Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 10

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

Chapter 2. Unwavering Devotion is Another Word for Obsession (1)

Edelaine Bertrand was the fiancée chosen by his family.

The Bertrand Family was one of the most prestigious noble houses in the Greenwinsor Empire, so this engagement caused quite a stir from the very beginning.

It was only natural that people would be interested in the union of two distinguished noble families, each of whom would have been newsworthy even if they had gotten engaged separately.

The Imperial Court especially welcomed the union of the two families with open arms.

The Bertrand Family were lords of fertile lands rich in minerals and resources, and were also active merchants who conducted business extensively.

The Imperial Court was suspicious that the Bertrand Family, with their enormous wealth, might harbor other intentions.

It seemed they had tried to arrange a marriage with the Imperial Court before this engagement proceeded, but the Bertrand couple had refused with various excuses. Instead, what they proposed was an engagement with the Blancarde Family.

Since the Blancarde Duke was the current emperor’s brother-in-law, it would ultimately create ties with the Imperial Court.

Shane had understood this entire situation since he was around ten years old when the engagement was arranged.

So what kind of person his fiancée was didn’t matter from the start. He had no expectations for the monthly tea time they were to have.

“That’s my fiancé over there?”

“…Yes. His name is Shane.”

“He’s pretty…”

Edelaine was a peculiar child.

‘She’s definitely four years younger than me.’

When difficult topics that would be challenging for a child came up, she would offer quite mature insights, but immediately after, she would pretend not to know as if thinking ‘Oh right, I’m just a kid!’ which was amusing.

He also noticed that she would sometimes pretend to look elsewhere while actually studying his face.

He thought it was quite rude, but that was all.

Shane wasn’t the type to feel great interest in anything.

Since birth, he could have everything he wanted, and thanks to being born with abilities superior to others, nothing was difficult for him.

Being with someone wasn’t any different from being alone. Since he didn’t need other people’s help in the first place, there was nothing problematic about it.

‘How boring.’

A world where nothing could stir his emotions was tedious and monotonous.

Edelaine became special about a year after the engagement was arranged.

His mother, who had been frail since giving birth to Shane, finally passed away.

The duchess, born as an imperial princess and married into a prestigious family, could never bring herself to show affection to the child she had borne.

‘Those blue eyes looking at me are just like a reptile’s. It’s disgusting.’

‘Shane is still just a child!’

‘He doesn’t seem like a child! Do you think that kid is normal?’

‘…’

‘Please don’t bring that child to me. He gives me the creeps.’

Even so, Shane thought those were harsh words to say about a child she had carried and given birth to.

But it wasn’t anything new.

Adults sometimes couldn’t hide their discomfort around a child who didn’t act his age.

If asked whether he loved his mother, Shane couldn’t answer. So there was nothing to blame about a mother who couldn’t love her own child.

His mother had always been someone who looked down at him from a few steps behind. He didn’t even know what kind of person she was. They had barely exchanged a few words.

He was aware that she had given birth to him, but that was all.

So when his mother died, he wasn’t particularly sad. He knew that pretending to be gloomy would look better to people and prevent troublesome situations, so he maintained an appropriately somber expression.

Edelaine attended the funeral with her parents.

The young girl who had remained silent until they exchanged a few ceremonial words burst into tears the moment she was left alone with Shane.

And she threw her arms around Shane’s neck.

“You’re still so young, how pitiful…”

“Huh, what?”

“You don’t need to pretend to be an adult at a time like this. It’s okay to cry.”

He wasn’t crying simply because no tears came, but Edelaine shed thick tears as if her own parents had died.

Shane gently pulled Edelaine away and said.

“Edelaine, calm down.”

“Huh?”

“I’m fine. Really.”

Shane smiled faintly.

“See, I’m smiling.”

Since Edelaine often stared at his face in a daze, it was his attempt to comfort her.

However, Edelaine burst into even louder tears.

“Why are you comforting me?!”

“Huh?”

“You little know-it-all, you became an adult too early, *sob*.”

“That’s not true…”

“Why doesn’t anyone hug you? Come here, you fool. You’re so young, just a child…”

“You’re younger than me…”

Edelaine pulled Shane’s neck into another embrace while crying. Though he had to bend his waist as the short Edelaine pulled him down, Shane somehow found himself smiling.

He had always known that this little kid treated him like a child instead, but this was the first time in his life he had been so openly treated like a child.

‘She’s so small.’

His shoulder was already soaked. As Shane patted Edelaine’s back, he had the absurd thought that if he let her cry any more, all the moisture would drain from this small body.

‘How can she cry so earnestly?’

When he, who had actually lost his mother, felt neither tears nor sadness.

Edelaine’s small, warm hand tightly grasped Shane’s hand.

“I’m fine. My mother and I weren’t particularly close…”

“…”

“That’s probably why I’m not crying. I’m not even sad.”

