Chapter 36: Smug Little Green
Lart kept his gaze fixed on Alan, keenly noticing the young mage’s subtle oddities. The black-haired mage’s ivory-like, smooth face was now flushed with a roseate tint, his breathing quicker than before. Most importantly, it was Alan’s expression—Lart was not some empty-headed, pampered nobleman. Having traveled across the continent as an adventurer for so long, reading the slightest shifts in another’s mood and emotion had become a survival instinct.
For the first time in his life, Lart began to hate this very skill of his. If only he could be a little more foolish, a little more dull, he might have convinced himself that Alan’s behavior at this moment was simply due to concern for a “friend.”
But Lart knew perfectly well what that subtle expression—an uneasy mix of embarrassment and nervousness—on the mage’s face really meant.
“Alan… you haven’t… already… with Veles—damn it! He already made a move on you, didn’t he?! I should have realized sooner! The dragon vine is essentially a part of him. If you hadn’t formed that intimate bond, how could the vine possibly obey you?!”
That dreadful realization struck Lart like a spear, piercing his heart with agony.
“N-no, no, no!” Hearing Lart’s words, Alan nearly jumped in place. He denied it with all his might. Yet even as he spoke of Veles, the charming flush on the young mage’s cheeks spread again, even tinting his neck a faint pink.
“Mr. Veles and I… well… how should I put this… I know, Lart, that you probably can’t accept it, but I, I mean…”
Alan’s explanation was rambling at best. But perhaps because he was too flustered, before he realized it, some words that should have stayed buried deep in his heart had slipped out.
“If Mr. Veles is willing to accept it, even without any magic, I would still…”
‘I would still like him.’
Fortunately, at the last moment, Alan remembered the deeply rooted anti-LGBT traditions of this continent.
And what reminded him most certainly was Lart, swaying as if he might faint at any second.
Alan quickly corrected himself.
“I still want to stay by Mr. Veles’ side,” he said, trying to cover up the meaning with his words. “He’s lonely, and he’s a very, very good person. Lart, as his brother, you should know this. You can’t just assume that everyone who wants to be his friend is a fool whose mind has been bewitched by magic.”
The black-haired mage stammered.
For a moment, Lart couldn’t make a sound.
It was as if someone had violently crushed a scorpion’s bitter gall inside his stomach. Even though he had long known that Veles had enchanted innocent mages, he still felt unbearable pain at Alan’s now-indisputable love.
“No…”
He murmured in a low, husky voice.
‘I will not allow it.’
The clamor in his mind grew louder and louder, until it nearly became a shrill scream.
“…Ah, what did you say?”
Alan suddenly snapped back to attention. When he looked at Lart again, he was startled. Lart’s expression was no longer just intense; it was outright feral. Alan hated to use such a word to describe his former friend, but the man’s current expression was genuinely frightening…
“Lart, are you alright? You seem a bit too agitated. Maybe you need to calm down? I still have some ingredients for a sobriety potion—”
“I am fine, Alan. The only reason I cannot remain calm… is because I love you.”
“Ah?”
The young black-haired mage froze for a moment, blinking in panic as he tried to comprehend what he had just heard.
“Ha, haha… I also really appreciate your concern for me. Back at the guild, you were the only one willing to take me in. I know you’re the kind of true knight—”
Lart suddenly stepped forward, closing the distance to Alan.
“I love you, as a desert endlessly thirsts for precious rain, as a male beast in spring yearns for its mate… Even if this love makes me betray the gods who once cherished me, I still cannot suppress my desire for you. Alan, I swear to you, I love you far more than that evil dragon who ensnares hearts with cunning and magic.”
“Uh—”
Alan swallowed hard.
He stared at Lart in panic.
“But… according to the teachings of the Goddess of Light, any love between people of the same sex is sinful—”
“I have already betrayed the goddess. Have you forgotten?”
“But I remember you saying before that, in your heart, you regarded it as profane and evil—”
“If it’s you, then it is not profane.” Lart suddenly dropped to one knee, performing the most solemn knightly salute to Alan. “Love coming from you would be the most precious reward of my life.”
“B-but—”
If this were a nightmare, Alan silently prayed to wake from it as soon as possible.
