RSTUM 118 (Patreon)

118: Love Me

The first reaction the people of the house heard after hearing the loud noise upstairs was to rush in waves, expecting something dangerous.

Especially for the young servants who saw Leon lying on the ground with a bloody nose, many of whom surrounded him to take him away and clear any danger around him.

Just before they think of invading his room, a suit of armor walks from its position on a nearby stand and blocks their path.

"Clear away!"

Annabelle rolled on her chair and arrived at the scene, only to find Leon sitting on the floor with his back to the wall opposite his room. His shirt had a few drops of blood, but he was already done healing his nose with his magic.

"I must admit, this Anima is very fast." While showing off the ring she gave him, Leon remained calm and smiled despite the tension rising around him.

The door to his room was blocked off by a Plate Armor Golem for a reason.

"Your Grace, should we storm in?" The head butler, along with five other butlers, were all waiting around Leon on high alert. 

"Are you sure it is her?" Annabelle, however, asked the man who had followed her to this place, as he was wearing a tired face.

"I am sure it is her." The man answered.

"Oh, look who it is!" Meanwhile, Leon was done healing his nose and noticed the man following Annabelle.

"Knight Devon." Even the Head Butler recognized the man.

"Young Lord Leon." The Knight bowed to Leon first before greeting the Head Butler, "Senior Lestrade."

Knight Devon is the right-hand man of Archduchess Eleanor and one of the few who made contact with Leon more than once on the first day of his transmigration. He is one of those people who also witnessed Leon's terrifying abilities firsthand.

"Is Alice inside?" Annabelle asked Leon.

"There's a girl inside. I don't know if it is her or not." Leon replied.

"And she did that to you?" Annabelle asked again with a cold look in her eyes while pointing at Leon's nose.

"Nah! Lara just pushed me out right away once we saw her in there. I stepped on my shoelace and fell down on my face." Leon replied.

Leon may have told a white lie since he was actually hit with the door in his face.

"Why did she kick you out?" Annabelle asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe because that girl was… lightly dressed?" Leon replied with an obvious cheeky act.

"How lightly?" Annabelle frowned as she asked.

"Sultry." Leon said as his brows quickened up, indicating he must have seen something quite nice.

For the others, this was a facepalm moment. Something must have gone wrong there. Clearly a misunderstanding.

"Take your distance. All of you." Annabelle ordered all the men around her to stay away from the door as she moved the Plate Armor Golem from the door and rolled in with her wheelchair.

After closing the door behind her for a minute, a few voices were heard from within the chamber as the three women were conversing with one another. Lance and Galawin arrived at the scene at this time and tried to get a clue as to what was happening but no one was talking… Only Leon was grinning and shaking his head wryly.

A moment later, the door to Leon's chambers was opened, and Annabelle came out, followed by Lara and the young lady from before, who was confirmed to be Alice Godfrey, who was way more dressed than just a minute ago.

In terms of beauty, Alice Godfrey is an angelic being. She has long been platinum, courtesy of her royal heritage. She even resembles her mother, Eleanor Godfrey, but has a more approachable face than the cold and sharp Eleanor. She is 17 years old and almost the same height as Leon, but her atmosphere and the attitude she carried around were those of someone of supreme power and authority.

She looked at everyone coldly, but when it came to Leon, she smiled ear to ear. 

"Alice?" Lance saw Alice and had a weird look on his face as he looked between her and Leon.

"Lady Alice, you have caused quite a lot of trouble this time." Sir Devon spoke to Alice, and he seemed to be fuming with anger.

"Tsk!" In a complete flip of the warm expressions that she showed towards Leon, Alice's eyes turned nasty all of a sudden as she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Young Lady!" Sir Devon didn't back down as he continued to glare daggers at her.

"Calm down, Sir Devon. This is her fiancé's house, which makes it her house by default." Lance spoke from behind Knight Devon.

"Even if you say that, my Lord, this is no small matter." Sir Devon spoke, "Lady Alice left the Godfrey Duchy without permission and violated Ducal Law by breaking her house arrest."

"Impressive!" Leon commented from the side.

"Don't encourage her." Lara looked at Leon with a tired face, "You're at fault here too."

"Didn't do it." Leon pleaded innocence without knowing what he was accused of.

Still, this simple sarcasm of his caused Alice to look at him with upset eyes and hold something within herself before looking away from him.

All eyes landed on him, but he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm the victim here… Probably." He said.

"Everyone except Leon and Alice should go, please." Annabelle spoke up strictly.

All the butlers and the maids started to retreat immediately while Galawin showed Knight Devon back to the guest room and Lara forced Lance to follow them out. Now that there were only Annabelle, Lara, and Alice in the hallway, the million-crown question was asked.

