MDBYF ~ 07

Chapter : 07

Of course, the man paid absolutely no attention to Clara’s reaction.

With his bare upper body exposed above the waistband of his trousers, he bent forward and thoroughly scrubbed himself clean. He even used soap.

Once he had completely washed away the smell of blood clinging to his body, the man turned around and looked at Clara.

This time, his gaze lingered.

Staring at her as though assessing her with those unreadable black eyes, he suddenly closed the distance between them.

Now standing right in front of her, he reached out his large hand.

Clara flinched—but only for a moment.

“Doesn’t seem like you have a fever.”

The man, whom she had thought might grab her by the hair, merely placed his hand against her forehead and muttered those words.

“If something hurts, tell me beforehand. It’ll become troublesome otherwise.”

“……That’s not it.”

“Your face was red, like you had a fever.”

“Don’t stand so close to me. Y-you’re not even wearing any clothes…”

“What?”

The man questioned her, then seemed to realize what she meant.

“Ah.”

A crooked smile appeared on his lips.

“So you really weren’t lying about being an aristocratic lady.”

“……”

“Does me being half-naked bother you?”

“W-well…”

“What am I supposed to do about that? I usually go around without a shirt when I’m in my own place.”

A thought suddenly crossed Clara’s mind.

At least he doesn’t seem like he’s going to pounce on me like those shameless thugs did.

Fortunately, the man proved her fears unfounded.

He took a step back, sighed as though mildly dissatisfied, and picked up his black clothes.

“I’ve been given an annoying assignment.”

He muttered quietly as he pulled on a thin turtleneck.

“I wonder if you’re satisfied now.”

“……”

“Hey.”

When Clara still refused to look at him, he spoke to her again.

“Why don’t you look at me?”

“……”

“Miss Clara Thuringen.”

Clara jerked her head up in surprise when he called her by her full name.

His indifferent eyes looked down at her.

“Seems your fiancé assigned you a pretty lousy bodyguard.”

“……”

“Maybe you aren’t as loved as you thought.”

“……Who are you?”

“You’re finally asking.”

The man let out a short laugh.

“Only now are you curious about my name?”

“I…I thought you were…”

“You thought I was someone the Colonel sent. I can tell without you saying it.”

“He won’t just sit back and do nothing. Considering how long I’ve been missing…”

The words escaped her before she could think.

She spoke confidently, but Clara felt her heart sink.

Because, in truth, she could not be certain.

She did not know what Josef thought about her disappearance.

Even so, Clara deliberately hardened her gaze so that he would not notice her inner uncertainty.

He was a dangerous man.

A kidnapper.

She could not allow him to gain confidence from knowing that Josef might not care about her.

The man did not mock her.

Instead, without the slightest change in his expression, he simply answered:

“I know. Why would the Colonel just sit back and do nothing?”

Although he was the very person who had stolen the fiancée of Colonel Kirchner—a man revered by everyone—not a trace of fear could be seen on his face.

“He must have figured it out by now. That someone openly stole his fiancée right out from under him.”

His lips curved slightly.

“And that someone was me. With my own hands. Personally.”

“……Do you know Josef?”

The man did not answer.

Instead, he twisted his lips into a smile.

It was the first truly threatening expression Clara had seen from him.

“I suppose it’s time I told you my name.”

As though telling her to listen carefully, he stared intently at the side of Clara’s face and leaned closer.

The sudden warmth of his breath against her skin sent a chill down her spine.

“My name is Mikhail Rosenheiler.”

“……”

“You look like you’ve never heard it before.”

He laughed coldly, as though that fact amused him greatly.

The fear that had briefly receded rose again.

Did mentioning Josef… provoke him?

The person who had changed the attitude of the man who had initially treated her rather favorably was none other than Clara’s fiancé, Josef.

Even Clara could easily tell that Mikhail harbored some sort of personal feelings toward him.

“When you return later, make sure you ask him.”

Mikhail looked at her.

“Ask him who Mikhail Rosenheiler is. Tell him to explain it to you in detail.”

When Clara met his eyes again, she found herself staring into an unfathomable black void.

It was a day when the rain poured down unusually hard.

The automobile carrying Colonel Kirchner did not arrive at the mansion until the dead of night.

For the servants of the marquis’s residence, this was nothing unusual.

Despite the late hour, they greeted their employer without the slightest disorder in their appearance.

“Welcome home, my lord.”

Josef emerged from the automobile while a servant held an umbrella over him.

He looked particularly exhausted.

The servants who had served him for many years could tell immediately.

He needed Guiding.

And he needed it now.

Josef entered the mansion more on edge than ever before. Hearing someone approaching hurriedly, he slightly raised his eyes.

The woman who usually provided his Guiding was waiting for him, her hands politely folded before her.

Josef suddenly stopped.

Against the backdrop of the torrential rain, silence briefly settled between them.

As he stared at his Guide, an inexplicable sense of displeasure arose within him.

For some reason, he did not like seeing that woman inside his mansion today.

She was the woman whose compatibility with him was the highest, the one who had always provided him with Guiding.

Until now, he had never once felt that her Guiding was inadequate.

The stronger a Sentinel’s innate abilities, the more important the role of a Guide became.

Because Sentinels possessed abilities far beyond those of ordinary humans, the strain on their bodies accumulated at a terrifying rate.

Without regular Guiding, their bodies would literally break down.

The servant, quick to notice his employer’s displeasure, cautiously spoke.

“My lord, would you not like the Guide to attend to you?”

No.

His condition was such that he needed Guiding immediately.

With the Guide standing right in front of him, his body—his instincts as a Sentinel—were crying out for him to take the Guiding he needed.

Craving and hunger surged within him.

It felt as though he had gone three days without food.

He needed Guiding more desperately than ever.

And that was precisely why his anger rose.

He hated it.

Everything irritated him.

The empty place left behind by his missing fiancée.

This damned body that demanded Guiding at a time like this.

Everything.

No matter how late he returned home, Clara had always come out to see him personally.

Most of the time, she would simply stand at a distance, cautiously watching him before disappearing again.

But today, he could not sense her presence.

Of course not.

Clara was not at the mansion.

He had lost her.

And he still had not found her.

He had searched every corner of the city, interrogated countless people, and thoroughly combed the surrounding areas.

Yet her whereabouts remained unknown.

Today had been no different.

Having returned home once again without finding a single clue, Josef felt—for the first time in his life—utterly incompetent.

Consumed by a helplessness he had never experienced before, half-filled with rage, he had entered the mansion…

Only to find another woman waiting to greet him instead of Clara.

Then he saw her and felt his thirst for Guiding rise all the way to his throat.

And then, once again, he was forced to remember that Clara was still missing.

It made him so damn angry that he could barely endure it.

After barely managing to regain his composure, Josef gave an order in a low, cold voice.

“Leave.”

The startled Guide hesitated.

She had undoubtedly noticed his condition.

She seemed unsure whether she could truly leave him alone like this.

Unfortunately for her, Josef did not have even a shred of patience left to spare.

“Didn’t you hear me tell you to get rid of her?”

The servants finally came to their senses and hurriedly escorted the Guide out of the mansion.

Meanwhile, Josef strode away without looking back and climbed the stairs.

The place he headed for without thinking was Clara’s bedroom.

Naturally, it was empty.

Josef stood motionless at the doorway, staring into the bedroom shrouded in darkness.

“……Where the hell did you go?”

He felt frustrated.

At times, even anxious.

He had never felt this way even when hundreds of his own soldiers were on the verge of being lost.

And yet, unbelievably, a single missing woman was now throwing his entire world into chaos.