Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 74

“She’s quite skillful. She doesn’t have unnervingly excellent eloquence, yet she charms people so well.”

“Is that strange?”

“It is. Genevieve, you wouldn’t know, but Adeline wasn’t particularly noticeable before.”

“Lady Adeline wasn’t…?”

Genevieve murmured in disbelief.

“She was Shane’s fiancée. Since she was very young.”

“Oh….”

“There were countless women who admired Shane. The youngest duke, a full member of the Senate, one of the mere twenty Sword Masters in the entire empire, and incredibly wealthy. Ugh.”

“Well, yes. I mean….”

“Shane only had eyes for Adeline, chasing after her constantly, but jealousy is a different story. Many girls bullied Adeline. Shane secretly protected her, so they couldn’t do anything too extreme.”

It made sense. That sinister man wouldn’t have left anyone who bullied Adeline alone back then.

“They gossiped about their ‘bad relationship’, but it didn’t work because Shane kept chasing her. It was annoying to explain everything, so she pretended to be timid and lived quietly. She attended the minimum number of parties and social events, citing poor health. Despite that, thanks to Marquis Bertrand’s influence, she was popular and had a decent reputation. But look at her now.”

As Adeline entered with her arm linked with Shane’s, acknowledging people with smiling eyes, young girls blushed and flocked to her. Genevieve felt a strange sensation.

It was like looking at herself five years ago.

As Edwin mentioned, Adeline didn’t have unnervingly excellent eloquence or wit, but she had a peculiar talent for exploiting people’s weak spots. When she smiled kindly and treated someone gently, they couldn’t help but think she liked them. At the very least, they felt special.

‘It’s inevitable….’

Genevieve was living proof of that.

Edwin murmured with a slightly weary tone.

“She’s straight up seducing women…”

“Aren’t those ladies afraid of His Grace’s attention?”

“Some of them might be aiming for Shane. They might be thrilled, thinking a husband is giving them attention instead of his wife.”

That was quite some nerve.

“What are they thinking? It’s not like they’re deliberately trying to irritate Shane.”

“They must be planning something again…”

Genevieve remarked sarcastically.

***

“Why don’t you stop already, Adeline.”

“What did I do?”

“Stop fooling around.”

Shane gritted his teeth.

“When did I fool around? You’ve been sticking to me the whole time, so how could I?”

“Even getting close to other women is fooling around.”

“Getting close…”

“Don’t hug them, don’t smile at them, don’t talk to them.”

“…….”

Adeline reflected on her behavior.

To naturally get close to the people on the list Lloyd had given her, she had to be friendly with everyone, intentionally acting to win their favor.

But she didn’t think she had been as clingy as Shane described, like a drunken old man.

Adeline, who was about to laugh it off as a joke, stopped when she saw Shane’s serious expression.

“What are you up to, Adeline?”

“I’m not up to anything.”

“You never liked crowded places before.”

“After being cooped up for five years, I missed people…”

“Don’t lie. I’m on the verge of exploding with jealousy, and it’s hard to hold back.”

What if he doesn’t hold back….

Adeline asked herself. What would he do? He’d lock me up again.

‘I’ve been going around on purpose to avoid suspicion from being cooped up at home.’

Adeline looked up at the sullen Shane.

Until the sorcerer was captured and killed, she couldn’t guarantee that the danger was gone.

She hoped she could finally be with the male lead, but she wasn’t confident she wouldn’t run away if the nightmares started again.

‘I don’t even know if I could escape…’

It was still hard to decide.

It would be too irresponsible to pretend to accept him and then abandon him again.

For Adeline, the best option was to ambiguously reject Shane.

Still, at times like this, her resolve weakened. She mumbled an excuse.

“I never hugged anyone. At most, I put my hand on their shoulder.”

“……”

“This is what you’d call hugging.”

Adeline whispered as she leaned against Shane’s chest. Shane’s body tensed up. Then he sighed deeply, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her on the crown of her head.

“Do whatever you want, damn it.”

Is he telling me to do it or not?