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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Only One
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“Hey! Get off!”
“Aargh! Aaaaaaargh!”
To hell with dignity and manners. I grabbed the hair of Arun, who was biting my nape, and his long locks, perfectly suited for gripping, coiled around my hand.
Ready to tear his hair out by the roots, I yanked my hand back and forth with all my strength, causing Arun to cry out in pain.
Even so, he was unbelievably persistent, gritting his teeth and refusing to let go.
“I said, get off! Won't you let go? Huh? I'm going to pull all your hair out!”
“I can't! I don't want to!”
I mean, what is wrong with this guy…?
Seeing Arun bite my neck again, even as I was yanking his hair, I tightened my grip on the silver strands and took a deep breath.
“I told you nicely to get off, didn't I?”
Then, bending my knees with all my might to launch the counterattack that had failed moments before,
“I really, truly told you to get off, didn't I?”
I gave him one last warning before thrusting my knee with all my strength between Arun’s legs.
“……!”
And just like that, Arun, who had been stuck to my neck like a bloodsucking leech, dropped right off.
“You, you…!”
Unable to do much of anything, Arun stood in an awkward, half-bent posture, gripping a chair, his face beet red.
It looked like his eyes were welling up with tears, too…?
Standing before the groaning man, I dusted off my hands and picked up the wet towel from the table.
“You little…….”
“What about it? Unless you're some kind of pervert, who goes around biting the necks of strangers?”
As I swept my hair to one side and scrubbed the spot where Arun’s mouth had been, his red, teary eyes twisted as if in indignation.
“What was I supposed to do when you smelled so delicious!”
Hah. Why is he the one getting angry?
“So, did I taste good when you bit me?”
“Yeah! So let me bite you one more time!”
“……You must be crazy.”
In response to my incredulous question, Arun confidently replied with more nonsense.
……He’s insane. This guy is truly insane.
Well, it's not like he was normal in the original story, where he bit the female lead's neck the moment they met.
Just as I was tensing my knee again at the sight of the still-unrepentant Arun, a dazed voice reached my ears.
“Ria……na?”
At the sound, I quickly shifted my gaze and saw Enoch standing frozen at the door.
But his expression was…
‘Did someone scold him outside?’
Why does he look so sad and hurt?
Surprised by his expression, which I'd never seen before, I lowered the leg I'd started to raise. Arun, following my sudden stillness, turned his head, saw Enoch, and his eyes widened in shock.
“The Emperor? What the. Why is the Emperor here?”
“Enoch? What’s wrong?”
Then he grabbed me as I tried to go to Enoch and covered my mouth.
“Hey, are you crazy? Don't you know who that is?”
“Ah! What are you doing!”
His hand tasted unexpectedly salty. I slapped it away from my mouth in annoyance.
“If you just call the Emperor by his name like that, your head will be chopped… hmm?”
He trailed off as if realizing something, his head swiveling rapidly between me and Enoch.
“Uh? Uhhh? Don't tell me you're….”
“Master of the Magic Tower. Step away from the Little Marquess.”
Enoch, who had approached us in the meantime, growled lowly.
Spotting him, Arun began to slowly back away, and a white portal opened behind him.
“Ah, this was a mistake, a mistake. I, I just remembered something urgent I have to do. Haha.”
“Hey! Where are you going? If you're going to bite someone's neck, you should at least apologize before you leave!”
I hadn't even gotten a single word of apology, but just as I reached out to grab the collar of the escaping man, Arun's body was sucked into the portal.
“I really didn't know!”
*Fwoosh.*
Then, as if to mock me, the portal vanished without a trace with a cheerful sound.
As I stared blankly at where Arun had vanished in the blink of an eye, I turned my head at the touch of fingers on my exposed neckline.
“Enoch?”
Enoch, who was slowly tracing the spot Arun had bitten, glanced at the few silver hairs left in my hand and spoke.
“Riana… did you stroke the Master of the Magic Tower's head too? Like you do for me?”
His voice was full of disappointment.
***
*Clatter.*
Taking advantage of a jolt in the carriage on our way back to the mansion, I peeked forward and saw Enoch gazing out the window.
Following his gaze out the window, I saw nothing but trees.
Watching his profile as he silently stared at the unremarkable, repetitive scenery, I scratched my head.
‘Why is he… upset again?’
It didn't take long for me to realize that I was the reason for Enoch's displeasure.
