My fat face appeared on the polished mirror.

The lady-in-waiting asked why I made such a face when I would be out for the first time in a while and urged me to smile. I only raised the corners of my mouth dryly. The shiny skin of my face twitched.

‘I look very fleshy.’

The past five days of confined living had made my skin shiny. I’d been very quiet as the blackmailer had mentioned. I had used the truth serum on the servants once more in the middle, but it was pretty modest of me.

I wanted to find the blackmailer’s whereabouts right away and shook him by the collar. But thinking it wasn’t the time to move recklessly yet, I waited for the perfect time.

No letters had come since.

Even now, the moment I prepared to go out for a piano recital with Seniel. There was no news.

While having an invisible confrontation with the blackmailer, I dealt with Seniel and Kid inside the house.

I expected that it would be hard to deal with the two while not being able to go out. But funny enough, the last 5 days had been the most peaceful since I transmigrated.

Can I be this comfortable? I almost thought so.

The person who contributed the most to this peace was none other than Kid.

A calm lake-like peace came into my life just because Kid didn’t run amok. That said, it wasn’t that he didn’t come to my room. He still showed up in my room every night.

He would come across to the bed without even glancing at the lamp.

[Report.]

He would lay down on the bed at once, not paying much attention to the report, and then naturally pat the space beside him and try to put me to sleep.

Well. It was weird saying that he tried to put me to sleep… But anyway, that happened over and over again.

Because Kid was known to be fickle, I thought he’d do it only for a day or two. So, in order to survive, I seriously struggled with whether I should learn something other than the piano.

But he still didn’t turn on the light on the third day, lay in bed… and put me to sleep again.

‘Is this guy finally crazy?’

On the fourth night, I wondered if I should bring an extra pillow. Although it didn’t happen as a result.

Of course, I still shuddered whenever he came. But compared to before, I was much more stable now. At least in terms of physical health.

In the past, when Kid came, I had to have a lively conversation with him or play the piano. But these days, he put me to sleep as soon as he arrived.

‘Now he’s just going to keep an eye on me?’

I wondered if he decided to keep me by his side and only watched because I was good at my job.

Maybe because of my mood, it seemed that I hadn’t been able to detect sharp killings from Kid lately.

In any case, the expectation that Kid might continue to sleep like this in the future came to mind. If the his unpredictability disappeared in this way, it would be very easy to breathe.

Seniel was embarrassed by Kid’s behavior for a day or two, but on the third day, he showed amazing adaptability, adapting faster than me.

He quietly checked on me, covered me with a blanket, closed the curtains, and left without waking me. He was the one I couldn’t expect anymore as he wasn’t there every time I opened my eyes.

Seniel smiled brightly in the evening and stayed as bright as possible, then disappeared in the morning.

He didn’t grieve any more and seemed to be working hard. At the same time, he didn’t do anything against Kid’s feelings at all, so there was a lot less I had to tell him what to do.

It was a good change for me. Although sometimes I felt a sense of frustration he couldn’t hide that seemed to pour down on his face.

… Was it because Seniel’s weak first impression remained too strong?

‘I’m a bit concerned about Seniel.’

If you want to cry, cry. Or, as always, if you’re glad you’re alive, then be glad.

He hadn’t asked anything about Kid anymore even though I woke up next to him every time. Was it enough that I was alive?

As for me, who had unintentionally taken away his happy ending, I couldn’t help but care about him in many ways. But I couldn’t give Seniel, who tried to do well by himself, a hope. I would leave soon, and giving him a chance would be worse.

“Huft.” Without realizing it, I sighed heavily in front of the lady-in-waiting.

“Don’t you like your makeup?”

Jane took my sigh as if it were a big deal and opened her eyes wide. I waved my hand at her, who was pulling out tools to fix my makeup.

“I just have something to worry about. I like the makeup. This is enough.”

“Then I’ll do it like this.”

Jane, who insisted on helping me go out, showed an attitude that would not allow mistakes. When I said that I liked the makeup, she put down the brush and turned her gaze back to my hair.

