Trap (8)**
Time had never felt so long as it did today.
Julia, Jill, and Mia remained at the round table.
They each passed the time in their own way, maintaining an awkward silence.
Julia simply observed her surroundings, watching the faces of the people.
Jill shook her leg anxiously, checking her watch every few seconds.
Mia yawned occasionally, looking relaxed.
“Mi, Mia.”
“Yes. Julia. What is it?”
“Th, there was supposed to be one more person… Eu, Eugene’s woman… I, is it Mia…?”
“Wh, what?! T, that’s impossible! No. No… I don’t think so… Probably…”
“…”
“…”
Mia denied it, her cheeks flushed.
Julia and Jill had a simultaneous intuition.
Mia was clearly in love with Eugene as well.
It didn’t seem like they had developed a serious relationship yet.
But it was clear that they were at least quite close.
“Sigh…”
“I don’t know how Eugene-sama feels about me… But the woman Eugene-sama just mentioned, the one he promised a future to, is not me…”
Mia spoke up, feeling sorry for keeping it a secret.
Eugene had a special regard for more than just these three women.
He wasn’t talking about the girl vampire he carried around with him.
That child was special, but… she seemed more like a close friend than a woman.
Mia was talking about Countess Cornelia Briem.
‘Eugene-sama asked me. If I ever hear news of his death, to be sure to tell the Countess…’
Eugene had asked only four people to inform him of his death: Cornelia Briem, Jill Diner, Julia Petenburg, and Yelena Frost.
Considering what Eugene had confessed to the three of them gathered here today, it wasn’t difficult to deduce the nature of his relationship with Cornelia.
“Who is she?”
“I can’t tell you that. I’m sorry.”
“No. Rather, I… I expected it to some extent. But I didn’t think it would hurt this much…”
“…”
Jill complained of dizziness, holding her head, surprisingly calm.
Julia’s reaction wasn’t very intense either.
Was it because, unlike Yelena, they had noticed Eugene’s flirtatious nature?
It seemed that the difference between being forewarned and not was quite significant.
They had known for a long time.
That Eugene was a man of great affection.
He was the kind of person who, in any form, gave affection and shared trust and faith in relationships between people, whether they were short-lived or long-lasting.
That’s why they had fallen for Eugene.
Because they knew he never took people lightly.
Because they knew he was the kind of person who always thought deeply.
But the problem was that Eugene wasn’t someone who lived only one life.
If his life had been a single one, it wouldn’t have been impossible to envision a happy future together, growing old together.
But in each of his lives, he had given affection to every woman he met.
It was Eugene’s nature.
His inevitable nature.
Eugene had never wasted a single one of the many turns he had been given.
He had never been insincere, not even once.
In every moment, he had trusted people, even though it hurt his heart.
He had given and received affection.
It was obvious.
Even though he knew his heart was being torn apart.
Even though he knew that the people he met in this turn would disappear when it ended.
He would not stop loving, foolishly and stubbornly.
Eugene was that kind of person.
Julia and Jill had fallen for that kind of person.
By the time they realized it, it was already too late.
“……?!”
Suddenly.At that moment, the door opened, and Julia, Jill, and Mia turned their heads and raised their bodies at the same time.
The Frost Lord was slowly closing the door and leaving the room.
Unlike when she had entered in a fit of rage, her ears were drooping.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and her makeup was slightly smudged.
If you only looked at her upper body, she looked like a woman who had been dumped.
However, the Frost Lord’s tail, which she could not control, was wagging from side to side, clearly expressing her joy.
At this, the three of them thought at the same time.
‘She accepted him.’
They could guess what had happened inside.
As expected, the Frost Lord must have cried while holding Eugene like a dog, and Eugene must have soothed her.
And then, after some resentment and denial, she must have finally accepted his confession.
Surely she didn’t slap him in the face?
Jill thought to herself.
“N, next turn is m, mine······.”
“Wait.”
The moment Julia hurriedly passed by and grabbed the doorknob.
Yerina’s hand grabbed Julia’s wrist.
The moment the beast’s hand, covered with calluses, came down on her, Julia’s mind went blank.
‘My wrist is broken!’
It was an instinctive fear.
Her body froze, and she could not speak.
It didn’t matter that she knew that the Frost Lord would not harm her here.
She just trembled as if her head had been thrust into the jaws of a giant wolf.
“Listen carefully. Eugene is still the same. He’s still kind and gentle······. Don’t go in there thinking of hurting him. If you don’t like him, just tell him to his face that you don’t like him and leave. Don’t think about breaking his heart.”
“······.”
Only then did Yerina’s grip loosen.
Julia, freed from her fear, hesitated for a moment as if thinking about something.
Without answering, she turned the doorknob.
Julia stepped inside the open door.
The door slammed shut.
This time, Julia’s magic enveloped the entire room, preventing any sound from escaping.
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From Noble mtl dot com
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Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to relax around Julia.
Of course, when I’m with Yerina, I’m always on edge, afraid that she’ll get wind of something.
And when I’m with Jill, I’m always anxious that she’ll find something to pick on me about.
But when I’m with Julia, I’m not at ease in a different way.
I could never figure out what Julia was thinking.