When I explained the situation with Arun to him, seeing his somewhat hurt expression,
[“I will go and capture that madman.”]
he had said with an expression that looked ready to kill. I had barely managed to calm him down and get him into the carriage, and he'd been like this the entire ride back.
“Enoch. Are you perhaps in a bad mood?”
Finally, unable to hold back any longer, I asked, and the gray eyes that had been fixed on the window turned to me.
“No. Of course not.”
Despite his denial, Enoch wore an awkward expression as his gaze returned to the window.
Unsure how to respond, I too fell silent, and an awkward stillness filled the carriage.
*Rattle, rattle.*
Only the sound of the wheels turning echoed in the quiet air.
After listening to the sound for a while, I started to feel drowsy and rubbed my eyes. Just then, Enoch's tightly closed lips parted.
“To be honest, I'm not sure.”
“Pardon?”
I winced, thinking he'd caught me dozing off, but Enoch was looking at me steadily as he pointed to his own chest.
“It feels tight here, as if something is weighing on it, but I don't know what this feeling is.”
“Isn't that… what being in a bad mood feels like?”
At my words, Enoch slowly closed and opened his eyes.
“Is that so.”
As I tilted my head at his vague response, Enoch leaned forward, placing his clasped hands on his knees.
“I'm not sure because this is the first time I've felt this way. No, it's not just this. Everything has been a first since I met you.”
My eyelashes fluttered at Enoch's sudden words.
“Holding someone's hand. Smiling at someone face-to-face. Feeling my heart race just from hearing my name called. They are all unfamiliar and new experiences for me.”
“Ah…”
I had vaguely thought that, being unable to touch anyone, he couldn't have lived a normal life like others.
But seeing Enoch like this, having seemingly lived a lonelier life than I'd imagined, I felt a pang in my heart.
“If this feeling I have now is what it means to be in a bad mood, then it's…”
Enoch hesitated, taking a small breath before continuing.
“I believe it's because I saw you with someone else.”
“What? If you're talking about what happened just now, that was—”
“I know. I know it wasn't the kind of situation I imagined. But seeing you touch someone other than me, right here…”
Enoch pointed to his heart.
“It felt like something had dropped in here. Ha… don't I sound like a childish brat. Whining like this over nothing.”
Seeing a self-mocking laugh escape his red lips, I shook my head from side to side.
“No, you don't.”
“It's just… you, Riana, are the only one I can touch. You are my only one. The fact that you can touch anyone, not just me… I know it's natural, but it makes me feel so constricted here.”
His straight, black eyebrows furrowed, as if he couldn't understand his own emotions.
Is this what it feels like when your first friend makes another friend?
To him, I must be like his very first friend.
Feeling a wave of sympathy, I clenched my fists and blurted out,
unaware of the storm my words would later cause.
“It's not true! To me, Enoch, you're the only one too!”
“……Pardon?”
The carriage had stopped, having arrived at the mansion. I looked into his surprised, wide gray eyes, then shot up and moved toward him.
And then I began to stroke his soft, black hair all over.
“Riana? What is this…?”
“I don't just go around touching anyone, you know? My touch is more precious than it looks! The only people I stroke like this are you and Ariel.”
“……Really?”
“Yes! That bastard from before, I wasn't stroking his hair, I was tearing it out! And it'll be like that from now on. You're the only grown man whose hair I'll ever stroke, Enoch!”
*Pfft.*
Finally, Enoch smiled.
What started as a small smile spread across his entire face, and his eyes curved gently into half-moons.
*Thump.*
‘Ah… again!’
His smile was so dazzlingly bright that my heart, once again, started to pound foolishly.
Afraid he might hear my pounding heart, I pulled back the hand that had been stroking his hair and awkwardly tried to exit the carriage, but Enoch caught my hand.
“Wh-what is it?”
“So that means I'm the only one for you too, Riana?”
“Y-yes, that's right?”
I don't know if he was doing this on purpose or what.
He should have just smiled like he usually does, but his needlessly beautiful smile made my head spin, and my mouth moved on its own.
“The only one who can touch you?”
“Y-you're the only one, Enoch!”
“Then…”
*Chu.*
My heart was pounding, my vision swam. In the midst of my confusion, something soft and plush landed on my nape like a feather, then disappeared.
“……Huh?”
A beat later, I realized what had landed on my neck was a pair of lips. As I clutched my nape, Enoch's eyes curved beautifully once more.
“I've just erased the mark left by the Master of the Magic Tower, so this spot too.”
*Tap, tap.*
Enoch tapped my nape lightly.
“Please let me be the only one who has touched it.”
