My Engagement Got Broken, But I Don’t Remember Getting Engaged in the First Place - Chapter 51

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“…Why?”

“Because it’s been tough.” When Nora looked at Elias, his eyes were wide open, almost as if they were about to pop out.

Then he slowly nodded.

“I see…. Having to go through all that, of course you would feel that way. But even if we’re no longer temporary lovers, will you still allow me to come visit the restaurant and listen to you sing?”

“No, um—“

“Right, I guess you wouldn’t like that either.” The marquis’ son hung his head low, misery written all over his handsome face.

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

“Eh?” Elias’ head perked up and he stared at Nora, looking like a weak puppy wet under the rain. He didn’t look like the man with an odd penchant for poisons.

“I mean, I want it to be normal, not temporary.”

“Huh?” After a long moment, Elias only uttered that one word.

“Oh, You don’t want that. I’m sorry. Forget it.”

You didn’t like it so much you couldn’t even reply properly. I’m certainly not going to force you.

She hurriedly waved her hand to dismiss it, but he caught it and wrapped his hand around hers.

“Wait, Nora. By normal… Do you mean like normal lovers?”

“Y-Yes.” She nodded as she tried to steer herself from Elias’ hold.

“Does that mean I can kiss you anytime and anywhere?”

“No, that’s not normal.” Looks like the usual mischievous Elias is back.

They stared at each other for a while, then simultaneously burst into laughter.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I think you’re special. I felt different from when Allan told me he liked me. I was shocked when I thought that you and Lady Andrea were in a disreputable relationship officially recognized by His Majesty.” After telling him her honest feelings, Elias held her head and looked down at her.

“Wait. I need to clarify a bunch of things. What is this disreputable relationship officially recognized by His Majesty?”

“That you and Lady Andrea are secret lovers.”

“I don’t know where that came from, but that’s not true at all.”

“But normally, you wouldn’t smile back when a lady touches your chest. Unless you’re very close.”

“What? Is that gossip from one of the young ladies again?”

“Huh? Well… yeah.” She replied instinctively, but after thinking about it, there must’ve been a knight incognito watching her that time. In other words, there must’ve been a knight watching Nora just as she was watching Elias and Andrea.

“Um, er, that is…”

“What’s the matter?”

Nora felt very awkward but no matter how much she tried to hide it, someone had already seen her. It was only a matter of time before Elias learned about it.

“I saw it for a bit…”

“You saw it?”

“Yes.”

“What did you see?”

“Um, well, I saw you and the lady…”

It’s almost as if she was insinuating that Elias was having an affair, and so went to see for herself. She acted without thinking at that time, but in retrospect, it was terrible of her to do so. Elias’ sky blue eyes stared deeply at Nora, whose face was ridden with apologetic guilt.

“Is it… because you thought I was meeting my secret lover?”

“Y-yes… I’m sorry.”

If it turned out he wasn’t cheating, that meant she didn’t trust him. And if he was indeed cheating, she thought a little peek wouldn’t hurt.

But oddly enough, Elias’ mouth was breaking into a smile.

“In other words, you were jealous, weren’t you?”

“Huh?” She muttered out in surprise. But after thinking about it, she wouldn’t normally care if someone was meeting a secret lover or whatnot. That could only mean she cared because it was Elias.

“I guess I did feel that way… I’m sorry.”

“That makes me happy. You didn’t hate me but you didn’t really like me either, right? I was afraid you’d get tired of me soon and I wanted you to be more aware of me, so I started kissing you. I knew you weren’t exactly comfortable about it, but I didn’t want you to cut me off without doing anything… I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing and I’ve always been anxious, you know? So, if you’re jealous, that makes me extremely happy.”

She couldn’t return his smile as she was overwhelmed with shame and guilt so she averted her gaze instead.

