Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: It's Fine With Me, But Not With Others
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***
*Ssk.*
As our hands parted, hers, which had been caressing mine, slowly pulled away.
"..."
Watching Glacia pull her hand from mine with a satisfied look, I still felt completely bewildered.
“It's certainly different from mine.”
“...That's what I told you. Of course your hand and my hand are different. A man's and a woman's are different, so how could a hand that holds a sword and one that holds a spear possibly be the same?”
“I thought so too. But I was still a little curious about the specific differences.”
Even as I looked at her, answering as if she were purely curious, I was the one who felt incredibly strange.
‘Should I really see this as pure curiosity?’
It must be because she's so innocent that she can act this boldly, but from my perspective, on the receiving end of her actions, I couldn't help but feel strange.
She had suddenly asked for my hand, and when I offered it, she'd caressed it suggestively with just a single phrase: 'I'm curious, just a moment.'
No matter how composed I tried to be, I couldn't just pretend to be unfazed and brush it off.
An attractive woman my age was suggestively caressing my hand, initiating physical contact. If I remained indifferent to that, I wouldn't be a man.
In the middle of her strangely intimate touch, I could do nothing but wear a foolish, awkward smile.
I could keenly feel the stinging gazes from the other tables fixed on us. Even just thinking back on it now made my body flush with heat.
‘Still... I shouldn't get the wrong idea.’
Glacia is acting so absurdly right now, but she doesn't have any romantic feelings for me. I didn't want to get my hopes up for nothing.
I needed to have a serious talk with Glacia.
“Glacia.”
“Yes.”
“If I were to do the exact same thing to you that you just did, would you accept it?”
“...Are you talking about holding hands?”
“Yes. Even if you say you held my hand to examine it. Imagine if I suddenly grabbed your hand instead. It would be so strange, right? Even you would have naturally rejected me.”
I wanted to persuade her as rationally as possible.
This wasn't about my feelings right now, but about the fact that if Glacia were to act this way toward others, there would be multiple victims.
“Not really. If it were you, I wouldn't have rejected you.”
“Right. Of course, you would have rejected me….”
I trailed off mid-sentence.
‘...She wouldn't have rejected me?’
I had been trying to tell her that she shouldn't do that, putting herself in my shoes, but I was left speechless.
“Han Cheon-seong. Why do you think I would reject you? You just accepted me, didn't you?”
Glacia, questioning me back as if nothing was wrong, looked perfectly composed.
I couldn't believe for a moment that she could say something so heart-shaking with such an unabashedly innocent expression.
“You wouldn't reject me... Glacia. You wouldn't mind if I held your hand?”
“It's not that I wouldn't mind, but we already settled this the first day we met at the cafe. I said I would accept the time I spend with you. Even if you were to do what I just did to you, as long as I could understand it, I would have calmly accepted it.”
She spoke calmly, meeting my gaze with her pure eyes.
Her transparent blue eyes seemed to reflect her sincerity... as if there was no other meaning behind her words, which was utterly baffling.
‘Haaah…’
Swallowing the sigh that threatened to escape, I first calmed my heart.
I was even flustered with myself for being so swayed by Glacia.
I knew she had no romantic feelings for me, yet her actions and words kept leading my thoughts in that direction.
Really... Glacia was the problem.
She was constantly saying things that could be easily misunderstood. If I didn't think it was just her innocent and peculiar personality, I would have been convinced by now that she liked me. That's how much my heart was shaken.
“First of all, Glacia, let me make it clear that I'm not saying this with any particular feelings.”
“Alright. Go on.”
Wondering how to caution her without offending her, I chose my words carefully and began to speak.
“While I'm fine with you acting that way, I'd like you to consider the perspective of the person on the receiving end. Your way of speaking and acting can easily lead to misunderstandings.”
“...Room for misunderstanding.”
“Yes. There's too much room for misunderstanding. Take what just happened, for example—you caressing my hand as if to examine it. If I were to actually do that to you, wouldn't you feel a little strange too?”
At my words, Glacia stared blankly at her own hand, and seeing that, I felt a small sense of relief.
‘Just as I thought.’
Even if she said she wouldn't mind, if I had actually taken her hand and caressed it, she would surely have felt strange.
“It certainly... would feel strange.”
“Right? That's why I think you need to refrain from acting like you did just now. While some people might see it in a positive light, it can sometimes lead to misunderstandings."
Not even actions like these could be completely excused by calling them innocent.
I might be able to understand and accept Glacia, but if anyone else heard her, a hundred out of a hundred people would misunderstand.
