Liar and Liar - Chapter 73

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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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Chapter 73

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“This is my room. Nothing special, right?”

The kiss couldn’t continue for long. The retriever scratched at the door vigorously with its front paws, whining for them to play with it. Eventually, Danielle and Frederick sent the retriever to the garden and went up to the second floor.

Their parents’ room was in the East Wing, while Frederick and Mari’s rooms were in the West Wing.

Seeing Frederick enter without taking off his shoes, Danielle quietly followed behind.

‘So they really do wear shoes in their rooms…’

Perhaps because she was wearing shoes, it felt less like touring a room and more like viewing a model house before moving in. The sense of reality became blurred.

Through the left French doors, she could see a sofa, and through the right French doors, a desk was visible. Danielle walked toward the desk as if drawn to it.

‘At least there is a desk here.’

Does he actually study at all? With that thought, she scanned the desk, when something unexpected caught Danielle’s eye.

“…Huh?”

Frederick stood behind Danielle and naturally rested his head against her hair. The series of movements was so natural. Danielle had to hurriedly set down the glass of orange juice she was holding onto the desk.

“That doll, by any chance…”

“Yeah, it’s the one you bought me when you were in Lower School.”

During her fifth-grade year when Danielle constantly called Frederick annoying, at the Fall Fair festival, Frederick had asked a Korean Upper School student about Korean. He wanted to know what “annoying” meant in English.

The doll she had bought to smooth over that incident was sitting quietly on Frederick’s ash wood desk. It was a small fairy doll with brown hair and brown eyes.

“You… still have this?”

“Of course. Did you think I’d throw it away?”

Danielle’s gaze stared intently at the doll’s appearance.

‘…When I bought it, I didn’t think much of it…’

Danielle looked back and forth between the doll’s eyes and hair. Hmm…

‘Hmm…’

Attaching meaning to every little thing like this is pathetic, Danielle Ryu. Don’t act so foolishly. With that thought, Danielle turned her gaze away from the doll. However, the desk tour was getting more and more interesting.

“That… what is that?”

“Ah.”

Frederick reached out with one hand and picked up what Danielle was pointing at. It was a picture frame made of cherrywood. When he brought it closer, the photo inside the frame became more visible.

‘Six years ago?’

Surprised, Danielle’s mouth fell open.

In the photo, fifth-grade Frederick and Danielle were standing together on the beach with the ocean behind them.

Frederick was smiling mischievously, making a V sign with one hand while his other hand rested on Danielle’s shoulder. Danielle, wearing a straw hat, was hugging a colorfully wrapped box with both arms.

Due to the flat earth incident, Danielle ended up going to the ocean with Frederick. But even that was a trap.

“By the way, it’s my birthday that day.”

“What? Why would you go to the ocean with me on a day like that? Let’s pretend it never happened.”

“No, no. I’m saying I want to receive a present. You understand, right?”

Looking at the photo brought back memories of that time. Everyone wanted to be invited to Frederick’s birthday party, but in the end, Frederick spent his birthday at Redondo Beach with just Danielle.

That photo was taken by a staff member from Frederick’s side who had accompanied them as a guardian. For Danielle, she only remembered it being taken but had never actually seen the photo.

“…Did you suddenly put this here because I was coming?”

“No? It’s been in this spot for six years, since the day after we came back from the ocean.”

“…”

What is he talking about…

‘What does he really mean…’

“Don’t say weird things. You put it there to distract me so I wouldn’t nag you about looking at your desk.”

“Huh? Is there a problem with my desk? And I like anything you say to me.”

“When someone talks, you should listen, not enjoy being criticized. Is that something to say?”

“Don’t get angry about it, baby.”

Frederick spoke in a gentle voice as he buried his head in Danielle’s nape. His arms were wrapped around her waist.

“The photo… that’s ridiculous. I never gave permission.”

“Taking away someone’s treasure is a cruel thing to do. Don’t you think so?”

