Ch.101Love is an Open Door (3)

“Do you know her?”

Evan felt the greatest embarrassment of his life for the first time ever.

Normally, he would have laughed off any question, but this time, he couldn’t find an answer himself.

Irene’s gaze was growing colder. Though it was autumn and still too early for ice to form, Evan shivered from the cold that seemed to grip his entire body.

Her eyes were completely different from usual. Irene slapped away Evan’s hand that had been holding hers and quietly began tapping the table.

Tap, tap. As her finger tapping grew faster, Evan quietly watched, and Irene let out an exasperated breath, glaring at him.

Hadn’t she never heard anything about him having connections with another woman before?

Had he been hiding it from her, or was there some unavoidable circumstance?

Irene looked at Evan, feeling a strong intuition that this needed to be addressed now.

There was indeed a woman named Scarlet in the Terrazein family.

She was about the same age as herself, and if Evan had wanted to meet her, he probably wouldn’t have had much difficulty.

Evan had that ability, and most women would have easily fallen for that.

But had there really been an opportunity to meet a woman from the south, completely separated from the north?

There was the possibility that it happened when he was young… but the Fried family was also located in the northern empire.

Given how rare it was for the north and south to interact without gates in this vast land,

the possibility that Evan, who came to Yuris as a child, had met and formed a friendship with such a woman was extremely slim.

“…Irene, it’s really not like that. I only knew of that name, that’s all.”

“How did you know about her?”

At that cold response, Evan chewed his lips, then eventually sighed and looked at the ground.

How could he answer when asked how he knew? The truth that this world was actually a novel?

He didn’t want to lie, but this time he felt he had no choice.

After hesitating for a moment, Evan looked at Irene and quietly opened his mouth.

“I’ve heard it before. It was a name that black magicians occasionally mentioned.”

It wasn’t a complete lie.

In fact, in the novel, black magicians had mentioned the Terrazein family.

No matter how much the plot had twisted, that much wouldn’t have changed.

As Evan met Irene’s eyes while speaking, Irene saw his drooping shoulders and felt her heart softening.

…Perhaps he could know the name.

After all, he was the one who always fought against black magicians, so he would be most knowledgeable about such information.

In fact, the information about sacrifices and red moons that Biltain had told her was also provided by black magicians.

It wasn’t special that Evan knew about that name.

Powerless drooping shoulders. The confident attitude from just moments ago had completely disappeared,

and looking at the man who was now watching her reaction, Irene bit her lip slightly.

Had she interrogated him too coldly? She could have just asked gently,

and the thought that he might get hurt and come to dislike her made her mind go blank.

What if he was upset because she treated him like before?

What if he later said he wanted to break up because he disliked this?

Glancing at the ring on her finger, Irene felt a chill run down her spine and shuddered.

Evan was still watching her reaction with his head bowed.

“I’m sorry, miss. I’ll be going now.”

As Evan said this and bowed his head before standing up,

Irene, who had been lost in thought, was startled and grabbed Evan around the waist.

“W-wait a moment. I’m not done talking yet.”

“……”

Evan was simply uncomfortable in this situation.

Both Irene’s expressionless face from earlier and the fact that he had brought up Scarlet Terrazein too hastily bothered him.

It was still too early to determine if there was something about Scarlet.

Of course, it was surprising that she belonged to a family frequently mentioned in connection with black magicians.

In the original work, Terrazein was mainly mentioned as one of the troublemakers who opposed him.

After looking at Irene for a moment, Evan eventually saw her cold expression and slightly bowed his head.

“Are you believing me?”

“…I always believe you. But when another woman’s name suddenly came up, I think I lost my mind for a moment. I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, miss.”

“You’re calling me ‘miss’ again.”

At Irene’s words, Evan stared blankly into space for a moment, then sighed and carefully opened his mouth.

“…Irene, I’m sorry.”

“I was just surprised. You can mention other women’s names. But… I guess I was a bit shocked because this is the first time you’ve spoken like that.”

“She’s just someone whose name I know.”

Irene stared intently at Evan, then smiled and took his hand.

In truth, she was just a little angry, not that she didn’t believe what Evan was saying.

