#16. Unnecessarily Handsome
His voice was anything but subtle, and yet it sounded so temptingly persuasive. Olivia perked up her ears and asked, unable to hide the curiosity tugging at her expression.
“What’s the justification?”
“Attempted assassination of the imperial princess.”
“Now that’s grand.”
“To wipe them all out at once, the justification has to be grand too.”
Being able to deal with such a hassle all at once—what could be better? Not only Cryer, who brought it up, but even Olivia, who was listening, didn’t question it at all. That he could take care of the remaining knights—or knight-like people—in one sweep. Olivia mulled it over for a moment before shaking her head quickly.
“It doesn’t matter how many pieces of trash die right now. What matters is—!”
She snatched up the document she’d been staring at and shook it in the air.
“Who would’ve thought an Old God would be involved in this mess!”
She’d thought it was just a case of a simple disappearance or serial killings, but after seeing the twisted symbol of the Old God stamped onto the foreheads of the corpses found in the empty lot, she couldn’t think that way anymore. If she’d known, she would’ve dug and dug into this case before the regression to uncover the truth.
Cryer watched Olivia, who looked like she was about to rip her own hair out as she scattered papers everywhere, and closed his book.
“Calm down.”
“How can I calm down? Do you know how many hours I’ve been staring at these documents?”
“Exactly four hours and twenty-eight minutes.”
“Exactly! I’ve been at it that long and haven’t made a single bit of progress! How is that even possible? I should’ve figured out who that burnt-up culprit was before the regression!”
But regret always comes too late. Olivia threw the last document up in frustration, her arms raised in surrender, and then slumped down with a sulky expression.
“I didn’t even know the Old Gods were involved. Even if I’d investigated before regression, I probably wouldn’t have found anything… Wait. Why are you laughing?”
He had turned his head, but his steel-like shoulders were trembling ever so slightly. He was definitely laughing. Olivia marched over, grabbed the book, and glared at him.
“What are you laughing at? Stop it! I’m about to explode, and you’re laughing?!”
She smacked him with the book’s corner repeatedly. Cryer caught her wrist with a smile still lingering on his face.
“No, it’s just…”
“Just what?!”
“Even when someone like you, who looks small and harmless like a princess, does something foolish… it’s kind of cute.”
She could tell that he didn’t say she looked completely harmless like a knife, which meant he wasn’t lying. But Olivia couldn’t come up with a response. C-cute? What? She heard it, yes, but hearing and understanding are two very different things. It was one of those things you couldn’t comprehend even after hearing, so naturally, she had no reply. As Olivia wordlessly moved her lips, Cryer reached for the papers she had scattered. She stared at his swaying silver hair and rubbed her chest—or rather, her stomach. It felt like she’d swallowed a feather.
Really, what had he been before the parts of his past were wiped away? In Olivia’s dark night, Cryer’s silver moon wavered. Just as she unconsciously reached for his hair, his voice made her pause.
“Where are you stuck?”
Naturally, her hand shifted to the papers he held instead of his head. She tapped the document lightly.
“The list of missing people is inaccurate.”
She massaged her throbbing temple.
“I told you, right? That man was found in a missing person’s house, burned to a crisp.”
“And they couldn’t identify who he was.”
“If we could at least figure out which house he was found in, maybe we could lie in wait and catch the culprit before he burns up.”
She picked up the list and folded it into a paper airplane.
“Even after memorizing all the names, scouring maps, and jogging my memory, I can’t figure out which house it was.”
“Do you remember anything about the house?”
“No. If I did, I wouldn’t be tearing my hair out. I only vaguely recall it, so I suspect all of them, but at the same time, none of them feel right.”
Cryer easily caught the paper airplane she tossed and said:
“What if we check every house on the list?”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“Well… I did consider that.”
Olivia trailed off and shook her head.
“But there must be missing people who aren’t even on this list. So even if we check them all…”
“We might still not find the house you saw before the regression.”
“Right.”
Avoiding the mountains of documents, Olivia collapsed onto a large sofa. Even then, she clutched her papers and began reviewing details she already had memorized.
“What kind of psycho does something like this…”
She muttered a string of curses as she flopped down, practically lounging across the sofa, when suddenly, a shadow loomed over her. Startled by the sudden darkness, Olivia peeked out from behind her documents.
“What?”
Cryer was leaning over her, gripping the sofa’s armrest, arms on either side of her, effectively caging her in.
