YSLM 08

Chapter 8

“What?”

At those words, Lea suddenly sat up straight. Kevin looked at her as if he could not believe she had not even thought about that.

“And that too, in front of everyone watching.”

“……”

“And in front of my parents and Raymond.”

“St-stop.”

“No, that’s not all. Those idiot mages will all come too. Ursula, Ronald, Connie, Steven.”

“Ugh!”

“Your four coworkers from the Mage Tower will naturally come as well.”

Lea’s face turned pale, and she completely closed her mouth. Kevin shook his head, as if saying, ‘As expected, she really never thought about it at all.’

After staring blankly for a while, a mutter slipped out of her mouth.

“Ah, seriously. Should I practice or something?”

“……Should we?”

“Huh?”

When she quickly turned her head, she saw Kevin’s face with a faint smile.

Seeing that expression, the memory of their sharp first kiss suddenly came to her mind.

“Wh-what? I was just talking to myself. Don’t worry about it.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to try once?”

“Uh, uh, uh?”

“We happen to be sitting this close already……”

And then Kevin’s face slowly came closer.

As the moment felt like it had stretched dozens of times longer.

A cool touch was felt on her lips—perhaps because of the cold air inside the room.

Kevin’s lips.

This was the second time she kissed Kevin.

‘Hup.’

The moment Lea’s thoughts stopped and she tightly closed her eyes—

Kevin’s lips quickly moved away.

Unlike last time, it was barely a touch before immediately separating.

“Huh?”

Lea opened her eyes wide and turned to look at him.

Kevin looked as if he had never kissed her at all.

“Why?”

“Didn’t we just…… kiss?”

Lea unconsciously touched her lips.

Even though there was no warmth left.

“Rather than a kiss, it was practice for one of the necessary parts of the wedding ceremony.”

“Ah, right.”

The heart that had been about to beat wildly suddenly calmed down.

Still unable to take her hand away from her lips, Lea fell into deep thought.

‘It wasn’t like this last time.’

Back then, although faintly, she had felt something she could not explain with words.

But now……

It felt like she had accidentally bumped her lips against a tree planted in the garden.

There was no feeling at all.

‘So that feeling from back then was just my imagination.’

Above all, Kevin was not interested in women, right?

There was no way she could feel anything more from kissing someone like that.

After reaching that conclusion, peace and stability suddenly returned to Lea’s heart.

“Why is your expression like that?”

At Kevin’s question, Lea placed her arm around his shoulder and answered.

“I solved one of my questions. When we put our arms around each other like this, we really do look like best friends, don’t we?”

“……”

“Kevin?”

Kevin suddenly became silent.

He avoided Lea’s gaze when she tried to look at him and stared somewhere else while muttering.

“If you stay like that, everything is visible.”

“Visible? What is?”

Without looking at her, Kevin pointed toward her chest.

“Huh?”

Because she had suddenly lifted her arm, two of the hooks had come undone.

Despite her cute and youthful appearance, the curves of her surprisingly mature figure were slightly revealed.

“Ah!”

Lea jumped up.

She quickly turned around and tried to fix the hooks, but because she was flustered, her fingers would not cooperate.

‘What kind of embarrassment is this?’

Even if Kevin had no interest in this kind of thing, he was still not a female friend.

Her face became red from embarrassment.

Then Kevin’s calm voice was heard.

“Looks like the hooks became loose.”

“Uh, y-yeah. I guess so. It’s an old dress.”

“Should I call a maid to repair it?”

As expected of the thoughtful Kevin.

When Lea only nodded without answering, Kevin stood up with a small groan.

“Then wait here. When you’re with me, you don’t have to worry about something like that, but it would be troublesome if it happened somewhere else.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me.”

Kevin replied with a smile in his voice and left after closing the door.

Only then did Lea let out a relieved sigh.

“At least it’s Kevin.”

Even after seeing her body, he did not blush or act strangely.

Instead, he calmly offered to call a maid to fix it.

Seeing his reaction, no different from that of a female friend, Lea became certain once again.

No matter how many times she looked at him, he was the safest and most harmless man to her.

‘Yes. If I’m going to have a contract marriage anyway, I’m really glad I chose Kevin.’

At this very moment, without having the slightest idea that Kevin’s ears, while looking out the window and calming his heart, had turned bright red.

* * *

On the day of the wedding.

According to McLean’s customs, the bride Lea and groom Kevin entered while holding hands.