Seeing Evan so conscious of her reaction, Irene was overcome with a subtle emotion and slowly opened her mouth.

“I believe you.”

It would be a lie to say she hadn’t doubted him, but Irene was ashamed of even that momentary doubt.

What reason did she have to doubt Evan? He was the one who had confessed to her, put a ring on her finger,

and even risked his life to save her. It was foolish of her to doubt such a person.

However, there was one point that needed to be addressed.

As Irene’s eyes grew cold again, Evan’s shoulders trembled slightly and his lips quivered.

“Evan, I’m fine with whatever you do. I like holding hands like this, being together like this…”

Irene looked at Evan for a moment and frowned. She could embrace and understand everything,

but there was one thing she couldn’t accept. It might be considered a somewhat indecent and gloomy emotion,

but Irene had no intention whatsoever of compromising on this feeling.

“Other women are not allowed.”

As Irene’s grip on Evan’s hand tightened, Evan looked at her with a forced laugh.

Somehow, her gaze seemed colder than before, or was that just his imagination?

“At the last concert, I saw you giving attention to other women. You even smiled at them, and gave a smile to some noble lady?”

“…That was-“

“I’m not saying anything about that now. We weren’t dating then, so I have no right to say anything. But what’s important is from now on, Evan.”

Evan tried to explain about that incident, but at Irene’s firm tone, he couldn’t say anything.

It was just a gesture he had sent to Duke Roman. In the end, it hadn’t worked and Irene had been kidnapped,

but Evan regretted not explaining it to Irene earlier and kept his mouth shut.

“If Evan does that with another woman, I…”

Irene’s eyes began to tremble with anxiety.

He was the first person she had given her heart to, the first person she had come to rely on.

Most of her first experiences had been with Evan,

and Irene still held the memory of when Evan died as a painful one.

A bitter taste seeped from her bitten lips.

If she were to see Evan smiling with another woman.

Irene closed her eyes tightly for a moment and exhaled heavily.

Just imagining it made her heart ache. She didn’t want to believe such a reality could exist,

and even though she knew it was just a delusion, she felt like she might burst into tears.

Perhaps it was somewhat of a clingy emotion, but Irene didn’t care much about that.

Right now, Evan was hers, and his heart was also hers. She was just trying to make sure that didn’t change.

Watching Irene’s face gradually contort, Evan reached out and gently patted her back.

“That won’t happen.”

Though he usually paid attention to managing his gaze, it seemed he needed to be even more careful.

Irene, who had been looking down for a moment, stared at Evan as he patted her back.

Then she grabbed his collar and pulled him close, whispering in his ear.

“…If you don’t want to see me go crazy, be a little careful. Understood?”

“……”

As the distance between them widened, Irene smiled casually.

But Evan, for the first time that day, thought Irene was scary.

#

After that day, Evan paid attention to every action and behavior.

Since Irene was sensitive about matters related to other women,

he deliberately avoided any woman he thought might have feelings for him, even if she was a maid.

The letters he received decreased from before, but he still made efforts to ensure they weren’t delivered to him by asking Rofena.

No more letters were burned in the garden,

and Irene, who had been anxious after hearing the name Scarlet, seemed to have completely forgotten about it.

In fact, she remembered, but Irene deliberately didn’t show it in front of Evan.

However, this kind of relationship couldn’t continue forever,

which was a major concern for Irene.

They had become lovers, but in reality, their relationship wasn’t any different from before.

If they took one more step forward in this relationship.

“Hmm.”

Irene recalled the advice Rofena had given her before. Even though Evan had told her not to worry about such things,

in the end, Rofena was the only person Irene could turn to for help.

As she slowly recalled the memory, Irene’s face gradually reddened,

but there was no one to care about that in a room where Irene was alone.

They had held hands. They had hugged, and they could even lightly kiss on the lips now…

But these were things they had done even before officially dating,

so in the end, nothing had changed except for the ring on her finger, which made Irene feel impatient.

-Miss, do you know?

A conversation she had with Rofena a few days ago.

Love is like a door that’s already wide open, and if their hearts match, nothing they do together would feel awkward.

As Irene pondered those words, her cheeks reddened for a moment,

but she was thinking quite positively about that advice.

