Chapter 27

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Chapter 27

Wearing a wide brim hat and a simple dress made from thin fabrics, I headed out to the training grounds.

I didn’t have anything on my schedule, so I was able to go to the training grounds the next day.

Underneath the warm sun, I hopped around from one shade to another, and while I was doing that, someone tapped me from behind.

“Noona.”

“Frey.”

And the bright sunny day became even brighter.

I stared at him with admiration for his pretty, handsome face.

“Where are you going?”

“To watch Lisandro train.”

“Oh, training.”

“Do you want to come with?”

“Sure.”

He walked at a slower pace, matching my stride. Touching the wide brim hat I was wearing, he stared down at me.

To be exact, he stared at the marks that were still on my neck.

As I felt his persistent gaze, Frey grabbed my pinky and stopped me from walking.

“Noona, what did Lisandro say last night?”

“What are you talking about?”

When I asked back, he smiled affectionately and tapped at the redness on my neck with one finger.

“I can’t imagine Lisandro staying silent after seeing this.”

“Oh.”

I fiddled with a lock of my hair for no reason.

“Um, that Frey thinks of me as a real older sister.”

“…Real older sister?”

“Yeah.”

“…Ha.”

Frey exhaled sharply. While still touching my neck, he burst into laughter.

“So that’s how he’s playing it.”

The voice coming out of his lips was cold.

“What?”

“That’s why you don’t care about this mark, Noona. Because of the nonsense that Lisandro spouted about me thinking of Noona as a real sister.”

He murmured as he lightly stroked the traces engraved on my skin. He somehow looked angry, and so I asked carefully.

“Frey, are you mad?”

“Of course not.”

Why does that bright smile feel more ominous now?

“I would never get angry in front of you.”

And it sounds like you do get angry behind my back.

“Noona, do you think I left this mark on your neck because I think of you as a real older sister? Really?”

Caressing the spot where he left those traces, he spoke quietly.

“Then I’m upset.”

The sunlight was so strong that it was difficult to look up into his eyes.

There was no way I wouldn’t notice his feelings, but after recalling yesterday’s resolution, I’ve already decided to feign innocence.

When we were younger, it was Lisandro who told Frey that he was afraid to lose me.

I didn’t want to cause any anxiety.

It was a sense of anxiousness that stemmed from his family being far away from him, and I didn’t know when that would go away—but right now, not yet.

Though that didn’t mean I didn’t want to date Frey now.

While still trying to read my feelings, Frey smiled calmly.

“It’s not just Lisandro.”

He seemed to understand even if I didn’t tell him directly.

“If you’ve decided, Noona, you can do as you wish.”

With his pleasant voice, I naturally focused on him.

“I can always wait.”

He whispered sweetly as he took my hand and lifted it up, kissing each finger with such affection.

“So take your time. Just like you, Noona, I’m also worried about Lisandro.”

His eyes were warm.

“You can stop pretending that you don’t know. Even more than that, it’s you, Noona, so it’s alright.”

Like magic, his soft voice made me feel relieved.

“You can do whatever you wish. I’ll wait.”

He helped me turn a blind eye to my own emotions.

“So please, don’t reject me just yet.”

His desperate voice flowed into my ear. As I made eye contact with him, I carefully opened my lips to speak.

“You must be having a hard time, even now…”

I couldn’t even finish saying that it would be best for him to give up these feelings, Frey cut me off mid-sentence.

“Please don’t say that. I haven’t done anything yet. Let’s take our time, please just watch.”

That desperation once again clung to me. And soon, he looked at me with a firm gaze as he whispered.

“Then I’m sure Noona will undoubtedly love me.”

“…You’ve changed a lot, Frey.”

It was a little awkward seeing the child I once knew expressing his feelings so boldly like this.

“It’s not that I changed, only that this part of me was well hidden before.”

The atmosphere Frey was exuding was delicate.

Just as I saw him again for the first time, a strange feeling rose within me slowly once more.

Still caressing my neck, Frey lifted my hat slightly.

A cool wind blew as my forehead was revealed, and he leaned forward to touch his forehead on mine.

“Isn’t it that you’ve wanted me since long ago?”

“……”

His forehead was slightly colder.

We were so close face to face to the point that I could clearly see my own reflection, frozen by tension, in his golden eyes.

Smiling with his eyes curled, he slowly moved away and placed my hat back in place.

“Just what did you do in those two years…”

You changed in a way that you became my ideal type.

At this rate, the one who’d eat him up wouldn’t be Lisandro or anyone else, but me.

