Chapter 132

He was saying that if he smashed the key and told Felix, “It seems the key was made incorrectly,” Felix would scrap his key research.

Then, they would spend a long time researching in the wrong direction, and the time to unlock the handcuffs would be pushed far back.

Aivert was asking if he should do that.

“You—”

Rodella hurriedly tried to snatch the key from his hand.

But Aivert was a little faster.

—Clink!

As he lifted his hand high, Rodella, who was brought close to Aivert by the pulled-on handcuffs, raised her head in surprise.

…The glowing blue eyes were excessively close.

“I want to be with you, just like this.”

Aivert’s low voice resounded from nearby.

The voice that flowed directly into her ear felt somehow unfamiliar, and Rodella hunched her neck.

“…We’re together every day, aren’t we?”

Even without handcuffs, we…

…Ah.

Rodella paused.

They could be separated.

If I went on an overseas tour, we could be separated. But.

You were trying to keep your distance, too.

Why now?

“No, not like normal or like now.”

Aivert looked at her and took a step closer.

The mere half-foot of space that was left disappeared in an instant.

The two were completely pressed against each other, as if they were dancing.

Just as Rodella exhaled a breath, feeling strange about a distance that had felt normal when dancing.

“Closer than this.”

Aivert completely closed in on her.

It was a distance where their legs intertwined and heat was transferred.

“What…?”

The emotion that came before surprise was confusion.

If she had disliked him approaching, she would have pushed him away.

No, she had wanted him to show this side of himself, even in a dream.

But how was she supposed to accept this situation where Aivert, whom she thought was pushing her away, was instead approaching her?

When her trembling eyes looked up at him.

The corners of Aivert’s lips twisted.

“Yes, I want to give you a ripple like this.”

Rodella’s lips parted slightly.

“—Just like the way I feel every time I see you.”

His blue eyes were tinged with the deep shadow cast by his long eyelashes.

“Don’t you still get it?”

He clenched the hand holding the key tightly, then tilted his head toward her.

“Even if I approach you like this,”

The moment she thought she felt his breath right above her head.

Without a sound, his lips touched her hair.

A soft, gentle warmth.

“Even if I come this close and whisper to you.”

Even if I kiss you.

“Do I still seem like just a friend to you?”

Rodella’s mind felt like it was being shaken profoundly.

“You said it yourself. That a crazy person needs to be tied up.”

Aivert dropped a literal ripple into her mind, which had gone completely blank.

“If these chains come off…”

Clink, the chain of the handcuffs appeared as he shook his wrist.

“I think I might go mad, so what should I do?”

‘What should I do, Rodella?’

The voice that asked this was so thick it sounded boiling, and Rodella exhaled a shallow breath.

“Aivert.”

It wasn’t long ago that she didn’t have the courage to look up and see what expression he was making.

But now she had to look up.

She felt like she had to look up to understand. What on earth are you thinking?

Is this for real?

Their gazes met.

“…”

His eyes were still an unwavering blue.

If you truly want a different relationship.

…But, what about us?

“We… our contract…”

Aivert cut off Rodella’s words.

“It’s over.”

Then he added in a low voice.

“That kind of a game.”

“What?”

Her eyes seemed to widen at the word “game.”

“You’ll become the chancellor, and there are no more obstacles. The purpose of the contract relationship has also been achieved. But, Rodella.”

Aivert’s voice also showed no sign of wavering.

To her, whose heart felt like it was plummeting even more because she didn’t know what he was feeling, as he claimed everything up until now had been a game, Aivert said.

“I never even started that kind of a game.”

Rodella’s lips parted slightly.

“Then…”

“You might have always seen me as just a friend, but I didn’t.”

Aivert’s words gave her a dreamlike feeling, as if she were walking on clouds.

Her mind, which had gone completely blank, was now filled with a kaleidoscope of confusion.

“I love you, Rodella.”

He whispered.

“I have for a very long time.”

He took a half-step back and gently lifted Rodella’s hand.

Like a person asking for a dance.

He had asked her to dance like this at a small party for students during their academy days.

“I love you, Rodella.”

Was it her birthday that day, too?

“Ever since you laughed off these words as a friend’s feeling, no, even before that, I’ve always loved you.”

Because I love you.

Aivert bit his lip.

For the first time, a hint of tension was visible on his face.

“So I’m anxious. If I undo this.”

He looked at the handcuffs and said.

“That you’ll really, just treat me as a friend.”

Rodella couldn’t collect herself after his words.

“…Since when?”

Since when… has it been like this?

She hadn’t been hiding her feelings for long.

Even if she had liked him for a bit longer, even if she had come to love him like a dye seeping in without her knowing, she had only become aware of it recently.

That’s why she had struggled to hide her feelings and suffered emotionally.

But you, perhaps…

“I don’t remember when,” Aivert replied.

“But I don’t care when. The moment you first sat next to me at the academy, or one of the days you helped me with my training, or the moment you took my hand,”

The moments he was talking about were also in Rodella’s mind.

While she couldn’t properly recall the countless moments with other people, her time with him was etched into her mind as if it had been drawn in a picture.

“…Every moment I spent with you made my heart flutter, so I don’t know since when.”

Aivert let out a low laugh.

It was a slightly trembling voice.

Just like her, who had been afraid that he would keep his distance again if her feelings were exposed and tried to hide them.

Just like her, who had been nervous in front of him, he was trembling.

“So, choose.”

Aivert’s trembling but clear voice conveyed his emotions to her.

“What day should I say I started loving you from?”

It was the moment when feelings he had wanted to convey for a very long time finally reached their owner.

Choose the day you want. I’ll say it was from then.

He whispered.

When their gazes met again, his was now trembling.

“… .”

When she didn’t answer, Aivert closed his eyes.

A warm sensation settled on the bridge of her nose.

What could it mean to kiss the bridge of her nose while unable to meet her gaze?

Normally, his kisses were something she had passed by without a second thought.

But now, it was different.

Not the smooth kisses that had seemed almost slick, but a clumsy something closer to a touch, which came from trembling lips.

It reached her with more sincerity than usual.

“…You.”

The voice she let out was miserably shaky.

It was as if his trembling had infected her.

‘The desire to have a relationship beyond friendship, but the anxiety that the other person only saw you as a friend.’

‘You felt that too, didn’t you?’

‘Just as I did.’

‘You must feel like this moment is lasting for dozens of minutes.’

‘And you’re probably paying attention to every single one of my movements, every breath, every blink of my eyes.’

That’s why she had to answer clearly.

Because she knew how much courage Aivert had shown.

To him, who had fought against the fear that if he failed, they would never see each other again.

Rodella answered very clearly.

“It doesn’t matter since when.”

She could feel a trembling smile form on her lips.

Her heart was pounding like crazy, as if it had paralyzed her facial muscles, but she had to smile.

This smile will reassure you.

I hope this isn’t a dream.

Rodella whispered, taking his hand.

“Because I don’t really know when I started to like you either.”

His slightly parted lips were visible.

Only that was visible.

Rodella, who stood on her tiptoes to approach him, pressed her lips against the mouth that had just uttered those loving words.

Feeling his body stiffen slightly where they touched, Rodella whispered.

“So, don’t say it was from today, tell me it was from a long time ago.”

That you also loved me for a long time.

So that the feelings we’re experiencing at this moment are the same.

When their gazes met again, Aivert pulled her into an embrace.

What came instead of a response…

“…!”

…was a deep breath.

The lips that touched the tip of her nose slid down to her upper lip.

Softly, but so irresistibly, it stole her breath away.

A warmth filled with sincerity enveloped the two of them.

The two who had returned from a very long journey.