He looked at his former friend in despair, trembling helplessly, wanting to cry but finding no tears.
“But I cannot accept your love.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t recognize Lart’s sincerity and passion; however…
However, faced with a confession from someone of the same sex, Alan’s body instinctively reacted with goosebumps, and his inner resistance was overwhelmingly strong.
The cabin fell into silence.
Lart remained frozen in place, staring at Alan, but a deathly gray cast had settled over his handsome face.
Alan turned his face awkwardly and carefully took a few steps back.
“Uh… I really appreciate your… feelings. Truly, Lart, you’re the most remarkable person I’ve ever met and a precious friend… but I can’t return your feelings,” Alan said, his voice trembling violently. “I’m really sorry.”
“And what if it were Veles?” Lart suddenly asked. The once brilliant, gem-like eyes set in his sockets now looked like two cheap blue glass beads that had been roughly rubbed. There was a strange tone in his voice as he spoke. “If my elder brother Veles, the demonic dragon of the future, were to express his admiration for you, would you reject him the same way?”
At this, Alan finally furrowed his brows.
“That question is too strange… this has nothing to do with Mr. Veles, right?”
“Of course it does—”
Before Lart could finish, the silver jewelry box on the shelf suddenly shook violently.
With a loud bang, it fell directly to the floor. The exquisitely carved design warped instantly, and the tiny embedded gemstones scattered along with some pieces of the mechanism. This was no small commotion, and Alan was startled.
“Oh, Little Green?!”
The mage exclaimed in concern, rushing to the jewelry box, fearing that the Little Green he had stuffed inside had been hurt.
—Of course, this worry was clearly unnecessary.
The dragon vine that shot out from the deformed jewelry box had somehow returned to its lush green color (probably thanks to the honey water that hadn’t been fully consumed inside the box). Although its size was still restricted by some unknown spell Veles had set, it retained the thin, delicate form of a young branch. Compared to before, however, Little Green was now as lively as a frenzied puppy.
Before Alan could even react, Little Green had wrapped its roots and leaves tightly around his arm.
With a quick whoosh, it shot up onto the mage’s shoulder. The few swollen flower heads suddenly bloomed, revealing brightly colored, tiny petals, and the menacing circular fangs in the stamens.
They quivered and swayed, hissing softly in the direction of Lart.
Alan flailed, trying desperately to control the overexcited branches.
“Hey, Little Green! Remember what I told you before?! At least behave a little—”
Fortunately, this time the vine didn’t spiral out of control (Alan did not want to rebuild his house this season). It even obediently closed its venom glands, refraining from spraying corrosive liquid on Lart.
Perhaps the previous punishments had finally taught it some discipline? Alan thought helplessly. But vaguely, he felt that this Little Green wasn’t just being “obedient”—rather… um… a little smug?
Lart stood rooted to the spot, his gaze sweeping over Alan before locking onto the wide-open flowers of the dragon vine. Alan’s fair fingers rested on those grotesque, vulgar organs, letting the sticky liquid drip onto his palms and the back of his hand.
He had warned Alan. But under the effects of magic, his beloved Alan was no longer listening to him at all.
Veins stood out on the back of the man’s hand, each finger gripping as if it could sink directly into the hilt of the sword at his waist.
At that moment, Alan let out a deep sigh. He whispered awkwardly to Lart, “Lart… as captain of the Royal Knights, you must have a lot of duties. Little Green has been a bit unruly lately, and I don’t know how long I can control it. Maybe you should head back for now? As for Mr. Veles’ enchanting magic… um, we can discuss that later, okay?”
Without a word, Lart left Alan’s cabin.
Alan stood at the window, watching Lart’s tall, desolate figure gradually vanish from sight. Only then did he slump his shoulders in exhaustion, leaning helplessly against the windowsill.
“Ah… hopefully nothing will happen…” he murmured to himself.
No sooner had he spoken than he felt his fingertip gently bitten.
It was Little Green.
The dragon vine had only caught Alan’s finger between its tooth tips, while the rest of its flowers lifted their heads, all pointing straight at Alan.
Alan: “…Ah.”
Why, even though the dragon vine’s flowers didn’t even have faces, could he somehow see anger and grievance in those ringed rows of teeth?
