The Guide Played Her Role as a Stand-in a Little Too Well - Chapter 162
I tightened my grip on his hand. Seeing Hedonia frown and try to let go,
my heart grew more urgent.
I didn’t want to see him in pain either!
“If you let go, I’ll take it as you not wanting to touch me.”
Instinct took over. At my words, Hedonia hesitated.
He narrowed his eyes and whispered.
“…How could I dare.”
He then examined my face before leaning forward. His golden eyes, visible through his platinum hair, gleamed like a predator eyeing its prey.
“Just looking at you makes me want to kiss you.”
His voice, filled with desire, made my face flush. I remembered all the times we had kissed.
‘Stay calm.’
That doesn’t mean Hedonia likes me. Back then, it was part of training as a prospective guide, and now, as an Esper needing strength from a guide, it’s a natural feeling.
“Karina.”
He called my name softly.
“Yes.”
“Do you think I’m such a fool that I’d suffer for half a year for a woman I have no feelings for?”
…It was as if he had read my mind.
“From the very beginning… there was never a moment when I wasn’t sincere about the time I spent with you.”
Hedonia’s grip on my hand tightened.
He pulled my hand to his chest. I could feel his heart pounding through the fabric.
“I’ve questioned a thousand times whether wanting you was just because I became an Esper.”
…Just like me.
“But the moment I saw you, I realized how pointless those doubts were.”
I saw myself reflected in his golden eyes. My face was flushed and I was frozen, not knowing what to do.
But I wasn’t embarrassed because I knew Hedonia was just as nervous as I was.
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. His heart continued to beat loudly, making its presence known.
“Karina, I love you.”
It was the first confession of my life.
“You were the reason I wanted to become an Esper.”
“…You wanted to become an Esper.”
“Watching you receive help from other Espers and seeing them cling to you…”
Hedonia naturally moved to kneel beside me.
“It’s because I wanted you to bind me.”
He looked up at me, and my whole body felt flushed.
“Because you’re mine…”
Hedonia reverently kissed the back of my hand. The spot where his lips touched burned hotly.
“And I wanted to be yours.”
His gaze was more intense than his lips, and his words were rich with emotion.
…It was a long and sincere confession, so earnest that even a momentary denial was impossible. His tone left no room for misunderstanding.
Hedonia Aparantes loves me.
Seeing Hedonia kneeling in front of me and confessing so fervently made my mind go blank.
“Do you dislike me?”
But Hedonia didn’t allow hesitation.
He put me in a corner, making it impossible to think of anything else.
“No, I like you! I like you, Lord Hedonia, but…”
I no longer had any status, and I wasn’t working as a guide anymore…
“Nothing else matters. I just need you. Don’t you feel the same?”
Hedonia’s voice was louder than my worries. His voice tempted me like a siren’s call.
“Karina.”
Continuing a relationship deeply intertwined with emotions is scary.
It makes me feel too vulnerable. Trusting and relying on someone entirely means exposing my weaknesses.
I’ve lived that way since I was young. Even before transmigrating, I was close to being an abandoned child, and in this life, I had to seek opportunities to live on my own.
I was always starved for affection, and it terrified me to truly rely on someone.
That’s why I maintained relationships by keeping a reasonable distance from everyone.
…But looking into his eyes,
“Tell me your true feelings.”
Hearing his voice directed at me, all my fears felt pointless.
Maybe I can trust Hedonia.
I remembered the times we shared.
He never once abandoned me, always came for me. Just as I always came for him.
How can I not love the person who suffered for half a year for me and is now trembling, urging for my answer to his confession?
“I like you, Lord Hedonia.”
An unusually honest confession flowed from my lips. Hedonia closed his eyes and murmured as if savoring my words.
“Say it again.”
“…I like you, Lord Hedonia.”
It was the first time I had ever voiced my feelings like this, and seeing how happy it made Hedonia… I couldn’t help but say it again.
At my words, Hedonia stood up and pulled me into a tight embrace.
“I feel the same.”
His voice responded in kind.
The familiar scent from his embrace calmed me. A deep, aching happiness filled me.
It was only then that I realized.
‘I wanted Hedonia to come back.’
Just as Hedonia wanted to come to me, I had been waiting for him too.
