Chapter 15 (Part 3)

It had been the first time in his life he had been treated so barbarically.  

Seeing his reaction, Grace laughed knowingly and continued,  

“I ground my teeth and swore I’d become prettier than you, no matter what.”  

“…So, it was you.”

After that day, Leonardo had to endure harsh training from Delia.  

When she found out he had been helplessly yanked around by a smaller girl, she forced a sword into his hands, saying it was because he spent too much time with books.  

“When I saw you at the Academy, I recognized you immediately. You were still dazzling, and your sharp tongue hadn’t changed a bit.”

And yet,

“I didn’t expect you wouldn’t remember me at all.”

When they stood as representatives—she as the top of the Swordsmanship Department, and he as the top of the Magic Department—Grace had thought Leonardo would recognize her just as she had recognized him.

If he had remembered and gotten angry, she had planned to laugh it off as childhood immaturity.  

“I remember everything about that day, even the sunlight. But how could you act like you didn’t know me at all?”  

Her pride had crumbled.  

Mimicking the scene, Grace extended her hand as if for a handshake and said playfully,  

“‘Hello, I’m Grace Lowell, the top representative of the swordsmanship department. Haven’t we met before?’”  

“…Oh no.”  

Leonardo vividly remembered what he had said back then.  

“‘I don’t greet knights,’ you said, and you turned away, looking at me like I was some kind of peddler.”  

As the memory came flooding back, Leonardo covered his face with his hands.  

Even if it was from his younger days, his behavior had been unbearably narrow-minded.  

Overcome with embarrassment, Leonardo turned his head, unable to meet Grace’s eyes.  

Grace laughed heartily at his reaction and asked,  

“Are you embarrassed now?”  

“Yes, very much so.”  

“After that, I found out you were a Fernandez, an enemy of my family. Finally, I had a good reason to hate you.”  

And so, she hated him, despised him, and scorned him.

The feelings that could have been a fleeting crush changed so easily.

It was possible because of the contemptuous glances directed at her every time they met, her learning capacity, and the subtle disdain for knights.  

“But, if you think about it…”  

At her words, Leonardo swallowed nervously.  

Hearing his dark history, which he had meticulously built up since childhood, now coming out of the mouth of the person he loved, made his embarrassment double.  

But he couldn’t tell her to stop either.  

“I’ve never gone a single day without thinking of you since that rose garden when I was eight.”  

“……”  

“I think I fell in love at first sight with that fairy-like boy.”  

Grace smiled brightly as she said this.  

Then, pinching Leonardo’s pink lips tightly with her fingers, she spoke with a mischievous expression.  

“Although… no pretty words came out of those pretty lips.”  

At her words, Leonardo groaned softly and gently embraced Grace, pouring all his apologies into the hug.  

Listening to the pleasant rhythm of his heartbeat, Grace closed her eyes.  

“When I saw you again at the Academy, standing under the sunlight… you were so beautiful that I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”  

Of course, everything went downhill after that.  

Even if someone called her an incurable fool for appearances after hearing this story, Grace would understand. Because it was true.  

If something is beautiful, you should call it beautiful—why would you say it’s ugly?  

‘It’s only natural to like beautiful things.’  

Leonardo, unaware that Grace was justifying her actions to herself, sighed and responded,  

“To be honest, I have a confession to make as well.”  

At his words, Grace peeked up at him.  

His blue eyes, resembling a rippling sea or a vast sky, sparkled like starlight.  

“When the swordsmanship department representative confidently approached me to greet me, her upright posture caught my eye. I couldn’t look away.”  

“…And yet, you said that to me?”  

At her words, Leonardo replied with an embarrassed expression,  

“At the time, I truly believed that if a mage spoke to a knight, their ignorance would rub off on them.”  

He added that his Master had drilled this into him constantly, but he couldn’t meet Grace’s eyes and instead hugged her tightly.  

“And… a few days later, I saw you… squeezing some male student’s butt.”  

At his words, Grace recoiled with a look of utter disbelief. 

Squeezing a boy’s butt? Gross!  

Besides, she had never done such a thing during her time at the Academy, so she was utterly baffled.  

“When? Where?”  

Grace quickly pressed him for answers, and he furrowed his brow in thought.  

Then, as if realizing something, he said,  

“Now that I think about it, he might not have been a student.”  

“What does that mean?”  

“That day, some boy handed you something. And you… smiled mischievously and squeezed his butt.”  

As he spoke, Grace also rummaged through her memories, and when she finally recalled the incident, her lips parted slightly in realization.  

Then, with an indignant expression, she said,  

“That was my youngest brother! He’s five years younger than me! Our family’s adorable baby!”  

At her words, Leonardo clamped his mouth shut.  

Come to think of it, that boy hadn’t been wearing a uniform. From a distance, it had looked similar, but now that he thought about it, it was clearly a different outfit.  

So, he had completely misunderstood Grace all on his own.  

“…I’m sorry.”  

