Nuvole Bianche | Luca Balsa x Reader

• 6 | Feeble •

All my teammates knew how to heal each other. No one had ever informed me about this, so I was quite impressed when Luca wrapped me nicely with bandages.

"That should do it. N-now follow me, " he urged. "Two ciphers are remaining."

I hobbled beside him as we searched for the next cipher, but the pain was not as bothersome as before. He took one section of the cipher and I limped to the other, furiously hammering on those odd-looking cylinders.

At one point, Luca crouched down to tinker with an eccentric mechanism. I could not recognize it. Was it something he had made during his time here? How did he get the materials?

Zap! The device began sharing transmissions with another cipher near the area.

"Extraordinary."

I couldn't help but admire it. It brought me genuine glee to witness Luca's ideas in the works. "Only you could come up with these incredible ideas," I praised, not realizing how heartfelt my words were.

"I... th-thank you," he chuckled shyly. "Your a-appreciation means the world to me."

Once I reflected upon my words, I pretended to be dumbfounded to hide my somewhat noticeable blush.

"Why is my appreciation so valuable to you? We've only recently become acquainted." I politely dismissed while continuing to decode.

"I'm not as foolish as you deem me to be, Y/n," he responded solemnly. "I intend to unearth who you used to be in my p-past life. D-don't expect me to abandon this approach either."

He lifted his gloved fingers from the keyboard and shifted closer to me to catch my view. He hypnotized me with those captivating hazel eyes of his. Any closer and I would have broken my gaze, only asserting his suspicions.

"Y-you're my experiment now, dear Y/n. It's up to you to d-draw my conclusion," he smirked before leaving me behind to compute the other connected cipher.

Left stone-faced, I watched him dash away before playfully scoffing right after, snapping back to the cipher to seem productive. I flushed at the attention he bestowed upon me, which would only increase over time as he saw fit. Experiment? Is that how he would like to play this game?

He hasn't changed one bit.

The comfort I received with this newfound relationship was overwhelming. I suppose I needn't be careful with the past resurfacing anymore if that's how he perceives me. It's as if his pursuit was a romantic endeavour. Sadly, my hints will prove to be useless, and all drawn conclusions are made purely of theories. There's also the chance that this experiment of his would never end, resulting in his unnecessary agony. If that's the case, even if he claims to never give up, I'd have to persuade him to drop those pointless theories for him to move on...

A far bellow of pain brought me back to present events. Murro was the next one to be downed. I had to compute faster if I wanted to reach him in time.

"Don't move, I'm coming!" I hollered before pressing the last key.

I was fully healed, so I should be able to make a swift rescue. Maybe Margaretha will be there to distract the hunter.

One more cipher. One more. I assured myself as I snuck near Murro's chair.

I crouched down as low as possible and waddled behind the chair. The Bloody Queen was already spectating the area but hadn't noticed my presence yet. Maybe I should bring out my second marionette and divert her. This time I decided to use my prototype of Melly. It was unfinished, but she still had quite a weight to her. However, the borrowed time may not be enough for me to unlatch Murro. Am I prepared to accept the uncertainty?