I Became the Obsessed Ex-Husband in a Romance Fantasy - Chapter 159
Dayna looked around the room in sheer disbelief.
The plates of snacks and teacups on the table were completely empty.
‘Right, so...’
He must have had his fun rolling around in the parade ground earlier, and filled his hungry stomach well. Now he was tired and had fallen fast asleep?
“Hah.”
A small, dumbfounded chuckle escaped her lips.
The usual Dayna would have immediately slammed her foot against the floor—Kwang!—to wake him up.
But strangely enough, seeing Rojian sleeping with his head resting against the chair, breathing softly, she did not feel angry.
*Sseuk.*
Dayna muted her footsteps and tiptoed closer to Rojian. She then leaned down and quietly gazed at his sleeping face.
The afternoon sunlight dyed the red hair scattered across his forehead a golden hue. Beneath it, his unusually thick and long eyelashes cast a shadow.
The faint freckles on the bridge of his nose made his face look exceptionally youthful.
‘He looks quite harmless when he's sleeping.’
Dayna couldn't help but let out a small smile at his innocent appearance.
Because she knew that a surprisingly different side lay hidden beneath it.
‘But what was it that bothered you so much, Dayna?’
That moment when he trembled violently but still raised his voice. The attitude of a guy who usually couldn't even make eye contact, yet pouring out his conviction about his creation.
That was the very face of a proud mage scholar.
‘I thought he was just a harmless herbivore.’
The sensation of the clumsy but sharp fangs Rojian had revealed for the first time back then had left quite a deep impression on Dayna.
*Sseuk.*
Dayna stroked her waistline.
The dagger Rojian had made and gifted her was still hanging there.
Thanks to its automatic retrieval function, there was no worry about losing it, and the way it fit perfectly in her hand felt great.
‘I actually quite like it.’
Honestly, she was confused.
Whether she liked the dagger, or whether she liked the person who made it.
She finally realized that she was acting unusually soft toward Rojian.
“……”
Dayna stared intently at Rojian's sleeping face. She then noticed a cookie crumb left at the corner of his mouth.
*Seok.*
Dayna reached out her hand without realizing it.
The moment her calloused thumb touched the edge of Rojian's lips.
“-!”
Rojian's eyes shot wide open.
From a very close distance, Rojian's green eyes and Dayna's blue eyes clashed directly.
“……”
For a brief moment, time and space seemed to stop.
As if tightly bound by something, Dayna froze, unable to withdraw her outstretched hand.
“…Ah.”
The moment Rojian flinched in surprise and slightly parted his lips.
*Sak.*
Dayna reflexively moved her thumb and lightly swept away the crumb at the corner of his mouth.
“You had something on your mouth.”
She then sharply turned her body around.
*Dugeun, dugeun.*
Her always-silent heart beat in a rhythm different from usual. Like a child caught trying to do something mischievous.
‘What was I trying to do just now?’
I was just trying to wipe the cookie crumb off the corner of his mouth.
No, was it really just that?
It felt like she had wanted to do something else, and she even felt a pang of regret that it ended with just a fleeting touch.
*Kkuk.*
Dayna quietly rubbed the tip of her thumb.
The faint, soft sensation lingering beyond her rough calluses nagged at her nerves.
“I-I'm so sorry, Young Duke!”
Hearing Rojian's flustered voice from behind her, Dayna finally broke out of her reverie.
“I just meant to sit down for a moment, but I ended up falling asleep...!”
Dayna slowly turned her body back around.
Rojian, having sprung up from the sofa like a spring coil, stood facing her.
“If I made you uncomfortable, I sincerely apologize. The carriage ride was longer and more exhausting than I thought, so I...”
The tips of Rojian's ears were burning red. With his hands neatly clasped together and bowing at the waist, he looked extremely polite and respectful.
“……”
For some reason, that bothered her.
This was the guy who awkwardly mixed informal speech at the Academy, and eventually poured out a flurry of words while calling her name.
But now he was calling her Young Duke and putting up walls.
“You used to call me by my name before.”
Without even a moment to think of an excuse, a nonchalant voice slipped out.
“You're quite polite now, aren't you?”
“…Yes?”
Rojian paused, then examined Dayna's expression.
He looked unsure whether she was angry right now or being sarcastic by demanding politeness.
“The interview hasn't started yet.”
Dayna bluntly shot at Rojian, who was standing there blankly.
“So act like you did when we were at the Academy.”
“How could I dare to the Young Duke...”
“It's an order.”
Rojian examined Dayna's expression with wavering eyes. Dayna, as if to prove a point, lifted her chin and pressured him with her gaze.
“...Long time no see, Dayna. Have you been well?”
Finally, as if resigning himself, Rojian opened his mouth.
Only then did Dayna feel a strange sense of satisfaction as she plopped down on the sofa opposite Rojian.
“I've been...”
Have I been well?
Without even a moment to grieve her parents' sudden passing, she had rushed back to take control of the family.
Every single day was as precarious as walking on a blade's edge.
But...
“…I've been well. You sit down too, make yourself comfortable.”
Dayna replied calmly, desperately swallowing whatever was rushing up her throat.
Memories of her days at the Academy washed over her.
The warm and pleasant sunlight, the peaceful air. The trivial laughs and insignificant memories.
