It’s troublesome.
I laughed a little at a thought that suddenly popped into my head and gently brushed aside Miragen’s hair, who was sleeping with an expression of someone unaware of the world.
I have no idea how we got this close.
Just a few days ago, it felt like Miragen was rejecting me, and yet, it hasn’t even been a week since then. Where did it all go wrong?
I never intended to get this close.
I had planned to use her under the guise of being lovers and then eventually suck all the sweetness out and toss her aside.
I could leave at any moment, but seeing her sleeping beside me made that feeling completely disappear.
I thought she was an easy girl, swayed by the simple line of falling in love at first sight.
“Isn’t it a bit too early to feel relieved?”
Of course, this isn’t a bed.
There’s no way things could progress this fast after just a few days of sharing a bed.
Under the large willow tree planted on the outskirts of Taylor, where a cool breeze was blowing, Miragen’s mouth was slightly open as she slept.
When I reached out to gently touch her lips with my finger, Miragen’s mouth, which she nibbled on like a child, twitched a bit.
I chuckled at that and then sighed, realizing that my attitude had changed from the beginning.
I was the one who’s been hooked. I didn’t intend to get caught, but somehow, it seemed to have happened.
Is she a fox? Even while sleeping, is her tail swaying behind her?
Nothing has changed since we first met, but I don’t know why she’s more captivating the more I look at her.
I thought I was lying when I said I fell in love at first sight.
But as time goes by, my heart is changing, so it’s now become difficult to maintain that initial attitude.
Every time she suddenly grabs my hand, I’m the one who gets surprised, and when she occasionally calls my name, it feels awkward to me.
At this rate, maybe it was really me who was getting played by Miragen.
What’s funny is that despite that, I don’t really dislike it. Living like this isn’t bad at all. In fact, it was quite nice.
The thought that I was hooked wasn’t just nonsense.
At some point, I genuinely started to care about the woman named Miragen.
It was just that Teresa and Yuria approached me to change how they looked at me.
“…But still, you know, maybe in time…”
The feelings I have now might fade away. It could be an illusion.
Just because we’ve spent some time together doesn’t mean it’s just this foggy haze in front of me.
The person named Miragen is a princess; no matter how much I’m Taylor’s prince, we couldn’t possibly get close as easily as I thought.
A person is a princess, and no matter how much he is the prince Taylor, that doesn’t mean they can easily connect like in their thoughts.
Even if they’re together like this today, tomorrow might be different.
After sweeping his forehead for a moment, he lightly covered Miragen’s eyes to block the sunlight seeping in.
Her soft breathing sounded really peaceful.
Is it her nature that she can sleep even with a man beside her, or is it because she trusts herself that she can sleep like this?
I would rather it be the former. That way, when it’s time to leave her behind, I could go without any lingering attachments.
As he turned his gaze back to the sunlight, he started to fall into residual thoughts once again.
#
“Have you woken up?”
When Miragen regained her senses from her disheveled vision, she realized she had fallen asleep beside Robert and slowly opened her eyes.
It was so embarrassing that it was hard to get up.
She considered pretending to still be asleep, but just then, she happened to meet Robert’s gaze and couldn’t do that.
It would have been nice if he ignored her.
But Robert surprisingly had a clumsy side in these situations, so Miragen slowly raised her body while gently covering her face with her hand.
She didn’t even know how she fell asleep.
She had been looking at the beautiful scenery below for a while, and after hearing someone say, “If you’re tired, why not close your eyes for a bit?” she closed her eyes.
Before she knew it, Miragen blinked as she looked at the sky where the sun was dipping low.
It really felt like she had slept for hours. At this rate, it would be night by the time they return to the imperial palace.
She knew it was about time to head back, but thinking about actually going made her mood feel strange.
She nervously brushed her hair while keeping an eye on Robert. If he said not to go, she had no intention of leaving.
Staying out for a day wouldn’t be a big problem…
Well, if Robert wanted to do that, there was no need to refuse him sharply.
But she also knew he wasn’t the kind of person who would bring that up first.
Getting him to say it first was the key.
“It’s already dinner time.”
She casually threw it out there.
