Chapter 302
Chapter 302
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 302
Chapter Title: Secret Affection - Adelia's Love (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"...Oh, and there's one more thing I want to say."
As she spoke, Adelia calmly gazed at Cheon-seong.
Looking into his dark eyes, eyes she felt she could fall right into, she knew she had to make things clear.
“What is it?”
Seeing his casual reply, she voiced the thoughts she had been holding back.
“It’s about your relationship with Student Karite.”
There was no need to beat around the bush.
She just had to say it as it was.
“...”
For a moment, she clearly saw his eyes waver. She could feel his surprise at her sudden words, and a small laugh escaped her lips.
But she had to tell him properly before they parted today.
‘That I’m okay with it…’
Student Han Cheon-seong was in a very peculiar situation right now, so she had to be the one to ease his burden.
For him, whose position, feelings, and relationships were all strangely intertwined, what he needed was space.
The space to keep him from agonizing over it.
"Instructor Adelia. About Karite..."
As he cautiously began to speak, then trailed off, I naturally finished his sentence.
"You can't refuse her, and you have no intention of doing so, right?"
"..."
Perhaps my words were too sudden.
She saw him hesitate before giving an awkward nod.
"I know."
It was a difficult topic to bring up—his relationship with another woman—but she wanted to set things straight.
Because she had accepted their relationship from the beginning with this in mind.
‘He can't love only me.’
Though her heart wished for it, she knew it was greedy, so she had to face reality.
After all... seeing Student Han Cheon-seong's extraordinary nature, she couldn't think otherwise.
He possessed such incredible potential that even a Golden Knight had been dispatched for him.
“Adelia... Instructor."
Strangely, she found his trembling voice and his reaction endearing.
He himself must know it by now.
The nature of our relationship... is in a much more ambiguous position than that of other couples.
‘It must be incredibly hard for him to handle.’
Usually, in relationships between men and women, the 'man' tended to hold the initiative.
It was only natural if he intended to form relationships with multiple women.
That itself required 'initiative'. But Student Han Cheon-seong was different.
It was evident in his relationship with her, and from what she'd heard about his relationship with Kalli. For him, still a student, to take the lead was difficult when they were in such high positions.
That the circumstances were just not right for him to take the initiative...
So, she wanted to be the one to reach out to him first. To lighten his emotional burden, his pressure.
"Student Han Cheon-seong. If it's Student Karite, I think it's really okay."
She spoke calmly, nodding as if it were nothing.
"...Are you okay with it?"
Seeing him still being so cautious despite her words, she let out a small chuckle.
"I'm telling you because it's okay."
As she replied nonchalantly, a slightly mischievous thought crossed her mind.
‘What would his reaction have been if I'd said it wasn't okay?’
The sudden desire to see that reaction arose, but she quickly dismissed the thought.
"......."
Even now, she could see he looked genuinely sorry.
Sorry for not being able to properly sever his ties with another woman.
That alone told her about Student Han Cheon-seong's character. Despite having a very strong heart and the will to press forward through any crisis, he was still this cautious.
So she, too, didn't want to make him feel even a little more burdened by a momentary impulse.
"I'm really fine with it, so I hope you'll continue to build a good relationship with Student Karite."
Taking it a step further with her words now. It wasn't as hard as she had thought.
As she was telling him with her own mouth to add another woman, seeing his reaction made her feel she had to be even more direct.
"..."
She gently lowered her head and rested it against his chest, feeling that this was enough for now.
She could feel the warmth in this embrace.
Just knowing he was alive and well, striving to move forward, was enough...
‘And besides, it can't be helped.’
She recalled something she'd once heard about romantic relationships.
—The one who loves more is the one who loses.
She thought those words were absolutely true. She was feeling it with her own body and heart.
‘Because I can't possibly give up on Student Han Cheon-seong...’
She had accepted this from the start, knowing what kind of relationship it would be.
“You're very flustered that I'm talking about Student Karite like this, aren't you?”
Leaning against his chest, she spoke with a smile, feeling his body flinch in response.
‘His body is so honest.’
Sometimes, watching Student Han Cheon-seong, she felt that way.
“...Yes.”
At his cautious admission, she naturally loosened her hands that were wrapped around his waist.
Gently easing out of the embrace, she slowly turned to face him.
Then, she slowly brought her hand to his cheek, as if to caress it.