"Alice, my dear, what were you doing in Leon's chamber?" Annabelle asked with calmness and kindness.

"I was waiting for him." Alice said while pouting.

"I heard you weren't dressed appropriately." Annabelle interrogated Alice patiently.

"I was only doing that for Leon." Alice said while glancing at Leon for a second before turning away.

Leon frowned at her childish attitude.

"And you thought Leon would appreciate that because?" Annabelle struggled to find the logic in Alice's words.

"Because he likes this sort of thing." Alice said straight away, "The last time we met, he was with that girl."

"WHAT?"

Annabelle was shocked, but she wasn't the one who just screamed. It was Lance, whose face went pale as he collapsed on the ground from shock.

"Where the hell…" Even Leon was a bit worried now.

"Yes, he was plumbing and fixing pipes. I asked around until I understood what it meant." Alice spoke proudly while looking at Leon with a victorious face.

Annabelle was holding her head now that Lara and Galawin had returned to collect the passed-out Lance, and it seemed they had heard it all as well.

"Leon… What did you do?" She asked Leon in the lowest tone possible.

"Nothing. I just had fun with a girl I befriended." Leon shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing.

"NO! MY BROTHER! MY INNOCENT BROTHER!" Lance regained consciousness to wail for the loss of his little brother's virginity before passing out again.

"He's being dramatic." Leon pointed it out.

"Leon…" Annabelle looked at Leon with somewhat of an angry face before easing her expression.

There are many lines in their relationship and so she can't judge his actions as she judges that of her children. Even though he is the body of Leon, the one inside is not Leon.

"You understand that being of this family, you must keep the blood of your house from mixing with those of lowly origin, right?" She asked.

Leon looked at Annabelle for a while without conveying any expression.

"I am not going to ask you to explain yourself… just be careful and mind your surroundings." She then added.

"Mother? How could you?" Lance regained consciousness but almost immediately went back to unconsciousness.

"Huh! That's not even a slap on the wrist." On the other hand, Alice changed her attitude completely.

She was childish and bratty just a second ago, but now she has become almost as calm as Leon when he stares at something and thinks deeply with a dangerous gaze.

"Look at this brat trying to get me in trouble!" Leon said while smiling slyly at Alice.

"Brat, you say?" Alice asked with a vein popping on her forehead, "Dearest Leon, I almost thought it was a trick that you have lost all your memories but to even forget me… Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk! You couldn't even recognize me at that woman's mansion."

"Woman?" Leon frowned.

"Mhm!" Alice nodded, "Karmina De Sade."

"Ah! I see. So you were that sudden guest from that morning." Leon realized it was Alice who came to visit Karmina the night after they slept together.

"Yes. I almost caught you… plumbing." Alice said with a sly smile.

"PLUMBING?!" Lance regained consciousness after hearing the word and fainted again.

"Somebody, please, take him away and tell him it was all just a bad dream." Leon spoke impatiently.

"What's plumbing?" Annabelle asked.

"Something shameful, auntie." Alice said.

"Oh, Leon!" Annabelle took a few seconds before realizing the reference, "This is bad. What if that young lady bore a child?"

"The pipe leaked outside so… Guess I'm a bad plumber, after all." Leon said with a wide, sarcastic smile.

"Enough of this." Annabelle held her head and turned her wheelchair away, "I'll still have to confirm no pregnancy has happened and whether or not this girl you speak of is pregnant with a child of our blood."

"What about this brat?" Leon asked while pointing at Alice.

Annabelle halted and turned her chair as her eyes kept going left and right between Leon and Alice.

"According to the promise between the Darks and the Godfreys, you two are betrothed, which technically makes her your problem. Personal advice, though; make the most of your amnesia." Annabelle had a sly smile of her own as she rolled away in her wheelchair.

Turning to Alice, who was smiling at Leon, he couldn't help but notice her immature, round face and the childish bangs. Above that, the fact that her skin was rosy on her cheeks and her height wasn't above him, who is a bit shorter than average, meant Leon didn't know what to do.

"Listen, kid. We need to keep some distance and not give people the wrong impression, so no sneaking in my chambers or taking off clothes ever again." He said.

"What?" Alice's expression suddenly turned tragic, "So no plumbing?"

Without even replying, Leon immediately flicked her forehead, leaving it with a red smoking spot.

"Shut it, you damn minor!" Leon was a bit outraged, but he was mostly acting angry.

"Hehe!" On the other hand, Alice ran off while giggling, "It's alright. I will excuse you because you don't remember."

