Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 83

The hand that tapped her shoulder belonged to Shane.

“What are you doing, Adeline?”

“People watching.”

Adeline wasn’t surprised.

She couldn’t tell if she felt relieved or disappointed.

In the novel, it was the mage who tapped the female lead Genevieve on the shoulder.

‘Well, I’m not Genevieve, after all.’

It seemed she wouldn’t be meeting the sorcerer after all.

Was the sorcerer who tried to kill Genevieve not really the novel’s villain?

Checking her watch, she saw it had been about three hours since she and Lloyd had left the Bertrand mansion. It took this long for them to realize she was gone and to find her.

Looking up at Shane standing behind her, Adeline said,

“I thought you were busy.”

“I still need to eat. It’s lunchtime.”

Shane kept his hand on her shoulder and stroked her neck and chin with the back of his hand. Then he pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.

“Your fever’s gone down.”

“It wasn’t too bad.”

The medicine Lucian had prepared worked well. Adeline held back the rest of her thoughts.

She had taken the medicine and told Emma she had a fever early in the morning.

‘It means he knows everything I do and where I go.’

At least it seemed he didn’t know about her contact with Lucian. He didn’t know she had taken the medicine.

Shane furrowed his brow and looked at Adeline before lightly pulling her neck with his large hand and kissing her. Adeline pulled back and said,

“Don’t engage in obscene acts in public.”

“It’s a kiss of affection.”

“A kid is watching.”

Shane glanced at Lloyd.

“How old is he?”

“Seventeen.”

“Practically an adult. How about letting him be independent?”

“You said I shouldn’t go out alone.”

“If you wanted company, you had Jeff. He would’ve joined you.”

“No, he’s in cahoots with you.”

Adeline scoffed.

It wasn’t just Jeff—it was the whole family.

They wouldn’t let her try anything dangerous and would watch out for any suspicious people.

She didn’t want to worry them, but with them, she couldn’t do anything.

That’s why she needed Lucian and Lloyd.

“Are you mad? Adeline.”

“Not really.”

“You look angry.”

Adeline rubbed her forehead.

“That’s just my face.”

The face of an evil villainess, indeed… Objectively, Adeline was quite pretty.

But being the villainess, she had more of a cat-like image than a puppy-like one. Her eyes were sharp, and when she kept her mouth shut, she looked angry.

“I thought being with your family would be better than confinement, but I guess not.”

“Do you think trying to confine me all the time isn’t a problem?”

“Don’t be so mad.”

Adeline truly wasn’t angry.

She couldn’t get genuinely mad at Shane, even if he really confined her. She used to think of him as belonging to the female lead, so how could she feel differently now?

She was afraid of herself for being so forgiving.

‘If I could just find and kill the sorcerer, I could tell you I’ve always loved you.’

I’ve given up on being loved by you.

I can’t let you go, but I’ve given up on being loved.

It was a pathetic and miserable confession of love.

Adeline was frustrated that Shane kept assuming she hated him, but she didn’t yet have the right to correct that misunderstanding.

Confessing her feelings to Shane was only possible if she could be sure she would continue living for a long time.

She was afraid of dying, but if she confessed and then died shortly after, it would be better never to say anything at all.

If she couldn’t escape the story and had to die, Adeline intended to make Shane hate her so much that he could never remember her fondly.

She planned to do something so cruel that he would think he was crazy for ever loving such a woman.

Maybe that was the role this world wanted for “Adeline”.

‘And with my trust already at rock bottom, he might not believe me even if I told him I loved him….’

It was her own fault.

If Shane had loved her since they were young, what she did was truly the worst.

She encouraged him not to worry about their engagement, to get along with other women, even recommending and practically pushing him towards others.

Adeline suddenly realized. Wait a minute…

‘…Am I actually a piece of trash?’

Yes, undoubtedly, she was a piece of trash.

• Author
• Recent Posts

tangerine

Latest posts by tangerine (see all)