Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 49

I almost forgot for a moment.

‘Right, this bastard turned into a son of a bxxch…!’

Adeline reluctantly acknowledged that her memory was as bad as a goldfish’s.

No, honestly, it wasn’t entirely her fault.

Who told him to smile so happily?

Clinging to her, pretending to be concerned, telling her not to drink because she had a fever.

Just hugging her and kissing her gently, saying he wouldn’t do anything else—how was that the attitude of a kidnapper?

Of course, it was foolish to act as if she had completely forgotten that she had been kidnapped and threatened.

“If you’re done eating, would you like to go for a walk?”

“Do I have a choice?”

Instead of answering, Shane just smiled warmly.

***

Several days passed.

In Delmuz, it had been raining steadily since the morning. Once this rain ended, the weather would turn truly cold, and winter would begin.

For a while, the city had been buzzing about the Saintess’s miracle, the resurrection, and the Duke’s wedding, but now it had calmed down along with the weather.

It wasn’t just because of the weather.

Since the wedding was officiated by the Saintess, nothing significant had happened.

A fire goes out when it’s not consistently fed wood.

The Marquis’s daughter, who was said to have resurrected, hadn’t appeared anywhere since her wedding, and neither had the Duke of Blanchard. It was as if they had declared they were going to enjoy their honeymoon and stayed holed up in their mansion.

It wasn’t the social season, so not many parties were held. Even when invitations were sent, the butler politely replied with a refusal.

People quietly grew more curious.

“Won’t they come out for the service?”

“Well, Duke Blanchard wasn’t exactly a regular attendee. He rarely came to church.”

“But from this week, the Saintess will be leading the service instead of His Holiness.”

“Do you still believe that rumor?”

“There must have been something between them. There’s a reason everyone says so.”

“They’re both married. Spreading baseless rumors could get you in big trouble.”

A young priest scolded his friend while looking around. Then he lowered his voice and whispered.

“Haven’t you heard? At the ball, someone was rude to the Duchess, and the Duke…”

“Killed them?!”

“No, not really… He didn’t kill them, but they were nearly half-dead.”

“That’s the same thing….”

“No, it’s not the same. It wasn’t murder.”

“Eek….”

“You should watch your mouth too. The newspapers that were gossiping about the Duke and Duchess went silent after the wedding because His Grace dealt with them.”

“Where do you hear all this stuff?”

“It’s all in the newspapers if you read them.”

“I read them too.”

“You read but don’t think about it….”

The young priest, who had been repeatedly telling his noisy friend to lower his voice, disappeared down the hallway.

Shane said,

“I haven’t killed anyone, and I haven’t done anything special.”

“…I didn’t ask.”

But Adeline pulled her hood down even deeper.

Deciding to sneak out had been an excellent choice. She was sure that if she got caught, it wouldn’t end with just a commotion.

The setting of this world was mostly similar to Earth. Time, days of the week, and the twelve months of the year were the same, and Sunday was considered the Sabbath.

Adeline had never been particularly religious, and that hadn’t changed, but most people in this world believed in and were certain of the existence of their god.

Because of that, they were generally passionate about religious activities like worship services and mass.

After receiving Genevieve’s letter stating that she would be leading the service instead of His Holiness the Pope, Adeline decided to visit the church on a day other than the Sabbath.

If Shane tried to stop her, she was prepared to lie down and refuse to leave, but surprisingly, he agreed to her request without any conditions.

“When did I say you couldn’t go out?”

“You said I shouldn’t go out alone, didn’t you?”

“Yes, alone.”

“…”

“You can go anywhere as long as you’re with me.”

“What if I need to go out without you?”

“That will never happen.”

Shane quietly asserted. Adeline wanted to ask how he could be so sure about other people’s actions, but she held back.

She didn’t expect a satisfactory answer.

Shane truly didn’t leave the house and stayed close to Adeline. He didn’t go out even once and stayed by her side all the time.

Adeline, who initially fumed about being confined to the house, finally admitted after a few days,

‘This is so damn comfortable…!’

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