𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚 | 𝐓𝐨𝐣𝐢 𝐅𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐨

- Chapter 15 -

Having fun?"

Her heart skips a beat as a voice suddenly breaks the silence in the room. She turns around abruptly, her grip tightening on the sword in her hand.

Standing at the entrance of the weapon room is Toji, his arms crossed, and a smirk on his face. He leans against the doorway, watching Helia with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

As Helia realizes who it is, her heart rate slowly returns to normal. However, she can't help but feel a flicker of annoyance when she sees the smirk on Toji's face.

She straightens up and returns his gaze with a glare, but she lowers the sword, keeping a wary distance between them two.

Toji lifts his eyebrow as Helias glares at him, his smirk widening. He steps closer, the sound of his footsteps echoing faintly in the room.

"Is that how you treat the man who just saved your ass? With that nasty look?" He asks, his tone casually sarcastic.

"I've already thanked you for saving my life, sir." She says in a tone less polite than she had hoped.

He moves closer, his strides casual and relaxed, his gaze fixed on Helia. He closes the distance, stopping a few steps away, still sporting that irritating smirk on his face.

"Yeah, you did." He concedes. "But that doesn't mean you need to look so pissed off all the time." He crosses arms over his chest, his eyes intently studying her.

Helia quickly puts back the sword to where it originally was. He chuckles softly, his eyes flitting from the sword to Helia and back again.

"Oh, were you playing pretend with that sword?" He teases, his tone laced with mockery. "Pretending to be a knight in some fairy tale?"

Helia can feel her embarrassment and anger rise. Why won't he just leave her alone? "No, I wasn't!"

He lets out a low chuckle, enjoying the fact that he's managed to get under her skin. He studies her expression, noticing the slight hint of embarrassment in her eyes.

"Oh? Really?" He taunts, his tone mocking but playful. "Then what were you doing, hm? Just admiring the pretty sword?"

He circles around her, his steps light and deliberate, his eyes studying her.

She can feel her anger rising. Whenever he's around her, it seems like she can't control her anger. And this time she doesn't keep her voice polite when she answers him.

"I was just cleaning the room."

He raises his eyebrows, surprised that she didn't call him 'sir' this time. But he continues to move around Helia, his gaze locked with hers, his smirk still intact.

"Oh, cleaning the room?" He replies, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And picking up swords and wielding them like a knight is part of your cleaning routine, is that it?"

She shots him a dark glare. Why does he care about what she's doing anyway? Doesn't he have better things to do than pissing her off?

He stops his circling. He notices the anger in her expression, but he seems unfazed.

He continues, his tone somewhat mocking. "Wanting to be a knight, huh? Wanna learn how to use that sword properly, little maid?"

Of course, she wanted to be able to use a weapon after last night's attack. She wanted to be able to defend herself alone, without anyone coming to save her.

But she doesn't answer him, he would probably just make fun of her anyway or find it ridiculous that a maid would want to learn how to fight.

He studies her for a moment, his gaze lingering on her face, as if he's trying to read her thoughts.