Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 9.2
But I knew Acteon wouldn’t report me.
I was sure he wouldn’t tell the Duke what I’d said, or do anything else about it.
“Putting that aside, I’m sorry for speaking so carelessly about your family’s loss. I apologize.”
At last, his gaze, which had been fixed on my face as if to pierce through me, finally dropped away.
He almost seemed to let out a sigh.
I wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or a bad one.
“For now, fine. I understand where you stand.”
Fortunately…
‘Did I get through to him?’
He seemed less angry than before.
I was honestly relieved that he understood, but I couldn’t let my guard down.
“But I still believe it was rash of you. If it had been my brother or father who heard what you said, this sponsorship would’ve been revoked on the spot.”
Well, that’s—
“I don’t really care.”
“What?”
“I’ll say it again, I’m sorry for speaking carelessly about your deceased family member. But we have no desire to be sincere toward people who don’t even treat us as human.”
Without meaning to, my last words came out with a little more force.
Acteon’s eyes widened.
“There’s never been—”
“Don’t say there hasn’t. From the moment we arrived at the mansion, everyone treated me as if I didn’t exist. As for your brother and the Duke… you saw it for yourself, didn’t you?”
Not to mention, even the maid assigned to attend me was far too casual around me.
Of course, there was no need to bring that up.
If I’d been flustered just now, this time it was Acteon who was thrown off.
He seemed stunned by how rude his behavior had been.
‘Well, I’ve said everything I wanted to say…’
Maybe it was time to cut this off and go back to my room.
‘Hyacine must be worried by now.’
But even as I tried to walk past Acteon, the distance between us didn’t grow.
Acteon was following me.
“……”
“……”
Maybe because it was late, and most of the household staff were busy elsewhere, not a single servant appeared as we crossed the long hallway.
In other words, it was just the two of us, caught up in a game of chase.
This time, it was me who stopped first.
“Do you have something more to say?”
Of all people, I really didn’t want to be left alone with Acteon.
Anyone would want to avoid being alone with someone who’s destined to kill them.
“One thing.”
But Acteon seemed different.
“There’s one misunderstanding I’d like to clear up.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“First of all, it’s not that I was ignoring you. It’s just…”
Acteon hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“I just didn’t want to get close.”
What was that supposed to mean?
‘What is he talking about?’
Could it be he fell for me at first sight? That’s a classic setup, but—
‘No, that’s not it.’
I pretended to be at a loss as to how to respond to Acteon’s words, thinking quickly.
And before long, I had a pretty good guess as to what he meant.
“Because of Brother Aren…”
Without thinking, Acteon mentioned someone and immediately shut his mouth.
Just from that, I understood why Acteon had tried to keep his distance from me.
“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to.”
That person was Claire’s Guide.
The Guide who died after failing to stop her rampage.
If Acteon knew that someone close to him had died like that, how must he have felt when he first met me?
‘Was he afraid I might end up the same way?’
Even the Duke said that if my grade was just a bit higher, he’d have recruited me to the household’s forces.
‘Honestly, even now it’s not exactly safe. If Hyacine awakens, as his only family I’ll be the perfect weakness to control him.’
So is that why Acteon tried to keep things distant between us? Because he thought I might end up like Claire’s Guide?
Maybe I was overthinking, but it was a good enough reason.
But just as I was about to say that I had no desire to get close, either—
“Acteon?”
Suddenly, Acteon, who’d been looking unwell for a while now, suddenly staggered. Instinctively, I reached out to support him as he nearly collapsed.
And I was shocked.
‘Why is this happening now…?’
Acteon still shouldn’t be able to sense mana yet.
He shouldn’t have any awareness of it, other than his heart and the mana in the air faintly responding to each other.
But.
‘Why does it feel like the mana around us is rushing into him?’
Like it had found easy prey.
The surrounding mana was converging on Acteon.
On the surface, he seemed to just be feeling a little dizziness and fatigue, as if he’d caught a cold.
And yet.
‘No way…’
I couldn’t help but feel shaken.
To become a student at the academy, you had to go through your first Awakening. That was the entry requirement.
The first Awakening is the stage where a Transcendent or Guide finally begins to sense the mana around them.
But, right now.
‘This is… These are the symptoms of the first awakening, aren’t they?’
The symptoms Acteon was experiencing right now were exactly that.
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