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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: A Rude Awakening
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“Riana, Ariel went for a walk with the elders. They should be back soon...”
*Heh.*
The corners of Enoch's mouth lifted gently as he entered, having changed from his wet uniform into a light shirt.
“Honestly. So completely unguarded.”
Though that's what he said.
Enoch, his expression completely softened, approached Riana, who was fast asleep.
It would be a while before the elders and Ariel returned. Wouldn’t she be uncomfortable like that?
Looking at Riana, who was curled up in the chair, Enoch called to her in a tiny voice.
“Riana.”
“...”
“Riana, it’s time to go home.”
It was hard to tell if he wanted to wake her or let her sleep.
After pretending to wake her with a voice so quiet it was barely audible, Enoch bent down as if he had no other choice.
“She seems to be sound asleep. I suppose I have no choice.”
Enoch lifted Riana, who was now wearing the comfortable clothes he had prepared for her instead of her wet dress, and carried her toward the bed.
“One should... sleep comfortably, after all.”
Making an excuse to no one in particular, Enoch gently laid Riana down before settling in beside her.
And then,
“Riana.”
“Mmm.”
When he idly spoke the sleeping girl's name, her small, rosy lips mumbled in her sleep.
It was so lovely.
He brushed a hand over her translucent eyelashes, which rested neatly on her cheeks, and a frown creased her pretty brow.
“Beautiful.”
Finding that endearing as well, Enoch traced the features of her small face in the air, a warm blush rising to his own cheeks.
Then, suddenly.
[“We have to think about when the play is over.”]
A shadow fell over Enoch's face as he recalled Riana speaking so casually of the end.
He was just beginning to vaguely understand what this feeling was.
He was just now realizing that the reason his heart raced whenever he met her round, green eyes wasn't some kind of healing crisis.
But Riana kept talking about the end.
That theirs was a relationship born of necessity.
And that it was a relationship destined to end someday.
“The end? For me, this is just the beginning.”
Finding Riana's constant boundary-drawing a little vexing, he gently pinched her white cheek, causing her small body to stir.
“Nnngh.”
“Did... that hurt?”
In the end, after just a few seconds of anxiously studying her pale face, Enoch sighed at his own pathetic behavior.
At first, he had been happy enough just to enjoy an ordinary life like others—eating meals with someone, holding their hand.
But as the shape of his vague emotions grew clearer, his greed began to snowball.
The desire for Riana's heart to beat like his, for her to look at him with the same affection he felt when he looked at her... desires like that.
A choked voice escaped Enoch's lips as he toyed with her soft, platinum-blonde hair.
“Riana, please look at me.”
Not as a subject of your treatment.
As a person. And as a man. How wonderful would it be if she saw him that way?
Suppressing the words that kept bubbling up, Enoch carefully placed a kiss on her round forehead.
“Please like me, okay?”
***
*Pitter-patter.*
The sound of small feet running was followed by the door bursting open.
“Liel is hewe! Hup!”
The child, who had run in excitedly holding a flower crown she'd made, covered her tiny mouth with her fern-like hands.
“Little One? What is it?”
“Shh! Shush! Gwanpa, shh!”
The elders, who had followed the child in, tilted their heads at Ariel's sudden reaction.
“Are you playing the quiet game? Even so, we should at least offer our greetings—”
“N-No! Don't do it!”
“Come now, Little One. Greetings are very important. Watch this old man carefully.”
Despite Ariel flailing her arms to stop him, the Black Elder cluelessly tried to call out to Enoch and Riana.
“Your Majesty, Little Marquess, we have retur—Oof!”
“I mean it! Don't do it!”
*Thwack!*
In the end, an expression of indignation appeared on the Black Elder's face after he was struck in the shin by the child's tiny fist.
He had only followed the order to return quickly. And he was only trying to offer a greeting in accordance with etiquette.
It was a mystery why the Little One's face was so pouty.
“Gwanpa is a dummy!”
“Little One, how could you do this to me? Just a moment ago, you said I was the best in the world...”
“Hmph!”
“Hmph... Did you hear that? She just said 'hmph' to me...”
“Ho ho, I wonder why our Little One is so upset.”
The White Elder, picking up the huffing child while the Black Elder stood there dumbfounded by Ariel's reaction, had a gleam in his eyes.
“Hoh.”
“What on earth did I do so wro—Ugh!”
Then, the White Elder clamped a hand over the mouth of the still cluelessly loud Black Elder and gestured with his eyes toward the interior of the room.
“Shh. I told you to be quiet.”
“Why is everyone picking on me? Aish, this is so upsetting.”
“Honestly. Stop it and look over there.”
“Look at what... Oh, ooh?”
The gazes of the three fell upon the large bed inside the room, where Enoch and Riana were asleep, holding each other tightly.
