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However, it was enough that Yulan's face, which had been cold enough to radiate a chill, had softened even slightly.
At the very least, he wouldn't spout heart-stopping words like that confession from a moment ago.
Shrugging lightly, Yevgenia spoke nonchalantly.
“Think whatever you like. I'm just offering an opinion. Whether you choose to act on it or not is up to you.”
In a way, it might sound cold, but adding anything more would be overstepping.
Yulan had his own path to walk, so it was only right to let him choose the method that he felt was most helpful to himself.
'Methods and choices...'
Yevgenia was currently wrestling with those very things.
The method of recalling the original story and the choices she had to make to uncover it.
And the key to all of it was right before her eyes.
'Asking him directly is a bit much. I think it's better to test the waters first, but how on earth do you "test the waters" regarding something like this?'
If she misspoke even slightly, there was a very high probability that Yevgenia would come across as a shameless woman who didn't know her place.
Fortunately, Yulan was lost in thought because of her words; otherwise, her head might have exploded trying to think of an excuse for the unnervingly long silence.
After agonizing for a while, Yevgenia finally spoke first.
“By the way, you.”
“What?”
“Um...”
She had opened the door boldly, but when it came time to get to the point, the words simply wouldn't come out.
Even if she asked subtly while maintaining her manners, wouldn't she still look infinitely shameless?
Yet, no matter how much she thought, no acceptable phrasing came to mind.
Perhaps frustrated that Yevgenia had initiated the conversation only to drag out the main point, Yulan shifted his posture.
Turning his body fully toward her, he wrapped his arm around the waist of Yevgenia, who was sitting on his lap.
“Wa-wait a minute...!”
“Speak quickly. You're wasting time.”
Because the content of their conversation had been so shocking, she had forgotten she was perched on his lap.
Realizing this, Yevgenia's serious expression instantly flushed a deep crimson.
She wanted to get down immediately, but the hand firmly gripping her waist blocked her far too easily.
As he pulled her closer, as if urging her to ask her question, Yevgenia finally couldn't take it and cried out like a short scream.
“It's not something I can just say that easily!”
“You know that the longer you stall, the more the poor Madame Magnolia suffers, right?”
“!”
She had forgotten because of the whirlwind of events.
Of course, she had explained to Anna that the conversation with the Madame might be very, very long, but it shouldn't exceed a reasonable limit.
Furthermore, imagine if Anna suddenly looked for Yevgenia while she was away.
In that moment, the Madame would have to handle everything alone—from easing Anna's suspicions to diverting her interest.
The thought that her own embarrassment was prolonging the Madame's suffering brought a sudden surge of guilt.
'Right, we've already seen everything there is to see of each other anyway. Being embarrassed won't change anything. For the Madame's sake, and for my own, I should just dive in.'
Preparing herself by squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again, Yevgenia lifted her head.
...And then lowered it again.
The moment she looked directly into Yulan's eyes, a memory of a certain night flashed back.
Yevgenia had seen a storm of desire raging within those otherwise calm eyes.
Looking down at her with eyes so burning that she could almost see illusions of sparks flying everywhere, calling her pet name in a rough voice...
Just recalling those fragmented scenes made Yevgenia's heart race wildly.
It was the first time in her life she had ever been someone's object of such desperate desire, which made the memory even more intense.
And now, Yevgenia had to ask him to desire her once again...
She pressed the back of her hand against her face, which was flushing again.
The heat was palpable; she was clearly very red.
Whether he interpreted her reaction that way or not, Yulan asked with one eyebrow arched.
“It hasn't even been five minutes since you said you weren't afraid of me, yet seeing you avoid my eyes already makes me wonder about the truth of that statement.”
“What? This isn't because I'm afraid of you, but...”
Yevgenia started to retort in surprise, but then shut her mouth.
It was simply too difficult to admit out loud that it was because she was embarrassed—a conceptual, 'girly' answer.
'If I give an answer like that, it'll seem like I actually like Yulan. It'll look like I was just playing hard to get!'
She thought he might let it slide if she just mumbled the end of the sentence, but Yulan was a far more persistent man than she had thought.
“Not because you're afraid?”
“...”
“So it is because you're afraid, then?”
Faced with the barrage of questions, Yevgenia realized.
He had completely figured out the situation she was in!
Gritting her teeth so hard a sound almost escaped, Yevgenia glared up at him.
“You... you know exactly what's happening, and yet...”
“I do? I don't know anything. I don't know why you're mumbling instead of giving a clear answer, I don't know why your face has turned redder than a ruby, and I don't know why your heartbeat has become strong enough for me to feel it. No matter how much I think about it, I just can't figure it out. It's truly frustrating.”
The time Yulan was most annoying wasn't when he was being sarcastic or picking a fight.
It was exactly like this—when he openly teased her with a smirk.
By the time Yevgenia realized this, she had already fallen into his trap.
Letting out a long sigh, Yevgenia grabbed him by the collar.
“Oh, this is unexpected.”
“...”
“I'll let you hit me once, since it's you. I hope you consider it an honor.”
Yevgenia's hand, which had boldly grabbed his collar, trembled slightly.
It wasn't that she hadn't seriously considered hitting him just once.
However, it wasn't a good idea to use her fists when she was the one who had to make a proposal.
Drawing upon all the patience of her previous life, Yevgenia released her grip and spoke while casting her gaze toward the floor.
“The reason I avoided your eyes was, well.”
“Was?”
“...It's because I'm embarrassed. The question I'm about to ask is too, um, personal, so I wondered if I should even ask...”
As she continued, her voice grew smaller, following her dwindling confidence.
She couldn't even finish the sentence properly, but fortunately (?), Yulan let it pass.
“By all means. I wonder if there's any story left between you and me that could be considered 'more personal.'”
“That's true, but...”
Since they had even shared a serious confession, it was fair to say they had discussed everything there was to discuss.
If it were about confessing each other's traumas, it would have been better.
That was a path toward building a humanly close relationship.
But this was a completely different kind of story.
Taking several deep breaths to calm her pounding heart, Yevgenia asked in a voice as small as a crawling ant.
“You said it. To me, um...”
“To you?”
“...That you think you've developed a... physical attachment...”
When she uttered the most important phrase, 'physical attachment,' her voice was barely a decibel above a passing sigh.
But just putting this into words was the absolute best Yevgenia could do by her own standards.
Now so red that she looked almost black, she finally finished the sentence.
“Does it... still remain? That... physical attachment...?”
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