Male Lead, Please Dump Me Three Times - Chapter 14

“Ray, when did you wake up?”

“Just now.”

“Did you really sleep?”

“Yes.”

“How many days have you not slept?”

Ray pondered for a moment and rolled his eyes in thought at my question.

“It seems like… it hasn’t been a week yet.”

Just as I thought. He still has severe insomnia.

It’s been about a week, around the day I collapsed.

“Ray, then do you want to sleep more?”

“Is that okay?”

How could I refuse when he asks with that face?

“Yes. You hardly slept much anyway, it’s okay.”

“No.”

Ray said with a languid smile.

“I’m really okay…”

“It’s almost 8 o’clock. You should go now, you too.”

“Is it that time already???”

When I heard his words, I turned my gaze to the window.

It was a deep blue evening sky.

How did time pass so quickly?

Strangely enough, I felt a sense of loss looking at the evening sky tinged with blue.

* * *

On the way to the Carnelian mansion, Ray said something strange to me.

– “Daisy.”

– “Yes?”

– “If you don’t want to, I won’t ask about the past anymore.”

– “……”

– “But. Don’t avoid me. Just like now.”

I couldn’t respond to his words at that moment.

Because my two selves were clashing inside me.

The first self, as a friend of Delian, should firmly say ‘I can’t grant that request.’

The second self, my own true self, didn’t want to ignore him since he seemed pitiful for some reason.

I was still not sure which one to choose.

I was worried about the aftermath that would come from not rejecting him as he closed the distance little by little.

Certainly, Delian’s absence… would harm Ray as well.

“I’m frustrated… I want to down a glass of ice-cold beer in one shot…”

I sat at the desk and took out paper and a quill pen.

“There might be another way. Let’s organize things first.”

I wrote down the original information centered around the relationship between Ray and Delian.

1. Ray possesses strong magical power and lacks the skill to control it.

“Ever since I met Ray again… I haven’t seen him struggle with his power…”

Of course, there is a problem with this assumption.

I can’t see what he’s like when he’s alone.

“…Whether he’s still experiencing outbursts… there’s no way for me to know.”

⟨Ray: Magical outburst – Progress and reason unknown.⟩

2. Delian awakened her magical power only after becoming an adult.

‘Magical outburst and magical purification’

Ray and Delian.

That was the reason why their symbiotic relationship was inevitable.

But……

Delian has not yet awakened her magical power.

Awakening to magic usually involves considerable pain.

So if Delian had already shown symptoms, I would have noticed.

“It should have manifested by now…”

“Then, will Delian’s purification ability manifest in her relationship with Ray?”

1. Ability -> Relationship

2. Relationship -> Ability

To determine which assumption is correct, the causal relationship needs to be known.

⟨Delian: No purification ability so far, nor with Ray⟩

In fact, when I read the original novel, I skimmed lightly over the explanation of the world without paying much attention.

I ruffled my hair over my past oversight.

“Why did I do that… I should have read it thoroughly. But then again, how would I know I would transmigrate into the novel like this…”

I should have made a habit of reading and rereading thoroughly.

“I’ll have to look more into the world or the empire’s mythology.”

I organized the information I had written on paper in order.

“Wait! Now that I think about it, I left that out.”

⟨Ray: Can sleep without Delian.⟩

For now, this could be due to him having not slept for a week and just dozing off.

Let’s just make a brief note of that.

* * *

This morning, Ellie brought me a lot of useful information.

“Miss, here’s the list of bookstores you asked for. I separately checked the ones with a wide range!”

If Ellie had been born in the egalitarian society of South Korea, she would have been a great figure.

“Ellie.”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“Oh my, Miss, you’re really irresistible! It’s criminal to make my heart flutter without warning like this!”

I exchanged silly laughter with Ellie.

“But why are you suddenly looking for history books? You weren’t interested in history before.”

“Yeah. There’s something I want to look into. Oh, Ellie, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“What causes magical power to manifest after a person is born?”

“Well… I’ve heard of such cases, but I’ve never actually seen someone like that. It must be a very rare case, right?”

“Exactly…”

Ellie was right.

Being born with magical power was hereditary.

But the cases where magic appears after birth were very rare and there was very little information about them.

“I’ll be going then.”

“Miss, are you sure you’ll be okay on your own? Or should I accompany you…”

“No, it’s fine! Remember what I said, Ellie? If anyone asks, say I went to meet Delian, okay? It’s important.”

Ellie couldn’t hide her worried expression.

“Alright. But Miss, just to remind you, be careful out there. You know there are all sorts of people in the capital, right?”

