“Uh, madam. I think it would be better for me to sleep in a different room…”
I stared at him with an expression that questioned what nonsense he was talking about. Placing a mug with herbal tea in front of him with a loud thud, Gracian noticeably flinched.
Sitting across from him, I spoke with a tone of indifference.
“Why bring this up now? We’ve been sharing the same room all along.”
“But…”
Gracian, who hesitated, dropped his head and let out a deep sigh. His face showed signs of regret… Could he be regretting imprinting on me?
“…”
Come to think of it, that might be a possibility. Was I getting too carried away by myself?
However, considering Gracian’s reactions when he was a wolf… He seemed to like me too.
“Ah, forget it. Let’s not dwell on gloomy thoughts. Let’s just throw a curveball!”
Thinking with such a gloomy mindset didn’t suit my temperament. I slammed my cup onto the table and abruptly asked.
“Gracian, do you regret imprinting on me?”
“Um…?”
Gracian’s eyes widened as if genuinely surprised. After a moment, his complexion turned pale, and in a somewhat unfitting manner, he blurted out.
“No, absolutely not!”
…This was the first time I saw Gracian deny something so vehemently. I looked at him intently, coughed awkwardly, and spoke again.
“That’s a relief. I just asked to make sure.”
{Gloria, pretending to be cool.}
{Though she was quite nervous asking just to be sure.}
{If Gracian said he regretted it, she probably would’ve cried lol.}
“…?”
What’s this? Suddenly, blue letters appeared in the air. It was like a status window.
It seemed like the butterflies of the World Tree were involved, no, they really went all out!
{I thought you might want this kind of status window, so I gave it a try.}
{When we want to use our abilities, we can choose options like this lol.}
{Contractor~ What do you want to do? Ver 1
Create a rainbow for me.
Make strawberries grow a lot.
Organize a drone show.
Other: Touch to input.}
I cut to the chase with a single sentence.
“Don’t do it. It’s annoying.”
{Hing…}
{ㅠㅠ You’re so mean.}
{But isn’t it fun? It’s like a chat window from the world you briefly visited. Kind of amusing.}
Annoyed, I waved my hand to clear away the floating letters. Gracian, with a puzzled expression, was staring at me.
Taking a deep breath, I explained.
“The butterflies played another prank…”
“Ah…”
Gracian nodded in understanding, and there was a brief silence between us.
After about 3-4 minutes, Gracian spoke first. His face showed a thoughtful expression as if he had organized his thoughts during the silence.
“Madam, when I was a wolf, my consciousness was closer to that of a beast than a human, but it wasn’t entirely absent.”
“…Is that so?”
“…Yes, so… What I imprinted on you, it was definitely not an accident.”
He precisely addressed the point that I might have been suspicious about.
‘What if what he imprinted on me was not a conscious decision but an instinctual act?’ That was the worry and suspicion I had.
The way he looked at me and the tone of his voice were unwaveringly sincere. Without a doubt, he was speaking the truth.
“What I imprinted on you… It’s because I deeply cherish you.”
“Uh, well, really?”
So, that meant he valued me? I was starting to feel embarrassed. Should I tell him now that I also cherish him deeply?
“And above all else… It’s because I deeply trust you…”
Gracian smiled warmly. It was the smile that always made my heart race.
“…I chose you as my lifelong companion.”
The resonance of those words, “lifelong companion,” was heavy and impactful.
Perhaps that was it. I suddenly realized how important imprinting and being companions were.
I had become a significant presence in Gracian’s life.
“…”
For some reason, my heart swelled, and I involuntarily took a deep breath, feeling the thumping of my heart.
Until now, I hadn’t fully grasped the reality of Gracian being like a silly dog… no, a wolf. But from the moment of imprinting, I sensed that something had definitely changed.
Our relationship, which had been casual until now, was finally tied with a clear bond of destiny.
“S-So, Gracian, that means…”
I stumbled a bit and continued, and Gracian, with an affectionate smile, gazed at me, as if patiently waiting for my words.
Then, I blurted out.
“…You like me!”
“Yes.”
Ack! That was a straightforward answer! Without any hesitation, he responded in 0.1 seconds! Unknowingly, I grabbed a cushion and pressed my face onto it.
For some unknown reason, my body trembled, thoughts flooded my mind, and then everything went white repeatedly.
I could feel Gracian slowly approaching. The closer he got, the more I felt the urge to escape. Finally, when his hand touched my shoulder—
“Hiccup!”
…I was startled and ended up hiccupping.
The hiccup sound was unbelievably loud. To the point where… but my hiccup wasn’t the end. It continued!
“Hiccup…”
“Madam, please drink some water.”
“Ugh, thanks, ugh.”
This crazy hiccup… Is this a joke? Get a grip on the atmosphere!
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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