This isn’t a joke. I’m really serious. I decided not to be captivated, but this face of his made it so difficult not to just be possessed by him.

I desperately tried to hold back my wavering heart. Then, he suddenly reached out his hand as if he didn’t know how I was feeling.

“Noona, may I hold your hand?”

“No.”

“Really? But my hands are pretty.”

He waved one hand in front of me and smiled broadly.

“My hands are soft, too. I also applied cream often so that they wouldn’t be rough when Noona holds them.”

He rambled as though fishing for compliments.

“It’s your favorite fruit scent.

Frey held his hand close to my nose.

Unconsciously, I took a whiff. The refreshing scent that came softly from his hand scarily went so well with him.

As I imagined Frey applying the same fruit-scented hand cream that I used, the corners of my lips went up.

It definitely suited him, but why was it so funny?

He’s similar to Lisandro. They both had huge physiques, but were very distracted.

“Ah, you smiled.”

“The scent suits you, but it’s funny to imagine it.”

“But it smells nice, right?”

“Yeah, it’s nice.”

As the fragrance was carried by the wind, he acted cute as he usually did, and my nerves gradually eased.

It was hot, but a cool wind passed by so I couldn’t feel the heat. The refreshing scent of summer flowers also intertwined with the fruit scent.

It was strange to look at Frey like this.

The child, who seemed to be in need of constant protection, was now standing tall in front of me. He grew up so fast.

“Here.”

With his arms wide open, he smiled refreshingly. It was a smile reminiscent of a fresh valley spring during summer.

“What?”

“You can take in the scent even more on my arms.”

Dumbfounded, I raised one eyebrow sharply. I guess he thought I’d be fooled by such words.

“Do you think I’ll hug you?”

“You embraced me yesterday.”

After he lowered his arms regrettably, he leaned down to be on the same eye level as me.

“It’s because it was so nice to see you again yesterday. And it was you who asked me to hug you.”

“Will you still hold me if I ask you to?”

Unlike when he was young, he’s become sly.

His personality and general atmosphere certainly changed.

“I do hope you will.”

I couldn’t stand it and quickly avoided his gaze.

“Stop setting that kind of mood.”

He stepped closer to me, but when I gently pushed him away, he shrugged.

“Doesn’t hurt to try. What do you say?”

“Not a chance.”

Truthfully, this Noona’s heart was bouncing up and down like crazy.

It would be strange if I didn’t get nervous in front of this kid who had such indescribable features.

I sometimes admired Verdo and Lisandro’s looks whenever I saw them, but Frey was…

I couldn’t even compare them.

In the past, he used to be a mysterious, pretty child who was like a forest fairy, but now it’s like his looks were cranked up to the max with sensual beauty.

Especially with that tattoo on his neck and the physique he had that couldn’t be hidden by his neat uniform.

His beauty was so beyond limits that I understood why Lisandro in the novel went insane. It’s crazy.

Without even realizing, I kept praising his looks.

“I’ll try my hardest so that you’ll come to like me, Noona.”

“…You’re not reading weird books, right?”

“101 Ways to Capture a Woman’s Heart?”

It’s a weird one.

When I made it obvious that I didn’t like it, he smiled and spoke with a low voice.

“I’m kidding. I’m more interested in how to win your heart rather than other women’s.”

“…Are you sure you’re waiting?”

“I said I’ll be waiting, but I never said I wouldn’t seduce you.”

Frey smiled brightly and swept back my fluttering fringe.

After that, we had a different small conversation on our way to the training grounds.

Lisandro smiled broadly at me, but the moment he saw Frey, I just enjoyed the lovely view of his expression souring.

Even though it was the first time in almost two years that they met again, the relationship between these two was worse than adversaries who were facing each other on a single log bridge.

Rather than greeting Frey, Lisandro went straight ahead to show me how he sparred, but what I could only see there were knights falling down here and there by Lisandro’s hands.

It was so cool, but as I watched the knights collapse again and again, I began to feel sorry for them.

“Noonim, what do you think?”

How could he now break a sweat at all?

With a refreshed expression, he walked towards me, sword still in one hand.

In the distance, I looked with pity towards the knights who reached out their arms.

“Buy something delicious for the knights later.”

“No, what did you think about me!”

I’ve seen it almost 100 times already but why do you keep asking me as if my opinion is important?

“You’re amazing. You showed no mercy. I felt sorry for the knights but wow, you’re cool.”

Listening to me ramble on with no soul in my voice, Lisandro’s forehead crumpled as he frowned.

“Are those even compliments, jeez.”

I did compliment you at first.

