My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 84

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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 84

“Lili.”
Aemerus called out to her, his voice trembling with emotion.
There was even a slight quaver in his tone.
“I’ve dreamed of the day I could call you Lili.”
It meant his feelings for Harry remained unchanged.
The tension that had been coiling through Harry’s body suddenly released.
“I actually like it when you call me Harry.”
Harry stifled a laugh at the sight of Aemerus’s deeply flushed face and continued.
“Everyone else calls me Lili. You’re the only one who calls me Harry, which makes it all the more special.”
At Harry’s counterpoint, Aemerus smiled silently before suddenly pulling her into his embrace.
“I really love this about you.”
Harry’s gentle nature—the way she found something good in every moment and place—hadn’t changed since childhood.
Aemerus caressed her back with tender affection.
This moment brought him far more joy than advancing to the semifinals.
Even if he were to win the championship, he doubted anything could surpass this happiness.
Harry, who had been accepting his touch with her eyes gently closed, slowly pushed herself away.
“But before we officially become a couple, there’s something you need to know.”
Harry’s expression grew solemn as she swallowed hard.
“Something I need to know?”
Was there still something about Harry he didn’t know?
Aemerus tilted his head in confusion.
He knew it was arrogant to think this way.
But he truly believed he knew everything about Harry.
Seeing him at a loss, Harry let out a quiet sigh.
‘I have to tell him.’
She didn’t want to ruin this wonderful moment, truly didn’t want to, but she had no choice.
Deceiving Aemerus would be far worse.
“It’s true that I had unrequited feelings for Jessie. Even if that’s no longer the case, the fact that he’s my friend and family won’t change in the future.”
“….”
“I know how strange my words must sound. How incredibly selfish.”
Even Harry thought it sounded insane.
Would any man truly accept such a relationship?
If Aemerus wanted to call everything off right now, she honestly couldn’t argue against it.
Like a prisoner awaiting judgment, she stood with her head bowed, waiting.
Aemerus placed his hand beneath her chin, tilting her face up to meet his gaze.
“I understand. You’ve known Jessie for a long time, after all.”
“You understand…? If a girl who likes you says she wants to stay friends with you, I don’t think I could ever accept that…”
And every time Aemerus meets up with a female friend, he comes back crying?
That was absolutely unacceptable.
Seeing Harry wrinkle the bridge of her nose, he let out a soft chuckle.
“You know I don’t have any female friends.”
“I know, but I’m just saying if you put yourself in that position.”
Even the wrinkled bridge of her nose was endearing.
Aemerus gently smoothed it out with his thumb.
“Is that the only thing bothering you?”
“Yeah…”
Just moments ago, I’d been worried he might take back what he said about liking me.
Now I was worried I’d carelessly accept whatever he said.
“Aemerus, you don’t have to give me an answer right now, so think about it seriously and tell me then.”
“I swear I’m more serious right now than I’ve ever been.”
Aemerus looked ready to raise his right hand in oath that very instant.
Harry pulled his hand down and let out a small giggle.
“Don’t do that. We’re going to be apart for a week anyway.”
“Seriously?”
Aemerus raised his eyebrows and looked at her.
He seemed to be hoping she’d deny it, but there was no chance of that.
“If your feelings are the same a week from now, how about we officially start dating then?”
At Harry’s suggestion, Aemerus let out a sigh.
Then he pulled her into his arms and sat her on his lap.
Startled, Harry gripped his shoulders to keep from falling.
“Harry, it seems like you’re hoping my feelings will change.”
“What? That’s not true.”
But Harry’s protest was drowned out by Aemerus’s voice that followed.
“I’ve been harboring unrequited feelings for you for just as long as you’ve been harboring them for Jessie.”
“…”
“Just because a few days have passed doesn’t mean that will change.”
Facing his gaze that came straight at me without flinching, I felt ashamed as if I were exposed.
Butterflies erupted in my stomach all at once, leaving me ticklish and queasy.
“But if it puts your mind at ease, I’ll wait.”
“Really?”
Harry’s eyes widened.
Though they were so puffy from crying that it wasn’t very noticeable anyway.
Thinking of her shedding tears because of Jessie made me feel both pitiful and angry.
But what could I do about it?
All I could do was make her smile again.
