WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

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◈ The Pushover Young Lord in a Romance Fantasy Won't Take It Anymore ◈

Chapter 79

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"Do not disperse the fire energy to lessen the pain while forming the ring. You must form a perfect ring without compromise."

If she compromised halfway, like Julian, weaving it would be easier, but its power would be reduced accordingly.

The four rings I had formed were complete only because of my willpower.

Lucia silently nodded gently.

I closed my eyes and focused all my attention on the sensation in my palm.

"..."

She felt far more slender than I had expected.

With such a small frame, she had to endure searing pain like the fires of hell.

How had she formed seven rings back then? My admiration for Lucia grew anew.

I handed Lucia one of the red leaves I had prepared.

"This is Flame Thistle. You can chew and swallow it, or swallow it whole."

The first Sun Ring had to be formed the hard way. Only then would her bones mature into an even sturdier martial physique.

Power gained easily was always the first to break in a crisis.

Lucia accepted it and immediately put it in her mouth.

Gulp.

Lucia frowned as her throat moved. Eaten raw, it was bitter as medicine.

From that moment, Lucia's skin turned a deep red.

The blood vessels throughout her body swelled as if they would burst, and blood seeped from her lips as she bit down hard enough to tear them.

Fwoooosh!

Only seconds later, the air inside the tent grew rapidly hotter.

Lucia's pale nape and cheeks flushed crimson in an instant. Large beads of sweat formed on her forehead and the bridge of her nose, trailing down along her jawline.

"Ngh..."

Her small body trembled faintly.

She bit her lips so hard it looked as if her teeth would shatter. A suppressed groan slipped through her clenched teeth.

The thin back beneath my hands convulsed.

"If things go wrong, your organs may melt. Do not force yourself to hold your breath. Keep it steady."

Supporting her rigid back, I sharpened my energy sense.

Hot.

Even from the heat reaching me through my palms, I could gauge the depth of her searing pain.

That was why I pressed my palms more firmly against her back.

'This is where it begins.'

The pain that accompanied forming a ring did not stop at burning the body.

When one was born talented, the nervous system became sharpened to its absolute limit. It entered the realm of hypersensitivity.

The sound of a collar brushing against something, the rough texture of fabric, the faint breeze grazing one's skin.

Even the breathing and body heat of someone nearby became amplified dozens or hundreds of times. They became sharp stimuli that pricked at the skin.

Haa...

Lucia's breathing became abnormally ragged. Her outer ears turned so red that they looked ready to burst.

Her back twitched with particular sensitivity.

Even my touch was an overwhelming stimulus to her.

Whenever my breath reached her ear, she flinched slightly. She reacted sensitively even to the faintest breath.

That meant the pain would be multiplied as well.

To reduce even the stimulation I caused, I held my breath.

'Just endure a little longer.'

I pressed my lips tightly together, worried that even encouragement would distract her.

Then Lucia suddenly threw her head back. A thin, delayed breath escaped through her lips.

Blue veins stood out against her pale nape as she entered a trance-like state.

I extended my energy sense even more keenly in preparation for any emergency.

When pain reached its limit, an inner demon was likely to appear. I prayed that one would not come.

It would be good if she overcame it, but the reward was not great enough to justify it. It was an affliction like poison.

'Now.'

The high heat rose beyond control. The suppressed Solar energy broke past its threshold.

Fwoooosh!

The change happened in an instant.

The heat that had been about to explode in every direction rushed into the base of Lucia's heart all at once.

Compressed, then compressed again. Violent contractions occurred, as though life itself were stirring.

Sizzle!

The air inside the tent scraped together, scattering sparks. The vast mana of a five-star mage naturally leaked out.

It was a precarious threshold that could easily lead to an explosion. I tried to raise a Sun Ring and form a barrier around her.

Soon, there was no need.

The heat wave pressing down on the tent stopped all at once.

With instinctive senses alone, Lucia suppressed the fire energy, carved it down, and shaped it into a circle.

"..."

A brilliant reddish-gold light swirled within Lucia's chest.

Her first Sun Ring.

There was not the slightest distortion, nor was its color faint.

The ideal shape of the ring rotated steadily.

A reddish-gold ring that allowed not even a trace of impurity.

Unlike the ring I had formed, it was Lucia's own Sun Ring.

'As expected.'

It was a flawless achievement, no less perfect than my own. It was fitting for Lucia, who had formed seven rings.

At least no inner demon had appeared. That alone was fortunate.

I sighed in relief and withdrew my hands from her back.

"Excellent. I knew you would do it in one try, but it is even more perfect than I expected."

I congratulated her with a smile.

Yet Lucia's reaction differed from usual.

I had expected her to beam with joy, but she only sat there with her head lowered.

