Chapter 32: 32

Chapter 32 – Eventually, The Time Has Come

Trigger warning: mentions of an abusive household, physical violence. If you want to skip any of these, the recounting starts from “You… knew?” to “Thank you… for that…”

 

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– We… are in a novel.

A suffocating silence fell over Ashia’s shop. The flow of time seemed to have stopped between them. Swallowing her dry saliva and waiting for his reaction, Kaligo finally moved. He put the potion box he was holding back on the shelf. He then turned and walked towards the store door and told Ashia, who was standing behind him.

“I will close the store first.”

“…”

He closed the open shop door and locked it. After checking once more to make sure the door was properly locked, he turned back to Ashia. “It seems that our conversation shouldn’t be disturbed today.” Kaligo approached her around the counter, carefully grabbing her hand. “I will listen to everything you have to say—I won’t miss a single thing.”

“…”

“And I’ll believe all of it.”

He was adamant, no longer trembling. Ashia’s anxious heart slowly began to regain its composure.

And so the story about the two of them spilled out.

They sat down with a table between them. Kaligo didn’t say much even if he was told that the world they were in now was inside a book. He seemed to be accepting everything calmly. Certainly, he wasn’t doubting her words.

Uncomfortable with his silence, Ashia spoke first. “Why…?”

Kaligo’s gaze turned to her. “Yes. Please speak.”

“Why aren’t you asking anything?”

He leaned back on his chair and took a deep breath. The wooden chair creaked as he did so. “…I don’t know what to ask.”

“But it was such an unimaginable story.”

“No, Ashia. It’s not that I don’t believe it.” He blinked slowly, voice low. “The thought that I had entered another world and another person’s body already crossed my mind.

“…”

“I thought it was such an amazing coincidence that I am now in the body of a man with the same name and appearance as me.”

“Yes.”

“I just never thought it would be a book, so I was just looking back at my memories.” Kaligo, who was fiddling with the objects in front of him one by one, continued, “It now all looks a little different. These cups, trays, tables, and chairs…it’s fascinating that this all came out from a string of letters.”

“…But this is a reality for us.”

“Yes, reality. The touch, texture, the taste of the food we eat, and….”

“…”

“Nostalgic scents and warmth.”

“….”

Kaligo rested his arms on the table, his gaze gentle. “And again.”

“…Yes?”

He smiled softly as Ashia tilted her head with confusion. “Are there any more?”

“What?”

“Anything. More stories, even those you haven’t told anyone else before.”

It was an absurd story, and Kaligo’s reaction was very refreshing.

“…I thought you would be very shocked when I told you that this place is inside a book.”

“Um… I don’t know. Another world, another person’s body, and another memory—it’s a situation where it all fits together, so it’s rather easy.”

Perhaps because he had lived this life full of questions. When he heard the answer, it felt as if a stone was lifted from his chest.

“Then tell me more.”

“…”

“I don’t think I will be shocked by any stories now.”

Looking at the faint smile on his face, she was shaken by his determination to the point that she almost wanted to give in to him.

‘From where should I start and until where should I tell him…’

First of all, if she wanted to talk about the female lead, then she had to tell Kaligo first that he was the male lead of the original story. After that, she could say everything, including the fact that nothing should go wrong and about what she did seven years ago.

“…”

“Why?”

It was more difficult to tell the story behind it rather than telling him what was inside the book.

“What about you?”

“…”
Countless questions were floating
“Am I the only one doing the confiding?” Ashia got up and brought a pitcher of water. She poured it into the glass in front of Kaligo and handed it to him. “Now… it’s your turn.”

“…”

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“Since you came all the way here, you can’t say you cannot do it, right?”

“No way.”

Perhaps it was Kaligo who had been waiting for this moment more than anyone else. Keeping his gaze on Ashia, the corner of his mouth was slightly raised. “What are you most curious about?”

“…”

Countless questions floated in her mind. But there was one thing that came to her mind instantly.

“Why did you marry me?”

“…”

Kaligo’s eyebrow twitched. He had been waiting for this moment, and yet, he didn’t want it to come. He had to explain many things just with this one question. Nevertheless, all of his actions only pursued one goal.

“It was to save you.”

“…”

Ashia couldn’t possibly have known what her condition had been when she was Renna, but that one sentence couldn’t explain everything.

“Was it just like buying things with gold?”

“I thought that was the surest way to get you away from the viscount.”

“Didn’t you think that it could be misunderstood and that it needed an explanation?”

Kaligo’s eyebrows drooped further at her inquisitive voice. “I regretted it. The choice I thought was the best was silence….”

“…”

Kaligo said he took slow steps to propose to her. He also added that had it not been for the sudden war, he wouldn’t have taken her earlier and not in such a way, but through a proper procedure. However, the war lasted longer than he expected, and it was reported to Kaligo, who had barely returned to his residence, that the viscount was already planning to marry off Renna Cornelli.

“It was urgent. I couldn’t think of a smarter way.”

If he even had a moment of hesitation, she would be married off to a completely unfamiliar man. He felt as if all his blood had dried up while he was loading the gold into his carriage.

“And to explain why I had to bring you out there in such a hurry…”

“Yes.”

“…I knew what the viscount did to you.”

Ashia’s eyes slowly widened. She could vaguely understand the meaning of Kaligo’s words. “You… knew?”

“Yes.”

Renna’s biological father, Viscount Talian, was a very bad man. Not only did he drink and gamble, but he frequently indulged in women as soon as his wife died. Renna was an asset for him to sell, but he would beat her to vent his anger until she lost consciousness.

– You’re pretending to be noble when you ruined your mother’s life when you were born.

– She is a precious person who will be able to build our family, so we will be in trouble if she has a scratch.

Her father was calculating; he made sure that he would only hit her in places where it would be covered up by clothes, and that he wouldn’t leave scars. Was it thanks to that? Renna grew up to be a beautiful doll with no flaws. Completely empty with dark bruises inside.

“You probably didn’t want to reveal it.”

“Yes… If I could, I wanted to take it to my grave.”

“…”

Ashia looked down at her hands on the table and continued speaking calmly, “Even in the hot summer, I had to wear a dress that covered my neck. I couldn’t even pull my long hair up.” She frowned as she recalled that time. “…When I first came to the duke’s house, I had to let all the employees out and change clothes by myself. Of course, that was the case during baths as well. The bruises from the beatings didn’t go away quickly.”

The good news was that she received no more bruises after coming to the duke’s residence. She smiled sadly, saying that once in a while, she was startled by the shadows that fell over her head, and that she shuddered and trembled.

“Thank you… for that. I would have told you every single word of gratitude when I was still alive if I had known in advance…”

“…It wasn’t an easy story to tell.”

“Yes.”

The air became heavy. As the events of that time came back to them one by one, their heart ached, even faintly.

Kaligo carefully placed his hand on Ashia’s hand, which was clenched in a fist on the table. They both looked at their hands.

“That’s right, I think I know what you were worried about.” Ashia’s gaze turned to Kaligo.

“And?”

“…”

“I understand that you took me to your mansion to save me… Then why did you leave me alone?

“…Ashia.”

“I can’t express my feelings at that time with just one word.”

“…”

“It was a miserable and terrible marriage.” She lifted her head and looked at Kaligo’s face.

He couldn’t even make eye contact with her.

“So, you have to explain it to me properly. Why did you leave me like that?

“…”

The time had come when he had to reveal all the emotions and desires he had been hiding.

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