CH 41

Chapter 41: Principles (5)

[ T/N: For the fastest release, read on ReadingPia.me ]

“……”

It was quite an unbelievable sight. If we were in the Pryster estate, it would have looked like a normal thing, but this place was the academy.

Was... it because of her that the door wasn’t locked?

How did she get in?

And why did she come in the first place?

…..no. I seemed to know why she had come. But why did she wait for me like this?

It was not like she was sitting still on the sofa waiting for me, but hiding under the blanket...

After a moment of surprise, my body’s next reaction was… a laugh.

“…haha… really…”

It was pitiful for her to be doing this, and though I was still salty, this was a disappointing laugh.

I’d been worrying about her all day, but even if we fought and hurt each other, in the end, her longing for my love made me smile.

If I hated twins, I would have been horrified and frightened to see Keirsey like this, but it’s not like that… I was just salty.

On the other hand, there was also a feeling of regret. I felt sorry for her who had to act like this, and I felt bad for being so petty.

I think she understood her mistake and came to reconcile again.

Unlike Asena, who used strange tactics to fight me today, Keirsey asked for forgiveness like this.

After a fight, if one wanted to ask for love from the other person, one would have to let go of even one's pride. Especially if one asked for it this way.

“…..”

How much of a surprise was that?

It was so shocking that the anger and pettiness in my heart melt away.

Well, that didn’t mean I regretted my actions.

Because I thought I didn’t do anything wrong.

Sometimes I had to warn them this way. And to be honest… I still had to continue this act. It had only been one day. Though the anger was relieved, it had to go on as a warning. I still decided to use a respectful tone with her.

“…..”

I quietly approached her.

Placing my hand on her wet forehead, I gently wiped the sweat.

Upon closer inspection, the forehead was not the only problem; the whole body was wet.

How long had she been in the duvet to sweat so much?

She seemed to have slept all today. Even the sheets were soaked wet.

Keirsey was wearing plain clothes today. She wore a two-piece top that covered her from head to toe.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a sloppy outfit. If that was the case, I might have seen the embarrassing scene with the clothes clinging to the wet body.

When did she grow up? Maybe I should learn to be careful.

After wiping the sweat from her forehead, I sat down next to her and brushed her silver hair.

It had been a long time since I looked at her in such detail.

In the busy daily life of the academy, there was no room for this.

When I touched her, I felt a complicated heart.

She took up a large part of my heart. When I thought about the time we spent, I felt warm, but it was also true that some memories made me uneasy.

In the end, the only people who could hurt me were the people who were important to me, so Keirsey’s recent actions were enough to cause me concern.

When I think of it, the pain was still vivid.

The twins had become a fatal weakness for me. At each of their hurtful words, I shook like a reed.

So I made up my mind to leave. If I had the confidence to change and not be hurt by them so easily, I wouldn’t even have thought about it.

Although Keirsey’s appearance right now seemed pitiful, this moment may be an opportunity. An opportunity to create a distance.

The twins were showing me some very contradictory things.

Politically they rejected me, but personally, they tried to hold on to me. I, who suffered in the process, turned away from them.

But when I made up my mind to leave, they looked sad and anxious. To the extent that if I left someday, they would be mentally uncomfortable.

So… maybe I needed to create a distance. I would leave eventually, so if they could reduce their reliance on me, it seemed like a good way to do it.

Without any more complicated thoughts, I enjoyed the comfortable time after a long while. As I was stroking her silky hair, a smile came out over and over again.

I could now understand the feelings of a married husband who said his wife was prettiest when she slept… Keirsey was the same; She didn’t open her mouth while sleeping, so she couldn’t look prettier.

I kept laughing at this ridiculous comparison over and over again.

How the hell did I come up with such a thought?

As I was thinking about this and that, I wondered if my hand stroking Keirsey had gained strength, because she suddenly exclaimed.

“…..Oppa…?”

She was dizzy but awake.

I hurriedly distanced my hand from her.

I wondered if I’d been caught stroking her.

Fortunately, Keirsey still looked half-sleeping, in a dreamy state.

She rubbed her eyes while calling me, paused for a moment, then opened her eyes and got up from the bed.

As if kneeling, supporting only her upper body with her arms, she looked at me with bewildered eyes and adjusted her clothes.

I’d already seen it all, so I was wondering why she looked so embarrassed. There was nothing inappropriate about her clothes.

She grabbed the hem of her skirt and covered her already-covered lower body again.

Then she sighed in relief as if she was happy with something.

I didn’t know what it was that she didn’t want me to find out, but I thought that it was not the right order to address things. First, I had to hear her excuse for hiding in my bed like this.

