The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 271: Diana’s Condition

Hearing Damien’s question, Lane’s eyes shook, and he tensed up, the breath momentarily dying in his throat. Still, he tried to play it cool, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Her health? It’s fine, why are you asking?" His voice was calm on the surface as he spoke, but there was a lot of barely hidden tension underneath.

And Damien picked up on that. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether it was a good idea to continue, since it clearly was a big secret... In the end, though, he decided to continue. He already brought it up, so there was no point in backing out now.

"She’s gone on a rampage before, hasn’t she?" he said, getting straight to the point. "And she’s still suffering from the impact it had on her body."

"How..." Lane’s eyes widened, and he turned his gaze to Damien, half-terrified, half-surprised. "How did you... No, what makes you think so?"

Damien observed Lane’s face carefully. He was right, and Lane almost admitted it with his first unfinished question, which most likely was going to be ’How did you know?’, and yet he changed at the last second, neither confirming nor denying Damien’s words. He was still trying to keep it a secret, no matter how obvious it was... Should Damien not have said anything, after all?

It was too late for that now, though, so he explained, "Because of my wavelength sensitivity."

"Huh? But... Don’t you need to touch others for that?" Lane furrowed his brows, confused. He was trying to recall everything that happened back in the dungeon, but as far as he remembered, Damien never came into contact with Diana... The only people he touched in there were Lane and the maid. Diana didn’t even shake hands with Damien or anything, since her hands were fake, and they couldn’t allow anyone, including Damien, to realize that.

"That depends. I need to touch people to be able to sense their wavelengths well enough to recognize them, but it’s mainly a matter of precision. I can sense them to some degree even without physical contact. Not well enough to distinguish them, but well enough to be able to tell whether someone is an Awakened... Or if their wavelengths are unstable."

"...Hmm." Lane only hummed in response. Damien’s explanation made sense... And must have been true. Damien wouldn’t lie to him... And even if Lane doubted his truthfulness, in this case, there was simply no way Damien would have known any of this otherwise. The Allens still haven’t found out that Diana had gone on a rampage, so where would Damien get that information from? Still...

"...I’m sorry."

"Hmm?" Lane furrowed his brows, turning his head to look at Damien. "What are you apologizing for?"

"I wasn’t supposed to know that, was that?"

"Well..." Lane hesitated for a moment, but eventually admitted with a sigh, "Yeah. That’s what the blindfold was for. So that you wouldn’t be able to see the state she is in."

"But it’s not something you have to apologize for," he soon added. "It’s not your fault. It’s not like you’ve been trying to dig around or anything, you haven’t even used any ability or anything, it’s just something you naturally feel, on your own, no?"

"...Yes. But..."

"No, it’s fine, really," Lane rushed to reassure Damien, before the man could even say anything. "Actually, I’m kind of glad that you found out."

"You are?"

"Yeah."

Truth be told, Lane was still very anxious and uneasy about it. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Damien - if that was the case, then he would have never revealed his identity, no matter what - but it was about Diana. Diana, whom the Allens wanted to eliminate even more than Lane. Mostly because they saw her as a much bigger threat, but the reason didn’t matter. The point was, if they ever found out where she was, and how vulnerable she was right now, they would try to get rid of her for sure. And while the fortress might have been well-guarded, they still wouldn’t be able to defend against the Allens. Not with Diana incapable of manipulating even a faint breeze... And with her physical mobility restricted by all of her special prosthetics.

That’s why it was so important to keep it a secret. Aside from the fortress staff, who were all carefully chosen people, most of whom were pretty much trapped there all the time - with generous compensation, of course, both for them and their families - only Ariana, Lane, and Ava knew (at least as far as people who met Diana in her current state and lived to tell the tale were concerned). And with Ava, it was understandable - she had been by Lane’s side for years, keeping his secrets, but most importantly, she was a scientist, specializing in researching the Awakened abilities from the biological point of view, and the way Mana affected living beings. Thus, she could potentially help Diana, be it with her own research, or the achievements of other people in the field she was familiar with.

As for Damien... Lane had known him for less than a year. And while he had proved himself to be reliable and trustworthy, it wasn’t convincing enough for Diana just yet. Not to mention, he was just an Esper. There was nothing he could do to help, thus there was no point in taking the risk of letting him know this secret. Lane knew he shouldn’t reveal it...

But at the same time, it was such a big burden to carry, and something that heavily weighed on Lane’s mind, possibly the greatest of his concerns. It would be nice to be able to share it with his boyfriend... He felt bad doing it without Diana’s approval, but it’s not like she would ever find out. And Damien had already guessed it anyway, so what difference would it make for Lane to tell him the truth?

So, he took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, before admitting. "You’re right. She has gone on a rampage..."