Leonardo stammered an apology, and Grace let out a disbelieving laugh.  

Then, with a sigh, she said,  

“Well, it’s all in the past.”  

Though it might be hard to laugh off as just a past event, considering how long they had been at odds and sharpened their claws against each other because of it.  

But Grace felt it was a waste to dwell on it any longer.  

“So, Leo, who was your first love?”  

Looking at her playful expression, Leonardo fell into thought.  

As Grace eagerly awaited his answer, blinking her large eyes, Leonardo’s gaze turned to her, and she blinked back in surprise.  

“No matter how much I think about it, there’s no one but you.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“My first love, of course.”  

At his words, Grace furrowed her brows.  

Her expression, as if telling him not to joke, made Leonardo laugh softly.  

“If you take Grace Lowell out of my life, there’s nothing left.”  

“…What does that even mean?”  

“It means that everything—hating you with passion, constantly seeking you out, and even this overwhelming desire—all revolves around you.”  

As he spoke, Leonardo placed a series of soft kisses on Grace’s face.  

Like a bird pecking at grains, his kisses fell on her face, and Grace grabbed his cheeks with both hands and pushed him away.  

Looking at her raised eyebrows, Leonardo chuckled.  

“Leonardo Fernandez. Don’t joke around, seriously.”  

“How could I joke about something so serious? I’m being sincere.”  

At his words, Grace opened her mouth, then closed it, speechless.  

She squinted her eyes at him, then leaned back slightly and asked again,  

“Really, I’m your first love?”  

At her cautious retreat, Leonardo reached out, pulled her close, and pressed his nose to hers.  

“Yes. You’re the first thing in my life that ever shone so brightly.”  

And the last, he added silently.  

Now that he had voiced what he had only thought, it was clear—his life was stained with Grace, for better or worse.  

Leonardo kissed Grace’s lips softly.  

“What will it take for you to believe me?”  

At his words, Grace closed her eyes. For some reason, she felt tears welling up again, and it embarrassed her. But she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.  

It was frustrating and bittersweet.  

The two of them, who claimed to have fallen in love at first sight, had spent years hating and despising each other, trapped in their narrow-mindedness.  

Why had it been that way?  

As the memories of the past came flooding back, Grace felt regret for the time they had wasted and couldn’t stop crying.  

“No, I believe you. You’re not someone who lies.”  

At Grace’s words, Leonardo lifted her face.  

He licked the tears streaming down her face, causing Grace to slap his shoulder in shock.  

“Gross! What are you doing?”  

Leonardo laughed deeply, then took her hand and placed it on his lower body.  

Feeling his arousal, Grace looked at him with a horrified expression.  

“Why is that… again?”  

“Well, there’s no particular reason for this to happen.”  

Leonardo smiled slyly, and Grace, knowing what that smile meant, instinctively backed away.  

“No, I really can’t anymore.”  

Her overworked body screamed in protest, and she felt like she’d collapse if they continued.  

“Just once.”  

“No, seriously.”  

“Grace.”  

Seeing his pleading face, Grace shut her eyes tightly.  

Oh, how unfair! Why did he have to be so handsome?  

When Grace didn’t respond, he leaned closer and whispered,  

“I love you, Grace.”  

At those words, all her resistance crumbled, and Grace hugged him with a tearful, smiling face.  

Then, as if annoyed, she pinched his cheeks and stretched them out.  

“Call me Gracie. Stop being so formal with your lover.”  

Her face turned redder than a tomato as she added this.  

“…Gracie.”  

Gracie, Gracie, Gracie.  

Like someone learning to speak for the first time, Leonardo repeated her nickname.  

Then, as if quenching his thirst, he pressed his lips to hers. Feeling his heated body, Grace let out a deep breath.  

Collapsing onto the bed, Grace reached out and caressed Leonardo’s face, which was filled with desire.  

“You’re beautiful.”  

“…Gracie.”  

“I love you too, Leo.”  

At her radiant smile, Leonardo lost all reason.  

He kissed her like a madman, removing everything in their way—robes, bedding, nothing was spared.  

In her primordial form, completely bare, Grace was gazed upon by Leonardo with ecstatic eyes as he exhaled a heated breath.

“You’re mine.”  

“…Leo.”  

“You are mine.”  

Adding that he wouldn’t give her to anyone else, he bit down on her pointed n*pple as if to tease her.  

“Ah, ouch, Leo!”  

When Grace protested, Leonardo pressed it down with his tongue, softly squashing and rubbing it to soothe her before sucking on it with puckered lips.  

As if he knew she was already beginning to get wet from just that, he whispered while rubbing her nether regions with his fingers.  

“You’re already this wet?”  

“Hng, ah!”  

When he pushed his fingers inside the opening, the traces of the previous night were still evident.  

As the sticky and damp remnants clung to his fingertips, he licked them clean in front of Grace with a long swipe of his tongue.  

At the sight, Grace let out a scream, and Leonardo laughed.  

“Do I seem like a pervert?”