‘And... I don't particularly want to see her act that way with anyone else.’
Even if we both lacked romantic feelings, I didn't want to see the Glacia who acted this way with me do the same with another man. Not one bit.
Then, Glacia looked at me silently, as if she had something to say.
“...Han Cheon-seong. Do you want to touch mine?”
She uttered such an abrupt question with an innocent gaze, and I couldn't even comprehend the words themselves.
“Want to touch it?”
Even as I said it, the nuance felt incredibly strange.
“You say you'd accept it if I acted that way, but you keep bringing up how I held your hand. So I was wondering if maybe you wanted to touch my hand, too.”
Glacia, who threw me a calm yet transparent gaze.
Staring at her blankly, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
“...”
In that moment, I found myself seriously reconsidering whether Glacia was truly innocent.
Perhaps she had a hundred foxes' worth of cunning inside her. Otherwise, how could she pick only the words that would so thoroughly shake a person's heart?
And... I was constantly repeating to myself.
—Glacia does not like me.
So I was forcing myself not to feel this foolish flutter in my chest. But now, even that was in doubt.
‘She's really not trying to seduce me, is she…?’
Amidst my doubts, I steadfastly composed myself.
“It's not that I want to touch your hand or anything, Glacia. I'm just asking you to consider my position for a moment. To be honest, I wasn't okay when you were touching my hand... It made me feel really strange.”
In the end, I laid it all out honestly, thinking she would finally understand.
“Han Cheon-seong. Why did you feel... strange?”
However, Glacia, asking with eyes full of curiosity, always exceeded my expectations.
“...Because someone was caressing and stroking my hand. I couldn't just be indifferent. It was just strange. Does the word 'strange' need further explanation?”
“No, it's not necessary, but I was just curious about how you felt.”
With those words, Glacia naturally lifted her glass, but the peculiar feeling I had didn't fade in the slightest.
No matter how much I suppressed it and told myself it wasn't true, my heart only wavered more.
...So, in the end, I came to accept it.
‘I have to admit it.’
I was being swayed by Glacia right now.
She was beautiful by anyone's standards, and even her way of speaking and acting felt charming to me.
When her characteristic innocence was layered over her haughty actions and speech, it created a charm that couldn't be found in anyone else.
So.
My heart could be swayed right now.
Rather than trying to deny it, I decided to calmly accept it.
*Clink.*
And as I watched Glacia set down her glass, I decided to steel my heart even more.
I wouldn't be swayed so easily.
“Han Cheon-seong.”
“...Yeah.”
Just as I answered and met her gaze, she suddenly extended her hand to me.
A fair, delicate hand.
I looked at it, wondering why she was suddenly offering her hand, and Glacia gave a faint smile.
“I'm sorry if my sudden action made you feel strange."
“...It's fine. So, why the hand all of a sudden?”
“It means that just as I touched your hand, you can touch mine too.”
She said, her tone a little brighter, as she gently extended her fair hand toward me.
"..."
Just looking at that hand, my heart inadvertently wavered again.
It swayed so foolishly that my earlier resolve not to be easily shaken seemed pointless.
*Gulp.*
As I unconsciously swallowed, I wondered what kind of ridiculous situation this was.
Is it really true that Glacia doesn't like me?
Can she really act like this without any ulterior motive?
Amidst my many questions.
Right now, Glacia's actions looked like nothing but seduction.
A very subtle, yet blatant, seduction laced with innocence.
Just as my hand twitched unconsciously.
I controlled myself.
If I were to carelessly touch Glacia's hand now, the very reason I'd painstakingly brought this up with her would be lost. I couldn't let that happen.
“Glacia.”
“Yes.”
“These actions you're taking right now….”
Seeing Glacia meet my gaze with her transparent eyes, I once again steeled my resolve.
I needed to give Glacia a proper warning.
To anyone else, the way she was acting toward me now would feel like a fatal temptation. An action so filled with allure that anyone would be forced to mistakenly believe she had feelings for them.
I had to correct that right now.
"Don't do this to other people."
I spoke firmly.
Glacia faltered at my words and met my eyes, so I said it again.
"It's fine if you do this to me. But I hope you don't do it to others."
"...Why?"
"Because I can accept it, but other people can't."
Just as I said that and was about to slowly push Glacia's hand away.
"Cadet Han Cheon-seong?"
An untimely, cold voice rang out.
And I knew... I knew very well who would call me like that.
For a moment, it felt as if my body had frozen solid.