People of the world, the group you must be most careful of in this world is Italians. Really. Danielle squeezed her eyes shut while sounding internal warning bells in her head. Before she knew it, even her hands were politely clasped in front of her chest.

‘It’s all lies. He must have prepared this because I decided to come. Don’t be swayed, don’t attach meaning, don’t fall for it.’

The barrier Danielle had tried so hard to build crumbled with just one kiss that landed on her cheek.

‘At least this…’

Biting the inside of her mouth, Danielle quickly snatched the frame from Frederick’s hands.

“Trea, treasure my foot. This is confiscated.”

“Want to take it as a souvenir? Take more of my other photos too. I can print them again.”

Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. His lips landed on her cheek repeatedly. This far, exactly this far was Danielle’s limit.

“You like me, don’t you?”

Danielle’s heart stopped for a moment. It felt like her blood had stopped flowing.

“You wanted to take my photos hanging in the piano room too, right? Right?”

Startled, Danielle tried to move her arms to escape Frederick’s restraint. Unable to actually escape, her hand knocked against the orange juice glass, pushing it off the desk.

“Eek!”

She tried to catch it somehow, but the juice spilled into the air. There was a clang as the glass hit the floor and shattered with a sharp sound.

Instead of looking at her own soaked shoes and feet, Danielle looked with dismay at the broken glass pieces and Frederick’s slightly dampened pant cuffs.

“I’m sorry…!”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Honey, wait a moment.”

Danielle looked around for napkins or a towel, but Frederick bent his knees slightly and lifted Danielle up in one swift motion.

‘Why, why…’

Frederick answered the question Danielle asked with her eyes tenderly.

“It’s dangerous. The staff will clean it up. Let’s rinse your feet first.”

She wanted to get down, but walking with feet already soaked in juice would only create more stains. Having no choice, Danielle quietly entrusted herself to Frederick.

The restroom was as big as Danielle’s dormitory room. Unable to close her mouth that had fallen open, Danielle scanned the interior.

The white-toned restroom had a shower booth in the back and an oval-shaped extra-large bathtub in the center. Frederick sat Danielle on the two-tiered white marble bathtub frame. She could put her feet directly into the tub.

“Can I take off your shoes?”

Over that gentle voice, Frederick’s other words overlapped.

“You like me, don’t you?”

Danielle nodded with difficulty. Her hands gripped the bathtub frame tightly.

Frederick, sitting beside the bathtub, slowly undid the straps of the white shoes Danielle was wearing inside the tub. After neatly placing both shoes outside the tub, Frederick turned the bathtub lever.

Danielle thought she should move to wet her feet with water, but instead Frederick cupped water in his palm.

When Frederick tilted his hand, warm water flowed over Danielle’s feet. Though his hand didn’t directly touch her, her bare feet felt endlessly embarrassing.

It was the moment she was about to say she would do it herself.

“Your feet… are small…”

Frederick suddenly looked up, and their eyes met. Frederick had a rarely flustered expression. As if he was surprised by his own words.

Danielle wasn’t naive enough not to understand why he was flustered. But perhaps it would have been better not to know. She could feel heat spreading throughout her body.

“Sorry, honey. I spoke too thoughtlessly.”

Sincerity was evident in his low voice. Frederick tried to get up while gripping the bathtub. As if to give her space.

But before Frederick could pull away, Danielle flicked her wet toes toward Frederick. Water droplets scattered on Frederick instantly. Starting from his cheeks, lips, and chin, water splashed onto his striped shirt as well.

“…”

“…There’s no running away like that.”

Miraculously, she spoke without trembling. But her heart was already on the verge of bursting.

In the silence, the answer came back slowly.

“You need to know exactly what it means and give permission, honey. I’ll wipe like a boyfriend, kiss like a husband, and then lick like a slave. Is that okay?”

Danielle’s downcast eyes trembled. Without fully understanding the last words, Danielle nodded her chin briefly.

Whatever it was, she just wanted to cross the line. That was all.

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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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