Chapter 9

I smiled awkwardly, adding ‘Zion’ at the end.

I showed him a smile when I looked at Lexion’s face, being disappointed by his name not being called.

He smiled so brightly just because he was happy hearing it.

It was a smile that made even other people call it worthwhile.

What’s the great thing about calling his name like that, that he can’t hide his joy?

It was such a strange feeling.

Lexion then said kindly.

“Ask me anything.”

“How did you find me in that pile of bodies?”

“I could see you in just a single glance.”

I was so dazed by his obvious answer.

When I touched my neck and cleared my throat, I then said.

“Then how did you know my name..”

I’ve wanted to ask him that even before.

I never told him my name, but Lexion already knew it.

That has always been my question, but I cannot ask.

Maybe it was scary, actually.

Lexion stared at me still and answered strangely.

“I saw your ID in your belongings.”

“But I’m sure that even when I fell..”

I’ve lost my tongue.

It’s because I doubted myself whether I had heard my name at that time.

Maybe it was an auditory hallucination when I’m in the middle of losing my consciousness.

As he said, my belongings that he had found later surely contained my ID card.

So it wouldn’t be a lie when he said that he knew my name when he saw me.

“It’s nothing.”

I couldn’t pry anymore and reversed my words.

I didn’t want to question him when he was smiling pleasantly.

I just wanted to see his smile a little more.

I wanted to enjoy this time, this happiness as long as possible.

“I was worried a lot when you fell down.”

Lexion gently caressed my cheeks.

Before I knew it, I was all over his face.

As his smile disappeared, the bright surroundings quickly felt dark.

I stared at the corners of his mouth in regret, and he whispered silently.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get you sooner.”

“.. Why?”

He closed his mouth when I asked him a question.

He looked worried about something.

His smile rekindled when he was about to answer my question.

I couldn’t stand it in the end, and voiced out my curiosity.

“It’s our first time seeing each other.. and why do you say you’re sorry that you couldn’t get me sooner?”

One by one, he clasped his lips due to my continuous questions.

Lexion moved, touching the area around his mouth with his hands.

I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, so I just looked at him.

After a while, he answered me in a low-key manner as if he were serious.

“B-because I fell in love with you at first sight.”

“What?”

I was so surprised by Lexion’s sudden confession and asked him again.

I am not fully aware of what I’m hearing right now.

I can’t believe he fell in love with me at first sight.

I was just confused because it wouldn’t happen in the first place.

Lexion showed signs of embarrassment due to my reaction.

He touched the back of his head awkwardly and clamped his lips.

He seemed to be rather impulsive and embarrassed.

For a moment I thought I was confessing to him.

I never imagined that he would say that he fell in love with me at first sight.

It wasn’t him who fell in love at first sight in the book, it was me.

Then, I unconsciously took a step back from him.

He held onto me out of reflex.

I was so surprised when he caught me, so I immediately took my hands off him.

His cautious attitude shook my eyes vigorously.

There was an awkward silence afterwards.

I wanted to say something, but he wouldn’t stop talking.

My eyes went to his face that was particularly reddish.

His ears had a clear reddish glow that is much like an illusion.

‘Maybe he’s shy.’

I took another step back without realizing it.

When he stepped forwards twice, a shadow settled on my face.

Lexion spoke to me in a hurry when I stepped back.

“Don’t run away. I didn’t actually think of that as an answer.”

“I’m just saying that’s how I feel, Titi.”

My face hardened in an instant with the phrase ‘Titi’ when I heard it from his mouth.

The excitement subsided – the aura in this very space is questionable.

I asked in a trembling voice.

“Have I ever given you my nickname?”

In response, Lexion stared at me.

His long eyelashes trembled.

It kept making my mind go wild.

‘Why does he keep looking at me like that?’

All his actions again caught me off guard and shook me.

My heart’s beating fast even after his confession, even when he didn’t want to answer me.

My mouth wanted to shout. I felt the same way right now.

I clenched my lips, afraid that I could no longer hold my heart and pour all of my words from my mouth.

Still, his reason is barely holding on to his senses, but other than that, there is no further progress.

Is this a dream?

Him liking me is so unlikely.

From the moment I entered this novel in the first place, I didn’t have any speck of hope that Lexion would fall in love with me.

The people in this novel don’t have free will.

