“I’m sorry. …You must have been surprised.” Lenag suddenly said. He must have seen the terrified look on my face.
“No, no.” I waved my hand in front of him hurriedly to wipe away those thoughts. “It’s not something you have to apologize for.” I replied.
“…your brother turned the cell upside down once. I’m sure you’ve seen it.” Lenag told me and I nodded.
“Ahahaha. Yeah.” Of course, I felt like my brother wandered inside the prison ignoring the rules and procedures, just like what he did but…
“It certainly seemed like that. I was afraid he would hurt you.” Lenag hesitated before carefully adding, “…I told him to stop one more time.”
“No…” before I could finish my reply, Lenag bowed slightly to my dissuasion.
“It’s my job to make you feel comfortable…but I was doing a poor job.” He told me with a somber look on his face.
I sighed. I’m afraid I don’t know what to do when I see this big man sulking before me. That gold-colored eye showed a feeling of regret, which made me even more at a loss on what to say to comfort him.
No, you always look so sharp. Why are you being timid at this moment?
I thought as I continued to blankly stare at him.
Even though he was a villain, I didn’t want to see him bowing down for a long time. He had been so nice to me ever since we met after all.
“No, I wanted to see him too… Well, don’t blame yourself.” After I said those, Lenag quickly lifted his head.
“You wanted to see him. Did you two reconcile?” Lenag queried.
I hesitated and shook my head slightly.
Uh, I heard him correctly, right? I thought.
Lenag was talking about forgiveness, and oppa also said the same thing to me before. It seems that the siblings had a big fight.
In addition, the sharp-faced man forgot his usual expression and even seemed surprised as if this was not a great achievement for him.
“…are you all right?” Lenag’s voice was more cautious than ever.
“You said you would never forgive.” The moment I heard those words come out of his mouth I was taken aback, and for a moment I hesitated.
Huh? Why did I hesitate? But rather than thinking that I hesitated, I felt like my body wasn’t my own, it felt like it had stopped. It wasn’t my own will, but it was my body that stopped functioning, akin to the response to one’s own involuntary movements.
“So all this time, your brother’s been sending you letters. I thought you wouldn’t even send him any replies. You did say that you didn’t want to see him again.” Lenag said.
Flabbergasted, I decided to carefully pick the right words to respond. For a moment, I was silent before giving him an answer.
“Yes, I did. But I’m fine with it now.”
“I’m okay now.” I repeated these words to myself.
I’m not the former ‘Iana’.
So what I’m going to build up in the future was bound to be different. And I think I’ve already done it, I felt that I had changed it.
But I was still wondering why Lenag was so surprised by my answer.
As for me, it seemed like the puzzle was going to be solved, like I finally and slowly knew what her relationship with her brother was. Iana and her brother fought to the point where they decided to cut off their family ties towards each other, and she said she didn’t want to see him again.
The former Iana did that, right?
“I guess I’ve felt a lot better since I opened my eyes.” I told Lenag.
He seems to have noticed something when I was talking because he stared at me with a curious look on his face.
It was when I opened my eyes from this body that I slowly began changing.
At that time, Iana’s heart stopped once, it can be assumed that she had died.
Wise men said that after a person has passed the hurdle of death, he or she will change. I guess that must be the catalyst to her too.
Lenag seemed to have agreed with me, albeit he sported a slightly stiff face, perhaps that reason was easy enough for him to understand.
He seemed to have interpreted it in his own way, I guess.
“Miss Iana, I’ll always be at your service. Call me when you need help, whatever it is.”
It’s funny, why does it seem like I’m seeing more heat in his eyes now than awhile ago?
Sir, what the hell?! Why is there so much fervor and heat emanating from you?
Whatever the algorithm was to Lenag’s sudden reaction, I looked away from him and smiled awkwardly.
He bit his lips thinly and pressed his teeth on top of his lower lip.
“I hope our relationship will last for a long time.” The gold eyes on me were so serious that it made me self- conscious. When I looked up at him reflexively, I avoided his eyes for some reason.
Our relationship? What did he mean?
Oh, I guess he was talking about our relationship inside this cell where he would help me at all times.
Furthermore, if he keeps on helping me, I’d be grateful to him. I’ll always be indebted to him.
“Yes, thank you. I’m so grateful to the Prison Head. It’s very reassuring.”
“You mean that, really?” Then his face stared at me carefully. But I still could not look at him properly. I was confused.
What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?
I wanted to ask him but I dare not say those words out loud.
“Eh? Of course.” I said, then Lenag’s eyes rolled on me.
The villain, who was one and a half bigger than me, came silently facing me with sharp eyes as if he was carefully watching me.
The gold irises of his had reminded of a snake while he stared at me, but his eyes looked more elegant than that of a snake.
“Then…” Lenag started.
“Eh?” I opened my eyes wide as I was looking at him expectantly. His eyes gradually faded into one color.
“Call me by my name. Will you do that for me?” This time, really, I saw it wrong.
“Just once.” This big villain was looking at me while rubbing his ears. Everything was so clear to me now.
“I’d like to be called by my name.” He told me.
“Ah.” I blinked.
No, what kind of situation was this?
The embarrassment spread through his cheeks, but he tilted his head down, while waiting for my response. I decided to grant his request after all, I thought, it wasn’t a difficult task for me.
“Uh, Prison Head Lenag?” I asked.
“You can leave out the title.”
“Mr. Lenag.” I repeated.
“You don’t have to use honorifics.”
What? Suddenly I felt scared. Why was he so insistent? He was a powerful man, do I dare?
I hesitated and at last corrected myself.
“Lenag?” I spoke carefully.
At that moment, there were cries!
I thought I heard a sound.
He turned his head away from me, but I saw it clearly. His cheeks were as red as a tomato.
No matter where I look at, his image right before me doesn’t seem to match that of a cold-blooded villain. In the book, the final villain’s subordinate was also the strongest commander-in-chief.
Still, I was confused.
“But why did you suddenly ask me to say your name? Well, uh, can I ask?”
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