Towards the Winter Cabin of Serenity and Madness, Cinderella Runs - Chapter 104
“Do you like it? Well, since you might be busy adjusting back home, we should make the most of it while we can.”
Roel didn’t actually say she liked it. She shook her head in horror, but Kyden merely raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t worry, I won’t make you feel too lonely. I’ll make sure to take care of you.”
“Ah, no…!”
While she might not be able to keep up with his intensity as she did in the capital, Kyden misinterpreted Roel’s reaction, assuming she was enthusiastic about continuing.
As Roel tried to protest, her words were swallowed up by Kyden’s kiss and his tongue intertwining with hers, leaving no room to clear it up.
‘You were planning to do this every day anyway…!’
Roel’s eyes welled up with tears as she mentally shouted. Even in the cabin, Kyden had been like a beast every night. His sudden excuse to continue like this was suspicious.
It was clear he was just looking for more reasons to continue. How much more would he want? Roel shivered with uneasy foreboding.
* * *
Early in the morning, Kyden quietly got out of bed. He changed clothes without waking the sleeping Roel. She seemed too exhausted from last night to wake up easily.
Perhaps it was because they had done it so much. He felt light and in a good mood. Just before leaving, he glanced at Roel.
Her face was peaceful in sleep, with red, swollen eyes from crying, bruised lips, and a neck marked with kisses. Her round shoulders peeked out from under the covers. His lower body became heavy, he roughly swept his face.
‘Are you a beast?’
Feeling a bit remorseful, he carefully kissed her forehead.
He had a lot to do today. After the ceremony, he’d be attending the banquet and wouldn’t return until late in the evening. With a face full of regret and longing, Kyden left the room.
Roel woke up only in the late morning and looked around.
“Kyden?”
The space next to her was empty. She put on some clothes and checked the living room but found no sign of him.
Feeling somewhat disappointed by him leaving silently, she headed to the bathroom. She washed away the traces of their night, though they didn’t fully disappear, only making the surrounding area look even redder.
After drying her wet hair, Roel sat by the window.
‘What should I do today?’
Had she ever been so idle? Roel reflected on the past.
When she lived with relatives, there was an endless list of chores, and even in the cabin, she had kept busy with sewing and cleaning. Working at the inn meant early mornings and constant activity.
Now, in a hotel where food was brought to her and bathwater was prepared, Roel found herself with nothing to do. She felt her mind growing numb from the lack of tasks.
‘Is it really okay to do nothing? When will Kyden come back?’
Roel had always lived a life devoid of leisure and vacations, so she didn’t even know how to spend her free time without tasks.
She wandered around the room and then lay back on the bed. Closing her eyes, she felt a sense of comfort. Although she wasn’t particularly sleepy, closing her eyes made her mind drift into a hazy state, as if she were sinking into deep water.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t had any nightmares…’
At the inn, she often had nightmares featuring Roniti or Howson. Was it because the surroundings had changed so completely that she no longer experienced those nightmares? It felt as if she was on a journey to a distant place.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that she would eventually return to her previous life. This luxurious and comfortable existence felt so unearned and out of reach, almost too much to be true.
‘It’s not bad… No, it’s quite nice.’
Even though she felt it was a bit dull and excessive, experiencing relaxation without pain, burden, or worry was a first time for her, and she found herself deeply moved by her situation.
Roel spent her time lazily in the opulent hotel. She cleared her mind and let herself drift, floating like dust in the air.
‘I must have been very tired…’
In the midst of struggling through life, she hadn’t realized how exhausted she was. Now, in this leisurely time, she was able to calmly reflect on her feelings.
Around lunchtime, she ordered room service.
“It’s delicious.”
For some reason, she had more of an appetite than usual. She felt slightly regretful, wishing Kyden could have shared the meal with her.
She left some cookies for dessert, hoping to share them with Kyden when he returned. Then she continued to idle away the time, luxuriating in her first true rest.
It was strange.
While waiting for him in the cabin had been agonizing and stressful, now she felt quite at ease. She felt calm even being alone.
Was it because she wasn’t plagued by negative thoughts? Because she knew he would come back? Or was it because the guilt that had once tormented her had faded away?
There were many reasons that came to mind. The situation had changed dramatically, but the biggest change was:
‘Kyden likes me.’
What had changed most was that she knew his feelings for her.
She loved him, too—the man who had come all the way to the capital to be with her, who had gone to such lengths just to find her.
When he looked at her, she felt a happiness that filled her from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Sometimes it was an overwhelming and radiant feeling that almost brought her to tears.
Knowing that his feelings for her were genuine made Roel’s anxiety subside. Waiting for him wasn’t as difficult as it used to be.
