Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 28

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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 6. One-Sided Love is a Habit (1)

“What meaning could such a marriage possibly have?”

It has meaning in keeping you by my side.

“There’s no way we could be happy like this…”

Shane unconsciously let out a deflated laugh.

Happiness.

Edelaine often spoke of happiness. Even at the moment of leaving, she left behind a dying wish that if I truly cared for her, I should forget everything and be happy.

You understand? If you, care for me, please be happy…

Be happy.

After pushing me into hell with those words, now she says this.

“At least you’ll be unhappy.”

Because I’m already unhappy.

Edelaine slowly raised her head.

“Having to marry a man you hate enough to die to escape from.”

The green eyes I had longed for even in dreams trembled finely. The woman who had turned away from me as if I were nothing, deceived me and left, was finally hurt by just a few words from me.

Was I satisfied by that fact, or was I…?

“Do you hate it that much?”

“…”

“Enough to cry.”

Transparent tears flowed silently and gathered at the tip of her chin. Shane brushed her chin with his thumb, wiping away the tears.

Shane still found Edelaine’s tears heartbreaking.

He wanted to hurt her, and he wanted to wipe away her tears.

She was terribly lovely and resentful at the same time, leaving him at a loss.

***

For several days, he deliberately didn’t seek her out.

He had pushed her as much as he could, so he wanted to give her a little breathing room.

While this was a trap Shane had prepared over a long time, for Edelaine it would be a sudden disaster.

Just as the trap Edelaine had prepared was for me.

‘It would be troublesome if she panicked and did something rash.’

Edelaine needed to be surprised and flustered while maintaining her reason.

Only then would the cards Shane held in his hand have value.

The lives of Genevieve, the Bertrand family, and Lloyd only had value because Edelaine cherished and loved them. If she abandoned everything and left, even the living shackles he had carefully prepared would be meaningless.

He had to let her weigh the pros and cons, calculate the possibilities, and determine whether the ‘hostages’ were safe.

Though Edelaine seemed like an emotional person, she was actually quite cold-headed.

The reason she was staying quietly captured was because she had grasped that Shane’s threats were sincere.

If they hadn’t been sincere, Edelaine would have already used some method to disappear without a trace from Delmez again. Even if it took days, months, or years.

So he had to act carefully.

To make Edelaine feel deeper guilt toward her family.

To make her pity Genevieve.

While staying close and watching over her.

“Stop it, that’s enough…”

He remembered Edelaine holding him back when he was beating down the drunkard at the ball.

The arms wrapped around his torso tightened with force. Shane had already stopped, but Edelaine didn’t seem to know yet.

“What if he dies at this rate…”

Shane raised his head.

Most of the onlookers seemed frightened. But he could clearly see they were enjoying it inwardly.

The Bertrand family, including Edwin, seemed to have already grasped Shane’s intentions for why he was making such a show, their expressions blank. Genevieve smiled as if it couldn’t be helped, but was cold toward the actual victim.

No one was worried about the wellbeing of Count Tate’s third son lying under Shane’s feet, yet ridiculously, only Edelaine seemed concerned for him.

“I haven’t even had my first dance yet, so, shall we dance? My partner is Jeff, but you’re my fiancé so it should be fine. Let’s go dance, Shane. Stop this, okay? Let him go…”

Her embracing hands trembled finely.

You show affection even to a bastard like this.

Shane found it wasteful that Edelaine’s sympathy was going to this stupid bastard, but he was glad she still had a soft heart.

The more ropes to tie Edelaine down, the better.

“I would have stopped if you had just said so, Edelaine.”

“…Don’t lie.”

“It’s true. If you had told me not to.”

Except for letting you go.

Shane read the suspicious look in Edelaine’s eyes and said,

“If I had wanted to kill him, I would have done it already, Edelaine.”

“…”

“This should be enough of an example.”

He hadn’t really intended to kill him from the start.

But it was also true that his reason had flown away the moment he discovered Edelaine closing her eyes as if inviting a beating in front of the drunk man’s swinging hand.

He hadn’t intended to kill, but he hadn’t held back either.

Edelaine probably calculated that taking one hit would be much more advantageous.

The man would be completely ruined, and she would become the victim, using her injuries as an excuse to go into seclusion or… perhaps even going a step further to postpone the wedding.

Shane knew this too, but setting all that aside, his heart clenched at the very possibility that Edelaine could have been hit.

“Shane?”

Edelaine brought her face close and examined his complexion.

“You’re not still thinking about that person, are you? Forget it, you have to forget.”

“…”

“And don’t try to secretly kill him later either…”

“Ah, you caught me.”

“What do you mean caught! You said you wouldn’t do what I told you not to!”

“I’ll listen since it’s your words, but… I get jealous when you worry about other men. I can’t guarantee what I might do when I’m being spiteful.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, Edelaine. Since you told me not to kill him, I won’t. I’ll try to endure it.”

“That’s not something to say like you’re offering a 20 percent discount…”

Edelaine sighed as if she had no choice.

‘He’s definitely crazy.’

Even the annoying words flowing between his lips and his sighs felt sweet. He definitely wasn’t in his right mind.

Was it possible to fall in love again with a woman who hated him enough to cry?

No, Shane’s love had never ended from the beginning.

He hadn’t even realized himself how persistent it would be.

Even though Edelaine still pushed him away and hated him.

‘No, that’s not right. There are some improvements.’

Thanks to forcibly threatening and keeping her by his side, she wasn’t making futile efforts to push him toward Genevieve like before, or running away the moment she spotted him.

Yes, that was an improvement, if it could be called one.

***

The wedding proceeded smoothly.

The Bertrand family actively cooperated, and so did the Church.

The Church seemed to want to show that the evidence of the ‘miracle’ revived by the ‘Saint’ was within their sphere of influence, even ringing bells that never usually rang to bless the birth of the couple.

Wearing a pure white dress decorated with delicate lace and a veil, Edelaine stubbornly refused to look at Shane.

She walked forward looking only ahead, fixing her gaze on Genevieve.

As if it didn’t matter who was beside her.

Shane said as he lifted the veil.

“Edelaine. Lift your head.”

After a moment, Edelaine reluctantly raised her face.

Beneath her bright golden hair that seemed to have melted sunlight, her delicate features adorned with light makeup bore a cold expression.

The face that wouldn’t budge even when told to smile softened slightly when she saw her family and Genevieve who had attended the wedding.

Shane, feeling somewhat irritated, grasped Edelaine’s chin. Even that light touch startled Edelaine. It was heartbreaking, yet he couldn’t help but feel joy that she ultimately didn’t avoid him.

To think that merely not being avoided could bring such happiness—it was absurd even to himself.

Shane ended up smiling. Seeing that expression, Edelaine’s eyes widened.

‘She still seems to like my face.’

Even as a child, she would often stare at me in a daze. Thinking of that made him feel somewhat grateful to the parents who bore him with this face.

My young fiancée.

The betrayer who promised not to leave me alone, told me it was okay to cry, then abandoned me.

Yet despite all that, a soft-hearted hypocrite who couldn’t even shake off the hand that held hers.

In the end, Shane couldn’t help but find Edelaine endearing.

It was like a habit.

The habit of miserable unrequited love.

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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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