Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 133
Genevieve had shared fleeting moments of subtle emotion with Edwin, but those were nothing more than a few glances, a hand held a little too long before being released, and the brief touch of arms when they stood side by side.
A few seconds of delicate contact.
It would be hard to even call it emotion, and perhaps it was a moment only Genevieve had been aware of.
To a womanizer like Edwin, that sort of thing was probably nothing.
Though they were now as comfortable as siblings, Genevieve had felt her heart flutter every time she saw Edwin before learning he had a fiancée.
Edwin looked like an archangel straight out of a religious painting and, unlike the fearsome Shane, he smiled often.
Just a single smile, a few kind words.
Back then, Genevieve was so lonely that she found herself completely captivated by such trivial gestures.
Especially around the time baseless rumors about her and Shane Blanchard began to spread, Genevieve had felt it was too burdensome to approach Adeline, so she had sought comfort elsewhere.
It was Edwin who became her source of comfort during that time.
But Edwin never made a decisive move, and just before Genevieve could fully clarify her own feelings, she found out that he had a fiancée.
After that, Genevieve threw herself into her work, and more recently, she got married.
Throughout all of this, they never once mentioned those fleeting moments of connection from years ago.
Now that she had grown accustomed to her duties and position as a Saintess, Genevieve realized it had been a stroke of luck that things with Edwin had never progressed.
Being a Saintess was hard enough—she couldn’t imagine the burden of life as an Empress.
Genevieve knew her own limits.
She was not someone destined for greatness. Genevieve still preferred a simple bowl of soup and a loaf of bread over a grand feast. She liked soft, comfortable pajamas much more than any restrictive, dazzling gown.
‘Maybe my stepfather was right, calling me lowborn.’
She couldn’t help her impoverished nature. No matter how much time passed, her tastes would never become refined.
Even if she and Edwin had developed feelings for each other, Genevieve was certain it wouldn’t have lasted long. He would have cheated, and likely kept many mistresses. She did not have the strength to endure that.
Genevieve believed that Edwin would choose his Empress purely based on political standards. She couldn’t imagine him pouring all his emotions into loving someone the way Shane did.
‘Was that my first love?’
What a talent—to choose a love doomed to fail from the start.
Perhaps it was the price for the karma she had accumulated over the years.
Genevieve realized that Edwin also knew the inevitable end of his feelings as he turned away.
It was a love that had no chance of coming true, a closed-off, failed romance.
***
Am I not doing too little for someone who acts so dramatic?
Adeline suddenly realized.
In her dreams, she was busy getting killed and chased dozens of times, but that was all happening in her head.
To everyone else, she seemed like someone who spent all day sleeping, eating meals brought to her, and looking exhausted as if she were on the brink of death.
She was a fake patient with no actual illness, even though the strongest healer in the world visited her every day.
She couldn’t stop coldly analyzing herself.
There were plenty of excuses she could come up with if she tried.
Unlike before, far too many people were involved in her life now.
She no longer wandered alone into Lucian’s hotel like she used to. These days, whenever she went anywhere by herself, someone would trail behind her, acting like she might be kidnapped at any moment, which naturally limited her movements.
To be fair, it had all started with her being kidnapped and imprisoned, so it wasn’t entirely her fault for being lazy.
Adeline was just as good at rationalizing as she was at self-reflection.
