Side Story 1 – Chapter 2
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After Loretta firmly opened Evan’s closed room door, their relationship was able to be restored.
However, secretly eting like before never happened again.
Loretta had to pass Jeremiah’s “inspection” without fail before eting Evan.
Having already arrived at the Magic Tower, Loretta ran straight to Jeremiah who ca out to the front to greet her.
“Brother!”
The 27-year-old young man Jeremiah, despite being busy as the Tower Master, would always co out to the front to greet Loretta when she ca to the Magic Tower to see Evan.
“Loretta.”
He imdiately raised his hand near Loretta’s forehead to carefully check her condition.
“Anything happen at the mansion?”
Of course, he didn’t forget to ask about the family’s well-being in the anti.
“Yes. No matter how I think about it, it seems like lody has been tricked into marriage. She’s so busy.”
“That’s not good…”
“I knew it, right?!”
“Yeah. If my sister-in-law is tired, the winter experint schedule might get delayed again.”
“…”
“I want to experint quickly.”
Loretta thought Jeremiah’s experints were also one of the things making lody tired.
Even though lody insists that’s not the case at all.
“Aren’t you satisfied with having a younger sister with a unique constitution?”
“Of course experinting on you is interesting too. But there’s nothing that makes my heart race as much as experinting on my sister-in-law and you at the sa ti.”
“It’s weird to use the phrase ‘makes my heart race’ in that situation!”
“It’s my freedom to decide what my heart reacts to. Your condition looks good, you can go in now.”
Loretta followed Jeremiah and entered the interior of the Magic Tower.
Even if many things in this world changed, that building hadn’t changed one bit since the first day she ca as a child.
Loretta greeted the cats in alphabetical order and soon arrived in front of Evan’s room.
Jeremiah left with only the nagging words “Don’t stay too long” and went into his own room where work was piled up.
Loretta let out a big sigh and stood in front of Evan’s room door.
eting him had been a natural routine from childhood until now, but today she was unusually nervous.
‘It’s been… three months.’
The last ti they t was at the beginning of last sumr, and winter was already approaching.
‘I hope I don’t look strange.’
Loretta briefly checked her outfit here and there.
She wore a dress she had agonized over and picked out to wear on the day she t Evan after a long ti, but sohow it wasn’t satisfactory.
“Miss?”
Just then, Evan’s voice was heard from beyond the corridor.
Loretta, who thought he would be in the room, was surprised and turned to look at him.
The slender little boy Evan had sohow grown taller and taller each year, and at so point it beca natural for him to look down at Loretta.
Moreover, now that he had fully grown into a young man, he had a solid build that couldn’t be hidden even by a loose robe.
“You weren’t in your room, Evan?”
Loretta barely managed to ask a question while suppressing her slightly embarrassed feelings.
“Of course not.”
Evan approached her and bowed politely to greet her. With the perfect aristocratic etiquette Jeremiah had taught him.
In the anti, Loretta examined Evan here and there. Wondering if anything had changed in the three months.
The wrinkled robe, the jet-black hair flowing down below his neck, and his large hands. Everything was just as Loretta rembered.
Perhaps embarrassed by her observing gaze, Evan cleared his throat briefly and opened his mouth.
“I thought I should properly go out to greet you when you ca, Miss.”
“You ca out to et ?”
“Yes, it seems our paths crossed. I’m sorry.”
“Mm, it’s okay. I was with my brother.”
Loretta quickly smiled as she slowly stroked near her heart.
“Are you feeling unwell sowhere?”
“Of course not. I was quite nervous thinking about eting you after a long ti, Evan. But now that we’ve t, I feel at ease instead. Isn’t it the sa for you?”
“What?!”
When Evan flinched, Loretta furrowed her brow and slightly raised her toes to glare at him closely.
“…What. Does this an you weren’t excited at all about
coming to see you?”
“Ah, no, that’s not it.”
Evan turned his gaze away, covering half his face with the long hem of his robe for no reason.
