Lexius’s voice had no trace of laughter. His fine, soft hair bristled as his murderous tone took on a threatening edge.

Still, Ariel remained seated. Like a young tiger cub unaware of the frightening reality, she maintained an unyielding posture*. Even as his eyes turned ferociously different, she pretended not to notice.
[ T/N: This sentence is a metaphorical expression. It describes someone, likened to a naive young tiger cub, confidently and fearlessly facing a situation without realizing the danger. ]

This was the Count’s residence. No matter how great his presence was, he wouldn’t behave arbitrarily here.

“Please tell me what you were saying.”

“…What?”

“You said that the reason I fell asleep was because of ‘order’.”

“….”

“I don’t want to be rendered powerless and unconscious again! I’d like you to explain about the order… please!”

Ariel had a rather serious demeanor. She seemed determined not to succumb to the power of his words that rendered people to sleep helplessly.

Lexius looked at her, who closed her mouth with a resolute face, as if she was strange before he suddenly burst into loud laughter.

Haha.

The sound of his laughter was so boisterous that it embarrassed Ariel.

He left her dumbfounded and laughed to himself. He threw his head back and brushed his red hair, letting out a lively laugh before he slipped his hand that was on his forehead to cover his eyes and laughed under his breath.

Ariel, who didn’t understand what was going on, was embarrassed as she wondered what she had done wrong.

Only after a few more seconds did he gradually stop laughing. As his breathing slowed, he wiped away the tears that had gathered in the corners of his eyes from laughing.

“Ah… It’s been a while since I laughed so hard that I thought I was going to die.”

Finally, words came out of his mouth that weren’t laughter. His tone was languid after a round of laughter, and the look and expression directed at her were much more relaxed.

“An order is literally a verbal command, but it has some coercive effects. It makes it easier for commanders or superiors to make their subordinates obedient. It makes them respond immediately to orders and, if necessary, enforces behavior to some extent. It can even halt impulsive actions. Its purpose is to assist in controlling the unit.”

Surprisingly, the man’s calm voice explained, carefully picking out words that were easy to understand.

“Instead, the limitations are clear, so it doesn’t work well if the target has a strong resistance. It can only give simple commands, and if the user is inexperienced, the effect is almost negligible, and it’s not something that can be overused. Of course, it can’t induce unconsciousness, and it’s not something that can cause pain to the other person at all. However, it can give a simple command, like telling a tired person to rest, and it tends to be quite effective. People who are tired usually want to rest, so their resistance is weak. Just like you earlier.”

Lexius, who finished the brief explanation, gazed at Ariel with a smile on his face. It was a face that seemed like he was teasing.

No, it was undoubtedly a teasing expression.

“I… I see. Thank you for the explanation.”

Ariel suddenly felt embarrassed and averted her gaze.

In the end, according to Lexius, the command had clear limitations and wasn’t an ability that could harm others as she had worried. It was just a slightly powerful command with control.

In other words, her worries were completely unfounded. She had unnecessarily taken things seriously and made an unnecessarily serious resolution. Ariel then pictured herself opening her eyes wide, raising her voice and declaring that she didn’t want to lose consciousness against a mildly coercive ability…

As if she was putting up great resistance like some kind of warrior.

‘…How embarrassing!”

She bit her lip and lowered her head deeply as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

 
_