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18. Our eyes met. That was all.
"Iphoe, what are you doing! You're getting all wet."
Dalton's angry voice pierced my ears, riding on the sound of rain. The tops of my ears stung.
Whether he couldn't think of picking up the umbrella again or simply didn't, he pulled me into his embrace.
Although Dalton's frame was quite large, me being held by him didn't mean I wouldn't get hit by the rain. I still felt the sensation of raindrops on top of my head. From him, holding me, came the smell of damp rain.
"If you are getting hit by rain because of me, I will get hit together too."
"...It's not because of you. I just wanted to get hit by the rain."
"Dalton, you know what?"
"What?"
"You really can't lie."
Dalton remained silent and hugged me tighter. His damp body, far from being cold, was hotter than usual.
He rested his head completely on my shoulder. Dalton's wet blond hair tickled the nape of my neck.
"Will you come to me tonight?"
"...."
"I couldn't sleep a wink yesterday."
He whined like a child. Far from being annoying, it was a bit cute.
"Dalton, I...."
Dalton stopped me from answering.
"Think twice, no, three times before answering. Your answer. I won't hear it here."
He seemed to sense some negative current from me. However, that was his misjudgment.
I was going to give him a positive answer. Since he was a bit cute, I was going to let it slide. But if Dalton hates hearing it, it can't be helped.
Dalton only stroked my back silently. His touch was felt unfiltered over my wet maid uniform.
"Dalton, you feel really weak especially today."
"What are you saying. I am Archmage Dalton Racers."
No, I wasn't talking about your ability. The weakness I spoke of was about your heart.
Dalton's heart seems endlessly weak especially today.
Whether it was because of the rain knocking on people's sensitivity, or if his heart actually became weak, I couldn't know.
At that moment, the sound of carriage wheels cutting across the sound of rain was heard.
I naturally turned my gaze to the source of the sound. Then, a carriage somehow familiar was seen entering the Marquis's residence.
The carriage stopped before long. Someone started to get off from the carriage. Amidst the pouring rain, silver hair shone small. It was that woman who visited Arwin a few days ago.
"That woman. She came again."
Dalton lifted his face that was leaning on my shoulder and looked at the same point of the view I was looking at.
"That woman?"
"Dalton. Do you know who she is?"
"Of course, I know."
"Who is she?"
When I asked, Dalton whispered small in my ear.
"I'll tell you tonight."
He threw a bait that left me no choice but to go to him tonight. It was such a seductive bait that I couldn't help but bite.
I nodded my head slowly. It was a complete surrender. Dalton, having heard the answer he wanted, let go of me whom he was holding.
"Let's go in now. You'll catch a cold."
I answered him, peeling off the wet hair sticking all over my face.
"Are you no longer angry?"
"I said I wasn't angry!"
He shouted as if it were unfair, but his face looked up at was definitely softened. It was an appearance of having calmed down without a doubt.
Did his anger dissipate just because I got hit by the rain together and said I would give him my night?
"Okay."
"What?"
"I said okay, I get that you're not angry."
"...."
Dalton made a face loss for words. You need to be a little more honest.
As if giving up on arguing, he placed his palm on my wet face. His skin was still hot.
"I can make the most delicious tea in the world."
"So?"
"When you get hit by cold rain, drinking warm tea is the best, I think."
Dalton looked at me with eyes wishing for something. I could know quickly what his eyes meant.
In other words, he means for me to say I want to drink that delicious and warm tea.
I nodded my head readily. There was no reason to refuse the most delicious tea in the world.
Dalton dried our wet clothes and bodies without getting a drop of water on his hands. As his fingertips stirred lightly around me, everything dried up.
Looking down at my palms, I saw they were completely dry too. The water droplets that were rolling around like it was their home until just a moment ago had disappeared completely.
"Wow."
I spat out a pure exclamation. His magic was amazing the more I saw it. It was only regrettable that such an amazing mage couldn't interfere with human life and death.
Dalton brought a large blanket from somewhere and covered my shoulders. After seating me on a chair, he waved his hand in the air again.
His hand moved as if containing some incantatory meaning. I couldn't take my eyes off his fingertips.
When Dalton's movement ended, a teacup appeared on the table. Steam was rising from the teacup.
"It's the most delicious tea in the world."
He spoke triumphantly and handed the teacup to me.
A tea scent I smelled for the first time in my life lingered on the tip of my nose. Resembling Dalton, it was a scent that somehow made the other person's mind relaxed.
After drinking just enough tea to wet my lips, I spat out a pure exclamation again.
"Wow."
"Delicious, right?"
"Yes."
At my answer without pretension, Dalton giggled pleasantly. He looked really in a good mood.
