’Hmm... strange.’ I flipped another page and took a sip of coffee, confused by the strange culture of this world.
The novel was about a boy that reincarnated into a Victorian-style world without any magic. It looked like a historical novel to , but that was what they called fantasy in this world. The reason behind its popularity was the author’s creativity in making a world that was depending on steam power instead of mana.
Just like how in my past life there were novels about people with different professions taking advantage of their knowledge after reincarnation, like an engineer or doctor for reference, the protagonist of this novel used his magic when no one else could, blending it with the steam power to achieve what he desired.
This novel wasn’t only high-rated, it even got the title of Book of the Year engraved on the cover!
In other words, if I ever wrote a novel about my past life — a world that had nuclear weapons that could erase countries — I might beco a famous fantasy author.
Or if I... ’borrowed’ one from my past life. Yeah, this might work too.
After an hour, we finished the first volu. As Exalted, our reading speed was faster than normal people, so we didn’t need a lot of ti to finish it.
"How was it? Did you like the story?" Selene asked while closing the book and standing up.
I nodded. "Yes, I did. The coffee is good too. Glad that I decided to trust you."
Selene smiled brightly, carrying the books on the table and moving away. "I’ll go get the second volu for us, just give a minute."
As she walked away, leaving alone with Elara and Liora, I couldn’t help but notice the author’s na on the cover.
’Ivan Park?’ I read inwardly, rembering soone I knew with a similar na.
[It’s him! I heard soone saying his full na before.]
Hearing Glutton’s words, I beca almost sure it was the sa person. Glutton had a perfect mory, so he wouldn’t make any mistakes in this aspect.
The person in my mind was none other than Ivan, the apex of the second year’s combat ranking, and the sa elf that I t when I was a child that also told about Lunara’s wall trick.
I didn’t know that he had a habit of writing books. Well, we weren’t even that close to start with, but it was still surprising for a talented Exalted to have such a habit.
’Wait!’
All of a sudden, a theory ford in my mind: ’Is Ivan a reincarnator too? Is that how he knows too much about the Victorian-style?’
I might be just overthinking it, but co to think of it, the book was actually so detailed about the Victorian-style, which wasn’t supposed to exist in Eldoria as much as I knew. Was that just a coincidence or not?
And if he was really a reincarnator, what would I do? Would I just go and et him while talking in English? I couldn’t even rember how to ask about ti in English!
Did he even know English himself? I couldn’t ensure that the other reincarnators would be from the sa country as . He was also a year older than which made it more complicated.
As I was lost in thoughts, Liora suddenly cut my thoughts off. "Raylin, if you don’t mind... Selene told us that you have barely slept for the past 2 days. Can we know the reason?"
Elara nodded rapidly. "I want to know too, tell us!"
I raised an eyebrow as I answered: "Just so nightmares — It’s not a big deal. Why are you even asking?"
Liora’s eyes glowed for a second before returning to normal. "She was just... too worried, so I thought it was sothing big. Sorry for this."
She suddenly hit Elara’s leg under the table — maybe thinking that I’d not notice — then Elara said: "Y-yeah. She also seems to be very happy when she is with you, you two must be very close to each other. I bet she loves you too much, second only to her father."
"Thank you." I replied blankly as I took another sip of coffee, but inwardly, I had different thoughts.
’Zephyr you son of a bitch!’
Did that bastard start so rumours? It was possible! Cel was living with him, and she was a friend with Elara and Liora, so it was very possible that he told her sothing about and Selene.
Damn that! I was definitely going to make him regret it if he really started that!
For now, I could only ignore all the hints they were saying, I wasn’t easy to tease or get embarrassed anyway.
A few monts later, Selene returned, humming happily in her way, until she sat beside and placed one new book in front of and another one in front of Liora and Elara.
"Sorry for taking so long, I was asking them for more coffee."
I shook my head as I opened the first page. "It’s okay, I’m not in a hurry. Anyways, let’s start reading."
"Mhm!" Selene nodded while resting her cold head on my shoulder again.
Was that because of what happened yesterday? She seed to like my shoulder today, but it wasn’t like I minded it.
I was resting my head on her shoulder yesterday, and she did the sa today. We were already close enough to not care about—
’—No, this isn’t normal.’ I suddenly thought as I wondered about all her past actions.
Maybe there was so logic in Zephyr, Liora and Elara’s behaviours.
From another person’s perception, we really might seem like a couple.
We were too close, we slept together, we ate together, we went almost everywhere together, just recently she hugged multiple tis, and we even went together and alone into a pool with very light clothes she wore comfortably around .
Even 2 friends of the sa gender might not do all that comfortably. Thinking about all that, the first question ca to my mind: ’Do I love Selene?’
Looking at her adorable, cute face and seeing her bright smile as she flipped a page, the answer was as clear as the sun to .
Absolutely yes! I indeed loved her too much.
But the real question was, how did I love her exactly?
I loved Aria, Cel, Alfred, my mother, my grandmother and even that bastard Zephyr.
Thus the question was about how, not if. Was it normal love or romantic one?
I stopped focusing on the book and thought about a test that I heard about in my past life.
I imagined her kissing a man, and that man was Zephyr. The mont their lips touched, I indeed had the urge to skin Zephyr alive!
But then I imagined Aria as well, and just like before, I wanted nothing more than to see Zephyr screaming in agony.
I thought about all the girls I knew, and I always had the sa result. But there was no way that I loved all girls romantically including Aria. Sothing was wrong in that test.
’Maybe this isn’t the right test for , or maybe it’s Zephyr’s fault.’ I thought as I tried to think about sothing else.
’Will I know if I think about her body and physical contact?’ I wondered as I imagined about her body, but I didn’t feel anything within .
But even if I felt, that would have been lust instead of love, right? And even thinking about physical contact, her head was right now pressing on my shoulder and all I felt was comfort.
Was that romantic love or not? Did that an I loved her like a sister and was comfortable around her, or loved her so much romantically that I was comfortable with her without caring about her body and appearance?
As I was thinking about that, Selene suddenly took my hand and put it on her head, using it to pat herself.
Just then, I had another question in my mind: ’Does Selene herself love like a brother or romantically?’
That was also a hard question.
Whenever I read a novel, I’d always see the heroine blushing or hesitating whenever she ca close to the protagonist.
But Selene was the opposite, she was actually too bold, and I had seen her blushing for the first ti in my life just recently, only when Zephyr thought that she was my girlfriend.
It was either she was just embarrassed... or she really loved .
’Fuck! What am I supposed to do?! I don’t understand anything about emotions.’ I scread inwardly before calling: ’Glutton, do you think that I love her?’
His answer ca quickly: [How the fuck am I supposed to know? I’m not professional in that aspect. Maybe you can try asking Zephyr, he definitely knows the answer.]
I clicked my tongue inwardly: ’Tsk, useless bird.’
I had no choice but to think about 4 different scenarios.
The best 2 would be that we both either loved each other romantically or we both didn’t.
The problem was in the other 2.
What if I loved her and she didn’t?
And the worst one.
What if she loved and I didn’t? Would I end up breaking her heart? I obviously didn’t want to do such a thing, but would I have a choice?
Before I could realize, Selene suddenly finished the last page and closed the book before looking at . "Another cliffhanger, should I go to get the next volu?"
I snapped out of my daze and forced my lips to curl into a smile. "Yes, please."
"Give a minute!"
Seeing Selene taking the books and running away, my gaze landed on the cold cups of coffee, we all forgot about them.
I lifted one up and brought it to my mouth, taking a sip, as I thought: ’I hate complex emotions.’
Ironically, hate was also a complex emotion.
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