Chapter 08
I grabbed his wrist before he could leave. I couldn’t keep reading either, so I couldn’t ask him to read more—I needed to use other words to stay by Jason’s side.
“I want to go too, but I got a cramp in my leg and can’t walk. Could you give me a piggyback ride?”
“Ha…”
Jason let out an exasperated sigh. As if that wasn’t enough, he swept his hair back. His forehead was fully exposed, making his handsome features even more visible—but so was his furrowed brow.
‘As expected, he’s not going to give me a ride.’
Though he acts like a tsundere, unlike the adult version, the cold Jason wouldn’t offer me his back. We’re not close enough yet—I’m expecting too much.
‘I should give up.’
I was about to just get up on my own when—
Jason’s back appeared right in front of my eyes.
Even though he’s annoyed, he still offered his back—so it seems he doesn’t completely dislike me.
“Thank you.”
I quickly climbed onto his back before he could change his mind. For a child, Jason’s back was surprisingly broad and warm.
‘This is nice.’
I pressed my body closer to the warmth. He flinched noticeably.
“Stay still. If you don’t, I’ll put you down. Seriously, I don’t want to be giving anyone a piggyback ride.”
Jason grumbled the entire way but never put me down. Only when we reached the bedroom did he set me down on the bed. Then he immediately left the room.
“He’s hard to get close to.”
At this rate, it’s going to be tough to become close quickly. Like in the novels, I’ll have to slowly let him become accustomed to me and wait until he starts to care.
Slowly making someone grow attached is an incredibly easy and simple task for someone who’s met 499 men. And since I’m someone who can even love a bad man, I can gladly endure the pain of that time.
‘For now, I should take a good nap since tonight might be tough too.’
To make him like me, rather than constantly staying by his side, it’s better to pull away occasionally—so he’ll realize the emptiness, start to care, and eventually fall in love. So I need to conserve my energy for now.
I took a nap, and when I woke up, the timing was perfect—it was exactly 6 PM. I stretched and turned my head, looking at my reflection in the mirror.
Beautiful as always, no matter when I see it. Even as a child, my appearance was lovely, so as an adult, it’s the kind of face that would make many men weep. Truly, just looking at my own face, I can understand why Evan loves me. How could anyone not love this face?
‘Evan is also so handsome that there’s no reason for Leticia not to love him.’
As if thinking of Evan summoned him, the door swung open.
“Leticia!”
Evan, tall and even more handsome, embraced me tightly. He looked different from when I’d seen him in the pitch-black night. And…
‘He’s so different from Jason that I can’t get used to it.’
Even after all this time, I still can’t adjust. He’s so different from the Jason I saw just moments ago—it’s hard to believe they’re the same person.
Evan rubbed his face against my cheek, smiling brightly. Just a while ago, he wouldn’t even hold hands, and now he’s rubbing his face against mine, smiling. I really can’t get used to it, but I’m so happy that my lips are practically touching the sky.
“Leticia, I missed you.”
“We saw each other just a while ago.”
“I meant I wanted to hold you like this.”
“Then you should have held me.”
Instead of answering, Evan kissed my forehead, cheeks, and lips. Even though they were short kisses, they were incredibly ticklish.
After placing kisses all over my face for a long time, marking his territory, Evan finally let my face go. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me from behind—like he was holding a doll, carefully and adoringly.
“Leticia, let’s have dinner together. And would you like to take a nighttime stroll? I think tonight’s sky will be especially beautiful.”
“Okay.”
I’m already looking at the stars in the night sky just by seeing your face. But since you can’t see your own face, let’s go see the night sky instead.
Evan took care of me throughout dinner. He cut my steak for me, and the moment I reached out for food, he’d bring it to me first. If it was something that needed to be spread, he’d spread it himself before giving it to me.
Oh, and before I could even sit down, he pulled out my chair for me. He took care of everything from A to Z, making me feel like I was the child.
‘He takes such good care of me at night too, like I’m a child.’
Thinking back to the nighttime activities we’d been neglecting lately, I curled my lips slyly.
After a happy dinner, we held hands and strolled side by side under the night sky. Our joined hands felt ticklish and made my heart race. It felt like someone was constantly tickling my hand.
‘Why am I like this?’
My ticklish hand was growing warmer and warmer. Sweat was forming too. I felt embarrassed and wanted to let go, but I was so happy in this moment that I didn’t want to.
“Leticia.”
