CH 29

“Juliana, I am crazy.”

He suddenly began to confess!

Juliana was dumbfounded and she could only smile.

“…Forgive me.”

“……”

“I like you……”

What? Who do you like?

At Louis’ words, her brain and heart seemed to be at odds with each other. Her heart pounded, but her head was unable to keep up with the sudden change of situation.

He admitted that he was crazy, but who did he say he liked?

Was it his plan to confuse her? If that was his aim, Louis must be a player. Juliana calmed her pounding heart and cleared her aching head. She was confused.

“Julie.”

Louis smiled softly as he said her nickname. He seduced people like a fox.

“Julie’s hatred…”

“…..”

“…it’s good that your emotions are focused only on me.”

Louis’ voice was filled with joy. The warm voice gave Juliana a chill.

Was he happy that he was hated and resented?

Juliana was blown away by his words which dripped with possessiveness. He was different from the one she had in her mind.

Juliana felt other complex emotions mixed with her resentment and hatred towards the lunatic who held her back. But he, in his ignorant obsession and joy, made Juliana freeze like a statue.

“…Haa, you really are crazy…!”

As Juliana stepped back, Louis moved as close to her as he could. There was no room for her to move. She felt like a mouse cornered against the wall.

“S-Stop, don’t do this. Please let me go home now!”

As she finished her words, Louis’ dark pupils sank.

“Why do you want to leave?”

Louis couldn’t understand. He did everything the woman wanted so that she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

First of all, it was the woman who reached out to him and offered to spend a night with him.

‘But now you’re running away?’

He felt offended by the woman who feigned innocence.

“Did I not ask you?”

Louis said as he suppressed something boiling within him. Louis hid his nervousness and approached her. He pretended to be relaxed then grabbed a handful of Juliana’s hair. He lowered his head slowly and pressed his lips firmly onto her hair.

“If you promise not to leave.”

His intense eye contact followed Juliana as he pressed his lips onto her hair.

“I promise to give you an unforgettable night.”

It was the woman who accepted the proposal. Louis couldn’t understand Juliana, who summoned another man while he wasn’t there. It felt unpleasant.

Yes, she had to be by his side. Red passion flashed across Louis’ black pupils for a moment and then disappeared.

Ha, Juliana laughed. It was amazing. Why was he bringing up the past? It was ridiculous that the man brought up that night’s work to the surface.

“This time, in this hand, what should I give you?”

Louis interrupted her thoughts and slowly interlocked their fingers. When his elongated fingers intertwined with hers, she felt something touching her leg.

“Huh? Say it. What will make you satisfied?”

“…….Haha.”

%$&!

He was really crazy.

Juliana chewed the insides of her cheek and pinched the flesh of her thigh with her other hand, the one that was not held by him. If he lowered his head just a little bit more, their lips would touch.

“Haa, you’re so good at bluffing.”

Juliana barely replied and avoided his gaze.

“Like this… You say things you don’t mean.”

Her words trembled as she thought he was going to kiss her lips as he did with her hair.

“No way. I am still hoping.”

Louis closed his eyes and smiled, as he spread their interlaced hands, he placed Juliana’s hand on the left side of his chest.

It was the side of his heart.

She could feel the ribs that slightly protruded below it. And the heart that pounded at a constant speed. It wasn’t beating as hard as her heart, but the man’s heart was certainly beating at a steady rate.

“Aren’t you curious?”

Louis smiled and tilted his head to one side. He had to appease the woman to keep her from leaving.

“Why this mansion is not burnt rubble, and why I brought Julie here?”

Louis’ voice was soft. He brushed his bangs to one side so his dark eyes were revealed. The man’s black pupils were different, and at the same time, a strange color circulated.

I’m so curious.

‘No, get a hold of yourself, Juliana!’

Juliana barely came to her senses in the deep bog that seemed to suck her in. It was a miracle that she was able to stand firm against the pure white skin, dark eyes, and thick lips under the sunlight.

It was like this because it was her and no one else.

If it were normal women, they would have already had a heart attack, regardless if he was crazy or not.

