creak .

As soon as she opened the door, Yuri was greeted by Anne-Marie’s bright smile .

“Ah, sorry to disturb you so late . ”

Yuri stepped outside completely and let go of the door knob .

“No, it’s fine . Is something the matter?”

Still, she was glad Anne-Marie came at just the right time . If not, who knows how much longer she would have kept up that shameful behavior? Or maybe Lakis would have reached the limit of his patience first .

Bang .

Hearing the door close behind her, Yuri smiled slightly, mirroring Anne-Marie’s expression .

Ah, she really didn’t want to go back inside .

* * *

On the other hand, Lakis’ mind was also a mess . He mulled over what had just happened to him, feeling confused the entire time .

His face was frozen as he stared at the door where Yuri had disappeared through . Soon after, his gaze moved away, and his attention fell on his hand .

The soft, tender touch and the warmth buried within was still vivid to him . That is…when she held his hand moments ago and put her cheek there…

—Huaaa . Laaakisssss…

Right then, the bug in his head talked to him as if coming to its senses, and Lakis was startled . The fact that he touched Yuri first for no particular reason a little while ago pricked him inside, so he coldly shut it down . [1]

‘Shut up if you’re going to say nonsense . ’

—Ehhh? But I haven’t said anything yet~?

‘Exactly, so just stay like that, keep your trap shut, don’t say anything . ’

—Nooo, how do you know what I’ll say~?

‘It’s obvious; I don’t have to hear it to know so just shut up . ’

The bug was still acting giddy, so it didn’t give a proper reaction to Lakis’ words .

Wait, this isn’t right .

Lakis suddenly remembered that this wasn’t the time to make the voice in his head shut up .

‘Hey, what the hell was that earlier? Yesterday was the same, that’s definitely not a normal reaction .

—Hmmm, I’m not really sure eitheer…

Lakis’ face crumpled with annoyance at its mushy, dragged out tone from being immersed in the aftertaste . For now, he waited patiently until it could have a proper conversation . Finally, the voice that followed was much clearer than before .

—Wow…that was awesome! Lakis!

A glaringly loud voice rang out fiercely in his head causing Lakis to frown .

—That was seriously so good, I thought was going crazy…! Haa, I’ve never felt like this before!

Hearing it moan like it was savoring the event from earlier, Lakis’ face crumpled like a piece of paper .

—It was so strange yesterday cuz it was my first time experiencing this, so I was only confused, you know? But earlier, the moment you touched that woman, I felt thrill from head to toe!

Soon, the bug made a fuss again, urging Lakis .

—When that woman comes in, touch her one more time!

‘Instead of this bullshit, think about why such a reaction is happening . Isn’t it likely your fault?’

—I said I don’t know either! No, wait, I’ll find out! Leave it to me! So just touch her like you did earlier! Longer this time! Much longer…!

At the desperate cry ringing in his head, Lakis’ face grew increasingly menacing .

Noticing that Lakis’ reaction wasn’t very positive, the bug persuaded even more desperately .

—You liked it too! Your heart rate went up like crazy! When you were holding hands with that woman, your mind was basically a mess![2]

‘F*ck you, where’s your conscience? Did I feel any perverted pleasure like you?’

The bug in his head grew slightly sullen at Lakis’ frosty response .

But actually, Lakis felt pricked inside as it had slightly hit the mark . Hearing what it just said reminded him of yesterday, when his fingers were intimately woven with Yuri’s fingers, and of today, when she leaned into him and pressed her cheek against his hand . In those moments, his body heated up and his senses were dazed . But even so, to think he was suddenly holding the hand of a woman he met barely even a few days ago now .

Moreover, it was a kind and innocent woman who housed him, fed him, and helped him, despite the fact that his identity was unknown . Even shamelessness and awfulness had its limit, and probably because this bastard of a bug didn’t have the so-called human common sense, it was pretty good at firing off shocking nonsense . Of course, for a thought belonging to a man known as the king of the underworld, it was an extremely healthy mindset .

Feeling oddly thirsty, Lakis reached for the cup on the table .

—Still, what matters in the end, is that you liked it too, Lakis!

Perhaps it shrewdly noticed his condition because the voice in his head revived again . Lakis suppressed his irritation and brought the cup to his mouth .

—Just be bold, flash your skin like earlier! Then bam! Seduce her with that hot body of yours!

“*Choke* . ”

Right then, Lakis was drinking water and it went down the wrong pipe .

—Lakis, your body can seduce any woman in the world! Trust me!

While Lakis broke out in muffled coughs, the annoyingly loud voice continued to boom in his head .

—Since you haven’t used your body in that way yet, you might not know but honestly, instead of taking your top off earlier, you should have gone for your bottoms and lured that woman in!*

To crown it all, the bug in his head gave him a lecture which was chock full of absolute rubbish .

Of course, if he did such a thing, he wouldn’t be able to say anything even if his hands were bound right away and he was carried off to the police station .

Lakis wiped off the water that spilled from his lips and his eyes shone with dreary chill .

…how do I really kill this thing?

It was only now that Lakis felt the greatest desire to kill this voice clamoring loudly in his head, so he seriously considered it .

From the look of things, it might be a good idea to go to the ruins once again when his body got better . Of course, it was to permanently eradicate this parasite .

Who knew whether it was aware of Lakis’ scary thoughts or not but the bug in his head was still as noisy as ever .

* * *

“Here, it’s not anything much but it’s for you . ”

After coming to Yuri’s house to look for her, Anne-Marie handed over a small basket which she had been hiding behind her seconds ago . Yuri unconsciously accepted the gift .

“I baked some cookies because Hestia wanted to eat them this evening, but I made more than I expected so I wanted to give it you too!”

Anne-Marie said with a smile, her face as clear and pure as always .

Yuri thanked her, “Thank you . I’ll enjoy them . Unfortunately, I don’t have anything on me right now, how can I repay you?”

“Oh, no . No need for that between us . I didn’t prepare these to be paid back for them, you know?”

After saying that, Anne-Marie smiled bashfully . Then she briefly looked around before lowering her voice to a whisper .

“Um, by the way, Ms . Yuri . Have you heard the news?”

“What news?”

Yuri returned the question without thinking much then she was startled right after .

“It’s about out Ferret St . Apparently, someone went missing . ”

As she looked at Anne-Marie’s serious expression, Yuri thought to herself .

‘…Don’t tell me this is about that man?’

She wondered if the person they were looking for, was the man who was tailing her not too long ago but got killed by Leo .

Translator’s corner:

[1] I’m not 100% sure of this translation . The word I translated to ‘pricked him inside’ can also mean feeling guilty or bothered which changes the meaning of the sentence . The context isn’t very clear .

[2] This just means he wasn’t thinking straight .