Chapter 51 - Why didn't you tell me?
Translator: Yonnee
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I couldn't comprehend his words right away.
How did he notice that I had guided him?
And why did he keep on calling me his wife?
This sudden encounter, before the sun had even risen, made my head short-circuit completely.
Why do you remember me?
When I didn't say anything back, he spoke again with a tone of voice that couldn't hide his worry.
"Are you very surprised?"
But hearing him speak with so much concern made me take another step back. It sounded so awkward to me.
Perhaps he saw my movements in the dark. He spoke through clenched teeth.
"Don't stray far from me."
At the end of that sentence, a small flame lit up our dark surroundings. He used his power.
As the flame glowed brighter than the moonlight, I could see his face clearer.
But what could I say the moment I saw his expression.
An indescribable feeling arrested me, leaving me suffocated.
With light reflected upon them, his blue eyes resembled the rainy sky. However, as reminiscent as they were of water, he did not show any tears.
Unlike those gentle-looking, the brewing glare contained within them glinted, like a wild beast would.
Why are you looking at me like that, not Seoyoon?
With those eyes so full of obsession and madness.
"Ah... I'm sorry for suddenly intruding at dawn. Of course you're surprised."
Again, he apologized. He would have never done that in the past.
For a moment, I thought, 'This must be a dream.' He's not originally the kind of man who would apologize so easily. Rather, he was the kind of man who would choose a path of destruction instead of admitting to his faults...
His personality was evidently different from what I could remember of his past self and of his characterization in the prophetic novel. Flustered, my mind was spinning with so many thoughts. I didn't know how to react.
It might be better to admit it and plan ahead on what to do from now on. Or, it might be better to keep my identity secret from him until the end.
Regardless of which choice I'd take, I was firm on my resolve to never allow myself to be dragged around by him. In the relationship we once had, I waited and waited while hoping to receive the reward that was his love.
However, compared to how I was then, I had tasted what love truly was now.
Sweeter than sugar, the love of my family always gave me such fulfilling self-esteem and confidence. With them, I was not alone, and they had made me feel a sense of belongingness that I did not know in the past.
It was addictive, almost like poison. Perhaps you could also say that it was a healthy prescription of medicine. Its effects were slow and gradual, but very much certain.
He approached me at a languid pace, watching closely as I was at a loss for words.
His saunter was slow and elegant, as though he was a lion approaching his prey-even so, he could not hide his thirst and hunger.
No, it's not as if he was even trying to hide it.
In between breaths carefully regulated through his nose, he finally arrived in front of me. And, slowly, he raised one hand and held my chin. With his thumb, unceremoniously, he rubbed my lower lip.
At the familiar action, I felt myself shudder. Apart from that, I felt a stinging pain from where he gently touched.
"Ngh."
Only then did I remember that there was a wound on my lower lip. Did he press down on it to check it?
As I asked myself, I recalled the past for a moment. He had always been rather rough whenever he received my guiding.
Tenderly caressing my lower lip as if he was checking the wound, he said quietly,
"I'm sorry, but why didn't you tell me when the evidence is so clear in the first place?"
His expression, now full of delight, was slightly distorted. The way he touched my lips was so familiar to me that I started guiding him unconsciously.
Even though it had certainly been a while now, it seemed like the time we spent together refused to disappear easily.
"Haa..."
The moment his skin touched mine-the moment I started guiding him-he let out a deep, drawn-out sigh. His hot, thick breath clung to my eyes and lips.
I felt a warm hand touch my back, and he soon pulled me close to him forcefully. With my body pressed entirely against his, I couldn't hide my surprise as I glanced up at him.
Then, when he opened his previously closed lids, his blue eyes looked at me as though he'd been waiting.
With his lips so close to the tip of my nose, he turned his head obliquely as though he would press his lips upon mine.
Then, he crooned,
"I've been looking for you for such a long time, Honey."
I had spoken not a single word back to him until now, yet he looked so confident nonetheless.
What the hell made him believe that? And what the hell did he find out that he's come to this conclusion now?
No matter how much I tried to think about it, I was completely different from how I used to be. My eye color and hair color were different. No, from the very start, not one bit did my current physical features resemble my past self's outward appearance.
What exactly did he see in me that he's so unhesitatingly certain?
His voice was, without a doubt, ever so gentle. However, his eyes darkened into a deeper blue hue, perhaps a more unsettling color.
Like an impatient lion pressing down its claws upon its prey just before eating it, he could not hide the hunger in his eyes.
In the past, I noticed him looking at me like that from time to time. Particularly whenever I guided him, he looked at me as if he would devour me.
However, he did not regard me in that way all the time. More often than not, he treated me with only indifference.
Even though we were living together back then, I could not tell which side of him was his true self.
Right. He had been a stranger to me even while we were living together. Even more so now that we were actual strangers, I could not allow myself to trust him.
"...Your Grace, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."
