Becoming Number One with Confession Attacks - Chapter 17
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#17
Aiden slightly lifted his foot. As soon as he did, the man hurriedly ran toward the pub door.
The surroundings were still noisy and bustling. Fighting seemed common inside, with about half the people paying attention and half ignoring it. So the atmosphere didn’t settle down much.
However, only the area around Sonnet and Aiden was quiet. No, it was still noisy, but Sonnet couldn’t hear any of the surrounding noise because of Aiden.
Aiden looked at Sonnet while drinking straight from the bottle. Sonnet thought about the feelings she had developed for Aiden since coming here.
A mixture of guilt about the situation he had misunderstood, and gratitude for the ointment he had given her to treat her wounds and the notebook he had provided.
Sonnet had come all this way to convey those feelings, but her mouth wouldn’t open easily.
Perhaps it was because of Aiden’s current appearance and the surrounding atmosphere.
Most of all, he was wearing a thin shirt that revealed his sweat-soaked muscles.
His black hair, wet with sweat, also felt raw, and his gaze seemed to retain a cruelty that hadn’t forgotten the violent taste.
“I have something to say…”
Before Sonnet could finish speaking, Aiden grabbed her shoulder and pulled her toward him.
A server carrying a huge mug passed right beside them.
If Aiden hadn’t pulled her, she would have collided with the server.
She could feel Aiden’s breath. Contrary to her instincts, there was no smell of sweat or alcohol, but strangely only the mint scent she liked.
Sonnet ignored her racing heart and leaned against the shelf.
Just then, Aiden moved aside, creating a space where she could lean against the shelf.
Aiden positioned himself across from Sonnet and stared intently at her. Only a little light reached the shelf, making his gaze appear even darker.
She had barely managed to speak earlier, but now her mouth wouldn’t open at all.
Whether it was because of the atmosphere shrouded in darkness, Aiden seemed very unfamiliar today.
So much so that she doubted whether this was the same Aiden she usually knew.
Certainly, when she saw him from afar, Aiden didn’t seem much different from her, which had even brought her pleasure, but up close, Aiden was blindly aggressive and reckless, contrary to her thoughts.
Still, since Sonnet had come this far, she felt she should speak right away, and just as she was about to open her mouth, Aiden spoke first.
“I didn’t expect you to come here.”
Aiden lightly drank from the bottle while holding it. While staring intently at Sonnet. His persistent, obsessive gaze wouldn’t leave her.
He tilted his head slightly and continued speaking.
“This place is kind of dirty.”
“…”
“And vulgar too.”
Aiden knew very well. Exactly what Sonnet was feeling. It was the same for Aiden.
“I never thought you’d fight with bare fists in a place like this. You’re from the Rosefield Family…”
“You think it doesn’t suit me?”
“Yes.”
When Sonnet answered honestly, Aiden looked around and continued speaking.
“I lived like this when I was a mercenary.”
Suddenly, Sonnet remembered what Tester had said. That at age 15, he had beaten someone almost to death. She had heard that he lived as a mercenary after that…
“Sometimes I miss those days, and when I feel suffocated like now, I can’t stand it.”
The surroundings became quiet for a moment. Aiden didn’t say anything else and just stared piercingly at Sonnet.
“How is it?”
When Sonnet looked up, Aiden spoke calmly.
“Your impression of seeing my rock bottom.”
Sonnet was a little surprised. That Aiden would call it his rock bottom himself. What would Aiden’s reaction be if she said she was strangely happy about it?
“Disgusting?”
Aiden took a step.
When Sonnet looked at him with a stiff expression, he slowly moved his legs and came closer. His thigh touched Sonnet’s leg.
When Sonnet flinched at the unexpected firmness, Aiden lowered his head close enough for his breath to reach her.
“Or so revolting that you can’t stand to look?”
His breath and her pounding heart synchronized together.
Sonnet didn’t think Aiden looked dirty or disgusting. However, there was something she had heard today.
“You said today was your mother’s death anniversary.”
Aiden raised the corners of his mouth. His smile shining in the darkness looked like the cruel joy of a villain.
