Adaline wasn't the type to get blind drunk.
[Even if she happened to go overboard, her memory did not let her down, she always remembered everything.]
But today she jumped out of bed as if someone had slapped her.
[No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember the evening. Not a bit.]
[Shame. She allowed herself to relax, all in front of Shane.]
Groaning, Adaline pressed her fingers to her eyes.
“I told you, don’t drink.” - a familiar voice responded.
"I didn't know it was alcohol..."
Her voice sounded hoarse and muffled, as if an old man was muttering it through cotton-wool cheeks. Age and gender seemed to cease to matter.
“Here, drink some water.”
Rising with difficulty, she accepted the glass that Shane handed her.
Her face was obviously unimportant: she fell asleep without washing her face. The hair, once neatly collected, was disheveled. The house dress she had changed into after returning to the mansion was wrinkled. Her whole appearance was like after a hurricane.
[But Shane, on the contrary, had already changed into clean clothes, this piercing freshness did not leave his face. Even today he looked like the hero of the novel, impeccably.]
It wasn't that Adaline wanted to please him... but his gaze still made her feel uncomfortable.
“What are you staring at?”
"You are beautiful."
“...You have a very strange taste.”
"I know. And this is far from my only oddity.”
Adaline felt uneasy, he so calmly admitted that something was wrong with him.
[Well, on the other hand, whoever marries for revenge is hardly normal.]
[Although it's surprising that he even realizes it.]
“Where is Genevieve? Has His Highness Edwin already left?”
“He left this morning, before you got drunk. And Genevieve...is probably still sleeping.”
“Don’t tell me you left it in the dining room?!”
"Didn't check."
“Shane! It's cold at dawn! She could have caught a cold! Oh, that’s it, I’ll wake her up myself.”
“Wash your face first.”
Adaline froze. Instinctively, she wiped the corner of her mouth with her wrist. Shane looked at her with a warm, almost gentle smile.
“You look beautiful even with a drop of saliva.”
"..."
[I wish I could hit him. At least once.]
---She washed and changed clothes. As soon as I was able to get Shane out the door and get myself in order, there was a knock on the door. Genevieve.
“I came to say goodbye. I need to leave before breakfast."
[Fortunately, she looked quite cheerful. Apparently, she didn’t sleep in the dining room after all, someone moved her to the guest room.]
[It seems that Genevieve also does not lose her memory after drinking: she shyly avoided Adaline’s gaze.]
[Feels like after a corporate banquet...]
[That very moment when a colleague, with whom you almost swore eternal friendship the day before, looks at you in the morning as if he were a stranger.]
“H-haha...Adaline. Did you sleep well?
"And you? Doesn't your head hurt?
“I never have a hangover.”
[The main character...became an alcoholic.]
“My husband and I often drink together.”
[...and by the way, she's married now.]
Adaline caught herself with a strange feeling. [It's like watching an idol from her school years get married and have children. It’s as if you don’t even know the person, but inside, it’s as if you raised him yourself.]
“Congratulations on your wedding. I'm sorry I couldn't prevent it."
“What happened now? You decide already.”
Adaline laughed. Genevieve, who had looked at her warily at first, also became embarrassed and smiled slightly.
Knowing what Genevieve had been through, Adaline couldn't stand it when she was so cautious. [No matter how many times Adaline said that Genevieve is the main character of this story and should not adapt to others, she still always looked at other people’s moods.]
“It's sincere. I know you don’t like marriage, so I’m sorry...but I’m still glad you came back to Delmez.”
"It's nice to see you too, Genevieve."
One could remain silent about how “joyful” the meeting with Shane was.
Genevieve held out something small wrapped in cloth.
“Please take it. Bracelet. I blessed him myself.”
"Oh...you shouldn't..."
Adalyn automatically thought about those health bracelets that are sold in tourist shops. But it was a thin golden cord, almost weightless. And it seemed much more valuable than just an amulet.
Genevieve lowered her voice:
“I don’t even want to think about it... but if something happens to you, break the bracelet and call me. I'll come. Whatever it is."
She was extremely serious.
[In the book, "Adaline" had only one role - to die, to give the heroine motivation to grow up.]
[The world wanted her dead for the sake of the plot. And although she survived, she apparently fulfilled her role enough to be released.]
[Most likely because she stayed away from both the main character and the main character.]
[After all, the villainess is not supposed to be near them.]
[This was the only way if I wanted to live.]
[But Genevieve still seemed to be wracked with guilt.]
[If everything had gone according to the plot, Adaline would have died. And then she wouldn’t have to see those tormenting glances.]
“Whatever happens. Even if His Lordship is... scary... please."
"Fine. Thank you."
[Almost certainly, in her mind, the danger came from Shane. Adaline did not say that he was hers, Genevieve, initially. That their roles were simply reversed.]
“But now you will have some free time. Until the Winter Foundation Festival, at least."
"Yes! Some expeditions have already been cancelled. I'm so glad!
Genevieve's face lit up.
Behind her, Adaline could almost see the house elf from the movie happily whispering, “Dobby is free...”
“I'll sleep all day! And let my husband try to wake me up, I’ll cry! Let him suffer!”
"..."
Her modest dreams, uttered with such hope, involuntarily brought tears to Adaline’s eyes.