Chapter 2 – You Keep Bothering Me (Part 3)

The night of contemplation deepened without fail, and Anasha, who greeted the morning with sleepless eyes, accepted the meeting with the young nobleman. Whether she would refuse or enter into a formal relationship with him, it seemed better to speak face-to-face.

[Let’s meet on the night of the Founding Festival, at Krongsoff Street.]

Thus, Anasha set out to meet the young nobleman. The highlight of the Founding Festival, the night market, was lined up along the central street of the capital. The most famous spot among them was Krongsoff Street.

Anasha wore a white shirt with a dark brown suspender dress, and her conspicuous hair was tucked up under a wide-brimmed hat. While waiting for the young nobleman, who had not yet arrived, she adjusted her outfit in front of a closed boutique behind her. Then, she sensed someone approaching from behind. Seeing that the escort knights from the Roymond family, who were in hiding, remained quiet, it seemed the person was not suspicious. Anasha greeted him with a confident voice.

“You’re here? Young noble… oh?”

She expected to see a slender man of similar height, but oddly, her gaze landed on the man’s chest. Looking at his bulging white shirt, Anasha’s eyebrows twitched. 

Was Young Master Altino always this big?

‘No, definitely not.’

As she lifted her gaze along the man’s body, a familiar face with a blank expression looked down at her. Karcian, wearing a suit embroidered with gold stripes on a black background, looked at her with drooping eyes. Anasha fumbled her lips a few times, speechless. She felt like a woman caught cheating, though they had no relationship.

‘We’re not in any relationship.’

Are we really… not?

Anasha shivered slightly as sudden doubts overwhelmed her. Suddenly, he seemed unfamiliar. The shadow approaching her felt immensely large. 

Was Karcian always this big?

The small kid she remembered was no longer here. In his place stood a strange man who had spent the night with her, shared intense kisses, and whispered love to her. Realizing this, her heart began to beat faster as if ripples were spreading on a calm surface.

“Anasha.”

He called her with a deep voice. It had been so long since he called her by her pure name that she instinctively shrank.

“Anasha.”

“Y-yes….”

Was he angry? 

Anasha bowed her head, watching his mood. 

Was he about to scold me? Curse me? 

Despite knowing that Karcian wasn’t that kind of person, Anasha tightly closed her eyes, waiting for his next words.

However, no matter how long she waited, Karcian neither spoke nor moved. Anasha, still bowing her head, cautiously opened one eye. What she encountered was an unexpected sight.

“Ka, Karcian?!”

“Shasha…”

Tears big as chicken droppings streamed down from his reddened eyes. The man standing before her looked like a barbarian warrior riding a horse across the desert, yet here he was, soaked like a puppy, making her laugh involuntarily.

“Why are you crying!”

Anasha quickly raised her hand and wiped his eyes with her sleeve.

“Don’t cry, okay? Stop!”

“Shasha…”

“What’s wrong? Don’t cry, tell me. Okay?”

“Don’t abandon me… Are you going to abandon me…?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll do better. I’ll do much better…”

This is driving me crazy. Why is he so adorable?

“What will you do better?”

Anasha tried to suppress her rising lips and looked up at him. When her innocent eyes met his, Karcian quickly blushed.

“I’ll be good at night, too.”

“Why start with that?!”

Did he not study what he was supposed to at the academy and only learn strange things? Was he secretly mingling with lewd groups? 

Anasha narrowed her eyes in rational suspicion and glared at him. Unaware of Anasha’s thoughts, Karcian suddenly approached, bowed his head, and rubbed his face against her shoulder.

“Shasha, Shasha…”

His bulky frame was shuffling as he called her with a wet voice, causing Anasha’s lips to twitch uncontrollably. Her fingers itched to stroke his soft black hair right then.

“Shasha.”

“Uh… why…?

“I like you. I like you, Anasha.”

“Uh…”

There he goes again….

With his cheek against her shoulder and only slightly lifting his head to look up at her with moist eyes, Karcian somehow even looked pitiable. Whether from embarrassment or the pounding of her heart, Anasha clutched at her wildly throbbing heart and moaned.