“You know a lot about me.”
“You weren’t at school all day today.”
Aiden’s eyes gleamed strangely in the darkness.
“Were you looking for me?”
“I had something to tell you.”
“What?”
Sonnet spoke the words she had kept in her heart all day.
“I’m sorry for being rude to you since yesterday morning.”
“…”
“And thank you for the ointment you gave me as a gift. Thanks to it, it didn’t sting much this morning. I’m also grateful for the notebook you gave me.”
Aiden said nothing. He just stared intently at Sonnet.
Sonnet looked at him and continued speaking.
“If you need the lecture notes, just tell me. I took notes on all the lectures you missed today.”
It was too quiet. The commotion that had been giggling until just now was no longer audible.
She even wished someone would openly break a bottle and start a fight right now.
It was so awkward that the air felt heavy.
‘I said all this, shouldn’t he at least respond?’
Sonnet felt embarrassed as if she had made a fuss all by herself. She avoided Aiden’s eyes for no reason.
“Am I really nothing to you?”
At the sudden words, Sonnet looked at Aiden.
“This appearance is also part of me.”
Aiden laughed as if absurd.
“You don’t think me being here is dirty and disgusting?”
Sonnet thought for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“Actually, I was a little happy seeing you fight.”
Aiden’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“Happy?”
“Because you didn’t seem much different from us.”
“…”
“Of course, you’re from the Rosefield Family, but in the end, you’re also mixed in here.”
Aiden let out a light laugh.
“You’re the first person to judge me like that.”
“I’m also seeing a noble like you in a place like this for the first time.”
Sonnet had truly never met someone like Aiden before.
A high-ranking noble who overturned all her expectations, acted unpredictably, and vulgarly mixed into this environment.
But strangely, Aiden didn’t seem to completely blend in here. In this place, Aiden still looked out of place.
Anyway, the fact that Aiden was from the Rosefield Family was an undeniable fact and an unchanging truth.
Even though Aiden seemed to blend in here, he could always go back to that side.
Nevertheless, Sonnet was happy for a moment. She even felt a sense of liberation in her heart. So even someone like Aiden could mix into a place like this.
Aiden stared at Sonnet as if he could see through her.
Sonnet had said everything she wanted to say after meeting Aiden, so she had nothing more to say.
“Then I’ll go first.”
The moment Sonnet turned around, Aiden hugged her from behind.
His broad back completely enveloped Sonnet as he tightly embraced her waist with both arms.
Sonnet’s body stiffened as if her breath had stopped for a moment.
Aiden rested his face against Sonnet’s shoulder and spoke slowly.
“I’m happy you came here.”
“…”
“Anyway, it means you were thinking of me.”
His breath tickled her ear. The soft hair on her neck stood up. Her heart pounded so hard she wondered if he could hear it too.
Sonnet’s mind became complicated. The reason she had come to Aiden. The cause of what happened.
‘Should I… bring up what I couldn’t say last night again?’
The incident where she had rummaged through the Waste Disposal Facility all night looking for the bracelet Aiden had given her.
To Sonnet, it was like waste—a story she couldn’t tell anyone else. It was something that made her feel ashamed and self-loathing even when she thought about it herself.
Sonnet’s thoughts deepened. Whether she could really tell Aiden all her faults, whether he was someone worthy of knowing all of this.
Since it was her own foolish act that she had brought upon herself, she secretly didn’t want to show Aiden such a pride-damaging side of herself.
Then Aiden embraced Sonnet even more tightly and said.
“There really wasn’t anyone bothering you?”
At his gentle tone, Sonnet momentarily remembered the tender Aiden.
Indeed, Aiden’s rough side was only a part of him.
Aiden had already shown his rock bottom and asked Sonnet. Whether it wasn’t dirty and disgusting.
Sonnet didn’t see Aiden that way at all. Then wouldn’t Aiden feel the same? Above all, Aiden was asking out of concern for her.
Sonnet slowly opened her mouth.
“There wasn’t anyone bothering me. Actually…”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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