Actually, Evan was just as nervous about eting Loretta after 3 months.
To the point where he couldn’t sleep properly yesterday despite being quite tired from a long business trip.
‘…It feels like I’ll go even crazier now that we’ve actually t.’
Evan smiled calmly after pressing down the thoughts he couldn’t bring himself to say.
Loretta pouted her lips slightly.
“Hmph, even if you say you weren’t excited, I don’t care. Since I’m the only one who likes you anyway.”
I like you too, Miss!
Evan had to hold back from answering like that this ti too.
Loretta had no hesitation at all in showing her interest and affection to Evan as it was.
Evan thought he shouldn’t reveal his honest feelings in this situation.
He was worried that if he did, their relationship might flow in an uncontrollable direction.
“Thank you… for liking , Miss. It’s truly an honor.”
He raised his hand near his chest and bowed lightly.
“…”
“And I’ve prepared tea in the reception room.”
“The reception room again? Not Evan’s room?”
“I told you last ti. My room is too ssy to be a place for soone precious like you to co, Miss.”
“But if we go to the reception room…”
Loretta slightly furrowed her brow.
No matter what, Evan never created a situation where he was alone with Loretta in his room.
He would take her to the reception room without fail and have another magician present.
“…I want to be alone with Evan.”
“That’s out of the question!”
As Evan stepped back in surprise, Loretta approached him so close that she almost touched his chest, not backing down.
“Why in the world can’t we?”
Evan quickly hid his hands behind his back at the sweet scent he felt for a mont.
“When Evan doesn’t even like .”
“…You, you like , Miss.”
“So you an I might do sothing indecent to Evan?”
“That’s not it.”
Evan shook his head with an almost crying face.
“If that’s not it, then why? Why can’t we be alone together? Why? Why?”
“Because I!”
‘…If I’m alone with you, Miss, my mind will be in such a state that I’ll end up saying all my honest feelings.’
“You what? What?”
He stared down at Loretta’s face still right in front of him.
His heart sank with a thud at the dizzying lovely sight, regardless of the situation.
Anyone would fall for a young lady like this, and Evan, an ordinary man, was no exception.
“I… didn’t clean my room today either. So I’m embarrassed to show it to you, Miss…”
Although Loretta glared at him with a sulky face, she soon let out a deep sigh as if giving up.
“Okay, it can’t be helped. I can’t enter your personal space without permission… Okay, let’s go to the reception room.”
“Thank you for forgiving , Miss.”
“Then I’ll co here next ti to watch a teor shower with you, so I’d like you to clean up your room by then, Evan.”
“Ahem.”
Evan choked for a mont and let out a big cough.
Watching a teor shower together.
Doesn’t that an she’ll co to Evan’s room late at night?
He quickly shook his head. He had no confidence in maintaining his reason in that environnt.
“Wa-watching a teor shower is a difficult thing to do. Even if you stare at the night sky endlessly, there are many tis you miss it.”
“It’s okay, I’m a bit immune to staring endlessly and failing.”
“Mo-moreover, teors falling is late at night… That’s really not possible, Miss.”
As Evan firmly refused, shaking his head, Loretta couldn’t insist any further either.
‘Actually, I expected it to turn out like this too.’
She let out a short sigh, saying “It can’t be helped.”
“Then instead of watching a teor shower together and going to the reception room, hold my hand, you can at least do that, right? Evan.”
“Your… hand, Miss.”
“Yeah. Hold it.”
As Loretta started shooting him an expectant gaze, Evan quickly lowered his eyes to the back of her hand.
‘What should I do… Even Miss’s hands are cute.’
Thinking that she holds a sword and writes with these small hands, Evan’s breath beca uncomfortable with the feeling of his heart being pressed.
The desire to grasp that hand tightly right away welled up, but he quickly suppressed his feelings.
If he held these pretty hands, Evan would surely be unable to sleep or eat for three days trying to calm his pounding heart.
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