I Give Up on the BL Novel's Male Leads - Chapter 129
“Not quite working.”
Edwin frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied.
“Can you tell me what attributes water has?”
“It’s cold.”
“And?”
“It’s damp and slippery.”
“And then?”
“It doesn’t have a shape?”
Listening to Edwin’s responses, Illein began to understand why he struggled to summon water.
She had experienced similar challenges when learning lightning magic from him and when studying fire magic.
Edwin only had a superficial understanding of the essence of water.
Without a deeper understanding of its nature, it was no wonder he couldn’t create it.
Realizing that Edwin had a simplistic concept of water, Illein decided to adjust her teaching approach.
Reflecting on her experiences, she knew that to wield opposing forces effectively, a grasp of their essence was crucial, not just the concepts.
Of course, it was still difficult to execute.
Even creating a small spark of fire had required a significant amount of magic.
Illein began to methodically guide Edwin towards a better understanding of water’s essence.
“What happens when water flows?”
“Um, I don’t know. It looks nice?”
Illein shook her head slightly at Edwin’s answer.
“Hmm. So, does it have another meaning?”
Nodding, Illein began to explain.
“Absolutely! The essence of flowing water is circulation. For instance, rain gathers to form rivers, the rivers flow into the sea, the sea evaporates, and it rains again.”
“Circulation…?”
Edwin frowned, lost in thought.
For him, the image that sprang to mind when he thought of flowing water was a river. Watching a flowing river was visually pleasing.
So when Illein asked the question, he had absentmindedly replied that it looked nice. But now, listening to her explanation, he felt something click.
“Alright, then what do you think of when water is still?”
“A lake? Ah! That might be wrong.”
As soon as he answered, Edwin quickly acknowledged his mistake.
Illein found it amusing to teach someone like Edwin, who was so eager to learn. She continued with her thoughts on the essence of water.
“Hint! What did I just say?”
“Um… circulation?”
“Wrong! Half of it is correct, but I meant before that.”
“The rain gathers to form rivers and so on?”
“Yes! That’s it!”
“And what does that matter?”
“So, when you think of water being still, it also applies to the sea. The essence of water is circulation, and you can understand that concept through the examples I gave.”
“Okay, I get it.”
Illein enjoyed Edwin’s responses to her explanations.
It felt strangely exciting to have a conversation with him over something that seemed trivial.
Perhaps it was due to her mother’s antics or the events of the day, but Edwin’s considerate actions made her feel a mix of emotions.
There was a warmth to it, yet it also felt somewhat awkward. Had Edwin always been so kind to women? The disconnect from her expectations from the original story made her tilt her head in confusion.
“Hey, Edwin.”
“I’m listening.”
On impulse, she asked him a question she hadn’t consciously planned.
“Do you treat all women this kindly? In such a friendly way?”
“What? Out of the blue?”
Edwin looked at her with a bewildered expression.
Seeing his reaction amused Illein, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“I’m not sure what you mean by that.”
“Just that when I heard about you from my brother, it didn’t seem like this.”
“What kind of impression did you get?”
Edwin seemed a bit confused by her words, looking at her earnestly.
“The Edwin I know is very caring and considerate.”
“That’s a misconception.”
“Maybe that’s why I feel comfortable and enjoy being around you. But my brother mentioned that you might be unfriendly to others, creating a barrier, and might prefer men over women…”
“What?”
“So, I’m just going to trust my feelings. The Edwin I’ve experienced is a good person.”
Illein openly expressed her thoughts while gazing directly at Edwin.
Edwin felt awkward under her gaze and instinctively turned his eyes elsewhere.
Yet, he didn’t hate the attention and found himself enjoying her fleeting glances. Eventually, unable to withstand the awkwardness, he spoke up.
“Don’t trust people. You never know when they might betray you. And trusting me would be a sign that you’re foolish.”
“What if being a bit foolish is okay?”
“That’s dangerous.”
“Are you a dangerous person?”
“Yeah.”
“Will you become dangerous to me?”
He didn’t know how to respond to her question and averted his gaze as he answered.
“I’m trying not to.”
“Isn’t that good?”
“What does that mean? You should always be on guard to react quickly to danger.”
“I suppose.”
“Then you should be wary of me so that you can respond quickly when you’re in danger.”
It was always the same circular conversation.
Edwin would say the same things repeatedly, and Illein would always brush them off nonchalantly.
