My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 29

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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 29

“It’s fine.”
“It’s not.”
Jessie and Aemerus’s responses crossed simultaneously.
“That one stupid cowboy hat is more than enough.”
So get out of here.
Jessie, leaning toward Aemerus with a low murmur, approached Robin and pulled him into an embrace.
“Aemerus is heading home now. Let’s go see him off.”
“Already? Why? Let’s play together.”
Robin pushed away Jessie’s attempt to hold him and grabbed onto Aemerus’s pants.
It was the first time I’d seen Robin, who was usually so shy around strangers, cling to someone like this.
Aemerus looked down at Robin, who didn’t even reach his thighs, and smiled gently.
“Come to think of it, I have a bit more time. I’ll stay a little longer.”
“Great!”
“You wanted to try on the jacket earlier, didn’t you? Come here.”
Oblivious to Jessie’s scrunched expression, Robin was overjoyed.
While Aemerus dressed him in the jacket, Robin bounced on his feet in place, and the moment it was done, he dashed over to the full-length mirror on one side of the room.
“Hmm….”
Seeing his reflection in the mirror, Robin was disappointed.
The version of himself he’d imagined in his head was clearly a stylish dresser like Jessie, but the real him was just a kid drowning in an adult’s clothes.
The shoulder seams of the tailcoat jacket drooped all the way down to his elbows, and the hem covered his entire thighs and then some.
“What is this? It’s not cool at all.”
Aemerus stepped up behind Robin, whose lips were pouting out.
“It’s because you’re still young.”
Aemerus straightened the jacket that had slipped backward and comforted the child.
“When you’re eighteen, it’ll look great on you.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. When I was your age, I wasn’t as tall as I am now. I wore glasses and had braces too.”
Robin stared intently at Aemerus through the mirror.
He tried to imagine Aemerus much shorter, wearing glasses and braces, but the image wouldn’t form clearly in his mind.
Tilting his head, his eyes met Aemerus’s in the mirror.
Aemerus grinned mischievously and ruffled Robin’s hair playfully.
“Ow, that tickles.”
A small static shock crackled, and Robin laughed and took off the jacket.
“Here.”
“Should I give you the jacket as a gift?”
At Aemerus’s words, Robin seemed to hesitate for a moment before shaking his head firmly.
“This hat doesn’t suit me.”
Even Jessie, who had been watching with arms crossed and poorly concealed displeasure, let out a laugh upon hearing the reason for the rejection.
“A cowboy hat paired with a tailcoat jacket is certainly an unfamiliar combination.”
With Jessie taking his side, Robin’s mood brightened instantly.
“So what should we play now?”
Jessie answered immediately to Robin, who was fidgeting with the cowboy hat.
“There’s plenty to do. How about we play a spelling game for once?”
“That’s not a game. That’s studying.”
Robin puffed out his cheeks like a pufferfish and whined.
“Let’s play instead of studying. Okay?”
After so long without seeing Jessie, I couldn’t believe I had to study instead of playing together.
That simply wouldn’t do.
“What do you want to play?”
“Let’s watch a movie!”
“Then let’s do the spelling game first, and then watch a movie.”
Jessie stubbornly maintained his position that the spelling game was not studying but a game.
‘What should I do?’
Robin groaned.
I wanted to play with Jessie but didn’t want to study.
But if I insisted on not studying, Jessie might refuse to play with me.
As Robin fell into serious contemplation, Aemerus extended a helping hand.
“I’ll help you with the spelling. Let’s finish quickly and watch a movie together.”
“Yes!”
Now Robin saw Aemerus as completely on his side.
“I’ll go get the study materials!”
“It’s a game, not studying, I’m telling you.”
Jessie shouted at Robin’s back, but it was a hollow cry.
Finally, when only the two of them remained in Harry’s Room, Jessie’s expression shifted as he roughly swept his hair back.
“I have no idea what you’re trying to do.”
From Aemerus’s perspective, it was actually an unfair accusation since he hadn’t done anything different.
But instead of retorting, he quietly gathered the jacket.
Harry had worried that the fabric might have been damaged during the washing process, but he didn’t particularly care.
The jacket was merely a means to visit her home once more.
And there was no way Jessie wouldn’t see through his transparent scheme. Especially since they were both men.
“The reason you came out of your way to pick up a tailcoat jacket on this night. Lili might fall for it, but not me.”
“If you’re not fooled?”
Jessie, who hadn’t expected Aemerus to counterattack, narrowed his brows and glared at him.
“What, are you going to tell Harry or something?”
“….”
“I’m curious what you’d whisper about. That Aemerus Huntington seems to like you?”
Jessie was the coward who had spent a full decade by Harry’s side yet never confessed his feelings.
