Chapter: 178
Newlywed: Just got married or recently married. Couples in the honeymoon phase are referred to as newlyweds.
Travel: The act of going somewhere for work or leisure, often to a different region or country.
So what happens when you put the two together?
It refers to a trip taken during the honeymoon period. It means that Noah and I are married, that we’re newlyweds… that we’re a couple… that this is our honeymoon home… and that Noah is my wife…
As all the Mini Lians in Lian’s head froze in shock, gaping with silly faces, Lian became as stiff as a robot overloaded with commands, unable to take any action.
The countless, randomly flowing thoughts eventually boiled down to one single thought.
Tight.
As Lian awkwardly gripped Noah’s hand, he felt strength surging in his fingers and suddenly, for some reason, the art style around him grew serious as Lian spoke in a firm voice.
“I’ll take responsibility.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll take responsibility and make you happy.”
Tada… tada-da…
Somewhere, a bell chimed, and a melody that would echo in a wedding hall rang through the air. Noah stared blankly at Lian, then quickly bowed her head and murmured something. It was hard to hear, and as Noah further lowered her head, he couldn’t catch it at all.
But judging by her slightly exposed earlobe and the tips of her fingers turning red, she didn’t seem upset.
About five seconds passed, maybe?
Boom!
Realizing that what he said was practically a confession, Lian’s face exploded into a huge blush, his head steaming like a pot of rice about to boil over.
“Uh… L-Lian?!”
Lian swayed and then toppled forward.
Clang!
The table rattled as plates and knives clattered to the floor; Lian lost consciousness.
*
“Ugh.”
Lian jolted awake with a light grunt.
‘Where am I…?’
The surroundings were so dim that he could hardly see, but from the soft sheets against his palms and the moderately plush feeling behind him, it seemed he had been moved to a bed after fainting.
‘Mmmm, smells really nice.’
The subtle scent of flowers made him sniff around and he suddenly snapped to attention.
‘Ah, wait a minute! This isn’t the time for that!’
Lian gave his cheek a light smack, barely managing to piece together his fuzzy thoughts.
‘If I got sucked into Noah’s Mental World, then Noah must be experiencing something similar to Iris…’
He thought this might be a bit of a leap, but it wasn’t completely unfounded. It was strange that Noah, more diligent than anyone, was still tucked in bed even as the sun rose high. And the fact that he had a crazy dream… or perhaps, a dream that could be crazy? Either way, it was strange.
‘And waking her up was odd too. Normally, she would have reacted sensitively to any little noise and gotten up, but she didn’t respond even when I called her loudly.’
After systematically sorting through his thoughts, Lian came to one conclusion.
‘Maybe… she’s going through something like Iris.’
He recalled the dark energy that had emitted from Iris beyond the crystal ball.
‘First, I need to clear my head and move!’
Resolutely, he decided to leave the presumed bedroom, feeling his way through the dark.
Squelch! His hand brushed against something oddly warm and soft.
When a second tick of time passed, he recognized that the sensation was strangely familiar.
When another second ticked by, he pondered why it felt so familiar.
By the third tick…
“Eep…?!”
Like a mouse stepping on a cat’s tail, every hair on Lian’s body stood on end. Time seemed to stretch, and he left a blur of himself behind as he scuttled backward.
Thud! Bam!
“Ugh!”
Desperately retreating like an insect, he rolled straight under the bed. Rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head, he propped himself up only to feel a long piece of fabric brush against his face. The light streaming through suggested it was a curtain.
Whoosh!
Without a second thought, Lian flung the curtain open. Bright light poured into the room.
“…Huh? Is it already morning?”
Noah’s drowsy voice echoed from the bed, as she woke up wearing just a white shirt, looking all disheveled. Lian, cornered like a startled mouse, bolted upright, pressing his back against the wall as their eyes locked.
As their eyes met, Noah gave a bright smile and said,
“Good morning.”
“Ah, uh… um…”
In the face of such a violent scene, Lian couldn’t muster a proper response. Gone was his rational self who sought to understand and deal with the situation.
His eyes trembled like a leaf in an earthquake, unable to look away from Noah’s bare upper body and pale thighs.
‘Oh no, I’m dead.’
At that moment, an alarm blared loudly in Lian’s mind, and he bolted from the room like a streak of lightning.
With a jangling cacophony, he scurried across the room before his body instinctively darted toward the bathroom.
Crash! Bang!
“Haha… You have to go to the bathroom again today?”
Noah chuckled lightly, unfazed by his sudden panic, as if recalling similar past occurrences.
It took Lian quite a while to finally exit the bathroom.
*
The Rational Side spoke.
“If we stay like this, who knows what problems might arise for Noah! We need to think more seriously about this right away!”
At the Rational Side’s words, a few of the Instinctive Side Mini Lians switched over, chiming in.
“Indeed… mental and physical happiness are important, but nothing is more important than Noah.”
“Hey! When will we ever get an opportunity like this?! When can we be happy?! More importantly, where’s the evidence that this dream is anything like Iris’s? This could just be a personal, superficial wish reflected in a dream!”
“That’s certainly a fair point.”
Some Mini Lians that were on the Rational Side crossed over to the Instinctive Side. As you can see, Lian’s mind was in a fierce battle between Rational and Instinctive sides.
Naturally, the Rational Side had the upper hand. While it was merely guesswork, it was also not baseless, and even trivial evidence mattered more than his desire — Noah’s safety was paramount. Honestly, given the intensity of the debates so far, it was nonsensical.
So why were Rational and Instinctive sides so evenly split and debating?
“It feels a bit chilly. Maybe it’s still spring?”
Noah, entwined with Lian’s hand, softly whispered as she hugged one of his arms close.
“Uh, yeah… right…”
For Lian, who had zero dating experience and zero experience with women, being tightly pressed against a beauty like Noah while receiving a deeply affectionate gaze was more nerve-wracking than giving a speech in front of the entire school during his student days.
Every time Noah moved in close for some serious skinship, the majority of the Rational Side Mini Lians surged toward the Instinctive Side. The Instinctive Lians, however, found themselves struggling to hold their ground. Thus, the balance was precariously maintained.
‘Deep breath… How does one breathe again? Is this how you walk?’
As the Mini Lians squabbled among themselves, the Rational side couldn’t function properly, and Lian found himself unaware of how to breathe or walk. He felt like an ice cream melting in the summer or a cat being petted by a lovely girl.
He was on cloud nine!
The green leaves on the branches gently swayed while the warm sunlight poured down, the warmth of their palms touching, and the mixed scents enveloping them in a strange but cozy atmosphere.
Everything felt like a scene from a fairytale.
If he ever got married in the future, he dreamed it might be a life just like this.
‘Wait, surely… this isn’t Noah’s dream, but my dream, right?’
That thought popped into his mind like a thunderclap, it was so sweet.
Smack!
Feeling like he was about to melt into the dream, he suddenly slapped his cheek.
‘What the heck was that just now?!’
He looked down at his hand with a shocked face, just as surprised as Noah, who looked like a startled rabbit. It wasn’t his intention to smack himself.
‘Something… made me feel like I had to do that—oh my goodness!’
Lian bit his tongue slightly, his face flushing slightly.
‘Did I somehow gain a “protagonist-like” ability?!’
He didn’t even notice that he was having a completely ludicrous thought typical of his humorous nature because he was too busy being serious.
Crack.
He didn’t realize that Noah’s face was chillingly frozen in place.
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