From what my energy sense detected, she was not particularly exhausted. She should have been perfectly fine.

Was she savoring the afterglow? Or secretly pleased with her accomplishment?

In my first life, Lucia had also remained seated in one spot for over ten minutes without moving.

She had said she was enjoying the lingering sensation.

'Is this really the same situation as then?'

Lucia's lips moved alongside her uneven breathing. Her gaze wandered through empty space, and she would not even meet my eyes.

For some reason, she did not look well.

"Lady Lucia. Are you feeling all right?"

Concerned, I reached out to check on her.

Flinch.

Before I could even touch her, Lucia's shoulders jumped.

"Um, excuse me!"

Stammering, she rose awkwardly to her feet. She could barely hold herself upright as she staggered backward.

"I'll get some air for a moment! I'm too hot!"

Leaving only those words behind, Lucia fled the tent as if running away.

Bang!

The door shut with a loud noise.

I blankly stared at the closed door and scratched the back of my neck.

"She looked fine..."

My senses did not lie. Lucia showed no symptoms that could be called aftereffects.

Nor did she look as if she were lost in afterglow or reflection.

Perhaps the searing pain was unfamiliar because it was her first time experiencing it.

If it turned into phantom pain, it could be difficult to calm down.

"She'll be fine after getting some cool air."

* * *

Lucia had experienced hypersensitivity several times before.

More precisely, as a mage, she had experienced it whenever she broke through the barriers of the third, fourth, and fifth stars.

But none of those three experiences had been like this.

"Haaah..."

Lucia leaned against a wall in an empty corner and steadied her breathing.

Thud.

Her legs gave out, and she sank onto the floor. Even the cold sensation was clear enough to make her body tremble faintly.

"..."

Lucia curled her trembling hand into a fist and placed it over her chest.

The warmth of her heart, felt through the back of her hand, was as hot as a furnace.

This was not merely residual heat from forming the ring.

"This is insane. This is really insane...!"

Lucia fanned her face with both hands. Even so, the heat showed no sign of cooling.

Even if she were thrown into the middle of the north, the ice beneath her would melt.

Hypersensitivity was a phenomenon that amplified every sense dozens of times over.

At the final moment when the Sun Ring formed, Lucia's heightened senses devoured every stimulus in the world without discrimination.

At the center of those amplified senses was Astin, who had served as her cultivation guard.

The feeling of his large, rough palms supporting her back.

The warm body heat passing from skin to skin.

The tickle of his breath blowing against her ears.

Even Astin's distinctive scent of sweat and his natural body scent, suddenly washing over her.

"Ah, please."

Lucia hurriedly took out a handkerchief and covered her nose and mouth.

She could not bear it. The lingering scent of that man remained at the tip of her nose no matter what she did, and she could not erase it.

Even Astin's concerned face came vividly to mind.

Hypersensitivity made even the images formed in her mind appear clear and real.

Lucia cupped her burning cheeks in both hands. They were truly hot as fire.

"Lady Lucia. Are you feeling all right?"

Even that low voice echoed in her ears.

Her mind went blank beneath the intense stimulation tormenting her five senses.

Sensations that she had once dismissed as part of an achievement now returned as unbearable torture.

"If I'd stayed there..."

When Astin approached her in concern, his distinctive presence, including his scent and low voice, had nearly stopped her breath.

If she had not run away, she would have made a complete spectacle of herself.

Thump. Thump.

The sound of her heart, which she normally would not have noticed, now sounded like thunder.

The more aware of it she became, the louder it grew.

The side effects of hypersensitivity tormented her this cruelly.

Thud!

Begging herself to calm down, she struck her chest with her fist.

Thump. Thump!

There was no sign of it settling down.

She became genuinely afraid that her heart might burst and kill her.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

No matter how much she hit herself, it was useless. Striking herself only multiplied the pain.

Because her vivid five senses had become intertwined, hypersensitivity spread even into the realm of her emotions.

No matter how she tried to deny it, she could only feel her own emotions with complete clarity.

A world of heightened senses filled with only one person.

It was the manifestation of her romantic feelings for that man.

"...How am I supposed to look him in the face again?"

Lucia had not realized.

She had not expected to become aware of just how deeply she had fallen for him in this way.

Sitting on the floor, she buried her face in her drawn-up knees.

Astin knew nothing and was only worried about her.

She was so ashamed of having blushed and run away by herself that she wanted to die.

Between her curled knees, Lucia's nose twitched faintly.

A lingering scent that had not scattered even in the wind. Even the warmth that had touched her back remained heavily behind.

She wished that this sensation would linger a little longer.

Without realizing it, Lucia harbored an improper wish.

"What am I thinking..."

She buried her flushed face even deeper between her knees.

Only the traces of one man remained vividly within Lucia's five senses.

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