.jpg)
“I'll reheat it for you tomorrow morning.”
Iris stared blankly at Rahan as he cleared the plates. Noticing her gaze, he stopped tidying the table and asked.
“What?”
“...Why are you smiling like that?”
“Uh... am I?”
“Yes.”
Rahan blinked, then turned away, covering his face with the arm he was using to clean, looking embarrassed.
“Was I?”
Apparently, he hadn't even realized he was smiling. It was absurd. He had been grinning like that just a moment ago!
Actually, she had intended to ask, 'Why are you smiling so happily after getting hurt again?' Both the fact that he had slapped Robbie's cheek instead of her and the fact that he had let Robbie hit him were things that made her angry.
'See. My blood is red.'
I've already seen that your blood is red!
She had intended to be angry, but seeing his smiling face, for some reason, she couldn't.
'Unbelievable.'
As Iris let out a small chuckle, she suddenly noticed the back of Rahan's neck turning slightly red. Why was it? Seeing the back of a shy man made her feel embarrassed as well.
The food had gone cold, and their dinner time had been interrupted. Rahan was hurt again, and Iris was upset.
But why?
Rahan didn't seem to be in a bad mood. No, he actually looked happy. Suddenly, Iris realized that now was the time to say what she had wanted to say.
“You know.”
Iris grabbed Rahan's arm as he was wrapping the plates in wax-coated cloth. He flinched, but turned to Iris with a smile.
“What is it?”
“Rahan... you don't hate me very much, do you?”
Why was it? The question 'Do you hate me?' had looped under her tongue and popped out in a slightly different form.
If she asked 'Do you hate me?', he might answer, 'Yes, I do.'
Of course, Iris didn't think the man would push her away so ruthlessly. It was simply because a few days ago, she had gathered her courage to hug him, only to be pushed back.
“...No, I don't.”
The man wasn't surprised by the sudden question. However, the slight silence before the word 'no' made Iris anxious.
“Then does that mean you don't like me either?”
“...That is.”
Rahan looked into Iris's eyes, which were wavering with anxiety and shyness, and put the plate back on the table. Then, he rubbed his face roughly with both hands, muttering, “This is driving me crazy...”
He knew. He knew what kind of feelings he had come to harbor for this girl he had known for less than a month.
And he felt he knew why Iris was asking this. She must like him too.
The feeling of liking someone was like a well-ripened apple. One cannot fail to notice it when it turns bright red and gives off a sweet fragrance.
'But...'
Rahan still had something he hadn't told Iris. Something he had never even thought he would have to tell her.
'He's in league with the demon!'
The words Robbie had used to point his finger at him.
Of course, Rahan was not in league with the demon. However, strictly speaking, those words weren't entirely wrong in essence.
'That damn Underground Creature...'
Rahan felt like scouring the bushes right now to find that cursed axolotl and throw it into the ocean.
Iris didn't seem to know, but today's accident was definitely caused by that axolotl. Rahan wanted to kill his own negligent self.
'I knew that lizard would cause trouble eventually.'
That's why he had left it behind in the Grand Duchy.
Regardless, what's done is done.
Rahan conflicted. But the conclusion in his heart was only one.
There is an order to things. There were things he had to resolve before confessing his feelings to her.
'Unbelievable. Why is a perfectly healthy man being this rational in front of the woman he likes?'
He felt as if he could hear Riet scolding him.
But Riet, it's better than her life being ruined by getting entangled with a guy like me.
“Iris.”
Rahan removed the hands that had been rubbing his face and looked up. In front of him was Iris, staring at him while biting her lip.
Sensing something, her eyes were half-filled with tears.
“I...”
“Don't lie.”
The words that were about to come out were blocked by Iris's clear, sharp voice.
Rahan's eyes widened. Iris looked up at him with eyes full of strength, as if she were truly indignant. Her hands were gripping his clothes tightly, as if she would never let him go.
“Do you remember what you told me on the first day we came to this cabin?”
“What...”
“'I'd prefer it if there were as few secrets as possible.' That's what you told me.”
It was absurd. Had he really said that, given who he was? But Iris didn't give Rahan time to reproach himself.
“Do you think I don't know anything?”
His breath caught. The light green eyes looking at him were too deep. Her eyes, which seemed to pierce through Rahan as if they would allow no lies, were moist.
“I think... Rahan likes me.”
No, no. I... I do like you. I like you, but I can't say it right now.
Words of denial filled his throat, but for some reason, he couldn't speak.
“And I like Rahan.”
“...Iris.”
Rahan barely managed to inhale and called her name. He was going to tell her to wait just a little longer.
But Iris was a stronger opponent than Rahan had anticipated.
“If you're planning to hurt me, don't say anything at all.”
With that one sentence, she completely blocked Rahan's throat.
My god.
Rahan Norwich, who had never lost a single word to the venomous tongues of the Imperial Capital. The man could not utter a single word in front of the small woman before him.
Iris, perhaps trying to act fierce in her own way, took another step closer with wide eyes and thrust her face toward his.
“No, don't hurt me. This is my first time trying to like a man.”
“...”
“Are you going to hurt me?”
It was unbelievable. If she had just said 'I like you,' he might have been able to do something about it.
But Iris Achen. This small woman, who had lived in the Wind Rock Monastery for twenty years, had seen right through Rahan's shallow tricks and rendered him motionless with a single word.
Whether she knew it or not, the woman glared at his frozen eyes for a long time, and finally, she dropped her gaze gloomily and let out one last word.
“I'll hate you...”
That one sentence was the final blow.
His chest tightened. You getting hurt? You hating me? He didn't know what was so upsetting and frightening, but he absolutely did not want such a thing to happen.
Rahan reached out as if possessed. Iris, who had dropped her head, naturally looked up. Those eyes that he had thought looked like spring from the first moment he saw them.
I don't dislike you.
No.
No...
“I like you.”
Things to resolve? The lizard? None of that mattered anymore.
Rahan used the hand that had been rubbing his face to cup Iris's soft, small cheek. The light green eyes, which seemed not to yet understand what had happened in that brief moment, shook in confusion.
“Can I kiss you?”
But that was only for a moment. At Rahan's low voice, her face turned bright red. As if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words, her soft lips parted several times, tickling Rahan's palm.
It was clear that those lips would not say no. At the same time, Rahan finally realized.
This must be how Iris saw him.
He could see every single flutter of the woman's eyelashes. His mouth went dry. Thinking about how Iris must have felt while waiting for him made him want to punch himself. You damn fool.
And finally, Iris's eyelashes lowered.
“...Yes.”
And so, their lips met.
.jpg)