Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 90
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“Jenny, how about lying down now?”
“Are you seducing me right now?”
The big man’s face turned as red as if it had been set on fire.
Genevieve giggled.
“I’ll just dry my hair and lie down.”
“Oh, I’ll do it for you.”
“You don’t have to…”
“I want to. Will you sit here?”
Harrison smiled gently and led Genevieve to sit on the bed. He fetched a thick towel and began to dry her damp hair.
His calloused hands handled her hair delicately, as if he were dealing with fragile glasswork.
The husband, who treated his wife with such tenderness and care, was gentle and considerate.
Genevieve was gradually falling for the husband she had hastily chosen.
‘His Grace insisted I get married within ten days, so I just found someone… I was lucky.’
He threatened to choose someone for her if she didn’t do it herself, saying he would ensure marriage news was published.
He even offered to support her if she wanted to become the next empress, casually mentioning that Crown Prince Edwin seemed somewhat interested in her.
Genevieve panicked at the mention of Edwin. She didn’t dislike him but never wanted him as a husband.
‘He doesn’t see people as people, and if I somehow fell in love with him, he would use me to the bone, take the children, and eventually discard me when I’m no longer useful…’
Genevieve had just one condition for her husband:
He had to be kind. That’s all.
Since she couldn’t prioritize her husband or family above everything else, it was okay if he had something more important.
Harrison, being a knight, could put loyalty above love, and she would understand. As long as their time together was tender and peaceful, that was enough for her.
It was a comfortable and complacent choice. But it was also a rational one.
Harrison told Genevieve that he liked her and gave her loyal affection. He was a stable and even-tempered person.
He might be boring and unremarkable.
But is that a bad thing?
Harrison’s affection was positive and bright. It wasn’t the twisted obsession like Shane’s, nor did he treat emotions like objects, as Edwin did.
That ordinariness was attractive to her.
Genevieve lead a turbulent life. She was the continent’s treasure and the savior of the world, born from the love of a goddess, but the life given to her wasn’t easy.
When the first person who had ever treated her kindly died meaninglessly before her eyes, Genevieve wished for the world to be destroyed. It didn’t seem like a world worth purifying with the power of the gods.
She wished the world would just end.
Maybe that was why Genevieve’s purification powers weren’t all that great. She seemed to understand now.
Adeline probably never imagined that Genevieve harbored such dark thoughts.
She probably didn’t know how much Genevieve liked her. She was merely kind, and it was lonely Genevieve who attached meaning to it.
Perpetrators tend to forget easily.
But those who have things taken from them can never forget.
As they say, the axe forgets but the tree remembers.
“She cried so much… I should visit her tomorrow….”
“Pardon?”
“Lady Adeline, I mean. She was so shocked to hear that I was attacked again today, she cried.”
“Ah… She must be quite sensitive.”
Harrison responded with a gentle face. Genevieve made a peculiar expression.
‘Someone who remained steadfast even when kidnapped, sensitive…?’
It couldn’t be a less fitting description.
“She’s not… sensitive.”
“Really? But she cried out of shock.”
“She’s brave and kind.”
“I’ve heard a lot about her. Crown Prince Edwin talks about her often too.”
“Ah, I doubt he has good things to say.”
“They were good things. That’s all I remember.”
“She’s kind… strong, and lovely. To me.”
“Then, hearing just that, I would think the same. I’m grateful to her.”
Genevieve leaned back, placing her weight against Harrison’s firm stomach, and he kissed her cheek. Genevieve said,
“I want a child, Harrison.”
“Jenny….”
“I used to think there wasn’t much good in living in this world.”
“…….”
“But if I have more to love, I think I might like it more.”
Genevieve longed for someone she could love completely.
Just like Adeline, who had been kind to her, she wanted to be someone kind to another.
Instead of replying, Harrison gently embraced Genevieve’s slender body.