—
In a normal situation, someone would either blush bright red and feel their heart race, or scream in shock. But Olivia was far from normal. Having regressed four times, she was light-years away from anything like normalcy. She glanced briefly at the iron-like arms trapping her and calmly asked again while rustling her documents.
“What are you doing, suddenly?”
Cryer looked down at her and slowly opened his mouth.
“You reached out earlier, then pulled your hand back.”
“Earlier? Me?”
Tilting her head in confusion, Olivia soon fell silent, eyes darting side to side. It was obvious she was avoiding the question, but Cryer had no intention of letting it slide. After a moment of awkward silence, Olivia muttered:
“My hand just… moved.”
Naturally, Cryer didn’t miss that barely audible whisper.
“Just?”
“Yeah. Just…”
It wasn’t a real answer—but it was all she could give. She hadn’t reached out with any intention or thought behind it. Cryer looked down at her round forehead peeking out from behind the papers and smiled faintly.
The first time she had reached out to him, she had said the same thing.
“I don’t know. My hand just moved.”
In a way, it was charmingly consistent. Cryer chose not to push further and changed the subject.
“You don’t get startled anymore.”
Olivia gently moved her documents and rubbed her chest again.
“You’re right. I think I’m getting used to it.”
Her heart no longer pounded hard enough to feel like it’d fall out of her chest. As she stared at him blankly, Olivia suddenly remarked:
“You’re unnecessarily handsome.”
There was a faint sigh in her blunt words, causing Cryer to raise an eyebrow.
“Unnecessarily?”
“Yeah. Totally useless.”
Despite the harsh judgment, Cryer showed no sign of being upset.
“That’s a first.”
“Being called handsome?”
“No. The ‘useless’ part.”
“Wait, you knew you were handsome?”
“Who knows.”
“What’s with that vague answer?”
To be honest, Cryer had never really looked at his own face—there was no need or interest. Only Greta, the daughter of the sorcerer who had resurrected him and branded him with the Old God’s mark, had whispered once:
“Chosen by the gods—you’re like a living, breathing perfect statue.”
Olivia narrowed her eyes and carefully examined Cryer’s face in silence. Until now, she had never really thought about his appearance. Before regression, meeting him meant death, so paying attention to his face was pointless. Even after regression, she’d been too focused on stopping the war by capturing him. She had no time to notice.
From his smooth forehead framed by silver hair to the sharp bridge of his nose and angular jawline…
“With a face like this, it’s no wonder there were rumors about the princess falling for you at first sight or taking you as a concubine.”
Olivia frowned and grumbled.
“If you weren’t this unnecessarily handsome, they would’ve just said she recognized your skills and kept you close… Wait. Skills?”
Mid-rant, Olivia suddenly stopped and blinked rapidly. With each blink, gears in her head clicked into place.
“Cryer.”
A wicked smile spread across her face—one that could never be described as kind, no matter how wide it stretched. Cryer, who was looking straight at her, gave a soft chuckle.
“What’s with that devious grin?”
“Devious? Rude—hmph.”
Olivia frowned at his words but quickly smoothed her expression. She couldn’t even deny it; her grin was too blatantly scheming. She pressed her hand against his chest.
“Move.”
Once Cryer obediently stepped aside and sat on the opposite couch, Olivia sat up properly too.
“You said you’re still getting stronger, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then how strong are you now? Is there anyone in the Empire who could beat you?”
Her eyes sparkled. Even a passing peacock would know she already had an answer in mind, but Cryer gave a bluntly realistic reply.
“I don’t know every knight in the Empire, so I can’t say for certain.”
Olivia slumped back with a sigh.
“This is where you’re supposed to say, ‘No one can defeat me.’”
“Do you want me to lie?”
“Don’t be so serious. Hmm…”
She groped around for a pen and quickly scribbled a list before handing it to him.
“Try sparring with these people. I’ll let them know in advance.”
Cryer silently scanned the list. Olivia leaned in with narrowed eyes.
“Just to be clear—”
“I won’t kill them.”
He answered instantly, making Olivia blurt out:
“You were thinking of killing them?!”
Cryer just shrugged.
“Since I became like this, I haven’t fought anyone without killing them.”
What he meant by like this likely referred to the brand on his collarbone—the mark of the Old God.
“Didn’t you say the Old God demands blood…?”
At Olivia’s subdued tone, Cryer let out a short, dry laugh.
