I Give Up on the BL Novel's Male Leads - Chapter 35
He took her hand upon hearing her words. Strangely, there was no reaction.
“Could it be absorbed somewhere else?”
“No. Think of it as if you’re sharing your magic with me.”
Illein concentrated, sending power through her hand, which warmed up. Surprised, she quickly pulled away, noticing a strange circular pattern on her palm.
“What’s this?”
She showed her palm to him.
“That’s it. The magic control device. It’s been absorbed by you.”
He spoke with relief and reached out for her hand again.
Illein, thinking they just needed to hold hands for 20 minutes, let him hold hers.
“Will you be coming here every day?”
“Yes.”
“Can you make sure not to be seen?”
“Why?”
“It wouldn’t look good if a strange man is seen entering my room.”
He nodded in understanding.
“If you’re not my brother’s friend, then what is your relationship?”
“I’m also a student. At Bellaine Academy.”
“Oh, I see.”
Suddenly remembering he hadn’t even told her his name, he introduced himself.
“My name is Edwin. And I attend Bellaine Academy.”
“Alright.”
“And… I’m not a bad person.”
Illein couldn’t help but chuckle.
He was the bad person. The obsessive top. The worst kind of person she could potentially encounter.
“Yes, I’ll trust you.”
She was careful, trying not to provoke the bad person.
“So if you come tomorrow, I will just hold your hand and share the magic?”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
“Let me ask you a favor. I’ll look into how to extract it.”
“Okay.”
Illein noted how he was awkward and couldn’t speak. But after 20 minutes passed, he brightened up as it was time for him to leave.
Being a man or a woman, the only real changes in her were hair length, a slight difference in height, and some physical appearance.
He visibly disliked her as a woman, furrowing his brow and avoiding eye contact whenever their eyes met.
This showed that he genuinely could not feel comfortable around women.
Illein thought she might have found a way to avoid his obsessive behavior.
Maybe a really bad situation had led to something good. She tried to think positively.
“See you… tomorrow.”
“Yes, take care.”
She was ready to let Edwin go just like that.
But as he was about to leave, he turned back to her and said,
“Just in case, hypothetically speaking,”
“Yes?”
“If I ever come demanding your brother without reason.”
“…Yes?”
“It might not really be me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just that. Even if it looks like me, it might not be me.”
“…Okay….”
Illein wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but she guessed it might have something to do with his uncontrolled powers, so she responded accordingly.
She needed to study now. She couldn’t afford more distractions from Edwin.
“Take care.”
“Remember what I said.”
“Yes, I will.”
With that, she sent Edwin off. He looked back several times, seemingly uneasy and concerned, but Illein quickly locked the door behind him and turned away.
The rest of her time needed to be spent studying.
She had a backlog of work to catch up on and might need to pull an all-nighter.
“Oh?”
Yet, she didn’t feel tired at all.
Despite having shared her magic, it was as if she had received some vitality from Edwin.
She felt wide awake and without any bodily pain, despite the expected soreness from the tea that had been splashed on her face.
It was as if she had slept soundly and woken up refreshed.
Her physical condition was excellent.
Without the time to ponder this strange occurrence, she dove straight into her studies.
The next day at the academy, seeing Edwin sprawled out was awkward for her.
“Hey, Illein.”
The only problem was that before she could even settle in, she was already being interrupted.
“Yes.”
“I came to apologize to you.”
“Okay. Can you go back now, Willai?”
“You’ll accept my apology, right?”
Illein sighed quietly at his pathetic attempt.
“Can you just go back, please?”
“Really? You accepted my apology?”
“Yes.”
He checked her response, then smiled broadly and went back to his class. As he left and Illein was about to sit down.
“Hello, Edwin?”
She greeted brightly as Edwin slightly lifted his head.
It seemed that by abandoning the mysterious aura and approaching him more openly, something different from the original story was happening.
Still, she thought, it’s better to suffer a bit than to die.
She smiled at that thought, and when her eyes met Edwin’s, he gave a blank stare.
“Oh.”
Watching him lie back down, Illein finally took her seat.