Anyway, every time I saw him fight, he was amazing. Everyone else was panting and sweating heavily, but Lisandro was sweating only minimally on his forehead.

The muscles seen on his tanned forearm as his sleeves were rolled up were truly remarkable.

“Did you train only your arm muscles?”

“Are you kidding? I train from head to toe. My back muscles are cool, too. Wanna see?”

“Gross.”

“Ah, seriously!”

After messing up his hair, he quickly disappeared somewhere else and soon reappeared with a sky-blue frilly parasol in one hand.

“Let’s go now, Noonim.”

I don’t know if it’s because he was spinning the parasol around so much, but it seemed like he’d already forgotten what just happened. Lisandro skillfully moved to my side so that I was under the parasol’s shade.

“Forget Frey and just go with me, Noonim.”

“When did you buy this?”

I asked him as I looked at the parasol that was as blue as the daytime sky. With one hand on his waist, he answered proudly.

“Anything for my Noonim. Let’s hurry up and go now.”

“How about you two share the parasol?”

When I asked insinuatingly, he shouted back in disgust.

“Are you crazy?! Why would I!”

Jokes to this extent were also possible now.

In fact, I felt a little anxious that Lisandro would go crazy after seeing Frey’s current appearance, but when Lisandro reacted like this, my worries subsided.

Ah, I knew it. My choice wasn’t wrong.

Holding Lisandro’s hand was the best choice among any other choices.

A transparent glass was filled with cold juice and ice.

There were also sweet and sour fruits on the table, and the wind coming in through the window cooled down the room.

But between Lisandro and Frey, who were sitting tightly at both of my sides, the air burned relentlessly.

“It’s hot, so just leave.”

“Noona, you feel cooler beside me, right?”

Frey smiled and rubbed his cheek on my shoulder, acting cute.

Frey definitely had a lower temperature. He entered a contract with the spirit king of fire, but it’s strange how cool he felt to the touch.

Was he really supposed to be cold?

However, because of his low temperature that couldn’t possibly be normal, I unconsciously kept sticking by Frey.

“Get off.”

Lisandro warned grimly. Rather than being afraid, Frey just tilted his head to the side.

“Noona’s feeling hot, but should I get off? If Noona sweats, Noona will feel uncomfortable, Noona.”

“…Damn it.”

After swearing under his breath, Lisandro no longer tried to push off Frey.

What a good kid. I can’t believe he’s doing this much for his Noonim.

Patting his white hair, I glanced at Frey.

“By the way, what kind of new spirit did you sign with? You feel colder because of that spirit, right?”

“Yes. It’s a high-ranked water spirit.”

So he ended up getting it.

A water spirit was definitely the best among the spirit elementals in terms of healing. It also had the healing power that could rival the divine power of the high priests.

I applauded out of surprise, but Lisandro stopped me from doing it as if telling me not to compliment Frey.

“Please keep it a secret for now. Just as Noona said, it’s best not to show all my cards yet.”

He said that only me and Lisandro knew that he entered a contract with a high-ranked water spirit.

Lisandro was being sensitive now, and I felt it even without him saying anything.

When I looked towards Frey and our eyes met, I smiled reflexively. Then I suddenly remembered what I was curious about.

“But who was it that you needed to find?”

He went on this trip because he wanted to find someone, but he couldn’t find them in the end.

“The person who allowed me to enjoy this moment.”

After saying this, he glanced gently towards me.

“Noona, have you had such a dream?”

“Dream?”

“Something like a dream where this guy becomes so crazy that he torments me?”

And Frey’s slender finger pointed towards Lisandro. My own fingertips flinched.

But before I could even open my lips to respond, Lisandro glared ferociously at Frey in anger.

“Are you being serious? What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

Lisandro would have understood this as just a petty insult, but that wasn’t the case for me.

Why did I suddenly recall the book 〈 Dawn of the Full Moon 〉 and the question that he asked me when we were younger?

I stared straight into Frey’s eyes without avoiding his gaze, trying to search for something.

Without averting his gaze either, Frey opened his lips and whispered quietly.

“I was looking for two people. You know one of them since you already met her, right? Her name is Bliss. And the other person is Regina.”

After hearing Bliss’ name, my body froze.

“You know those names, right, Noona?”

Seeing his hollow smile, I was dumbstruck. There’s no way I didn’t know.

Bliss was Frey’s friend who died at the hands of Lisandro after saving him. A person who only turned up as a corpse at the very start of the dream.

I hurriedly grabbed his sleeve.

He wasn’t running away, but I held onto him urgently.

Did he really remember everything?

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