If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 123

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 123
Though it would be more accurate to say that people scattered like they were fleeing once they realized I could no longer contain my irritation.
Leonhardt strode directly toward the Terrace where I stood, and with an impatient gesture, he opened the door and drew the curtains shut.
Until the very moment the curtains closed, I flashed a brilliant smile at those who had been so eagerly watching me.
‘Young lovers deserve a chance to be together, after all.’
The instant the curtains blocked out all prying eyes, Leonhardt pulled me into his arms with sudden urgency.
I finished the last sip of wine I had left, and found myself awkwardly embraced while still holding the glass.
Though his impatience was unlike Leonhardt, I calmly set my wine glass on the table at the edge of the Terrace and returned his embrace.
“You’ve worked hard. Welcome back safely.”
As I patted his back, I realized the feeling of his embrace was vastly, strikingly different from what I remembered.
When I had seen Leonhardt at the triumph parade—looking no larger than my palm from a distance—I had marveled at how much taller and more muscular he had become, but now I felt it viscerally.
Through the thin fabric of his summer formal wear, the solid muscles of his back and his warm body heat were intoxicating.
Feeling a rush of impropriety, I hastily withdrew my hands to pull away, but Leonhardt held me tighter.
“Two years, and you’re already done?”
The contrast between his thick forearms holding me desperately as if unwilling to let go and his pleading voice was oddly compelling.
Weak to Leonhardt as I was, I pretended I couldn’t resist and pulled him close again.
I felt his body, warmer than before, filling my arms.
I was old enough to understand why his temperature was rising.
Yet feeling somewhat embarrassed, I feigned ignorance and asked casually.
“Are you hot?”
Leonhardt answered with a quirk of one eyebrow.
“Yeah, I’m hot.”
His tone was so captivating that it clearly meant far more than simply being warm from the weather, and he emphasized it with a look of longing.
“I’m an adult now.”
The way he seemed to be appealing to me was endearing.
“Oh my, is that so?”
When I spoke in a coddling tone as if addressing a child, Leonhardt’s lips curved into a smile.
The way he stared at me without even blinking resembled a predator just before the hunt.
Yet knowing that he would become perfectly still and obedient the moment I spoke a single word, I found even this dangerously endearing to my heart.
As expected, he continued to touch my hair and occasionally brush his hand against my cheek, all while gazing at me with heated eyes.
I laughed and kissed both his cheeks.
“But what changes when you become an adult?”
I deliberately whispered near his ear with a voice laden with suggestiveness, and his ears flushed as if they might ignite.
Moments ago he had held me as if unwilling to let go, but now his body trembled as if he wanted to escape from me.
Amused by his sudden shift, I stifled my laughter and kissed his cheek once more.
Lipstick marks were left on his pristine white cheek, smooth as marble.
When I rubbed it lightly with my hand, the lipstick smeared across his cheek.
A similarly heated gaze met mine.
Leonhardt looked at me with eyes as provocative as the smudged kiss marks, then began to kiss me as if pouncing.
His lips touched mine timidly compared to his intensity, hesitantly still as if gauging my reaction, before moving earnestly only after I parted my lips.
Music, conversation, and the wet, obscene sounds of the night filled the terrace, drowning out even the crickets singing beyond the walls.
My initial passivity in the face of his sudden kiss lasted only a moment.
Before I knew it, I had wrapped my arms around Leonhardt’s neck and was kissing him fiercely.
It was a kiss deep enough to be called greedy.
Leonhardt, who had initiated the kiss, now yielded control willingly to my feeble strength, receiving my kiss.
He had even regained his composure, focusing on supporting me firmly as if worried I might lose my balance and fall.
“Focus.”
I broke away briefly to issue my warning, then consumed his lips once more.
Though not our first kiss, we were both clumsy.
We simply craved each other.
Yet it was undeniably satisfying.
As I kissed him with devouring intensity, Leonhardt’s eyes grew hazy and unfocused.
Pushed back against the wall by my advances, he now leaned against it with his back.
Despite wearing high heels, I rose onto my toes to continue kissing him, pulling him toward me with my arms around his neck.
As his posture lowered, the kiss itself became easier, but my stance grew unstable.
Neither of us cared about the instability, lost entirely in our hunger for each other until our balance finally gave way.
My body tilted backward like the final movement of a waltz.
Leonhardt’s arms wrapped firmly around my waist, preventing any ungainly fall.
Yet continuing the kiss in this position was no longer possible.
Like after an intense dance, our breathing grew ragged, filling the terrace, and saliva stretched between our lips.
I wiped away the smudged lipstick and saliva from Leonhardt’s mouth with my hand.
Our gazes crossed, still burning with heat.
As if it were a signal, Leonhardt pulled me closer by the waist.
Forgetting that he was leaning against the wall, his balance shifted the opposite way this time, but he skillfully pulled me into his arms, wrapping his body around me.
As a result, I found myself straddling his thighs as he sat.
His thigh beneath my hand was so hot it could make anyone think him fevered.
In fact, his entire body where it touched mine was warm.
Leonhardt looked up at me as if pleading for the kiss to continue.
I laughed softly at the sight and pressed my lips to his again.
His hands wandered around my waist and thighs.
But for all his newfound boldness, his courage apparently didn’t extend that far, and his hands never quite reached.
I pulled my lips away slightly and whispered.
“Fool.”
At my teasing remark, Leonhardt looked genuinely aggrieved.
Just as he was about to retort, a timid knock sounded, hesitant and cautious.

* * *
Prince downed what must have been his fifth bottle of hard liquor, pouring it down his throat as though it were water.
His eyes glistened with intoxication, and madness began to rise alongside the drunkenness.
“That bastard’s a hero? What utter nonsense!”
Prince hurled the half-full bottle against the wall.
Sharp shards of glass and droplets of liquor scattered across to the opposite wall.
The Royal Attendants standing silently in the corner exchanged glances filled with dread.
If luck turned against them, that bottle could just as easily be aimed at them next time.
‘Of all times, why did the second Prince have to return now?’
They would have preferred if the Crown Prince had gone on another “outing” like he had two years ago.
Not a single attendant in this room was unaware of the Crown Prince’s excursions outside the Imperial Palace, which had begun years ago.
Or what transpired during those outings.
Knowing glances passed between accomplices.
At first, they had thought the Crown Prince was merely sensitive due to adolescence, but he had grown increasingly violent.
Without the hope of becoming the future Emperor’s closest confidant, they might not have endured it.
And after he stopped those outings, the Crown Prince had only grown sharper….
Before that, he had only truly acted out when the Chamberlain was present.
He had at least made a show of keeping it hidden from others, but now even that pretense was gone.
He simply stood them there as though testing them, then threw tantrums for all to see.
As if daring them to spread word of it outside.
Those with loose tongues or insufficient loyalty had long since been disposed of by the Crown Prince’s hand.
Only the fearful and fiercely loyal remained.
The attendants who had rejoiced when their competitors were eliminated did not realize the truth.
“You.”
Once the easier targets disappeared, their own turn would come.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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