31. — What Happened at the Square? (1)

As a rustling sound was heard, a sound of a book shutting followed after. Then, the next moment, a sound of dry saliva gulping and a clattering sound as though a teacup was being placed down came after.

Cain slowly lifted his eyelids, which had been closed, at the small sounds that woke him from his deep sleep. 

Whenever he woke up from his sleep, Adelia was always in front of him.

…Adelia Blaise.

There was a woman with a name that closely resembled the word Bless, which reads as salvation… And, that woman who became more special to him than anyone else.

ﾟ･ : * ✧ * :･ ﾟ

“Crazy… Wow, what’s going on with the writer’s writing? It’s actually really entertaining.”

At first, it was just curiosity.

I think it was like a slight curiosity that arose because I did have nearly all the books that sold at Aren. If I had to add an excuse, it was also boring to wait for Cain, who had fallen asleep, to wake up since it was also frustrating to just go back without saying anything. 

Before he woke up, I had some sandwiches Roan gave me to eat along with some ginger tea that had cooled just right. After eating half of the sandwich Roan gave me, my hunger went away, and the spring breeze blowing through the open window was warm and felt so comfortable. In the drowsy atmosphere that seemed to make me fall asleep, my gaze drifted to the books stacked on the table without me realizing it.

‘So, what happened in the stable…?’

With a sneaking curiosity, my hand naturally turned towards the book by itself. As I carefully glanced at Cain, he seemed like he was still asleep.

…Shall, shall we read a little bit?

After putting the half-eaten sandwich down on the table, I stood up and picked up the book. I immediately covered my mouth when I saw the boldness of the writer, who started with the bizarre scene, putting aside the book’s worldview, setting, and everything.

That is right. You buy books like this to see things like this!

To be honest, I was embarrassed because Cain asked me to read it. Still, I suppose the more such a scene like this appears, the better.

Hugging a cushion that was on the sofa, I took a comfortable pose in earnest. Whenever I felt thirsty, I would drink the ginger tea that Roan had brought me and quickly flip through the book. And, whenever I felt the development was loose, I hit my knees, thinking of the writer who detonated the bombs one by one.

While I was surprised by the unimaginable development from a page, just the next moment, I was already heading to the last chapter already.

“Hughes, are we allowed to do this?”

“Elena, if I can be with you, I’ll even go to hell.”

“Let’s go to the stables, Hughes. I want to be embraced by you and forget everything…. Wow, if I were Hughes, I would’ve fallen for Elena, too.”

Elena, who had been pushed to the edge of the precipice, eventually declared surrender to Hughes’ heart that was directed at her from the beginning to the end. At her line to go to the stable where the two met for the first time, I covered my mouth again and muttered.

“This is really XXX-rated. But, if it’s a morning chirp*I won’t forgive you… I really won’t forgive you, writer.”
[ T/N: The word ‘morning chirp’ is a Korean internet slang term. It refers to when the writer skips the R-19 scene in movies, webtoons, or novels and immediately switches to the scene where the birds are chirping in the morning instead. ]

I carefully turned the pages with words close to prayer. The short sentence was more shocking than the ‘morning chirp.’

As I read the sentence silently with my dazed head, I suddenly heard a low voice.

“So, what does it say?”

“No, the scene after this will be continued in the next volume… Aakk—!”

Instinctively giving an answer to the voice I heard, I screamed in surprise at the familiar voice. At the same time, the book I was holding fell to the floor, and my heart raced wildly as if it would jump out at any moment.

“Your, Your Highness?”

“….”

“Si-since when have you been up?”

Cain’s eyes slowly blinked at my question. For a moment, his gaze, which was moving as though retracing what I had said, turned downward.

As I involuntarily glanced down to where he was looking, I found that the book I had dropped was spread out among many of its many pages, where there was an illustration of a love affair. I covered the illustration with a cushion I held by instinct, which was faster than reason.

“Did… Did you see it?”

My bewildered voice trembled unknowingly. Then, Cain, who was gazing at me quietly, asked with an indifferent voice.

“Is that why Hughes and Elena went to the stable?”

…He saw it. He had seen it all.

A sense of despair erupted from Cain’s sly question. At the same time, shame rushed through my body to the point that I wanted to jump right away.

“It seems like you’re burning up. Would you like some cold water?”

The mischievously curved eyes and the raised corners of his mouth were smiling as if he knew all my shame. My mouth was dry at his question about cold water as he pushed it toward me, and his outright teasing in a smiling voice.

…This is why you never open Pandora’s box.

After all, all of this is a disaster caused by curiosity!

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