CH 52

“Honey?”

His eyes went wide, evident with shock.

We were so close together that our noses were nearly touching, but I pushed him away roughly with both hands. My strength certainly shouldn’t be enough to do so, but he easily gave way.

A face colored completely by bewilderment was soon embedded into my mind. To be honest, I was also quite shaken.

This man never once apologized in his life, yet was now desperately begging for her forgiveness while calling her this term of endearment exclusive to married couples—‘honey’.

While we were still together, I didn’t even know when he’d call me by this title, but now that he was saying it, it sounded more pleasant to my ears than I had expected.

Nevertheless, even if it hadn’t been ten years since I reincarnated, my mind remained unchanged.

True, I might have wanted to talk to someone who knew me from the past, but after everything I had already overcome, what I wanted the most was a peaceful and harmonious family.

I’m so happy now that I get to spend time with my family. I just want to live with them for as long as possible, then down the line, I’ll meet a normal man or a man like my father, marry him and live happily.

This was my dream.

It was the wish that I had as I was at death’s door in my previous life.

I could hear my voice back then—Seohyun’s voice—desperately wishing to meet a man who loved her, desperately wishing that she could live a normal life.

So, I must remain firm here. The best course of action was to break off any ties that could lead me back to the past.

I would not deny the slightest feeling of delight that had coursed through my veins just now, but in the end, that was all.

“If you don’t leave my room right now, Your Grace, I will have to call my father.”

“…It’s my fault, forgive me.”

My firm dismissal elicited Ciel’s desperation. However, I emphasized once again towards this man, who continued to show such an unfamiliar side of him.

“I am not the woman you think I am, Your Grace. I am Irene de Closch. I am the eldest daughter of House Closch—the only daughter of my beloved parents.”

I conveyed nothing but the truth, and yet Ciel’s expression broke down completely.

As if he just heard something that he shouldn’t have heard, his blue eyes quivered wildly as his expression had gone distorted.

Even so, I pointed my finger towards the window. Ciel was rooted where he stood, looking like he was not breathing properly.

“I will overlook this just once. Please do not trespass into my room again. If you try to break in through that window recklessly once more, no matter how high your station is above mine, I will sue you.”

Even if this was a strictly hierarchical society, there would be nothing he could do if he’s summoned to the imperial court.

As I said so, Ciel gazed at me with despair-stricken eyes. I faced him as well and soon found a faint wound under one of his eyes.

It was a scratch inflicted by my katar when I swung it at him earlier.

A drop of blood trickled down belatedly from his wound.

This red line looked even redder across his face because of the flame he was holding. His lips, similarly a vivid shade of red, slowly opened.

“…I must have mistaken you for someone else. I’ve committed an act of discourtesy, Lady Closch.”

After apologizing obediently, he then hurried towards the window. His strides were long and swift, but as he stood in front of the window now, he paused for a moment.

He did not turn around again, but even as I could see only his back, I could feel that there was something he wanted to tell me.

Even so, he left my room without looking back. And as he left, the flame illuminating the room disappeared as well.

Standing alone in the middle of my now dark room, I stared at the window.

Two things made me unable to look away—the first being that I was worried he’d come back, and the second being that I still couldn’t believe he recognized me.

Did it even make sense that he recognized me through only my guiding?

Didn’t a Guide’s abilities feel the same? Wasn’t it that the only difference that could be seen between one Guide’s guiding and another was the quantity infused into an Esper, or the quality based on grades S to F?

Was there truly a difference based on the Guide themselves?

Long after he left, I still couldn’t move from this spot. Belated curiosity swept through me, and there were so many things I wanted to ask.

However, the person I needed to ask was no longer here, and even if he was, I would not have asked these questions anyway.

The chaotic dawn passed. It was only after I realized that the sun had already risen that I returned to bed.

Today was the most tiring day, even compared to those days in the past that I had to train every morning. Even so, I couldn’t fall asleep easily.

I couldn’t bring myself to close my eyes just in case he’d come back.

I kept my eyes trained on the window, but a fleeting memory of the past flashed through my mind right then.

It was a memory from when I was guiding him one day, and there was one thing that my husband said back then as he had a gentle expression.

[ Seohyun, your guiding feels cool to me. Like mint candy… ]

At that time, I only thought it felt like that to my husband because one of his abilities was fire.

However, I was struck with the sudden suspicion that he must have meant something else.