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Chapter 71
“I’m afraid that after loving me, you’ll see my true self, be disappointed, and leave.”
“…So, you’re afraid to be completely honest?”
“Yes. I’m afraid. Afraid of losing you forever.”
At those words, Aileen stared at Florein for a long moment without saying anything.
She had assumed that a man so flawless in every way must be strong in all things.
But what was he hiding? What was he afraid of?
Facing something whose depth and true nature she couldn’t fathom, she realized she could steel her heart in the face of his vulnerability.
“Then I’ll wait.”
“….”
“I just need to wait until you can tell me everything.”
“….”
“As for the answer to the question earlier… I think I love you. No, I do love you.”
“….”
“Whenever I look at you, I just don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m not even myself. I get angry for no reason, and then I end up laughing. Sometimes I want to take everything from you, and other times I want to give you everything. I don’t know… I don’t even know when it started.”
Aileen calmly began confessing her feelings.
“A love confession while lying down… I guess it’s funny, but yes, if this is love, then I think I love you, Florein.”
“….”
“So I’ll wait.”
“….”
“No matter what you’re hiding, I won’t run away just because I know. I’m not that much of a coward.”
Saying this, Aileen reached out and adjusted his hair.
For some reason, it seemed as if Florein’s eyes were glistening with tears.
He wasn’t crying—thankfully.
After all, she thought, what reason would he have to cry?
Just as she moved her hand awkwardly to withdraw it, Florein caught her hand.
Slowly, he brought it to his face and closed his eyes.
Aileen said nothing more.
Like when she had put Pia to bed earlier, she gently patted his back with her other hand.
The enormous man curled into her embrace as if seeking comfort, like a priest receiving salvation from a deity.
When morning came, Aileen opened her eyes.
“Ugh…”
Pia was looking down at her, wearing a very bright smile.
She had worried since Pia had a nightmare the night before, but it seemed she had slept very well.
“Pia. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Hehe. How about you, Aileen?”
“My body feels a bit stiff… Maybe I slept awkwardly…”
“Hmm, maybe it’s because you were holding hands the whole time?”
“Huh?”
Aileen finally realized the situation in front of her.
Seeing Florein asleep, gripping her hand tightly, immediately wiped away the remaining drowsiness.
“Ahh!”
Startled, she pulled her hand back.
Florein, seemingly awakened, frowned slightly at the empty hand and stared blankly.
Then, as if searching for something, he wandered across the sheets and grabbed her hand again.
“G-get up, Florein!”
“…Just a little more…”
Usually someone who woke up earlier than anyone else, why was he so stubborn about sleeping today?
“N-no, this person really—!”
His grip was so firm that even when she tried to shake it off, she couldn’t.
In the end, Aileen gave him her right hand.
Pia, watching, brightened with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Hehe.”
“…Pia, why are you laughing?”
“Just because~”
Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, Aileen felt a bit like she had been caught doing something mischievous.
Did Pia notice something?
Well, even if she did, it wouldn’t be so bad…
“I’ll go out first, Pia! Take your time getting ready!”
With that, Pia dashed out of the room.
After Pia left, only the two of them remained.
Aileen looked at the sleeping Florein with a bewildered expression.
He was definitely pretending to sleep.
Otherwise, someone so sensitive to noise wouldn’t just lie there like the dead.
“…I know you’re not sleeping.”
“….”
“I saw your eyelashes move just now.”
“….”
“See? Even your eyebrows are twitching.”
“….”
“What a shameless person…! Get up, quickly. If Dalton comes in again—”
Suddenly, her hand was pulled, and she fell onto the bed.
They were lying face to face like yesterday, but it felt subtly different.
If his look under the moonlight seemed seductive, in the morning sun, his face looked… cute, perhaps?
His slightly messy hair and furrowed brows in the sunlight.
“Why is it that in the same morning, you don’t have a single puffiness…”
Startled, Aileen quickly covered her face.
Florein gently placed her hand back on the bed.
“W-what are you doing?”
“I wondered why you kept covering your face.”
“Because of puffiness…”
“So what?”
“If I show too much, the tension goes away.”
Hearing this, Florein finally opened his eyes and gazed softly at her.
“You’re just pretty.”
“….”
Aileen, who had thought she wouldn’t fall for such a shallow tactic, felt her heart racing fiercely again early in the morning.
‘Am I having arrhythmia…?’ she seriously wondered.
She’d had relationships before, but was this really a reason to feel this flustered?
“Why are you avoiding my gaze?”
“Because it makes me flustered.”
“…Honestly, Aileen, you’re really straightforward.”
“So is that a problem?”
“No. I like it.”
Seeing him smile so openly, Aileen smiled along.
“Now really get up.”
“Why? Pia’s gone, and no one’s coming in anyway.”
“Then how long are you going to keep holding my hand?”
“…As long as possible?”
“Wow, look at this man. I said I’d wait for you yesterday, but I didn’t expect you to flaunt it this openly.”
“Am I flaunting it now?”
“Of course! A handsome man, messy in bed, holding my hand tight early in the morning—isn’t that flaunting?”
Florein rolled his eyes seductively.
Yet he didn’t let go of her hand and instead brought it to his chest.
“Hmm… seduction?”
“….”
Had he deliberately misunderstood her promise to wait, testing her patience?
It seemed he intended to push Aileen’s endurance to the limit.
Although she knew he had always been a bit mischievous.
Was it because of the sudden kiss?
The man who had never crossed the line before had since last night…
‘Like a runaway colt, he’s seducing me… I’m scared I’ll lose patience and give in.’
Finally, Aileen decided to take drastic measures.
“Eh?!”
Startled by something outside the window, Aileen quickly jumped off the bed as if fleeing from a pursuer.
Florein, left behind, laughed at her antics.
“You really are a funny woman…”
Unlike the seductive look he gave her earlier, his face was flushed red.
He hadn’t slept well either.
Her lips’ touch still lingered on his.
Soft, warm, tender, and smooth—the first time he had ever kissed a woman.
It amazed him, but more astonishing was how her chattering and playful anger had charmed him, causing him to lose self-control and kiss her.
His mind was filled with thoughts of her lips.
‘Am I crazy? Why did I kiss Aileen first? This is the worst… without consent. She must have been uncomfortable and surprised, even if she didn’t show it. Should I apologize?’
As he fretted and couldn’t sleep, he caught sight of Aileen lying next to him.
Her hair pulled back revealed her neck in the white moonlight.
Seeing her like that stirred something deep within Florein.