How long would she just watch Evan acting somewhat passively after the last incident?

“But…”

How should she do it? For Irene, who knew nothing about such things, it was simply overwhelming.

She only knew that sexual intercourse between men and women took place in bed,

but she didn’t know anything about the preliminary stages or how the intercourse itself actually happened.

Just knowing that it was something very embarrassing and indecent,

Irene’s face turned bright red as she exhaled excitedly and fanned herself.

Then she pulled a book from the bookshelf,

carefully looked around, and gently opened the first page of the book.

In the middle of the first page, white as a snow field, were written words.

On the paper where the ink had not yet dried completely and was slightly smudged, there were distinctly unusual words.

[Fifty Shades of the Noble Lady]

Gulp-

Irene’s Adam’s apple moved greatly once.

She never imagined she would purchase such a book, but thinking of it as study made her feel a little less embarrassed.

The trembling when she first received the book from Rofena, the sound of her heart still pounding so hard it might burst outside—Irene looked around again.

She had told Rofena not to let anyone in, but she couldn’t help feeling anxious.

“…Phew.”

It was a book recommended by Rofena.

A magical book that could take the relationship between a man and woman to a higher level, she had said.

She mentioned it contained some lewd talk, but it was still a book worth referencing, so Irene had purchased it.

The cover looked clean, which seemed to match what she said, but the number 19 tucked in the corner bothered her.

The number 19 written inside a red border,

and the “not for minors” mark written below it. Irene frowned for a moment,

then slowly began turning the pages of the book.

One page at a time. With each turn of the paper, Irene’s shoulders twitched,

and after reading about halfway through the book, she closed it with a subtle expression.

“……”

Irene’s expression was close to blank.

As if thinking about something, as if pondering something.

After staring into space for a long time with a serious expression, Irene looked at the book she had been reading.

If what she saw in this book was true. Irene’s lips slowly twisted.

As if dejected, the sigh that escaped in the silence was deeper than any other sigh.

But soon, a different atmosphere emanated from Irene’s eyes that had suddenly lit up,

and as she touched her slightly reddened cheeks, she finally got up and began walking somewhere.

#

“Haah.”

He sighed. The sigh he let out aimlessly just mixed with the wind and disappeared without a trace,

but his stuffy feelings showed no signs of clearing up.

Roughly brushing his disheveled hair with his hand,

Evan stared blankly at the face reflected in the mirror and then smiled bitterly.

Since hearing the name Scarlet, he had been feeling unsettled in various ways,

and he hadn’t been able to pay attention to Irene as before.

He had been worrying about it, but he was also concerned about whether Irene might have been hurt because of it.

He had tried to be careful in his own way, but wasn’t it already water under the bridge?

He should have just kept it in his thoughts. Regretting his action of uttering the name Scarlet out loud,

Evan sighed while leaning on the mirror and quietly headed to the corridor.

It was dawn, when everyone should be asleep, but Evan tilted his head when he saw a light on in one part of the corridor that should have been completely dark.

Who could be out at this dawn? Realizing that the light was coming from the dining room, Evan slowly moved his steps,

and seeing a figure inside the dining room, he quietly moved his lips.

“…Irene.”

Her usual clothes were nowhere to be seen, and Irene was sitting alone at the dining table wearing only a white gown, her wet hair left as it was.

The glass placed in front of her, and the red liquid swirling inside it.

Recognizing it unmistakably as wine, Evan slightly frowned, and Irene, who noticed him, opened her mouth.

“I’m not drunk.”

“…Did something bad happen? Why are you drinking alone?”

“Just, I have something on my mind.”

Evan swallowed as he saw her slightly reddened cheeks.

She didn’t seem properly drunk like last time, but she still appeared tipsy.

When he reached out his hand to take her to her room, Irene grabbed his wrist and slowly shook her head.

As if saying no, Irene licked her lips, slightly reddened with wine, and stared intently at Evan.

With her eyes slightly closed, and a somewhat seductive gaze, Evan’s shoulders twitched, and Irene smiled and nodded.

“…Want a drink?”

Naturally, Evan couldn’t refuse that request.