She would smile in front of me, but I didn’t know what she was hiding behind her back.
Whenever it was quiet and peaceful, I couldn’t help but lose sleep, wondering what kind of plot Julia was hatching.
It was different from Yerina’s paranoia, but it still bothered me.
At first, I blamed Julia a lot.
There were more than a few times when she ruined my plans, and the 6th time, when Julia regained her memories, was no exception.
I was too normal to accept Julia’s twisted love.
“You’re here?”
“Y, yes······. Eugene······.”
I turned around at the sound of her familiar, hesitant footsteps.
Julia was standing a short distance away, her hands clasped together and her body fidgeting.
She couldn’t bring herself to come closer, and she just watched me.
Even now, I don’t know what Julia is thinking.
Has she come to reject my confession?
Has she come to accept it?
Or is she pretending to accept it while planning something else behind my back······.
“Would you like to sit down?”
“No······. I’ll stand······. I want to talk······.”
But.
I have to believe her.
I’ve decided to believe her.
I opened my heart first.
I decided to face Julia.
If I did, any further doubt would only make things worse.
Doubt that was of no help at all.
There’s no reason to hold on to it any longer.
“That drink······.”
“Drink?””Trium, Trium. You didn’t just drink it deliciously in front of me······.”
“······.”
Julia says with a slightly sad face.
“I······ I thought you were just trying to match me······. You were nice to me to take advantage of me······ and I thought you would talk bad about me behind my back······. But you······. Eugene, you······. You’ve always been sincere······.”
“That’s not wrong. I told you before. I approached you to conquer you and escape from here.”
“None of that matters······. No matter how it started······. I don’t remember the first time······. All I remember is Eugene, who was nice to me and then betrayed me······.”
“······.”
It’s strange.
At the 6th time.
When Julia’s trolling caused a war, I felt intense anger.
Now, I’m not even a bit angry.
I didn’t forget.
I don’t think it doesn’t mean anything because the timeline is gone.
I just think of the past as the past.
And I just believe that people can change.
“I······ I know······. I’m being wary of people, and I’m worried that they’ll talk behind my back······. I know······. But I couldn’t stop······.”
“You can fix it slowly. It’s a habit of hundreds of years. It will take a long time to fix it.”
“Yeah, no······. It didn’t take that much time······. Look······. I don’t stutter in front of Eugene anymore······.”
When I came to my senses, Julia was approaching me.
And then Julia grabs my hand and puts it on her chest.
I can feel a faint heartbeat.
Julia, who used to tremble and stutter whenever she met someone (I was no exception).
She is completely calm, and her heart is also beating at a slow and comfortable pace.
“You’re really a bad person······. You made me like this······. You came into me without permission and unlocked all the locks······. And then what if you bring a lot of other women······.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No······. Everyone must be similar to me······. Eugene is such a person······. He can’t stand to see someone in trouble or someone who is stuffy, so he helps them······.”
She checks my face as if asking for permission.
Julia hugs my waist as it is.
She sobs and wets my chest with tears.
I just changed because of Yerina, but now I have to change again.
“I love you too. I love you, Eugene······. But I······ I······. I’m very jealous, and I have a bad temper, and I can’t speak nicely, and I’m terrible at relationships······. Is that okay······?”
She looks up at me with tears and snot running down her face.
I can’t help but laugh at her pitiful appearance.
I wipe away Julia’s tears and snot and look into her eyes.
“You’ve only put together the shortcomings, so there’s no other human being who is so full of flaws.”
“That’s true······.”
“That’s wrong. Actually, there’s something I’ve wanted to correct since a while ago. There’s another reason why I fell for you.”
“What is it······?”
“Because you’re pretty and you have big breasts.”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s a joke. Why are you taking it seriously?”
Only then did I feel my heart beating irregularly through my hand on her chest.
I finally succeeded in provoking Julia’s agitation.
I hugged Julia tightly, who was looking at me with slightly red cheeks and trembling pupils.
My heels were lifted, so I almost carried her.
“Is there a reason for love? Can you pinpoint exactly when you fell in love? When I came to my senses, I always wondered where you were, what you were doing, and what you were thinking. But it’s not fun to just say that······. I fell in love with you, yes. I think it was your innocence.”
“Innocence······?””That innocence you tried to hide away. When you were completely disarmed, that sincerity that only I could see melted me. It changed even me, who only thought about what I could do to you.”
“But······. After that, when you left······ I planned a scheme to have informants and agents make it so that you had no choice but to come to me······.”
“So what about now? Are you still doing that?”
“No······. I’m not······.”
“Then it’s fine.”
“······.”
Let bygones be bygones.
It’s true that we hurt each other.
But that past is gone now.
The world that our mistakes ruined has already disappeared into another dimension.
We have been given a new chance.
What’s important is the future ahead.
It means that we can start over, as long as we don’t make the same mistakes again.
“Love······ can I······? Can someone like me······ love Eugene?”
“What are you hesitating for? I love you.”
“Whew, me too······. I love you too······.”
Sobbing again.
The strength of Julia’s arms hugging me increases.
There is no longer any distance between us.
Without even a tiny gap.
We hug each other so tightly that our chests are crushed, and we share our body heat.