“That’s not it, Shane…”

Edelaine said while sniffling.

“You just don’t know how to express your emotions. Because you’re too smart and mature.”

Edelaine held Shane’s cheeks with her small hands, pressed her forehead against his, and spoke as if engraving the words.

“Don’t be alone, Shane.”

“Huh?”

“You shouldn’t take being alone for granted. I’ll stay with you, so if you’re lonely, you can say you’re lonely, if you’re sad, you can say you’re sad. It’s not embarrassing at all.”

“It’s not embarrassing…”

The palms holding his cheeks were hot. So body temperature could be this warm. Another person’s body temperature. Someone’s embrace holding him tight…

Edelaine’s tear-filled eyes, so close to his, somehow seemed dazzling.

Shane slowly closed his eyes and opened them again.

‘Beautiful.’

As if his eyes were opening for the first time, as if color was being painted onto a black and white world.

The same scene looked different.

As Shane stared blankly, Edelaine began shedding tears again.

Shane let his young fiancée comfort him.

In truth, he still wasn’t sad about losing his mother.

But the hand that pulled his head close and stroked it made his heart flutter.

He liked that feeling.

Finding someone beautiful was truly a wondrous thing.

It was an undeniable fact that Edelaine was objectively pretty, but until now, that fact hadn’t stirred any emotions in him.

‘Her appearance hasn’t changed at all.’

The days when he thought there was nothing special about her seemed like a lie.

Once she looked beautiful to him, everything about Edelaine caught his eye from then on.

When she caught his eye, she looked beautiful, and he came to love that unbearably.

Her adorable little hands were cute, the well-shaped nails at her fingertips were pretty, her mumbling lips were pretty, and even the cookie crumbs on her chin were lovely.

‘Am I going crazy…?’

He thought there was no need for even such things to look lovely.

If someone else had cookie crumbs around their mouth the same way, it would look pathetic rather than lovely, but Edelaine was different.

Only Edelaine was different.

‘I’m fortunate that Edelaine is my fiancée.’

Gratitude welled up toward the families who arranged the engagement and the Emperor who approved it.

Shane visited Edelaine frequently.

In spring they viewed flowers, in summer they went to a villa together to escape the heat. In autumn they watched the harvest festival, and in winter they caught snowflakes.

Edelaine seemed annoyed whenever he called for her, but when he smiled prettily at her, she generally gave in. Judging by how she ate cookies or drank tea while looking at his face, she seemed to treat him like entertainment.

Still, that was fine.

Shane was amazed and fascinated by himself growing to like Edelaine more and more.

His emotions grew like a living creature.

Only toward Edelaine.

This brilliant and lovely child is mine.

A child who easily liked people, had many secrets, and was both emotional and honest.

Just seeing her clear green eyes full of affection and her innocent cheeks smiling bashfully was enough to make Shane happy.

It was the first time in his life he wanted to win someone’s favor, and though he couldn’t understand the sensation of being helplessly fond for no reason, it wasn’t bad.

‘Is this what they call first love?’

Though he could hardly believe it himself, if it wasn’t love, this emotion couldn’t be explained.

Then one day it happened.

“Let’s break off our engagement.”

“What?”

“Break off the engagement, Shane. Yes, that would be best.”

Edelaine, who had suddenly turned pale, declared this.

She looked at Shane as if seeing something terrible.

Like other people did.

His young fiancée changed completely from that day.

*

After that, Edelaine thoroughly avoided Shane.

Shane persistently clung to her.

“If I did something wrong, please tell me, Edelaine.”

“There’s nothing like that.”

Edelaine wouldn’t tell him anything.

From some point on, Edelaine acted like someone who would leave far away. She wouldn’t let even her family close and insisted on being alone.

Even though she had told him not to be alone.

Even though she had said she would stay with him.

“Shane, you have to be honest about your feelings. You know?”

“I know.”

“If someone you love appears before you, you must snatch them up without caring about anything else.”

I have no intention of letting you go, don’t worry.

Edelaine even went so far as to encourage him to have an affair. But Shane’s heart didn’t change.

‘Breaking off the engagement is out of the question.’

Still, only Edelaine could move his emotions, and everything else was meaningless.

Even if Edelaine hated him, he would never let her go.

“I can’t… see ahead…”

If she wasn’t dead, absolutely never.

“If you go like this, I’ll never forgive you for the rest of my life. I hate it, you can’t…”

“Shane…”

My only color.

My emotions.

Everything lovely.

“It’s okay if I forget, no, I must forget… You understand? If you care for me, please be happy…”

I can’t forget.

How could I forget you.

“Goodbye…”

When her pale, slender arm dropped with a thud, Shane’s world also shattered into pieces.

Do you know the despair and ecstasy I felt when I learned that all of it was a detestable lie, and that terrible sense of betrayal.

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