“……”

As I stared intently at her, she then slowly looked into my eyes and said, “Oppa..that’s…so…”

I purposely hardened my face. I didn't feel much anger now, but I had no intention of admitting it today.

After all, I made a choice to not let her actions pass so easily, and I also had to distance myself a little from her for the future.

“Go back, Keirsey Pryster. You shouldn’t enter someone else’s room like this.”

Not long after waking up, Keirsey’s face, which had been flustered and bewildered, hardened.

I looked at her firmly.

Keirsey's face, which gradually digested my words, contained a deeper embarrassment, mourning, sadness, pain, and other negative emotions.

Immediately, she started to cry.

“…Oppa…please…I hate this…can you please stop it?”

“…..”

“Why do you keep talking like I'm someone else…? Really…are we done? No…? Oppa…you know I can’t do it without you…”

“…and in the end, you have to live without me. I told you I’d be leaving someday.”

“I said no!”

She groaned and raised her voice.

Suddenly, I heard someone approaching from outside. It was Eric.

With a small knock, he asked.

-"Hyung, are you okay? I heard a scream."

“Uh, sorry. It’s okay! Keirsey… Lady Keirsey is here!”

-"...Lady?"

Eric, of course, had doubts about why I addressed Keirsey as a lady. But now was not the time to explain.

“…I’ll explain later, Eric. Sorry to disturb you so late at night!”

-"No. It’s okay. I was just worried that there might be a problem."

“Okay, rest.”

-"Yep."

I again heard Eric's footsteps. This time, they were calmer.

As he left, Keirsey spoke again.

“…Oppa calls him, Eric. And I am Lady Keirsey? How the hell!? You and I are closer… huh?”

“Because it’s not Eric who is inflexible.”

“..I was wrong…I said I was wrong…”

She grabbed her chest and said with tears in her eyes.

“I… every time Oppa talks to me in this tone …it stabs my heart. It hurts so much… I can’t breathe… When I think Oppa is tired of me… the tears won’t stop. Yes..? It’s not like that… Are you really going to be so hard on me for the rest of our life? Do you really hate me..? Do you hate me now?”

“…..”

At this point, the demon within me also awakened. The demon, who felt relieved now, whispered that Keirsey was a bit pitiful.

If it was the first time… I might have given up here. Maybe I would have just hugged her, stroked her, and forgave her.

But the thought that came to mind as I looked at her as she was sleeping earlier caught my ankles. Someday I’ll leave them, and then they'd have to suffer more than this, not less. Wouldn’t it be right to think that they were just getting vaccinated now?

To improve health in a long run, one had to take bitter medicine.

“…”

Looking at me who didn’t answer, Keirsey got up from the bed, stumbling. She approached me like that and trembled as if she remembered something.

“…?”

“……”

Even while I expressed my doubts, she rolled her eyes and thought of something. Then, she opened her eyes and asked me in an excited tone.

“…Wasn't Oppa stroking my hair…?”

What had been confusing across the borders of dreams seemed to have become transparent now.

“…uh.”

When even I accidentally reacted to her words, a smile of relief began to appear on her face.

“ah…! Ah… well…!”

“..it was a dream.”

I made an excuse, but she bit her lips and closed her eyes with joy.

“Yeah…yes…! You can’t hate me…!”

As she stuttered, she gradually began to gain confidence. Her staggering body took center stage, her expression wrinkled with sadness opened up, and her actions became bolder.

She came up to me and tried to wrap her arms around my neck.

I blocked her hand once, but as if she had obtained the unshakable truth from my actions of stroking her hair, she quickly tried again.

The second time she couldn’t be pushed. The bitterness I felt towards her, and the smile I had built while she was lying in my bed, made me unable to reject her.

Her arms wrapped around my neck like snakes.

“…as expected.. oppa loves me... I knew you would..”

As she struggled with joy while continuously checking my heart, I couldn’t stand it anymore and burst out laughing.

"Aha Haah," I spat out laughter as a sigh of frustration, but the smile on my face revealed my emotions.

Seeing me smile, Keirsey smiled too with dripping tears and buried her face in my neck. I could feel her warmth and slightly damp feeling at the same time.

In the end, there was only one word left for me to spit.

“…I love you, but I’m indeed angry now.”

I still didn’t give up my pride.

Keirsey nodded her head in tears with a more intense breathing sound, she behaved like a child who was being patted after being scolded.

“Uh-huh… well… I was wrong.”

She also asked for forgiveness by using a tone that she usually only used to show affection to me.

“The lady seems to do it quite often.”

I said.

I still hadn’t hugged her yet. I just didn’t push her. But as if satisfied with that alone, Keirsey hugged me even tighter.

“Sorry….”

