Chapter 153
But there was no “next.”
Dawn was breaking fast, and we needed to slip back inside before morning roll call.
When we returned to the cell, Johann was sleeping on his side, and Furball lay curled into a ball beside his flank.
A sudden question occurred to me.
Enrique was supposed to be just as pure-hearted as Johann, so why was he so practiced?
What exactly was he so confident about being “good at”?
Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked Enrique.
“You must have had a lot of experience with women.”
At my question, Enrique, who was now settled and lying down, shook his head.
“Not really.”
“But you have dated someone?”
He gestured toward Johann with his eyes, pressed a finger to his lips as if to say “quiet,” then pulled me by the arm to lie down beside him.
Like sharing a secret, we whispered under the blankets.
“I’ve never actually dated anyone, but I did kiss someone when I was little.”
“Johann?”
“Johann? We tried once out of curiosity when we were seven, but it didn’t feel right, so we stopped. Our tastes run the same way, but neither of us was into men.”
Don’t you dare try to genre-jump on me.
If it had been their thing, would they have lived happily ever after?
I have absolutely no idea what kind of relationship these two have.
“There was an abandoned tower up north that was supposed to be haunted, so Johann and I went to check it out. That’s where I met them.”
“Don’t tell me your first love was a ghost…?”
Enrique shook his head with a grave expression.
“I don’t know if I’d call it love. They weren’t of this world.”
“Isn’t that the same thing…?”
“They had black hair down to the waist, wore white, and had skin so pale it was nearly translucent.”
That’s literally the textbook description of a ghost, isn’t it?
Just as I was about to press further, the blanket was whisked away and early dawn light came flooding in.
“Did you steal her while I was asleep? You’re really cunning.”
Johann, freshly awake, scratched at his messy hair irritably.
His languid green eyes turned my way.
“And you, why did you let yourself get snatched? You should’ve defended yourself.”
“What are you even talking about?”
In any case, it looked like another day of labor with barely any sleep.
As I regretfully reached up to tie my hair, Johann lightly tugged the ends to turn me toward him, growling.
Thanks to that, my hair ended up tied off-center to the right.
“Hey, don’t even think about sleeping tonight.”
Why shouldn’t I be allowed to sleep?
“Why?”
“He carried you off while you were sleeping. We’re pulling guard shifts.”
Why was he being so petulant?
At least a cute little kitten nipping and fussing was adorable, but when a beast like him threw a tantrum, you risked losing limbs.
The lion-like snarling suddenly ceased, and he calmly began undoing my poorly tied hair to redo it.
But why was he using so much force? He was going to rip my hair out.
I said, eyes narrowing sharply:
“Let’s do it again today. Somewhere no one can see.”
“Do what.”
Whatever he’d imagined at my suggestion, the tips of his ears were bright red by the time he finished tying my hair.
“The test.”
“Right.”
And according to the mirror’s verdict, the hair he’d forcefully yanked up to my crown looked exactly like a Xiongnu warrior’s topknot.[1]
He said with a satisfied smile:
“Wear it like that from now on. Nobody’ll talk to you.”
I suddenly wanted to request a duel instead of a test.
***
After breakfast, during the remaining free time, Viviana was deep in thought.
How could she push Kido to the brink?
Kido was the type who didn’t form attachments. Rumors, reputation, other people’s opinions, she couldn’t care less, which left almost no weaknesses to exploit.
She lived by the motto, “life is a solo journey” and wore her isolation like armor.
While high-born nobles chose every word carefully to protect their relationships and reputation, Kido said exactly what she pleased and even spewed vulgar curses without hesitation. What more was there to say?
‘Why would I bother with dignity and elegance? It’s all pretense for transactional relationships anyway. I’m the one in a position to give people what they want, so shouldn’t they be trying to impress me? If they cut ties with me, they’re the ones who lose, not me.’
This young woman was a rare specimen of detachment in aristocratic society and an arrogant one at that.
The only things that genuinely angered her were material issues, like financial losses.
Just recently, hadn’t she been more furious about having her escape funds stolen than about losing her fiancé Enoch?
“She’s flat broke now, so why is she still so confident?”
Translation Notes
[1] ↩
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