A little startled, Rosenia glanced up and looked at Llewellyn. He was smiling, but for some reason the smile made her uneasy. Perhaps that’s why she had the thought of running away.
Llewellyn was like a huge force of nature that was beyond her understanding. She felt like he was a surging tidal wave, ready to devour her.
With faltering steps, Rosenia made it clear that she wanted to run away. Then, Llewellyn faced her and grabbed her other hand tightly.
Rosenia looked up at Llewellyn with her eyes wide open. A big and dark shadow loomed over her. Somehow, in the shadow and within his grasp, she felt as if she was trapped.
The thought of it suddenly scared her, and Llewellyn, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
“Rose, you’re…”
“…”
“To me, always, a magical existence.”
Said Llewellyn clearly, as if emphasizing it.
Rosenia blinked in bewilderment, unable to understand what he meant.
‘What the hell does magical mean…?’
She simply asked him if he liked her face.
While pondering, an idea flashed through her mind.
‘Ah. By any chance…? Does he mean the first kiss we shared?’
Although it was such a shameless thought, her mind had already come to that conclusion. She lowered her head with a flushed face. Her neck felt hot and she felt like she was going crazy.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t it his first kiss? There’s no way the pure Duke Rasiane had ever kissed anyone.’
‘We kissed only because of the mana poisoning, but…it was still his first kiss. Not only for him, but me as well.’
Such thoughts made her heart throb and she couldn’t raise her head. She had been ignoring her agitation until now, but in the end, she had no choice but to be conscious of it.
‘Ha, I can’t. I really can’t…’
‘I absolutely cannot like this man, ever.’
With her face buried in her palms and holding her breath, she waited for her heart to settle.
But naturally, Llewellyn did nothing to help her calm down.
Instead of holding her hands, which had barely escaped, Llewellyn stretched out his arms and gently embraced her.
Her body trembled at the contact of his body temperature. Only then did she realize that the sea breeze was a little chilly.
As the cool wind brushed across them, Llewellyn’s hot body permeated throughout her. His body was so hot that she wondered if he had another fever and for some reason that made her nervous.
Having held her breath without realizing it, Llewellyn slowly caressed her back with his big hand and softly spoke.
“You don’t know, Rose.”
“…”
“You never want to lose the magic you’ve tasted once. Rather…”
Llewellyn poked his head down with his emerald eyes and stared at her, again with a strange madness.
It was the same eyes that made her think Llewellyn had lost his mind as well.
“Rather, why didn’t you leave me in the rain?”
“…?”
“But, that’s right. You would have helped me anyway. I know.”
His faint smile brushed across her.
Llewellyn again buried his head on her shoulder and hugged her tightly. Somehow it made her feel a little strange.
Sitting by her side at the restaurant she thought Llewellyn was a little cute, but now he seemed like a completely different person.
Rosenia had an indescribable premonition. It coincided with her desire to escape. But before she could even think deeply, the sound of Llewellyn’s laughter penetrated into her ears.
Soon, Llewellyn lifted his head and gently kissed her. Lightheaded, she couldn’t think of anything else.
‘Leaving the Mage Tower is dangerous…’
Rosenia repeated that thought over and over again in her mind. However, time continued to flow without pausing, and before she knew it, the sun had set and it was night.
Llewellyn’s condition was still good, but Rosenia was not clear when he would experience mana poisoning again.
Fortunately, Rosenia was able to suppress it with a kiss last time, but she wasn’t certain how further she would have to go next time.
‘If a kiss isn’t enough to suppress the mana poisoning…what should I do?’
‘I hope that doesn’t happen for my pity’s sake, but what if it happens?!’
‘A-As much as late into the night is fine…’
‘Agh! No! What the hell am I thinking?!’
Thinking that she must have gone crazy, she clutched her head and stomped her feet. She felt that her luck this summer was particularly bad. She couldn’t believe this unexpected situation happened!
‘I’ll never have that kind of special relationship with the male lead!’
Rosenia thought that she should have been careful from the start…But she had already picked him up.
Even though Llewellyn also seemed to be out of his mind in many ways to her, she felt like she was the only one in trouble.
‘Ah, this is driving me crazy.’
‘Let’s get some sleep for now and hope everything will be okay.’
Sitting on the couch in the living room with her head lowered to her lap, she heard the sound of footsteps coming her way.
Poking up her head, Llewellyn, who had just finished bathing, was coming toward her with a smile.
‘D-don’t come.’
‘Don’t come near me with nothing but a robe on!’
Rosenia jumped up from the couch and ran away behind it.
Then, Llewellyn stopped and looked at her softly. She avoided his gaze. In a tone as if he had been wronged, he spoke.
“I washed myself clean, Rose.”
