I Give Up on the BL Novel's Male Leads - Chapter 34
Edwin replied strangely.
“I told you, we’re not friends.”
“How could you come to the mansion then?”
“Someone told me of the Thierry mansion.”
“Who?”
Edwin casually answered, “Someone,” avoiding mentioning that an aide had informed him.
He adeptly waved his wand, and the teapot responded to the magic, beginning to boil the water. He efficiently produced water, filled the pot, and added tea leaves.
“Why would you visit at this hour if you’re not a friend of my brother?”
She suspected he was here because of their last meeting, where she had accidentally destroyed his magic control device, and he had teleported illegally to a location where she had extinguished a fire using summoned water.
“Do you really not know why I’m here?”
“Isn’t that why I’m asking?”
Illein retorted as he handed her a cup of tea.
Their eyes met, and she smiled involuntarily, prompting him to look away with a scowl.
“You broke my magic control device yesterday.”
“Ah, yes. Have you managed to fix it?”
“I haven’t.”
Illein felt a chill, wondering if he had come to demand compensation. The only money she had was the small pocket money Bellaine Academy gave her for school supplies.
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional.”
“It’s fine. I guess I also caused you trouble with your ID.”
She recalled how he had held her ID high out of reach and sighed in relief.
“I didn’t come to blame you. I’m here for something urgent.”
Edwin’s statement tensed her up. Steam gently rose from the tea on the table. Without him continuing, she reached for the cup.
She tried trying to ease her discomfort by sipping the tea.
Given his past as a prince, he seemed to have mastered the art of brewing tea perfectly.
Having brewed his own tea, he likely knew how to do it well, and explained that he was harsh on maids who served tea. The original story mentioned that he faced multiple poisoning attempts. This experience probably made him quite adept at preparing tea.
“Apparently, my control device got absorbed by you.”
“What?”
Illein set her teacup down in surprise.
“That device is a unique national treasure of the empire. It can’t be remade.”
“So, what now?”
Illein asked in confusion. So Edwin too answered troubledly while stroking his neck.
“Every day, for 20 minutes, I need to be in contact with you.”
“Excuse me?”
Illein asked in disbelief, while Edwin sighed at the awkwardness.
“Your body absorbed my control device.”
“Ah….And if I refuse?”
“Then I can’t control my abilities.”
She could easily foresee what Edwin being unable to control his powers meant, having seen it in the original story.
In the original, the ‘male’ Illein Thierry rejected him. After confessing his feelings and being repeatedly rejected, Edwin changed.
The ‘male’ Illein was kidnapped during summer break, following the destruction of Edwin’s control device, which led to numerous R19 scenes.
His device breaking was the first time he spiraled out of control.
‘Male’ Illein, who had a broken leg, tried to calm him by transferring water-based magic to him.
It led to….unspeakable R19 scenes.
“Do we have to do it daily?”
She thought if the original story said he required daily contact. To be honest, it was right to be in contact every day.
As Illein and Edwin did it several times a day in the original story.
“Yes.”
She responded a bit flustered, confirming her thoughts.
“Is holding hands sufficient?”
“Holding hands isn’t always simple.”
Though she spoke lightly, for Edwin, it seemed not so trivial.
“But you said it wouldn’t work without the control device.”
“Yes.”
“How do we remove the absorption?”
“I don’t know. And we can’t speak about the device being broken either.”
“Why not?”
Edwin hesitated. He was unable to confess that breaking a national treasure could lead to severe punishment.
Moreover, seeing her who he believed was Illein’s friend, he also disliked revealing his true identity.
“There are some complications.”
She was relieved upon hearing this; it seemed as though he really didn’t want to be touched either.
“So how should we make contact?”
She decided not to ask him further about his reasons and just went ahead with her question.
At this, he frowned deeply, making a strange expression as he replied.
“Ha, holding hands is probably best.”
At his suggestion, Illein extended her hand. Reluctantly, Edwin slowly reached out to place his hand over hers.
“What if after we hold hands, the absorption is somewhere else, not just me?”