Jane rolled up my back hair and decorated it with leaf-shaped ornaments. It was not until I wore a fork bonnet that my hair was done.

As soon as I finished getting ready to go out, I headed straight to the carriage. Seniel was busy with work, so we decided to meet directly at the concert hall.

I sat close to the window seat and opened the window to get some fresh air. With the wind blowing, I decided to put off my complicated thoughts for a while because I desperately wanted to avoid this bleak reality at least for the piano recital.

***

When I arrived at the concert hall, I immediately found Seniel standing tall among the crowd.

I thought he would be wearing his priest uniform, but there he was dressed in a frock coat and vest as if he had changed at the temple.

‘Oh my… He’s really handsome.’

Seeing him in a crowded place made me realize how outstanding his appearance was. Seniel had a troubled look on his face because of the people who recognized him.

I didn’t know how he felt inside, but seeing him swinging around like that outside, he seemed very uncomfortable.

Why was he so awkward over there? I felt bad for him.

I moved on, being careful not to get swept away by the crowd. Good Boy, wait. I’ll save you!

I strode forward, looking in the direction where Seniel was.

Along the way…

‘Mm?’

I got lost in the crowd and lost my direction. Seniel, who stood tall even among others, was suddenly invisible.

I thought it was a big mistake to rush in recklessly. What to do? I can’t even say I’m here over the phone. Should I call Seniel out loud?

At that moment, I felt a familiar body odor. It resembled the body odor that hugged me and caressed me at night. Before I could even turn my head towards it, my hand was grabbed.

“Vivi.”

My ears twitched at the friendly voice calling me. The anxiety of being lost turned into relief.

As I turned around, I met Seniel head-on. Seeing the relieved smile that bloomed on his lips, I was unable to say anything for a moment.

‘Was he someone who could smile like that?’

I knew at once that all I had seen from him so far was a smile that acted as a barrier. A smile that completely revealed his emotion without defense was just what I wanted, including the fact that he was relieved to see me. Seniel was now an aggregate of desires disguised as innocence.

“My lord, what are you doing here?”

“High Preist!”

The surroundings became agitated again because of the people who immediately noticed that Seniel had moved. Seniel’s smile disappeared, and I came back to my senses, shook my head slightly, and gave strength to our clasped hands.

Now was the right time to run away. However, it was impossible to escape while hiding Seniel, who was tall enough to be seen above others, like a mudskipper.

The hesitation did not last long. In the end I just pulled his arm and made him bend down. Although it was a way to lose Seniel’s face in society, if I didn’t do this, we would be held captive by people all day.

I roughly loosened the straps of the bonnet that came down under my chin and put the bonnet on Seniel’s head. Because of the large brim, his face was almost covered.

“Let’s go quickly!”

Promising to apologize to him later, we ran into the concert hall.

And we came inside safely. The people inside the concert hall were calmer than the people outside.

Before finding our seats, I removed the bonnet that had been put on Seniel. And I thought we should sit in our seats first before handing over my apology, so I grabbed him again and led him blindly. People in the theater were quiet, but one never knew how noisy it would become if they recognized him.

I checked the tickets and found the seats. As I sat down, I let go of his hand, which I had been holding all this time.

“I’m sorry I put a bonnet on you. I was in a hurry without knowing-”

Tak. The light went out while I was trying to apologize. It’s already starting? Is it that late?

I couldn’t catch my breath and watched the performance. I had to apologize, but it was also necessary to be solemn, so not knowing what to do, my gaze moved in confusion.

Seniel read my busy gaze and began to smile lightly. Then he lowered his head towards me and whispered quietly in my ear, “It’s okay. More than that, Vivi, you are so pretty today.”

“…”

“Of course, I shouldn’t compare it because you’re always pretty… I mean, I just- I wanted to tell you that you’re pretty.”

I looked at Seniel, not answering the compliment. It was dark all around, so I couldn’t see his expression in detail.

Applause poured in as people came up on stage. My dazed mind was awakened by the sound of applause. I couldn’t say thank you to Seniel and just clapped after the others.

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