Since more time had passed than she expected, she mentioned that if they go back now, it would have already turned into quite a late hour.
Then she took another quick glance. Robert, having heard Miragen’s words, nodded and looked at the sky.
The stars were beautifully dotted against the black canvas of the night.
If one were to be distracted for even a moment, time would pass faster than flowing water, and now, even the sun that had been setting had completely disappeared.
The sun, which had been setting slowly, had completely vanished.
I already knew what Miragen meant by saying that to me. She must be asking me to hold on.
Even though I understood the meaning, I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t sure if I truly meant what I was saying.
How could I know if this feeling was real? After all, I thought she would leave at any moment.
“Shall we go now?”
When Miragen, who had given up, said that, a sudden thought flashed through my mind.
I shouldn’t let her go like this. If I let go here, I just knew that such an opportunity might never come again.
The intuition of a reincarnator isn’t simple.
Whenever placed at a crossroads, Robert unknowingly grabbed Miragen’s wrist as she stood up.
“Robert?”
“…Well, that’s…”
What should I say? The sudden question that bloomed made everything in front of Robert go dark.
Would it be understandable if I said I didn’t want to let her go?
If I didn’t let her go here, it meant I had to spend this night with her.
In any sense, the difference in the relationship I would experience between yesterday and tomorrow became clear.
With her wrist still held, Miragen’s eyes narrowed as she said nothing, but the one who was truly frustrated was Miragen.
If I told her not to go, she wasn’t planning on leaving anyway. She must have deliberately waited for an answer before getting up.
One word was enough. If I just said one word, Miragen would clearly be willing to stay much longer.
My hesitating lips wouldn’t easily part. If it were the first time, I could have easily told her not to go.
Back then, I hadn’t even fallen for her, and my feelings were vague.
But now, this affection had become so certain, and I well knew how each word I spoke would be perceived by Miragen.
Now, Miragen wasn’t just a woman who approached me for simple use.
By coincidence, our hearts matched too well, and perhaps… even if I had to repeat reincarnation, I might never meet a woman like her again.
“I held on because I have something to say.”
“…What is it?”
I hesitated again, awkwardly smiling as I met her eyes.
Every time I saw those golden eyes looking at me, my heart would always waver.
It was the same from the very beginning.
If they met just to use each other, they should be honest about it. How could one not be shaken by a woman who only smiles for him?
I thought that there’s really no need for a reason to like someone.
When I first met Teresa, didn’t I think it was a fateful encounter?
Whether the day was good or not, just locking eyes made my heart flutter, feeling like the wind that doesn’t burn was brushing against my whole body.
“I thought I should say I hope you don’t leave…”
“Does that mean you no longer think that way?”
“No.”
And now that I realized that feeling was affection, Robert looked at Miragen once again.
It was simply ridiculous how just moments ago I had decided to run away. Just a few exchanged glances, and hearing her voice a couple of times was enough to stir my heart so much. How did I confidently think I could leave?
“Of course?”
Miragen’s voice trembled lightly, but Robert’s body was also shaking without him noticing. It felt like it had been a while since he was this nervous. After the repeated reincarnations, it was a sensation he hadn’t truly embraced. Taking a deep breath, Robert cautiously parted his lips.
“I won’t let you go. Even if you say you want to leave now, I will say we’re staying together today.”
“Is that so?”
With a brief smile, Miragen chuckled again, then tossed her hair back, looking at Robert. What came back was even more than the answer he desired. To respond to that, it seemed better to say what he had been thinking.
“I had something to say too.”
Hearing that he fell in love at first sight, the heart that had been shaking little by little now fully realized what it was. Since I became aware of it, everything felt different. The world I always looked at sparkled a little more, and the man Robert Taylor, whom I previously had no interest in, seemed exceptionally attractive.
Miragen realized that it was love.
She never thought she would say such things to someone else; she considered it something to say only in a novel. But somehow, the situation had turned out this way. Miragen opened her mouth again.
“I like you too.”
It wasn’t as romantic as what she’d heard, but being honest was probably better. Gradually, the rising heat began to seep into the cheeks of both individuals.
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