Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 32
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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 7. Villains Are Originally (3)
It was a complete defeat.
“Ah… how can I do more… Even doing my best is useless…”
I held onto what little conscience I had and tried my best to push him away, but there was no iron wall like this iron wall. Why are you making me the bad person, you kidnapper…
According to plan, by now Edelaine should have been fighting with Shane and grown cold.
However, Edelaine couldn’t even fight, nor could she create distance. Instead, she only received an even more definite confession.
In the end, I gained nothing.
‘Who would have known he’d go that far.’
To think he’d be shameless enough to still like me even after being treated like that…
I didn’t think Shane’s confession from when he persistently followed me around in childhood was a lie.
But I thought that was just a shallow imprint or habitual emotion.
Even if I conceded a hundred times that young Shane’s love was real, shouldn’t he stop this now after being deceived?
Does he have no pride? Doesn’t he know how to calculate? If Shane were my younger brother, Edelaine would have packed lunch boxes and followed him around telling him to please break up with a woman like herself.
That woman is a fraud, you shouldn’t get close to her. But that fraud is me.
Shane Blancarde was a gentle and affectionate fiancé to me, but objectively he was someone with strong pride and a cold personality. His likes and dislikes were clear, and if something wasn’t his concern, he wouldn’t give it a glance. In short, he was rather ill-mannered.
Being excellent and smart in many areas, he sometimes didn’t even treat stupid people as human. So it’s not like he doesn’t know how to calculate gains and losses.
‘…Why did I firmly believe this guy was kind…’
Well, it’s because he was so gentle to me, as if he’d give me his liver and gallbladder. No matter how much I pushed him away, he was only affectionate.
Edelaine brought up a very old memory.
It was some day not long after we got engaged.
The fiancé who was initially distant at some point began following her around tremendously. Since he’s 4 years older, the expression “following” might be inappropriate, but his behavior was exactly that.
That was quite troublesome.
“But he’s so pretty and cute. He’s like a human puppy…”
An 11-year-old boy looks like a puppy.
Actually, Edelaine found Shane constantly clinging to her burdensome.
Being young, she didn’t think deeply about the fact that they were engaged. She just considered him a childhood friend matched by their families. However, no matter how good a friend, mainly good for looking at, meeting frequently was quite… honestly annoying.
‘Do I have to play with a little kid at my age?’
However, consistent Shane kept following her around endlessly.
Even when she avoided him, it was mysterious how he knew to chase after her.
When Edelaine refused several times with excuses of being busy or having other things to do, he started appearing suddenly without appointments.
Realizing that meeting without preparation was more annoying, after several failures Edelaine didn’t refuse his visits. She thought if she humored him a bit, he’d get tired of it.
After meeting several times, she learned that Shane, whom she only thought of as a cute little kid, also had quite a cynical side.
‘He seemed to not get along well with his parents, especially his mother…’
He didn’t even cry at his mother’s funeral.
Rumors came from various places. Adults really talked about terrible things as if they wanted the child to hear.
Since the child didn’t act childlike, wasn’t it because he wasn’t cute so they couldn’t feel affection for him.
Of course, Shane was unusually clever and smart for a child.
Perhaps because he was too smart and excellent, he also had a tendency to view the world easily. Well, he could have anything he wanted and there was nothing he couldn’t do, so that was understandable.
But because he accomplished everything too easily, it was a bit annoying, so I tried to tease him by picking on him.
“How nice, having everything from birth. When you have a lot, life is comfortable and good, right?”
“Isn’t having a lot of burdens from birth different?”
“…”
“People who can just defer decisions to others and pass off responsibility seem more comfortable. Even if things go wrong, they can just curse and resent the decision-maker and that’s the end. Of course, what they passed off is their own life, and since they didn’t choose that themselves, it’s unfair.”
What would it feel like to have others’ lives swayed by your choices and decisions?
“I didn’t willingly take on others’ fates either, so we’re in the same boat.”
“Being a noble isn’t easy either…”
“You talk as if you’re not one.”
“I’m the youngest. Won’t my older brother handle all the hard and difficult things?”
The immature one isn’t him but me… Edelaine reflected.
The profile of the boy who was thinking properly looked adult-like.
That day was particularly nice, and tea time on the terrace ended up being long due to pointless chattering. I was thinking random thoughts about how nice the sunlight was and fell asleep at some point.
I don’t know how long I dozed, but I suddenly woke up.
Having slept under the sunlight, I thought even my good-natured fiancé would be angry, and I’d get scolded by mother for my face being sunburned, so I opened my eyes.
Shane was making shade over Edelaine’s face with his hand.
“Are you awake? I was thinking I should wake you up soon.”
While smiling dazzlingly.
It was the moment when the fiancé I only thought of as a little kid appeared as one person called ‘Shane Blancarde.’
*
The puppy I was raising died.
They say young puppies sometimes die suddenly for unknown reasons.
Edelaine cried for two straight days.
It was the first time since being reborn that I saw a living creature die. It was still scary and terrible.
Just the night before it was warm, soft, and moving, but by morning it had stiffened cold and hard. That was so terrible. I missed the puppy’s scent and touch.
Shane looked at my face, swollen from crying the whole time, for a while then said.
“Did you like that puppy that much?”
“It always slept with me… it liked me.”
That one was a child I couldn’t help but love. Thinking of the puppy again, tears streamed down.
Shane knelt in front of Edelaine and lifted her hand to place it on his head.
“Honestly, I’m jealous that what you liked so much wasn’t me.”
Toward a puppy…?
“But seeing you cry hurts my heart. You can think of me as a puppy.”
I thought it was a bit strange, but I could tell he was doing his best to comfort me in his own way. Edelaine, whose crying had finally calmed down, sniffled and said.
“Why do living things die? Can’t they just not die?”
“If people didn’t die and only kept being born, this world would probably become like a hole crawling with bugs…”
“…Shane… you look like cotton candy but you’re spicy…”
“…That’s not a compliment, is it?”
“…I miss the puppy, and I’m sad about that… but I’m not looking for something to replace it. I’m just… so scared of dying.”
“Hmm.”
Shane looked troubled. Clearly he didn’t understand at all why Edelaine was scared.
Nevertheless, he did his best to choose his words. Since I said I didn’t like the idea of taking him as a puppy substitute, he seemed to be thinking hard about what else he could do.
“Then I’ll keep holding your hand.”
“…”
“I’ll be with you for life. I won’t leave you alone and scared. That would be less frightening, right?”
What is that supposed to mean? It sounds like you’re saying you’ll die together, which is scary…
Instead of finding fault with the clumsy comfort, Edelaine just gripped tightly the hand Shane was holding.
A damp palm with sweat.
Warm body temperature.
Clumsy comfort.
A promise that would probably be realistically difficult to keep.
‘Even if he chases after me now saying he likes me, once he gets a little older, it’ll change quickly.’
A confident face that believes it won’t change and easily promises a lifetime.
Saying he’ll stay with me forever. Even though he’s still young. Not knowing what the future holds.
This kind of thing was a ridiculous promise from childhood.
‘But right now it’s sincere…’
Foolish puppy.
What should I do. I like him.
You seem lovely.
Since you promised to stay with me when I’m scared.
Then I’ll make sure to make you happy.
Edelaine rubbed her wet eyes and thought.
Shane’s blue eyes were like the sea, so dazzling.
How could you be so beautiful? You, smiling at me.
You’re a child who easily promises a lifetime, but I’m not a child, so I won’t say it out loud.
I’ll probably make lonely you happy for sure.
*
But you don’t have to stay by my side.
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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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