Chapter 92

Translator: Yonnee

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So, what exactly do you want me to do.

In all honesty, I sympathized with him. However, that didn't mean I had any intention of returning to the way everything was in the past.

Couldn't we just move forward as two individuals who once shared a past that we could tell no one about, but now had nothing to do with each other?

Even if it's impossible to be close friends, we could maybe talk about the past with each other and reminisce at times.

As the answer evaded me still, I worried over what to say, and I bit my lower lip tightly as a habit.

Then, firm fingertips pressed against my lower lip, which was being chewed by my teeth.

"How is it that even this hasn't changed..."

There was a hint of laughter in his voice, which tickled my ears. With all the complicated thoughts swirling through my mind, I ended up blurting out the conditions I had been thinking about all this time.

"...In this life, I want to marry a man who is like my father."

Wrought with tension, I continued staring at the chest in front of me.

"I'm going to marry a man who my parents approve of. That's my own rule in this life."

"......"

So, if you wish to be with me, convince my family-not me.

Perhaps catching onto the connotation of my words, but the arms that were wrapped around me held me tighter. His firm chest pressed against my cheek. Thump. Thump. This heartbeat seemed to relay his answer.

Would he be able to win over my parents?

Unlike how I had been in the past, I was no longer alone. I will make him realize that the Seo-hyun he once knew is no more.

Then, he'd give up on me soon enough.

I wouldn't fall for him like I did in the past. I had no reason to do so, and I had no intention at all.

Go ahead and try your best.

* * *

Ciel followed Irene around like a meek little puppy. Right after giving him a chance, she pushed him and left his side right away. Then, he approached Morgan, who had collapsed far away.

He wanted to stop her from going there, but he couldn't do anything else that would make her hate him more.

That guy was a mere idiotic, physical Esper. He'd wake up on his own even if they just left him there. Quite honestly, Ciel thought that it wouldn't matter even if that guy died.

Various complaints found their way on the tip of his tongue, but instead of voicing them out, he helped Irene.

Using his wind abilities, he carried her in front of the guy in an instant. She immediately leaned down to check up on that guy's condition.

"Brother Morgan!"

Her voice was clearer than even the sound of a bird's song, and he loathed to hear her lovely voice calling out the name of another man. He was filled with the urge to cover her lips and eyes just as he did before, but he remained silent and did nothing. He waited.

He had just been narrowly given a chance...

He had no plans to throw it away so stupidly. Finally-finally-his wife honestly admitted her identity. If he were to pressure her here, she would surely pull away and hide from him again.

As she was completely different, may it be her appearance, status and everything else, there was no way to prove that she was his wife.

"Have you come to?"

"...Irene?"

However, as soon as that man uttered his wife's name, Ciel conjured his abilities without even realizing it.

Thwack-

Among the rocks strewn around, the largest of them flew quickly and hit that guy on the back of the head.

Just as he had come to his senses, he fainted once again. Seeing this, Ciel felt a satisfactory smile creeping up on the corners of his lips, but there was soon a strong gaze directed at him.

When he looked towards that direction, he saw Irene staring at him, her lips slightly agape. Her eyes were so refreshingly verdant. Her black eyes in the past were beautiful to him, but he was also fascinated by her appearance now as a citizen of the empire.

"Are you crazy?"

Even the sharp tone of her voice sounded so sweet. Ciel's eyes languidly curved along with his smile.

"You noticed only now?"

How could he possibly have lived his life sane? He had always been mad, both in the past and in the present. He only managed to hold out because of his wife.

As Irene tilted her head slightly to the side, Ciel stared at Irene's cheek. He wasn't sure if it was a blood splatter or something else, but he found an irritating red mark on her immaculate skin. He reached out and removed it. He rubbed the area with his thumb several times.

Even after he had rid her cheek of the mark perfectly, the feeling of her bare skin beneath his touch felt so good that he couldn't bring himself to let go.

Her clear green eyes, which seemed like small pockets of the forest, shook finely.

Ciel could not read the inner thoughts hidden behind that gaze. Perhaps she was thinking, 'If you're going crazy, then go crazy in a beautiful manner, I guess'.

Joyful laughter spilled through his lips.

Their relationship was something that no one else knew, one that happened in a past that no longer existed.

But the fact that she could remember everything filled him with such bliss that even guiding energy could not compare. It's enough that it seemed to even blind him.

"I am so, so happy to see you again."

Thus, he uttered each word, full of sincerity. Her eyes shook again. It was only a minute tremor, but Ciel saw it.

He knew what that meant.

As Ciel's eyes curved into arcs, the corners of his eyes tugged up. She said nothing, but he answered her with the bright smile of the happiest man in the world.

"I will make you fall in love with me again. Look only at me."

These words made Irene's eyes quiver once more. And, again, he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

Would she know about it?

The fact that, even on the very first time that they had met in the past, her eyes were shaking like this.

It was the same, visible reaction as her heart would start pounding whenever his gaze would contain only her.