Thinking about the past, Adaline frowned.
Shane gently moved her fingers away from her forehead and kissed the area.
“If you're angry, I can't do anything about it...But you're better off when you're not angry, right?”
She didn't answer.
[What sweet nonsense this is.]
[Shane was looking more and more like a clever scoundrel.]
[He watched her without shame, limited her freedom, tried to control her...]
[And when she was angry, he simply hugged and consoled her, as if everything was fine.]
[And the strangest thing is that she didn’t even think it was terrible.]
Adaline laughed hoarsely. Shane only smiled in response. And Lloyd, watching them, sighed with the air of a man who felt sorry for both of them.
---Several days passed.
Adaline still left the mansion in the morning and spent time on the cafe terrace.
Sometimes I had lunch with Shane, sometimes with Jeff.
In the evening I returned home and had dinner with my family.
Gregory, Emma and Patrick pretended they didn't know anything.
She stopped taking the medicine that caused the fever.
Jeff was with her at lunch today.
“There are rumors about a magician who controls the monsters on the eastern border of the Brubevane Kingdom.”
“Brubewijn? Where is it?
“A kingdom in the very west of the Empire. The last point of the Miffan mountain range. Almost 70% of the territory is mountains. The country is poor."
“So you weren’t there?”
“Why did you decide that?”
“You are not interested in poor countries.”
“What self-confidence... Do you think you know me well?” - Jeff snorted and flicked her on the forehead.
The click was loud, but not painful.
“I found a mention, but it’s most likely a legend. The land there is harsh, full of monsters. People probably just made up a fairy tale so as not to go crazy with fear.” “Oh, is it really scary to be able to control monsters?”
"Certainly. Imagine a whole army of such creatures. And you can count the number of high-ranking magicians and knights on one hand.”
"Sounds like a nightmare..."
"That's right."
[And it was in such a danger that the real threat could be hidden.]
[Maybe this is the real villain of the novel.]
[Genevieve decided to cherish every quiet moment even more.]
[Shane's team continued their investigation, focusing on the magic circle in the hall.]
Over dinner, he calmly told Adaline how things were going.
When she asked if Genevieve was doing well, he replied that the Saint was now resting: walking with her husband by a secluded lake or spending her days in a forest hut. In a word, happy.
[If only I could see this husband of hers just once...] - Adalyn thought.
But the opportunity never presented itself.
[The cafe terrace remained quiet. She sat there alone every day, but no one came to her.]
[Even on the first day there was no one suspicious.]
[Adaline checked all the visitors, just to be on the safe side. The result is empty. The pair of magicians were all women, and also only possessed light magic.]
[It would be great if the magician didn't actually show up.]
[If everything went differently than in the novel, as Genevieve married a knight, and the main character fell in love with the villainess, then the sorcerer could have already been defeated.]
[How nice it would be if everything ended a long time ago...]
“Haa...” Adaline breathed.
“Don't sigh, Adaline. You'll scare away luck."
She looked at Jeff wearily.
“If my luck is so fragile, it would have gone anyway, with or without a sigh...”
“It’s still not worth driving her away.” - he answered with a serious look that did not fit in with superstitions.
[Apparently, since the author of this story is Korean, there are Korean superstitions in the world too.] - a thought flashed through my mind.
[Such details reminded: everything that happens is the author’s invention.]
Jeff, noticing how gloomy her face was, looked behind her.
And from the cheerful sparkle in the eyes of the second brother, Adaline understood who he saw.
"Adaline."
A large hand hugged her neck and gently lifted her chin.
Adaline tilted her head back and her gaze met Shane's. She closed her eyes the moment his lips touched hers.
A soft kiss and silence.
Shane smiled. He looked at her the way loyal dogs look when they have brought a trophy to their owner.
"We have caught the culprit."