The mouths of all three onlookers broke into wide, silly grins.
“What a fine sight.”
“Isn't it? What did I tell you? Didn't I say they were a perfect match?”
“Heeey, so pwetty.”
As they stood there watching for a long while with expressions of pure delight, Enoch's straight eyebrows twitched slightly, as if he felt their stares.
Panicked that they might wake him, Ariel grabbed the elders' beards with both hands and yanked!
“Let's go, okay? Gwanpa. Let's go!”
“Sh-Shall we? Little One, will you sleep with us old men today?”
“Okay! Bye, bye, let's go! Liel will sleep wif Gwanpas!”
“Aigoo, what a good girl. Those two seem very tired, so let's leave quickly.”
*Click.*
The three who had suddenly barged in disappeared like the wind.
In the now-quiet air, Enoch's twitching eyebrows relaxed, and a quiet peace returned to the room.
***
“Mmm... so bright.”
Stirring as the sunlight dazzled my eyes, I lifted my heavy eyelids and blinked blankly at the scene before me.
“Wow... he's beautiful.”
The first thing I saw upon waking was Enoch's face, his eyes closed in sleep.
“Am I still half-asleep?”
I think Enoch was in my dream... Am I still dreaming? Anyway, he's really handsome.
In a daze, I raised my hand and slowly traced Enoch's face.
His black hair, usually perfectly styled, fell softly over his forehead.
Below it, long eyes were framed by dense lashes, and his nose was as perfectly sculpted as a drawing.
“This feels so real.”
As I toyed with his soft, cream-like lips, my eyes widened as my mind grew clearer.
“Huh? Huhh?”
Once my consciousness began to return, unfamiliar things started to enter my blurry vision.
The excessively large room with its monochrome curtains, something not seen at the Marquess's estate, and the fresh scent that filled the room—Enoch's scent.
It didn't take long to realize this was Enoch's room.
And that the person before me was not an illusion.
Which meant the voice I heard in my sleep last night was also...
[“Please like me, okay?”]
My face burst into flames as I recalled the sweet voice that had whispered in my ear while I slept.
“Wha... what is this? It wasn't a dream? Or was it a dream?”
Unsure of where reality ended and the dream began, I floundered, wiggling my body.
First, I have to get back.
I can't let him see my face this beet-red first thing in the morning.
“First, I'll go wash up and get my head straight... Hyaah!”
I gently lifted Enoch's arm from around me and was stealthily crawling out of bed when a long arm suddenly wrapped around my waist.
Letting out a strange shriek, I sucked in a sharp breath in embarrassment.
“You scared me. A-Are you awake?”
As I tried to calm my racing heart, my body, which had just barely escaped, was pulled right back to Enoch.
“Yeah...”
A drowsy, low voice came from Enoch's lips, as if he wasn't fully awake yet.
“If you're sleepy, you can sleep more. I'm going to... E-Enoch?”
Enoch, who seemed about to get up, moved off the pillow and laid his head on my lap.
“Where... are you going? Don't go...”
Then he closed his eyes again and mumbled.
Perhaps because he was half-asleep, his words were shorter than usual.
“I have to go...”
“...”
“Mmm... what should I do?”
Watching his solid chest rise and fall rhythmically, as if he'd fallen asleep again, I gently placed a hand on his soft black hair.
As I stroked it gently, his red lips curved into a pretty arc, even in his sleep, as if he was pleased.
*Just for a little while should be fine, right?*
It was quiet outside, so it seemed to be early morning.
And since Enoch's eyes were closed, he wouldn't know my face was red.
Plus, the breeze coming through the slightly open window felt nice...
As I was gently stroking his soft hair, making all sorts of excuses to myself,
“Move, I can't see.”
“Don't push!”
“Liel wants to see, too! Liel wants to see!”
The sound of tiny whispers drifted in on the wind.
“Hmm...?”
At first, I thought I'd misheard.
But the persistent scratching sound at my ears made me lift my head, and I saw three pairs of sparkling eyes through the slightly ajar door.
“Wha... what, what.”
As I pointed at the door, flustered and only able to move my lips, the door creaked open hesitantly.
“Ha, haha... Good morning?”
“We were just passing by and the door was open... We didn't see a thing!”
“Mommy, hi!”
Two awkward old men. One bright, innocent child.
My eyes twitched as I identified the owners of the whispering voices.
And a beat later, my mouth opened and a scream finally burst out.
“Ah, ahhhhk!”
“What's with all the noise this early... Oof!”
*Crash. Thud, thud.*
As I, startled, grabbed the blanket and bolted from the bed, a loud noise erupted, and a groan escaped Enoch's lips.
“...Riana, your morning greeting seems to have gotten quite... aggressive...”