“Of course! Naturally. Don’t worry. I’ll be back before it gets late. Take care, Ellie!”

I took the note Ellie handed me and headed towards the market in the capital.

* * *

“Hmm… Is this the place Ellie marked?”

The shop is on the outskirts of the capital.

I heard there was a very old second-hand bookstore there.

I looked over the map Ellie had given me and compared it to the street market before me.

Ellie had also diligently noted the distinctive features of the shop.

First, the faded green roof.

Second, the red exterior walls appeared quite old.

Lastly, it is run by an old woman.

And now, I’ve arrived in front of that second-hand bookstore.

My steps halted in front of the red outer wall and the faded green roof.

‘Livro’

I could see a wooden signboard. The store name was written in cursive on the wooden sign.

I just came to buy a few books.

Why do I feel so nervous?

“Sigh…”

I let out a deep breath and then opened the heavy front door.

With a creepy ‘creak’, the old door swung open.

Contrary to its modest exterior, the interior had quite a high ceiling.

There were stairs on the edges of the interior leading to the next floor.

The interior was plain with wooden furnishings, but for some reason, it had an eerie atmosphere.

“Excuse me, is anyone there…?”

“Welcome. Is there something specific you are looking for?”

‘Gulp.’

The owner was said to be an old woman.

Instead, two burly men popped out.

“Uh…, I’d like to take a look at the history books. Where should I go?”

Then, from behind the two burly men, an old woman came out and spoke.

‘It must be the old woman Ellie mentioned.’

“Go up the stairs all the way to the top floor, and you should see it. I’ve arranged all the history books on that floor.”

Ellie had told me in advance.

The old woman who owns Livro is blind.

‘She has an aura of an extraordinary master…’

I examined the kindly-looking old woman who had her eyes closed, recalling what Ellie had told me.

“History books… There seem to be quite a few people looking for those today. Please, feel free to browse.”

I nodded my head and walked toward the stairs.

The stairs leading to the upper floor looked quite dangerous.

It seemed like I would fall through the gaps between steps if I were to miss my footing.

‘Creak, creak’

I barely managed to reach the top floor, crawling up as I clung to the shaky handrail.

Since I brought all the allowance I saved up…

I don’t need to worry about the price.

Let’s focus on those with evident signs of age.

Usually, the older the book, the more valuable it tends to be.

I started searching from the far-left bookshelf. But most of the books were shining as if they were new.

“Is this really a second-hand bookstore…?”

It was then, after feeling somewhat deflated, that something caught my eye.

A rather worn book with a faded deep purple cover and even the cursive title was blurry.

“Un…titled?”

It said ‘Untitled’.

Even the title was out of the ordinary; there was a strange aura emanating from that book.

Amongst the gleaming new books, this one exuded a unique presence.

I reached out my hand toward the purple book.

‘Thump’

What’s that?

Suddenly, my hand overlapped with someone else’s.

That person did not let go of the book I picked up.

I turned my head to look at that person.

I had been looking up for a while, but I couldn’t see his face because he was wearing a thick gray robe.

He was quite tall, probably a grown man.

I spoke to the man in the robe.

“I touched it first, didn’t I?”

“I saw it first.”

“The one who touched it first is the owner.”

“I’m sure I saw it first…”

“Didn’t you see it on the first floor? The bookstore’s purchase rule?”

“Rule?”

“Yes. ‘All books placed here belong to the person who touches them first.’ It was written there… Didn’t you see it?”

“There was such a thing?”

Of course not. It was a bluff.

“Yes. Seems like you didn’t see it… And when did you start speaking informally, really.”

“Huh…”

The man in the robe let out a sigh as if he couldn’t believe it.

I pulled the book out with all my strength.

“Well then, goodbye.”

I flashed a victorious smile.

Fearing he might follow and demand the book back, I quickly left the place.

“What a piece of work. Ugh, because of that XX, I ended up buying only one book.”

I muttered to myself as I went down the stairs.

Then I went to the cashier and paid at the speed of light.

The old woman wrapped the book tightly in paper.

She couldn’t see, but her hands moved without any unnecessary actions.

‘Rustle.’

Soon after she finished wrapping it, the old woman handed it to me and said,

“Please take care of yourself. Be careful on your way.”

The old woman just had a kind smile on her face.

‘Is it just my imagination…?’

I thought it was just my feeling when I first came in.

But strangely, the old woman’s face felt familiar.

A strange sense of déjà vu hit me.

That’s when it happened.

I heard someone hastily coming down the stairs.