“For me, today and a week from now aren’t really any different.”
He pressed his lips against her eyelids, which still glistened with tears.
It was disappointing, but I could be satisfied with this much for today.
Perhaps….
What consoled me most was that Harry broke into a radiant smile after receiving his kiss.
“I really love this side of you.”
“What did I do?”
Was she referring to the kiss?
Could I do it more often then?
Seeing Aemerus fixating on something entirely off the mark, Harry laughed aloud.
“It feels like you’d always be by my side.”
Looking back, my heart had begun tilting toward him ever since Halloween.
The warmth of Aemerus’s embrace as I trembled in fear.
The idle conversations we shared to overcome the darkness together.
Each small, unremarkable moment had accumulated one by one to form the feelings I held now.
“It’s not just how it feels—it’s actually true.”
“Yeah.”
“I want to be by your side for the rest of my life. If you’ll have me.”
Wasn’t it far too early to speak of a lifetime?
Adults would surely mock such words.
Even as Harry thought this, she found Aemerus’s grand ambitions far from unpleasant.
Aemerus tucked her hair behind her ear as she giggled, then exhaled a long sigh.
“I wish this week would pass already.”
It would probably be the longest week of his entire life.
Hearing his lament, Harry took Aemerus’s hand.
“I’m really sorry I can’t go cheer you on at the finals. It’s not much of a substitute, but….”
Trailing off, Harry planted a quick kiss on Aemerus’s cheek.
“…!”
Caught completely off guard by the unexpected kiss, Aemerus stared at her with the expression of someone who’d just been struck across the face.
“Do well in the match and come back. I’ll cheer for you from afar.”
Despite her heartfelt words of encouragement, Aemerus remained dazed, his fingers absently touching the cheek where her lips had made contact.
“Harry.”
“Hmm?”
“I think I made a mistake.”
“What?”
“You meant to kiss my lips but hit my cheek instead, right? So let me do it properly this time….”
“What are you talking about?”
Harry burst out laughing and playfully pushed his face away.
“Just like your kiss, my shot can’t miss the goal either.”
“It didn’t miss. Besides, I wasn’t aiming for your lips in the first place.”
I giggled like a child, pushing away Aemerus as he persistently clung to me, demanding a proper kiss on the lips.
It felt like a lie that I’d been crying with Aemerus just a few hours ago.
Unwilling to give up, he eventually succeeded in receiving an equal kiss on the other cheek as well.
Even then, unsatisfied, he gazed at me with eyes dripping with lingering affection.
“How am I supposed to let you go to Korea….”
Unable to actually hold me back, he whimpered pitifully like a puppy as he asked.
“You’re really coming back, right?”
It was a stark contrast to Jessie’s casual farewell, wishing me a good trip to Korea.
‘I suppose Jessie is accustomed to me going to Korea.’
I found the difference between the two rather amusing.
‘Now that I think about it, Aemerus seemed to react sensitively every time I mentioned possibly going to Korea.’
Realizing he must have already harbored feelings for me back then, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Of course I’m coming back. This is my home—where else would I go?”
I was lost in pleasant deliberation, wondering if I should show him the plane ticket with my return date stamped on it.
[Sis! Are you eating…, eek!]
Robin burst through the door without knocking and cried out eagerly, then covered his eyes with both hands.
[W-what are you two doing!]
What a fuss.
I shrugged and glanced at Aemerus.
‘Hmm, is my posture a bit much?’
I was still sitting astride Aemerus’s thigh, but it must have looked far too suggestive to young Robin’s eyes.
[You two, get apart right now!]
[Y-yes.]
[I’m telling Mom and Dad!]
I exchanged a knowing look with Aemerus before standing up first, letting out a scoff.
[You idiot. If I can’t see Aemerus, then you can’t see him either.]
[What? Why?]
Robin was so startled that he even lowered his hands from his eyes and asked back.
[Why? If Mom and Dad tell me not to see Aemerus, do you really think they’d make an exception just for you?]
[Hmph.]
[Hmph? You don’t believe your sister right now?]
Robin stuck his tongue out at me and scampered away.
I gazed emptily at the vacant space where my younger brother had been and murmured.
“Don’t tell me Robin’s already going through puberty?”
Aemerus shrugged.
“Boys grow up fast. I did too.”
Well, that was true enough….
I looked over Aemerus’s body with fresh eyes.

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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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