SVWK | Ch 20 – Novexa Novels

Episode 20

“I messed up again…”

Rania woke up in the same inn she’d stayed at before.

She stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, already feeling uneasy. Then she turned her head and—of course—Enoch was right there. Curled up and sleeping, he looked strangely tired.

The alcohol she’d reluctantly drunk last night had been strong, but really good.
And since Yurion had prepared all kinds of snacks that supposedly went perfectly with it, the drinks had gone down way too easily.

Maybe that was why.

She remembered nothing. Her mind was completely blank.

At least this time, both of them were properly dressed. That was something… though it didn’t help much.

Rania rolled her eyes weakly. It was already well past the time the café should’ve opened.

She suddenly felt guilty thinking of Yurion—last time, he’d been waiting with water and medicine the moment she woke up.
Now he was probably running the café alone, completely swamped with customers…

“…Haa.”

She was late, but she should go anyway. Luckily, the room had its own bathroom.

Rania carefully shifted her weight so she wouldn’t wake Enoch. They weren’t touching, but they were close enough that one wrong move could wake him.

Just as she leaned back—

“Mm…”

Enoch let out a low sound and suddenly pulled her in.

Rania froze as she was dragged into his arms.

At the same time, a memory flashed in her mind—Robel suddenly grabbing her before.
Before her brain could even catch up, her arms moved on their own.

Riiip.

Rania tore Enoch’s shirt clean apart.

“….”

Both of them stared at each other with the exact same wide-eyed expression—like they’d just been doused in cold water.
Rania, who’d done it without thinking, and Enoch, who’d actually pulled her in while half-asleep.

Enoch was the first to recover.

He slowly looked down at his shirt, now split open and hanging in pieces, then at the bare skin underneath… and finally at Rania’s hands still clutching the torn fabric.

Rania, who’d used the momentum to escape his arms, flinched and hid her hands behind her back.

In the dead silence, Enoch covered his chest with his arm and muttered,

“…Animal.”

His ears and cheeks were slightly red.

Rania wanted to collapse on the spot.

Things only settled down a little when an inn employee knocked on the door.
Since checkout time had passed, they extended the room for half a day. One after the other, they washed up and came out.

Seeing Enoch awkwardly trying to cover himself with the torn shirt before finally wrapping his upper body in a robe, Rania apologized again.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to…”

“It’s strange, you know.”

“Huh…?”

“My clothes are made with monster materials mixed in. They block most physical damage.
And yet—you’ve torn them twice.”

Earlier, he’d been too embarrassed to think clearly, but after cooling off, it felt more bizarre than shocking.

Seeing her casually pick up Saser and run around before had already felt abnormal. Now it really seemed like she had some kind of secret.

While Enoch fell into thought, Rania was just relieved that he didn’t seem angry.

She’d only realized after coming to the Empire that her strength wasn’t normal.
Her parents broke things all the time, too, so she’d grown up thinking that was just… normal.

People with unusual abilities weren’t that rare anyway. Super strength wasn’t unheard of.

She was usually good at controlling it. The problem was days like today.

As Rania stayed quiet, watching his mood, Enoch spoke in a slightly grumpy tone.

“But pretty. Did you hate being hugged that much? I only grabbed you by accident in my sleep. Honestly, that hurts. If it had been bare skin instead of a shirt, wouldn’t I have gotten torn apart?”

“…If I have to explain—Robel once grabbed me suddenly before. I panicked because of that…”

“Robel? Who’s that?”

“My ex-fiancé. …The one the guild dragged away.”

Even though she’d mentioned him just last night, Enoch clearly didn’t remember. When she explained again, his brow furrowed.

“You confused me with that half-baked guy? That’s shocking. Come to think of it, you cursed at me before, too, thinking I was your fiancé.”

“….”

I did?

Rania stared at him in disbelief.

Robel wasn’t ugly—objectively, he was handsome.
But compared to Enoch, it was like comparing a human to a slightly good-looking orc.
The only similarity was their reddish eye color.

Realizing just how drunk she’d been back then, Rania looked at the still-grumbling Enoch and asked,

“Can I ask what happened to Robel?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

The instant, firm refusal made her nod just as firmly.

She truly didn’t care what happened to Robel anymore. She was just a little curious since he’d been dragged off like that.

But Enoch’s answer told her enough: it definitely hadn’t ended nicely.

She’d always suspected Robel had done horrible things to other women, too.
Even that day, he’d grabbed her without hesitation.

He’s probably wanted somewhere as a marriage scammer.

That guess was almost spot-on.

Eight marriage fraud cases. Around twenty incidents involving affairs and love-triangle violence, some ending in suicide or murder attempts. Tons of fraud charges for taking money and disappearing. Wanted in other countries, too. Even his name was fake.”

Enoch hadn’t wanted to tell her, but seeing how uninterested she looked, he explained anyway.

Rania clicked her tongue in disgust.

“Calling him trash is too generous…”

“So, did you send him back to a country where he’s wanted?”

“Who knows?”

“….”

Seeing Enoch smile slyly, she decided not to ask further.

Whether Robel rotted in prison, got executed, or was tortured somewhere—it had nothing to do with her anymore.

She pushed him out of her mind and gave Enoch an awkward smile.

Anyway, tearing the shirt—let’s just let that go—

“Oh, I’m hurt. You mistook me for someone worse than trash, even though I’m such a cute, pretty piece of trash.”

Nope. Not letting it go.