There was no way he could convey such words to her.
‘Because I’m not certain of Harry’s heart.’
If by some chance Harry harbored feelings for Aemerus as well, then I would become the bridge connecting them.
“Don’t overstep.”
Jessie bared his teeth and growled.
The face that always wore an easygoing smile was now twisted with displeasure and urgency at having his territory invaded.
‘Would Harry still love Jessie after seeing him like this?’
Curiosity flickered for a moment, but I lacked the courage to find out.
Harry would probably embrace even this raw side of Jessie with open arms.
“I never intended to entrust Lili to you from the start.”
But back then, there was no one more suitable than Aemerus.
Or rather, I thought there wasn’t.
He showed little interest in women and lacked social skills to begin with.
That’s why I felt safe entrusting Harry to him.
I never imagined he’d been hiding his claws all along.
“Yeah.”
Even as Jessie’s teeth ground away, Aemerus simply shrugged his shoulders with indifference.
There was no way to forcibly separate him now.
Wasn’t there something called the Romeo and Juliet effect?
If I arbitrarily forced Harry to distance herself from Aemerus without valid reason, it would only provoke her resistance.
“The whole idea of entrusting that girl to someone was ridiculous in the first place.”
It was when Jessie, bristling with anger, rushed forward as if to grab me by the collar.
“I brought all my study materials!”
Robin suddenly popped out from between the door frame.
Then, sensing something odd about the atmosphere, he cautiously looked around.
“You two aren’t fighting, are you? Lili said friends shouldn’t fight.”
At Robin’s appearance, Jessie’s face instantly became affectionate.
“Friends actually grow closer when they fight.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It’s not a lie, it’s true. You wouldn’t know since you don’t have any other friends besides me.”
Jessie deliberately delivered the remark with extra mischief to deflect from the situation, and Robin’s face fell.
“No, I have a friend too.”
“Yeah? Who?”
Robin, whose round eyes were rolling about, gently took Aemerus’s hand.
“He’s my friend.”
At that, Aemerus laughed, while Jessie’s smile vanished.
“Congratulations on making a new friend. Let’s head down to the Living Room now. At this rate, we’ll be up all night in Lili’s room.”
“Okay.”
As they made their way to the Living Room, Robin kept a firm grip on Aemerus’s hand.
Jessie gazed bitterly at their retreating figures, content even without him.
It felt as though sand were slipping through his fingers.
Unable to bear losing even a single grain, he clenched his fist with all his might, yet no matter how desperately he tried, the sand continued to pour through the cracks of his palm.
The helplessness of watching the sand dwindle, unable to do anything but observe….
‘It’s because Robin is still young.’
Jessie consoled himself.
Just as Aemerus had given Robin a cowboy hat as a gift, he could offer Robin something suitable as well.
Then the young boy’s heart would surely return to him soon enough.
‘But Lili is different.’
Harry wasn’t a child like Robin, and her affections wouldn’t sway over a mere gift.
So that was fine.
Though the photograph Tyler had sent today was troubling.
‘Yes, that photograph.’
That cursed photograph was the very reason he had come here.
He had been trying to extract information from Robin when Aemerus suddenly appeared, causing the matter to fizzle out.
‘Should I ask the person directly?’
But the person in question was unreliable in his own way.
Aemerus’s words could hardly be trusted.
‘I’ll ask Lili when she comes home instead.’
While Jessie busied himself with plans in his mind, he called out a word.
“Refrigerator.”
Robin then diligently wrote it down.
“Refrigeraror…. Robin, this isn’t phonetic spelling—we’re learning the actual spelling.”
“Ugh. It’s hard.”
“I’ll spell it out for you. Write it again: refrigerator.”
Despite Jessie’s insistence that this was a game, it had become a serious study session.
Aemerus, who had been sitting beside Robin watching, offered encouragement.
“Robin will be great at Spanish later. They pronounce it exactly as it’s spelled. La refrigeradora.”
Robin’s interest was piqued by the Spanish Aemerus had taught him.
“It sounds similar to English too.”
“Isn’t that fascinating?”
“Yeah!”
“Robin, focus.”
Jessie’s sharp remark went unheeded as Robin’s attention had already shifted to the unfamiliar yet strangely familiar Spanish.
With each word Jessie called out, Aemerus provided the Spanish equivalent, and Robin eagerly repeated after him.
“Now Robin speaks three languages just like his sister. That’s impressive.”
At Aemerus’s praise, Robin’s shoulders soared with pride.
“I have to brag about this when Lili gets home!”
Jessie could not share in Robin’s pure joy.
If he could, he would have thrown a punch at Aemerus’s face.

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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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