At that moment, all the lights around them went dark.

“What is this?”

While the confused guests whispered in the darkness, the circular ceiling slowly opened.

What appeared above them was a black canvas with an entire constellation hanging from it and shining brightly.

At the sight of the night sky filled with countless stars, admiration burst from the guests.

Seeing Kevin’s masterpiece, Lea also muttered excitedly like a child.

“Kevin, this is really amazing.”

Kevin was very satisfied by her reaction.

However, Lea was actually thinking something completely different.

‘This is incredible. I should calculate the efficiency compared to the investment cost, and if it’s not bad, commercializing it for other customers wouldn’t be a bad idea.’

Fortunately, that frighteningly practical thought did not show on her face.

Anyway, the wedding that gathered together the peak of magic engineering technology was truly perfect.

A short wedding speech.

A quick exchange of rings.

And food that was nothing short of excellent.

(In fact, isn’t this the most important part of a wedding? Lea thought.)

After finishing the wedding as quickly as roasting beans in a flash of lightning, a new challenge awaited them.

‘The first night……’

A wooden door decorated with a wreath of bright red flowers.

If she opened this door and entered, a bedroom filled with a dangerous and romantic atmosphere would appear.

Feeling strangely pressured, Lea let out a deep sigh.

Then a voice came from behind her.

“Why aren’t you going in?”

She turned around in surprise.

Kevin was there, changed into a nightgown.

Unlike herself, who felt a hundred times more burdened, he looked strangely relaxed.

“I was waiting for you. It feels a little awkward too.”

“You must be tired. Go in first.”

As always, his voice was kind and considerate.

Lea looked at Kevin, who was shining after taking a shower, and muttered.

“You look even brighter after removing your makeup.”

Then she pushed down her tired body and opened the door.

Without knowing at all what Kevin would do inside.

* * *

A short while later.

The two people lying on a large double bed were having a conversation filled with misunderstandings and mistaken assumptions.

For reference, Lea was trapped between Kevin’s two arms, unable to move.

“You…… you liked Pedro, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about? Who is Pedro?”

Lea licked her lips, which had become dry from tension.

“You don’t remember Pedro?”

“Who is that?”

“My former fiancé! You said you liked my man! That was why my marriage proposal fell apart!”

Kevin frowned and thought for a long time about who Pedro was before opening his mouth.

“What are you talking about? I really hated that guy.”

‘That can’t be true. I clearly remember back then—’

While Lea’s mind became confused, moving between the past and present,

Kevin’s red lips, like newly bloomed flower petals, filled her vision.

“I want to kiss you.”

A voice that sounded incredibly sweet.

A hot breath.

Under the moonlight coming through the window, his upper body, half exposed between his fallen gown, shone especially white.

The smooth lines of his body and the combination of lean muscles without even a single bit of unnecessary fat looked unbearably sexy.

But more than that—

That expression.

‘Was Kevin always like this?’

It was the expression of a predator that had waited for a long time until its prey entered its grasp.

He was far too different from the Kevin Tillman she knew.

The familiar friend disappeared somewhere.

And a strange man giving off a dangerous scent seemed to be on top of her.

Unable to take her eyes away from that unfamiliar feeling, Lea unconsciously swallowed.

Her heart dropped with a thud, and just as she was about to fall into complete chaos—

‘Even if a lion takes you away, you can survive as long as you stay calm.’

The old McLean saying awakened her reason.

“Wait, Kevin. You are…….”

“Hm?”

“You’re actually.”

Without realizing it, Lea pushed Kevin’s shoulders away with all her strength.

“You like men!”

At those words, Kevin removed his hands from her shoulders and moved back.

‘Even so, I didn’t want to say it this directly.’

Kevin was a person with a charm that captivated people with only his eyes, regardless of gender.

One admirer who sent bouquets to Lea’s workplace every day fell completely for his smile and began following Kevin around.

Another admirer who waited for him on his way home became fascinated by Kevin’s gaze and changed the person he pursued.

His former fiancé Pedro was no exception.

But the strange thing was—

Kevin rejected those men coldly every time and then came back to her.

‘No, seriously. Why?’

Was it because of that friendship?

Remembering the past, Lea hesitated before continuing.

“Can I be honest with you, Kevin? I’m a woman, not a man, and I’m not your type. Just because we’re married doesn’t mean we have to…… you know, spend the night together.”