“What? No, that’s…”
Thinking that Llewellyn must have misunderstood, with a sweet smile on her face, she explained.
“That, I didn’t avoid Duke because you were dirty. I know you washed yourself.”
“You didn’t avoid me?”
“That, hold on, don’t come.”
Llewellyn was circling around the couch trying to reach her, much to her objection. She made a quick escape in the opposite direction. Then, with teary eyes, she spoke.
“Why do you keep coming when I told you not to…!”
“I want to be by your side.”
“Why do you want to be by my side!”
“It feels good?”
His answer made her choke up and speechless.
‘What does he mean by it feels good?’
‘Don’t tell me, he wants to kiss me again?!’
‘What he said before, I guess he really liked kissing me. Wow..I don’t know if I should laugh or cry…’
“Even if it feels good, just stay there. Right now, I’m a little…”
“…Are you nervous around me?”
‘Is that a question? Of course! This guy, does he not know how handsome and attractive he is?!’
“Yes, I’m really nervous, so don’t come. Please.”
At her words, Llewellyn seemed to think about something for a moment, then he smiled slightly and spoke.
“I understand.”
“…”
‘What does he mean he understands?’
“Then, Rose, I won’t come to your side, so could you do me a favor?”
A favor? Rosenia blinked and looked at him, but stopped when she was persuaded by his honest eyes and nodded her head. She believed that he would never ask a strange favor. It wasn’t just anyone but the honest and upright Duke Rasiane.
But her faith was soon shattered.
“I actually have insomnia. So…”
“…?”
“I’d like for you to put me to sleep.”
Rosenia was dumbfounded by his remark.
‘Hey, it’s the same as being by my side!’
A dim light lit up the dark bedroom.
Llewellyn was laying down rather comfortably in a casual shirt and pants after changing. Rosenia had barely gotten him to dress. Originally, she was dumbfounded and almost fainted when he said he was going to sleep naked.
‘I can’t believe he sleeps naked. How can a setting be so vulgar?!’
Rosenia remembered that it was the same in the original story. Llewellyn would sleep naked in bed at night.
‘Hohoho…happy thoughts, happy thoughts…’
Rosenia calmed her mind and body by trying not to imagine it.
‘Come to think of it, he fell asleep in his tunic last night. Was it because he took in consideration of me coming to wake him up in the morning?’
‘But he decided to sleep naked today. Why was he doing this to me? Just be sane for once.’
“Thank you for doing me this favor, Rose.”
Said Llewellyn with a smile, lying in bed with a blanket covering him.
Maybe because Llewellyn was lying down and behaving, but Rosenia thought unlike his usual self, he looked harmless.
To her, Llewellyn was a ticking time bomb. She had a feeling that he was laying down with his eyes sparkling and pretending to be naive, so she couldn’t let her guard down.
Rosenia reached out her trembling hand and patted Llewellyn’s shoulder very timidly. It was to the point that she only touched him with her fingertips
As if Llewellyn took offense to that, there was a crease on his beautiful forehead.
“I think I’m being tickled instead of falling asleep, Rose.”
“…”
‘The request was asking for too much!’
However, Llewellyn was handsome, so Rosenia decided to let it slide. She gently nodded. Then, he chuckled and smiled as if he found it funny.
“Cute.”
“…Just hurry up and close your eyes.”
It’s already been a few times Llewellyn said something dangerous like that without any notice. His playfulness made her heart pound like it was going to explode. She decided that when she gets back to the Mage Tower that she will make a heart calming pill to use against Duke Rasiane.
“Rose…”
Llewellyn closed his eyes obediently, but still murmured her name as if he had no intention of falling asleep yet. It was like he was reciting a magic spell.
“Rosenia, I’m so happy right now.”
“…”
“I can’t believe what I dreamt of has become a reality.”
Only
Rosenia thought perhaps Llewellyn had always desired for someone to put him to sleep.
‘Hmm…Come to think of it, it’s understandable.’
Llewellyn Rasiane was a pitiful orphan who grew up without a single parental affection.
His mother had a weak body and she died giving birth to him, and his father had an accident while rushing to her side.
The newborn baby, who had lost his parents, was raised by his nanny and retainers. The poor boy was seven years old when he was recognized as Duke by the Emperor.
Up to that point, the Regent ruled in place of the Duke, and fortunately he was not a bad person. Perhaps that’s why Llewellyn Rasiane grew up to be more upright and magnificent than anyone, even though he was an orphan.
The young Duke Rasiane, who had been famous since childhood, was well known for his integrity, purity and righteousness. No matter how many beautiful women tried to tempt him, he only shook their hands and acted courteously, never faltering.
So for a while, there were even rumors that Llewellyn was a eunuch…
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