I remembered what the guide had said before.

It’s the one who knows the world best, so it wouldn’t lie.

The people in this book itself had no free will.

“I don’t have a self decision, I just say what I have to say, and do according to the situation.”

Even I, a traveler, am placed where my behavior is restricted.

It was the original that kept me terribly tied up every time I tried to get out of the book.

But the characters act their own way?

Perhaps even my role has already been set.

Rather, it is credible that there would have been a change in his setting as he regressed.

If he likes me because the meeting with me has been moved up a little, he will be reunited with Seirin and return to the original storyline.

So I shouldn’t jump in an instant when he voices out his confessions.

I’m sure I’ll get hurt again.

The place he’s going to go back to anyway is not me, but the heroine’s side.

He spoke in a quiet tone around the time he was buried in these thoughts.

“You didn’t tell me. I just wanted to call you that.”

Before I knew it, his red ears had regained their original color.

I guess the only thing that hasn’t calmed down is my heart.

I looked up at Lexion and asked tenaciously.

“Why did you want to call me that?”

“It’s just.. that the first and last vowel are the same.”

My eyes dilated when he answered me.

It’s because I’ve heard that line before.

The scene in the novel flashed through my mind as if his words had become a catalyst.

[That’s a unique name]

Lexion murmured Tiarozety’s name and said so.

Tiarozety looked at his wits like that.

Just looking at him face-to-face is breathtaking, her heart seemed to have stopped.

Tiarozety plucked up her courage and said.

“Well, just feel free to call me Rosé. That’s what everyone calls me.”

“I would more like to use Titi as your first and last vowel are the same.”

He suggested a different nickname in a friendly voice.

While kindly explaining why he chose Titi, he scratched the back of his head bashfully.

I then asked him again with a slightly sullen face.

“Isn’t that a little like a pet name?”

“Well, I thought it was a nickname that goes very well with your blue eyes. If you don’t mind, I’d like to call you that. Titi.”

[“Well, then I’ll let you do it alone. That nickname.”]

“Titi?”

Suddenly, I was distracted by the sudden interruption.

As I looked up, Lexion looked down at me with a worried face.

Before I knew it, his hand was on my shoulder.

Half leaning on him, he seemed to be reeling for a while.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I felt dizzy for a second..”

“As expected, it’s hard to travel a long way..”

“Oh, no! You don’t have to delay the schedule any longer because of me! We have to at least go to the last banquet..!”

He spoke reassuringly as he made an urgent excuse.

“Daisy told me that you wanted to go to the banquet. Relax, we’re moving in preparation for everything.”

“Thank you.”

“So if you’re not feeling well, don’t hide it.”

“I will.”

Lexion’s kind words made me bow my head and reply.

He’s so calm that I can’t even say he looked like he confessed to me earlier.

It would be selfish of me to be relieved and disappointed by it.

After a while, we took a step again.

His face was a little gloomy.

My heart ached when he said the same thing before my return.

Him saying the same line means he still doesn’t have his own consciousness.

Perhaps there was a problem throughout the novel with my return.

So his confession.. perhaps only a brief error.

Thinking so calmed down my excitement and disappointment.

“We’re here.”

As we reached the front of the inn, Lexion murmured as if he was sorry.

“Thank you for taking me all the way here, Your Excellency, the Duke.”

Lexion smiled bitterly due to me voicing out his title.

But this time, he smiled and said goodbye without forcing me to speak his pet name.

“Yeah, get some rest, Titi.”

His drooping shoulders grew farther and farther.

I shouted unconsciously at his lackluster back.

“H-hey!”

He looked back at my sudden voice.

I shouted as hard as I could hear him.

“G-get home safe, Zion!”

He smiled brightly at my words when I shouted with my hands cupping my mouth.

In the meantime, my face turned red, as red as persimmon because he was out of tune.

After a while, he raised his arms up and shook them.

Then he tripped and stumbled, unable to look back, and immediately fixed his posture.

I laughed my head off due to his innocent expression.

He continued to look back and wave afterwards.

I couldn’t leave my position and stared at his back, just in case I wanted to look back.

He grew farther and farther away.

I kept standing and watched him walking away with my eyes.

“I feel like I’m really Tiarozety.”

At that very moment, I felt rather melancholic.

Then, he disappeared completely. I entered the lodge and vice versa.