Trembling Fear
He talked as if he could manage her life however he wanted, but he didn’t. For Leandro, Ariel wasn’t just a target to pour his frustrations on. Leandro would never harm her, because she meant more to him. When thinking about it, Ariel gained some confidence.
“I will make the one who made this mark regret having been born. Who is it?”
If you can’t speak, you can just express yourself in a different way instead. Ariel struggled to reach out and point somewhere. Fortunately, her limbs were able to move. Only then did Leandro move his body, leaving his eyes fixed on her face. Slowly turning his eyes to where Ariel was pointing, Leandro looked at the man at her fingertips and puffed his mouth as if he could not believe it.
“Carlos…?”
The dark-faced, brown-haired man was none other than Carlos. When his name came out of Leandro’s mouth, Ariel’s arm fell limply down.
“What is this? Why would you?”
Leandro seemed confused. Leandro was an absolute monarch, and Carlos was his own dog, who put loyalty first. Dogs never bite their owners. No, he shouldn’t ask. The trust between Carlos and Leandro was not built over a day or two. When it occurred to him that Ariel’s pointing at Carlos must mean something else, Leandro slowly released her throat from his hands that were strangling her.
“Cough… Cough.”
After a few seconds that felt like hours, Ariel managed to breathe. Unable to cope with the sudden influx of air, Ariel gripped her chest with anguish. It was painful when she couldn’t breathe, but now it was more painful as if the breath was tearing inside her throat. Leandro’s eyes, looking down at Ariel, coughing and catching her breath several more times, were awfully cold.
“…Answer me. What’s the meaning of your hand gesture?”
He was so snobbish that tears formed in Ariel’s eyes. There was also a great deal of difference between reading and actually experiencing it. The more she discovered Leandro’s madness and the more she came across his fierce nature, the more suffocating Ariel felt.
“Lord Carlos… He’ll explain.”
But she didn’t mean to lose to him. Barely catching her breath, Ariel looked up and saw Carlos.
It was a perfect moment, but their eyes looked at each other and Leandro did not miss the moment.
“Yes, Your Majesty, I have something to tell you.”
Carlos, who had been watching the situation silently, finally opened his mouth. Watching Ariel and Leandro’s dangerous one-sided confrontation made him quickly freeze and unfreeze in the matter of seconds and Carlos almost jumped in unknowingly to try and stop Leandro. But he dared not do anything without the emperor’s order in fear that he would make matters worse so he barely caught himself.
Leandro, strangling her slender neck as hard as he could, or perhaps harder, seemed simply insane. It wasn’t the first time he witnessed such violent behavior from him, but Carlos’ heart trembled with fear. Then there was a real fear that Leandro might actually kill Ariel. He didn’t even want to imagine what would have happened if she had lost consciousness before reaching out with her hand. Carlos took one step forward and flopped down on his knees.
“I have not properly carried out Your Majesty’s orders.”
“What does that mean?”
He couldn’t understand Carlos’ behavior, sitting on his knees out of the blue, asking for forgiveness.
In the stifling silence that followed, Ariel managed to come to her senses. It happened in the middle of their affair, so their clothes were all in disarray. The sight of Ariel pulling up her dress with a pathetic face made Carlos feel uncomfortable. The sad look in her eyes and the lips quivering with shame were all Ariel’s plans to draw out that response, but Carlos had no idea at all.
“I failed to follow through with your orders to protect her so that she wouldn’t even get scratched. I apologize.”
Leandro kept his eyes on Carlos’ face, which was so calm that he could not decipher his inner thoughts. During their years together, Carlos had never violated Leandro’s orders. This kind of apology saying that he failed to fulfill his Master’s orders due to his incapability was also very unfamiliar to Leandro.
“Explain properly so that I can understand.”