‘...The things that make me weak.’
And the man sitting in front of her right now was one of those things that made her soften.
“It seems the snacks suited your taste.”
Dayna swiftly changed the subject.
“Should I have them bring more?”
“Uh, is that okay?”
Rojian perched slightly on the sofa and brightened up. Perhaps because his tension had eased a bit, his green eyes sparkled with life.
“It was really delicious. The chef's skills are amazing.”
“Is that so.”
To Dayna, food was merely a means to achieve the goal of nutritional supply rather than a matter of preference.
However, seeing Rojian praise it so highly, she merely thought to herself anew that Fabri's skills must indeed be good.
“Tell Fabri to bring more snacks. And some light food to substitute for a meal.”
While Dayna called a servant over to give orders, Rojian blinked and quietly observed her profile.
“What. Is there something on my face?”
“No, it just seems like the atmosphere... has changed a bit.”
“Perhaps it has.”
Dayna smiled bitterly.
She felt that she had changed a lot in just a few short years.
As if reading the exhaustion hidden behind Dayna's bitter smile, Rojian opened his mouth in a softer voice.
“Hey... Dayna.”
“Yeah.”
Rojian fidgeted with his hands before speaking carefully.
“Actually, when we met again... I wanted to say I'm sorry first.”
“Why?”
“Well...”
Rojian looked at the empty air for a moment, then at his knees, struggling fiercely, before...
“...Your hair tie.”
He finally spoke, squeezing both eyes tightly shut.
“Ah.”
Only then did Dayna recall the memory in the library.
Her hair tie that had slipped right out of Rojian's breast pocket. She never expected him to have picked up the one that broke during a sparring match and she had thrown away, keeping it so preciously.
“I'm sorry. Was it creepy and unpleasant?”
Rojian stammered out an excuse, his neck flushed bright red to the nape.
“I wanted to apologize right away the next day, but you had already returned to the estate...”
“You did. A complicated matter happened in the family.”
“I apologize once again. It was an inexcusable thing to do.”
Instead of accepting Rojian's apology, Dayna rested her chin on her hand and stared at him intently.
“Why did you keep it?”
At that time, curiosity preceded displeasure for Dayna.
By her standards, it was non-recyclable waste. She couldn't understand the reason for carrying around something someone else had used and discarded.
“That's...”
Rojian answered in a small voice, gauging Dayna's reaction.
“Because I like you.”
“What?”
Eventually, Rojian lifted his head, which had been facing the floor, and met Dayna's eyes directly.
It was a surprisingly straight and firm gaze.
“I wanted to have something that held a trace of you.”
Dayna fell silent at the utterly transparent, unexpected confession.
‘I-I like you! Please accept my heart!’
‘Please grant me the honor of standing by your side!’
She recalled the countless confessions that had been poured toward her during her Academy days.
Dayna's surroundings were always full of tall, handsome young lords. Even Alix, who was considered the most handsome man in the kingdom, had fooled around with her every day like it was a joke.
They had merely packaged their arrogant delusions and demands under the name of love. Just for the title of 'The Man Who Won the Young Lady of the Schumichel Family'.
‘...This is my first time receiving this kind of confession.’
She had guessed that Rojian liked her.
Because the sight of him turning red and hastily backing away every time he approached her was no different from shouting, 'I like you!' at the top of his lungs.
But she hadn't known he would convey his feelings so calmly and sincerely at this very moment.
That attitude of merely wanting to honestly lay out his feelings and ask for forgiveness for his rudeness.
That surrender of laying his heart down in front of her and letting her step on it and walk past, rather than shoving his feelings in her face and demanding them.
Paradoxically, that was what moved Dayna's heart a little.
“...Saying that won't get you any extra points.”
Dayna deliberately spat out coldly. She didn't want to be caught having been shaken just now.
“I know. I didn't mean it in that way.”
Rojian smiled faintly, as if he had expected Dayna's reaction.
“And that hair tie, I'll throw it away if you want.”
For a moment, Dayna's brow furrowed slightly.
‘Throw it away?’
It was just a piece of trash she had thrown away, but hearing Rojian say he would throw it away again made her stomach twist strangely.
“Does that mean you still have it?”
Instead of answering Dayna's question, Rojian just gave a careful nod.
Meaning that he had still kept it even after all these years.
‘Why does that answer make me feel good?’
Dayna swallowed a scoff and replied readily.
“I don't care. You can keep holding onto it.”
“Really? Thank you.”
Rojian's eyes widened in surprise before he broke into a relieved, bright smile.
‘He'll end up with all sorts of things, like my hair and whatever else, once he becomes my husband anyway.’
Dayna thought to herself that Rojian would freak out if he knew, but she didn't bother saying it out loud.
Because they hadn't held the official interview yet.
*Ttok, ttok.*
Soon, a servant came in and set down freshly baked snacks, sandwiches, and steaming tea.
“Eat comfortably.”
“Ah, um. Then excuse me.”
Perhaps he was truly hungry, as Rojian didn't decline and picked up the food.
He ate at a moderate pace, neither ravenously nor messily. It was clear he had perfectly mastered basic table manners.
‘It won't be annoying to sit across from him and eat later.’
Dayna thought she was evaluating him rather coldly.
Without realizing that she was already judging him as a prospective husband.