“When she touched my chest… hmm, that’s probably the medicine. I brought a particularly toxic drug today and kept it in my inner pocket to prevent it from breaking. Andrea knew about it and urged me to show her right away. She’s become such a poison maniac, always curious about concoctions she’s never seen.”

“Um, poison maniac? Toxic drug?”

I don’t know what’s that all about but turns out Andrea was only interested in poisons and such, not Elias.

“She then saw the color of my jacket. She said it was like the color of the Azure Nightingale. I was happy because it’s the same color as yours… That’s probably when you saw me smile.”

So the smile wasn’t aimed at Andrea?

“You’ll know when you talk to her next time. Andrea only has eyes for His Majesty. She just regards me as a walking encyclopedia of poison.”

“A walking encyclopedia of poison…”

“So what’s this about when Allan told you he liked you?” Elias’ expression darkened at once.

“Allan told me he liked me as a test, but I didn’t hate it. But when you told me you liked me, I felt different.”

“There’s a lot to discuss here… You don’t hate it when Allan tells you he likes you?”

“Yes. That was before. I think I like the newly-changed Allan.”

Elias’ face twitched.

“What’s the matter?”

“I can’t get you to say you like me, but you can say that to Allan so easily.”

“It’s not like I told him to his face.”

“Still.” Elias was clearly sulking.

Is he jealous? He’s different from usual, it’s kinda cute.

“What have you been doing when I’m not around? I. Think. We. Need. To. Talk.”

Uh oh. I take it back. He’s scary after all.

The usual Elias was back.

“So, it’s different when I tell you that?”

“I feel quite embarrassed.”

“I see.” Elias reached out his hands towards her head and pulled her closer to him.

“I like you, Nora.” He whispered close to her ear, and a small squeal escaped her lips. At the same time, she could feel her face burning.

“I really like you, Nora.”

“H-hey! Stop doing that so close to my ear.”

Elias finally withdrew his hands and stepped back. But he cocked his head in puzzlement.

“Why not? I’m just so glad we’re finally normal lovers.” This time, he took Nora’s hand, and gently kissed it.

Every little thing he does is so unbearable.

“I’ll treasure you, Nora.” He gave her a dazzling smile and she couldn’t help but bury her face in her hands.

“Your face… Your face is so good.” Nora cried out almost desperately, but Elias looked confused for some reason.

“You keep saying that… Do you like my face?”

“I don’t hate it. And that’s troubling.”

“I see.” Seeing Elias laughing merrily, Nora somehow felt frustrated.

Using the beauty trap to attack me, how unfair!

But even someone ordinary like Nora could also make a counterattack.

Wait and see, I can make you flustered, too.

Driven by her mysterious sense of mission, Nora grabbed Elias’ collar and pulled him close. She went on tiptoes and brought her face closer to his ear.

“I like you, Elias.” She only uttered a couple of words but she was oddly filled with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.

“How was it? Doesn’t that tickle your ears? That’s why, you’ve got to stop—” She withdrew her hand and sat back down, but noticed that Elias’ face was flushed.

“Eh?”

He’s told her he liked her and kissed her countless times. And yet, Nora wondered if he was possibly embarrassed.

“Um, hello?”

“Oh… I see… The ear is indeed very sensitive. Or more accurately, you’re a force to be reckoned with.”

“Force?”

“I suppose I ought to try my best…”

Nora sensed a dangerous glint in his sky blue eyes.

—This was a bad idea. It was totally a bad idea to provoke him.

She tried to move away as quickly as possible, but before she could, Elias had already caught her face in his hands.

“W-What do you mean you ought to try your best? On what?” Nora’s face was held firmly in place and she couldn’t move. Elias smiled at her before dropping a kiss on her lips.

“I like you more than you do. I’ll try my best not to lose in that respect.”

“Y-You don’t have to…” …Do that.

Before she could finish her sentence, Elias kissed her once more.

Author’s Note:

This marks the end of the Temporary Lovers Arc. Thank you for reading thus far.

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T/N: So the next chapter is a new arc!