“I’ll tell you.”

“!”

“But only if Julie remembers our first meeting.”

Juliana looked at him with shaking pupils.

“If it was our first meeting, of course I remember it. The Masquerade party……”

“No, Julie.”

Louis firmly denied it.

“A little earlier, it was before that.”

He added languidly as he buried his face in her collarbone. His soft hair touched her skin. In addition to the weight of his face, a low breath reached her ear.

‘When did we meet?’

Juliana stared at his dark hair, and frantically searched her memories. She was confused. Had they even met before?

She had no contact with him other than the night of the masquerade ball. It was only that night. No matter how much she tried to recall, she couldn’t remember where and when they could have met prior to the masquerade ball. If she had met such a handsome man, she wouldn’t have forgotten it……

But he said, that they had met before

“Is it hard, Julie?”

Louis asked bluntly while Juliana was immersed in her thoughts.

“…I have no idea.”

“Hmm, then can you answer this question first?”

Louis smiled and pushed his face in. He smiled softly with his eyes closed, recalling that Juliana was weak against his face.

“Are the flowers pretty? Is Louis pretty?”

“Haa.”

Juliana let out a sigh at the absurd question. That brazenness of speaking about yourself in the third person!

The lunatic had an arrogance unlike any other human. Juliana mumbled a little with a hardened face.

“…I think you’re crazy.”

Louis smiled brightly as if he had gotten a compliment from her. He took a bunch of flowers from his front pocket and handed them to Juliana. They were Azalea flowers that he picked today, just like he did everyday.

“…..”

Juliana looked at the flowers in her hand once, then looked at him for a while. She gave them to the person who needed them most at this moment.

“Julie, I’m so happy…”

Louis smiled brightly at the flowers she put in his hair.

Don’t be happy with flowers in your hair!

***

A less traveled alleyway.

“Let go, let go of me!”

A man was lying on the floor and was being dragged somewhere. The man’s screams echoed in the dark guild’s hideout.

“I think the time you promised to pay off your debt has passed.”

“P-Please…”

“When will you pay me, you noble trash?”

The dark guild boss appeared as he exhaled cigarette smoke. Robert bowed his head at the appearance of the boss.

The due date for paying the money had long passed. However, he had to live so even if his bones didn’t want to…. He bowed down and tried to delay time.

“I will pay you back with interest. There is no need to worry.”

With a smile that made people feel at ease, Robert bowed to the point where his back and knees were about to give out. It was not a matter of pride that he, a noble man, took a servile attitude toward these gangsters. There was nothing he would not do to preserve his life.

It was also a secret since the wealth of Marquis Braden was on the line.

He wanted to marry Juliana right away, however he had to put out the urgent fire first.

Robert secretly gambled while Juliana was away at the Academy of Magic. However, his debts were snowballing and he was now in a situation that was difficult to recover from.

‘The Duke of Hariens is like a walking bank!’

The debt, which exceeded a commoner’s cost of living for 10 years, was enough to evoke a sense of crisis, however Robert felt that it was insignificant. He was going to become the next Duke of Hariens anyway. What he didn’t know was that Juliana who was waiting at the Academy would break up with him.

Oh how much he spent on that woman!

Robert criticized his ex-fiancée internally and gritted his teeth.

“You’ve said that so many times, why would I believe you?”

“Th-This time for sure…!”

“One week.”

Robert’s face turned blue. His huge debt was simply not an amount that could be paid off in a week.

“Two weeks, just two weeks! That’s enough… I’ll make it happen somehow!”

He said pleading as he rubbed his palms together. Loud laughter was heard from all sides. His face distorted from the humiliation and embarrassment but he endured it relentlessly.

“Okay. Keep in mind, just two weeks.”

At the boss’ warning that if he ran away again, he would break his wrist, Robert nodded his head.

“Uggh.”

After leaving the guild, Robert leaned on the wall and recalled what was in his memory. The corners of his lips trembled because of his broken pride.

‘Juliana…’

It was time for him to bring back the heart of the woman whom only he knew.