Evan stopped walking and stared at me intently, calling my name. Just my name—but because he’s so handsome, it’s bad for my heart.
My heart was pounding. I was already giving the male lead plenty of favor. I usually fall for male leads quickly, but I’ve never given favor this fast before.
“Ah, I have a question.”
“What is it? I’ll tell you everything.”
“Why don’t you pay attention to me when you’re younger?”
Why does he ignore me when he’s younger? I know it’s because of his split personality, but I want to know his detailed feelings. Is it because he dislikes me? Because he’s not interested? Or just because his personality becomes aloof?
“Hmm…”
Evan dragged out his answer without replying. Instead, he planted a deep kiss on my lips.
“Look at you dodging the question.”
He’s deliberately avoiding answering.
Since Evan would tell me if I pretended to be upset, I pursed my lips. Seeing me like that, Evan immediately hugged me tightly.
“Just let it slide this once. It’s hard for me to talk about it because of the curse too.”
“Is this also related to the curse?”
“Yes.”
That damn curse—its reach is too wide. At this rate, it’ll invade every corner of the mansion.
“So I have to keep putting up with your cold attitude until the curse is broken?”
That’s fine in its own way, but I’d rather you stay kind all the time.
“…No. That’s not it.”
He hesitated slightly, as if hiding something, but he wouldn’t tell me.
Hurry up and tell me—I looked up at him with lazy eyes. Even while being interrogated, he gazed at me tenderly and kissed my forehead.
You think you can brush me off with a kiss?
That’s not going to work.
The moment his lips left, I pushed him away. And I covered my cheeks, lips, and forehead with my hair.
“Don’t even think about brushing me off with a kiss right now.”
“I do it because I love you. I love you, Leticia.”
Evan gently took the ends of my hair and lightly kissed them. The strength in the hand that had been holding my hair gave way. As my hidden face was revealed, my flushed cheeks were exposed.
‘Because I love you…’
Those three words shook my heart wildly. The flush spread from my face to my entire body, heating me all over. Nothing else existed—only Evan and me, in our own world.
My body was so hot I could barely breathe.
I can’t hold back anymore.
“Evan, I want to go inside now.”
For some reason, desire was surging within me. Was I always like this? I wasn’t, but now I felt like I wanted to lay Evan down on the bed right this instant.
“Shall we?”
“Yes. But before that, will you hold me?”
Evan scooped me up in a princess carry. The moment I was in his arms, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. A light kiss soon turned into a passionate one.
“Ah, I haven’t showered.”
“Then we’ll shower together.”
We stopped our stroll and headed straight for the bedroom. Throughout the entire way, I could see only Evan, and we kept kissing and making love.
I heard later that all the servants saw us, but they had a hard time pretending they didn’t.
***
Even after spending all that energy until dawn, Evan woke up fairly early in the morning without any trouble. Rubbing his eyes as he woke, he turned his head to look at Leticia.
Leticia, who had struggled all night, was sleeping soundly, unaware of being carried anywhere. Evan stared intently at her sleeping figure. A smile formed on his lips involuntarily.
‘How could someone this adorable have married me?’
He simply couldn’t understand it. How could someone so lovely and beautiful, so different from himself, have married him?
‘I need to treat her well. So she won’t even think of looking at other men.’
Because she was a million times too good for him, he thought that if he made a mistake, he might get divorced. So he resolved to treat her extremely well and kissed her forehead.
Just then, Leticia stirred as if about to wake. Curious about what she would do if he pretended to be asleep, he quickly feigned sleep.
Soon, he heard Leticia rustling as she got up. She was surprised that Evan was still an adult even though it was morning.
“…Huh? Even though it’s morning, you’re still an adult.”
Today was the day they became beast-kin, so they would remain adult beast-kin all day. She approached him as he slept and carefully touched both of his ears with both hands.
The beast-kin ears were soft, like touching a stuffed animal. Enjoying the sensation, she didn’t take her hands away easily.
‘She seems to like my ears. How cute.’
He was secretly delighted that she liked his ears. While pretending to sleep, he struggled to keep his lips from curling up.
“Do you like me that much?”
But he couldn’t hold back any longer—he opened his eyes, smiled slyly, took her hand, and kissed the back of it. Her eyes widened roundly, and her cheeks flushed slightly. At that sight, his heart raced.
‘I’d do it again, but she’d probably hate it—I’m going crazy.’
To suppress his surging desires, he hummed a lullaby he’d learned as a child.