"Give up on making me remember… for everyone's sake." Leon spoke in a serious voice.

Alice smiled and walked closer to him again.

"Then why are you back here, Leon?" She asked.

"Seeking asylum." He replied.

"You have a lot of enemies, my betrothed. More than you even realize, and they will keep coming for you. It is part of your fate. No matter where you go, it won't make much difference." She said some foreboding words.

"And how do you know that?" He asked.

"The privilege of being the only daughter of this nation's Spy Master." She replied.

It seems that Alice is not an ordinary 17-year-old aristocrat. She seemed to have entered the world of espionage courtesy of her family's specialty. The Godfreys are a part of the Moderate faction, and they have the backs of Duchess Annabelle and her children as she trains more special operatives for them in her mansion under the guise of Butlers and Maids.

"So?" He tilted his head, wanting to know what Alice was trying to tell him.

"So do me a favor and love me." Alice stuck her body to Leon's and looked at him right in the eyes before starting to smell his scent.

Her expressions were twitching a bit, but she was taking an action bolder than anything in her life out in this exposed hallway. She looked at his sweaty skin and sensed that his heartbeat remained normal even though hers was racing.

"Love me, Leon." She whispered to his ears, "Love me like you used to do, and I'll make the world kneel for you."

She will make the world kneel?

For him?

Leon blinked a few times and looked at the brat, whose face was that of an angel, yet she spoke like a devil.

He smiled.

It… amused him… just a tiny bit, though.

*THUD*

"ARGH!"

But in a split second, Leon took control of the situation from this bratty Alice.

In any drama, the hero will trap the heroine against the wall and lean towards it with his hand just to get close to her face and make her heart race. Leon made Alice's heart race like a mad horse as well; however, he wasn't making that romantic move mentioned earlier.

He was holding her by her neck, raising her by one arm, and pressing her against the wall.

"Make the world kneel to me?" Leon recited her words and felt them around his mouth, "I kinda like that, kid. Seems like a good endeavor."

Alice was looking at the smiling Leon, whose airs were a bit darker than usual. His smile, though, felt as if it wasn't his.

She was being strangled by his grasp, but despite her prowess, she was not fighting back. She was only holding his forearms to keep herself from choking as she looked at his smile, which she couldn't translate.

Her attitude may be a little bit unstable, but he wasn't like that before. He didn't even seem like the type to switch. Still, to her, he seemed like the devil—a handsome devil.

But just as suddenly as he switched to this twisted version of himself, he let her fall down on her knees in front of him.

"*Cough* *cough*!"

She coughed and looked up at him only to see his middle finger getting released by his thumb before striking her forehead again.

"Ouch!"

She held her forehead from the pain this time as he seemed to have put more strength into this hit.

"Remember, kid. Only I make the world kneel to me." He said in a confident voice, "But thank you for diverting my attention to such a matter."

Leon turned around and walked away.

"Wait!" She called for him before standing up from her kneeling position.

Leon halted his steps and turned to her with the side of his head.

"You want to take the lead and make the world kneel?" She asked with the expression of someone who is both shocked and excited.

"As I said, it sounds like a worthy endeavor. If I do nothing but learn Magic all the time, I am bound to grow tired eventually. Making the world kneel, however, sounds a bit romantic." He said while smiling and thinking.

"Can I be by your side?" She asked and stepped closer to him but this time, she was eager rather than being bratty or cheeky.

Leon turned to her fully and put his hand on her head before suddenly grabbing her hair and violently pulling her head closer.

"Were you ever someone's subordinate?" He asked.

"I…" She wanted to say something but she knew he would not remember so she changed her answer, "I always hoped to be by your side ever since I was young. If it is a subordinate you want me to be, I am willing to."

"Heh!" Leon smiled in wonder.

Why does he keep meeting only weirdos in this world?

"I like you, brat." He said and let go of her hair, "I don't know your reasons but a Captain must always have Lieutenants."

Even though he was putting her under him in rank, Alice seemed a little bit excited.

"Yes, Captain!" Alice put her right first over her heart as a sign of formal greeting for those of higher rank.

"My youngest Lieutenant. I hope you don't face the same fate my previous lieutenants had." Leon said and walked away.

Alice followed him immediately.

"I won't fail you." She said.

"I failed them." Leon said with a serious face before hastening his pace, "We have no time to waste then."

"Where to, Captain?" She asked.

"Training, of course."

Leon had his first subordinate, Alice Godfrey, whose talent was only second to his. With the combined forces of those two together, the world of Agartha shall come to its knees from the highlands and meadows of the fair Amber to the desolate plains and steppes of the Dragon Highets.