Now, not only her face, but her whole body was starting to stick to me. The touch of her body which was wet with sweat, bothered me a little, but I didn't say it.

At the same time, she took a couple of deep, trembling breaths, and spoke in a shriveled voice.

“By the way…! I mean, it was really bad this time… Oppa, I hope you don’t do this again.”

“...That’s why I got angry... right?”

“Ah…!”

She became nervous as she realized the obvious fact again.

“Please go back, Keirsey Prysier. I have no intention of forgiving you.”

“…Uh?”

She lifted her face from my arms and looked at me. At the same time, she didn’t want to show her tearful face, so she turned her face at a strange angle and rolled her eyes to look at me.

I felt more strength in the arms wrapped around my neck. Now it was starting to hurt.

“…what do I do to relieve Oppa's anger…? I can do anything…”

She said in a determined voice.

“No matter what you do, it won’t work... today.”

“Then tomorrow…?”

“We'll know that tomorrow.”

“…why… you don’t like me, really…”

She loosened one of the two arms that were around my neck and grabbed my arm with the free one. Then she lifted my arm and moved it to her back. It was like she was encouraging me to hug her. Similarly, the same arm moved, and even another of my arm was moved to her back.

Seeing her showing such aegyo, even if it was not strong, I gently hugged her.

In that state, Keirsey put her wet eyes on my neck once more and hugged me tightly. Just looking at this figure… I couldn’t believe she had the fate to be an insensitive villain.

I sighed and said.

“…I continued to use a respectful tone today for Asena as well. Also, I warned you not to do it again, right? I don’t want to forgive you in one day, even today.”

“……”

Keirsey stiffened strangely and whispered quietly.

“…just…Oppa just called Unnie, Asena.”

“Ah.”

“…Then you can just call me Keirsey once in a while.”

“……”

In the end, I chuckled and let out a short laugh. I wondered if Keirsey was also infected by my laughter, or was she really laughing at this situation, trembling in my arms while simultaneously laughing and crying.

The atmosphere gradually relaxed. I also hugged Keirsey a little strongly.

“…but why are you here?”

I asked her a question that I had in mind for a while. It was a question that could not be asked in a serious situation.

“……”

She didn’t answer for a while and replied in a hoarse, crawling voice.

“I wanted to see you…”

Even this was an answer that warmed my heart. But that didn’t solve all my doubts.

“…well…I get that. You didn’t have to go to bed though.”

“…I missed home. I used to do it a lot at home.”

“Yeah, and you sweat a lot today. I guess you didn’t sleep well.”

“…Uh?”

“The sheets are all wet with sweat, what are you going to do?”

“……”

Keirsey was strangely still, hugging me more and more strongly. Then she started leaning on me.

Pushed by her power, I leaned backward, and my body hit the wall.

Since I had nowhere else to retreat, she came closer to me.

Very minutely, Keirsey, who removed her head from my neck, whispered.

“…I like it.”

“…?”

Her reply seemed strangely out of line with the conversation, so another question arose in my head.

“….What? Do you like sheets wet?”

She was taken aback by my question, startled, fell on me, and covered her mouth.

My clothes, wet with her sweat, felt cool. I also felt a tingling sensation of blood rushing through my neck, which she was holding tightly.

“…..”

I couldn’t understand any of her actions. So I just asked honestly about the parts I was confused about.

“Aren’t you doing something strange?”

This question came up because Keirsey and Asena had been doing a lot of things that I didn’t understand recently.

“……”

But Keirsey didn’t answer my question. Instead, her cheeks just blushed like a tomato.

I tilted my head.

“…what's going on…?”

“Oh, I didn’t, Oppa! No, rather than that… I think I should go now.”

"..."

Keirsey said in a hurry.

“That… I’m serious about what I did wrong. I’m sorry today… but tomorrow… just like you used to, please don’t use a respectful tone… because I’m begging you. Yes?”

“No, in my bed…”

She ignored me.

“I… I’ll go, Oppa!”

Keirsey, who was tightly hugging me, vanished, and another Keirsey who ran away from me, took her place.

After she left in such a hurry, I felt rather empty.

I scratched my head, lifted the blanket again, and placed my hand on the sheet.

It was a cold wet bed.

And, the scent of fragrant rose, most likely the scent Keirsey used, hit my nose.

But no matter how fragrant it smelled… I didn’t want to sleep in a damp bed.

Eventually, I got out of the room and lay down on the sofa.

I would have to sleep on the sofa today.

Considering that even this inconvenience was brought by Keirsey… Well, I felt that I should extend my respectful speech by one more day at least...

.

.

.

Perhaps because I had reconciled with Keirsey, I was able to fall asleep with a more relaxed mind.