“I'm not trying to say anything else. It's just that Student Karite is clearly expressing her feelings... and I can see you aren't rejecting her, Student Han Cheon-seong, so I thought it would be better to address it beforehand."
Explaining calmly, she gently pulled him into her embrace.
"......"
Amid his wavering gaze, he didn't resist her touch.
And so, she completely enveloped him in her arms. The warmth she felt from him, his noticeably diminished confidence compared to a moment ago, somehow made him seem all the more lovable.
‘Because he's this charming.’
It's inevitable that more women will be drawn to him. Being with him, slowly deepening their relationship, she could feel it naturally.
“...I'm sorry.”
At the small voice that finally came, she shook her head.
He was different from other people.
...She didn't know exactly how he was different, but she just felt it. That he had a charm that drew women in.
She knew Student Han Cheon-seong wasn't the type to actively seek out more women, yet they kept flocking to him. And in Student Karite's case, she understood even more clearly that it was a situation where she was bound to fall for him.
That's why she couldn't speak harshly or ask him to reject her.
“Don't be sorry. I only brought this up to tell you that I'm okay with Student Karite.”
Saying so, she hugged him even tighter.
Thinking about it, it was truly strange.
‘A harem…’
In the current society, there was a general atmosphere that tolerated harems. Due to the danger of apostles and monsters, many people died on the front lines every year.
And since a much higher percentage of them were men, harems were considered a necessity.
But that didn't mean it was the case for 'everyone'.
Most men usually ended up with one woman, and only a very small number of men—those with power and authority—were granted the 'right' of a harem.
Since social advancement was achieved fairly regardless of gender, it was not uncommon for women to rise to higher positions.
Therefore, not all men could form a harem.
Women were not willing to be tied down in multiple relationships with men of lower status or position than themselves.
And yet.
The women in a relationship with him now, including herself, were in a situation that was both peculiar and normally impossible.
After all, both Kalli and she... had their own reputations and considerable family power.
It was inevitable that Student Han Cheon-seong would feel immense pressure.
And they were willingly entangling themselves in a relationship with him.
To the point that they would accept it, even if it meant being part of a harem...
‘It really is strange.’
Logically, she understood that harems were a necessary system in the current empire, but she never imagined she would be part of one.
She had been confident in her own charms, and she had indeed been very popular.
During her time as an academy student, and in the many years she spent afterward volunteering as an officer on the front lines... she was aware of herself.
Of how attractive she was to the opposite sex.
She received confessions from men almost every week, and back then, she felt a strange aversion to becoming someone's lover.
In fact, receiving so much constant attention from men had a counter-effect, making her feel she didn't want a special relationship with any of them.
Even if she were to end up with someone later, a harem was unthinkable.
That's how confident she was in herself, but...
“.....”
Sometime along the way, this is how things had become.
For the first time, she had fallen in love with someone first, and now they were a couple.
‘Because I like him.’
*Rustle.*
Just as he had done a moment ago, this time she gently stroked his hair, and strangely, her heart was filled with satisfaction.
Even if he didn't love only her... as long as she could receive his love, she felt it didn't matter much.
Just being able to hold him like this and feel his affection was enough... because she loved him.
As they silently shared their warmth.
She spoke first.
“Student Han Cheon-seong.”
“...Yes. Instructor Adelia.”
At his cautious reply, she wanted to express her feelings even more.
She brought her head close to his ear and whispered.
“I like you.”
*Flinch!*
She didn't know what he felt as his body trembled at her words.
But she was certain he had felt the affection she was feeling.
They were feeling each other's warmth in a space just for the two of them, and at this moment, he could only be conscious of her, so her voice must have resonated even more deeply with him.
*Slowly.*
Gently releasing him from her embrace, she naturally cupped his face with both hands.
“So, what about you, Student Han Cheon-seong?”
As she met his gaze, seeking an answer, she saw his eyes shaking violently.
And finally, she saw his lips part slightly.
“...I like you, too.”
And for her, those words were enough.
*Slowly.*
As she carefully drew closer to him, her gaze fell upon his lips.
Now, with him...
She wanted to share an even greater affection.
The feeling of his soft lips touching hers for the first time... was incredibly special.
Even as she felt her own lips tremble, she pressed them firmly against his.
"..."
Watching him as he slowly closed his eyes, she naturally wrapped her hands around his neck.