I looked at the teacup with a faint smile. Coincidentally, the teacup was silver. Then the woman with silver hair came to mind naturally.
Would that woman be meeting Arwin by now? What conversation did she come to share today?
She was a woman wearing a dress that looked high-class at a glance. Looking at her, who has high status and a pretty face, I became worried that Arwin might awaken his instincts.
Thoughts always tended to rush to negative conclusions. The more I think, the bigger the negative current grows. Without exception. Always.
I imagined the hand of the woman with silver hair wandering over Arwin's back.
Arwin's name flows like a moan from her red lips, and Arwin shares his warmth with her with indifferent eyes.
His hand, which touched me until yesterday, caresses her skin, soothes her, and leaves his trace inside her. The imagination tormented me, adding dense details.
I closed my eyes tight and took my gaze off the silver teacup. I didn't want to imagine anymore.
"Iphoe?"
Dalton called my name worriedly. I opened my closed eyes after a few seconds passed. Then, lo and behold. Dalton's face was seen too close.
"Why did you get this close?"
He was kneeling on the wooden floor in front of the chair I was sitting on. Goodness, he even looked a bit modest.
"Can't I be close?"
"It's not that you can't...."
"Did you... just think of Arwin?"
Dalton asked repeatedly as if driving me. I nodded my head.
"Why do you like that guy so much?"
"Is there a reason for liking?"
"What. Where is such an answer."
Dalton didn't like my answer.
"Then why did you like Arabel?"
He couldn't answer easily.
There must have been many moments he loved her, but I thought he wouldn't know exactly when that love started.
"See. Liking is like that. When you feel you like someone, you become unable to know why you came to like them already."
I recalled the day I first saw Arwin. Past memories tend to crumble, but the memory of that day wasn't easily forgotten.
That day was two years ago, the day I first came to Arwin's Marquisate. The garden of the Marquis's residence. Me standing holding an old brown bag. And a single gaze staring intently at such a me.
Feeling the gaze touching my cheek completely, I turned my head to the source of the gaze. Arwin was there.
I couldn't know why of all times he was in the garden at the time I arrived at the mansion.
But our eyes met. He saw me, and I also saw him. Our eyes met for a long time. That was all.
That short moment shook my everything to the root. Without any omen, my heart started beating fast, dizzying my head and heart.
There was only one sentence to express that moment.
I fell in love at first sight.
It was a moment that definitely couldn't be expressed in other words.
"...But if I had to pick one visible reason, I like his indifference."
"Arwin's indifference?"
I nodded my head slowly.
"Yes. Arwin is, how should I say. He hides himself too much, making the person watching him curious."
Dalton mulled over my words, then nodded his head faintly too.
"I think I know what you mean. Since I was also curious about the man named Arwin sometimes."
"Yes, that's exactly it."
"So you came to love Arwin immensely from the beginning?"
"No. It wasn't burning passionately from the beginning. But as the thought of dying soon occurred, I came to like him more these days. Becoming desperate. Wanting to reach him."
I reached out into the air and clenched and unclenched my fist lightly. Memory became impulse, and impulse evoked desire.
I want to touch him, right now. I couldn't easily calm the desire. I bit my dry lips.
Dalton mulled over my words again, and nodded his head again too.
"I think I know what that means too. After Arabel died, my love for her also deepened."
Dalton made a slightly sullen expression after spitting out his lover's name.
"...Tea. Want more?"
I shook my head. Then thought.
That woman with silver hair. When will she go back?
Night came soundlessly and it became midnight.
The rain, which showed no sign of stopping, had stopped before I knew it. A thought occurred briefly whether it stopped because Dalton's anger subsided.
I walked to Dalton's room. His door was slightly open without being locked like last time. I opened the door completely and went inside the room.
"I waited."
He was lying on the bed, and spread his arms horizontally. As if telling me to be hugged tight.
"Hi."
The appearance of waiting for me lying on the bed is the same as last time. Truly a consistent night greeting.
"Come to me quickly."
A pleasant smile hung on Dalton's face. I couldn't gauge well whether it was because the night with me was enjoyable, or because the night with someone's warmth was enjoyable.
Instead of answering, I laid my body quietly next to him. Anyhow, I had made up my mind to convey my warmth to him tonight. Of course, there are words to hear from him.
As soon as I came to his side, Dalton wrapped around me with his open arms. A natural kiss was a bonus. It wasn't a deep kiss, but a light kiss.
"Didn't we agree to only hug?"
"Did I do something?"
He answered slyly, wrinkling his nose. Since his kiss wasn't unpleasant, I didn't argue further.
"Iphoe. After you went back, I had a thought."
"What thought?
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