‘What do I do? What should I do?’

Her mind went blank, and her vision blurred to the point of faintness. She felt like crawling into a mouse hole if there was one. Karcian likes her. Then what about her?

‘Do I like Karcian?’

The question circled in her mind, but Anasha hesitated, unable to come up with an answer easily.

‘I don’t know.’

She was honest with herself, confused whether it was love or friendship. She liked him, but whether it was just as a person or something deeper, she couldn’t definitively say.

Friendship. Yes, she knew they could no longer just be called friends. 

Then, was it love? 

Stuck in a loop of the same question, she moved.

‘If I’m not sure, I should just check.’

Anasha abruptly grabbed his face, which was leaning on her shoulder, and pulled it up close to her nose. As a startled Karcian shifted his eyes, Anasha leaned in. Thinking she was going to headbutt him, he was shocked, but what touched him was unexpectedly her lips. Their clumsy kiss resulted in their front teeth clashing.

“Ugh!”

Karcian, hit by the sudden kiss, only realized it was Anasha’s lips after a delay and blushed as she pulled away. He asked, dazed.

“Shasha? What… did you just do?”

“Kiss! Are you trembling? Does your heart pound? How is it?!”

It was maddening. She was so embarrassed that even her ears turned red. Anasha, looking straight at him with wide eyes, was unbearably adorable. Karcian lazily curled the corners of his eyes and smiled, removing her hands from his cheeks.

“Shasha. That’s not how you kiss.”

“What…?”

As a question mark appeared on Anasha’s face, Karcian wrapped his arms around her waist. He tilted his head and gently sucked on her protruding lower lip.

Chup-.

Like savoring candy, Karcian filled his mouth with her lips, sucking and licking them repeatedly. He slightly parted his lips and licked them again several times. Each time he pulled away, the wet sound resonated in her ears.

“This is how you do it.”

“Ah…”

Even after the brief kiss, Anasha’s eyes were hazy, and she licked her lips as if still unsatisfied. The heat pooling below her navel suggested that her body greatly desired intimacy with him. Anasha fidgeted with her hands clasped in front of her chest. Honestly, it felt good. Kissing him, spending the night with him. Even if she said no, no, with words, she ultimately wanted him. Anasha realized a truth she didn’t want to acknowledge.

Seeing her troubled, Karcian restrained his further desires and ignored his own readiness. Instead, he cleared his throat and pretended to be calm.

“Hmm, Shasha. Is there something you want to do? Want to go see the market?”

“…You.”

“What?”

“At times like this, you should suggest we sleep together, you fool!”

No sooner had she spoken than Anasha jumped into Karcian’s arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and overlapped her lips with his slightly parted ones, just like Karcian had done before. Just as she had on the night of the debutante. Anasha boldly pushed her tongue into his mouth.

“Mmm…”

His breath smelled strongly of mint. Each time her tongue brushed against his, the minty scent pushed into her throat. Initially startled, Karcian stiffened, but as she slowly explored his mouth, he entwined his tongue with hers. Gently capturing her small tongue, he pressed his lips down. The tender flesh felt sore under the strong pressure, and Anasha floundered in his embrace. His arousal, already firm, brushed against her, rubbing her.

“Ka, Karcian…!”

Catching her breath, Anasha quickly placed her hand over his mouth with a desperate gesture. It seemed he would have stripped off her clothes if she hadn’t hurriedly pushed his hand away.

“Shasha…”

“We’re outside, you fool!”

“Ah.”

His boiling heat crisply cooled down with the single word ‘outside.’ The fervent energy left, replaced by embarrassment over his own rampant desires. No matter how much he liked her, there he was, a foolish simpleton who couldn’t distinguish the right time and place. Sunk in self-reproach, his head drooped, and Anasha gently stroked the top of his head.

“Kar, Kar.”

“Yes.”

“Shall we…”

“…Yes?”

“Go to your house?”

“Uh…?”

She whispered in her always innocent voice. The mischievous girl who always led him into snowfields and forests appeared before his eyes. Karcian let out a clear laugh, overwhelmed with joy.

“I’d like that.”