Lady Devil - Chapter 38

#38

I struggled to put my feet down under the bed and sat on the edge. The distance between Johannes and me was about three or four steps. Standing just that far apart, Johannes looked as precarious as a sapling growing on the edge of a cliff.

Johannes, fully turned towards me, said:

“You must be surprised. I understand. But can’t you make an exception just this once? I… I don’t want to see that damn southerner lusting after you anymore.”

Johannes’ voice gradually lowered along with his gaze falling diagonally. The southerner seemed to refer to the eldest son of the old man we met that evening. I could feel a strange heat rising in Johannes’ neat eyes as he recalled the evening’s events.

“I’m proud of myself for enduring it somehow. That crazy bastard… Drooling over a woman who’s to be a mother. Even as I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe it…”

The following content was like a carelessly extended branch. It pierced my ribs in an instant and was only cut off when Johannes stopped speaking. Johannes jerked his head up, and I stared back at him, forgetting even to breathe. Silence with both our mouths shut.

That sudden silence lasted quite long. It was an awkward and painful time for both sides, as if we had inadvertently swallowed lye. Silence. Johannes’ gaze fell into empty space.

A hint of self-mockery began to seep into Johannes’ face. It was a gloomy and bitter smile. Huff. And a short sigh. Shaking his head as if to shake it off, Johannes walked to the clothes chest.

With an uncanny eye, he picked out only the clothes I liked to wear, draped them over his arm, and returned to me. He spread out a few coats and skirts on the bed and sat down beside me.

Then he put his hand on me. Without a moment’s hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing, that hand went to my back and untied the strings of my nightgown, greatly flustering me.

“…Johannes!”

I was so startled that my slumped shoulders jumped. Johannes’ hand was withdrawn as quickly as it had come up, but the cool air touched my bare back exposed through the open nightgown. I pressed myself against the headboard. I faced Johannes head-on. I saw Johannes with his eyes wide open.

“No… don’t.”

I blurted out without realizing and swallowed dry. As if he hadn’t expected such a strong refusal, Johannes seemed more surprised than me. He just blinked, unable to speak easily. I just breathed heavily, not knowing what to do. I wanted to explain that it wasn’t his fault, but I didn’t know how to start.

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