North x Northwest

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The boy in the chair next to the bed was staring at her. His posture was poor as he sat crookedly, a book in one hand and resting his chin on the other. Because of the afternoon sunlight filling the room, Liloa was able to distinguish his features clearly. The sun was shining down on his unkempt brown hair and despite his young appearance, his fierce green eyes didn’t make a good first impression. His smooth skin and arrogant expression made it clear that he wasn’t just a servant here.

Liloa opened her mouth, but no words came out. After all, she was extremely nervous. Although she didn’t know if such nervousness sprung from being trapped in an unfamiliar mansion where a murderer was rumoured to live, or because of the handsome boy that appeared out of nowhere.

Liloa tried to calmly catch her breath.

‘I’ve never heard any rumours of such a handsome person in Malus. Judging his looks, Ann or Charlotte would surely have said something about him, but no matter how much I think about it, I have no idea who this boy can be…’

After having sorted out her thoughts, Liloa finally spoke in a dry voice.

“…Who are you?”

Dumbfounded, the boy burst out laughing.

“Who are you to ask me that?”

“…”

“You’re the one who snuck into my house. You’re still so small yet unafraid.”

‘Small? But the boy also looks quite young. Although he’s not my age, I can tell he’s not much older than fourteen…’

“Your house?”

“Mhm.”

“Then…”

‘…does this mean you are the murderer who digs land every day?’

Liloa quickly swallowed the sentence down her throat. No matter how she looked at him, the boy didn’t look like the killer she had imagined.

“I can tell that the kids who came here last time told you that I’m a murderer, based on the look on your face.”

“..!”

Liloa curled her toes tightly due to the fear that suddenly overtook her. Perhaps sensing the movements under the blanket, the boy’s eyes glanced over the bed.

“Then why did you come into the murderer’s house? Did you want to die?”

“…Oh, no…”

The boy sighed as Liloa spoke in a meek voice. He closed his book with a loud thud, then got up and poured some water into the glass on the nightstand.

“Now that you’ve come to your senses, drink some water and leave.”

“…”

Apart from being frightened, Liloa was also thirsty, so she gulped down the water. However, halfway through the glass, she suddenly recalled the simple rule of not drinking water from just anywhere and abruptly stopped herself from drinking any further. When she began coughing as a result, the boy took his handkerchief and wiped her splattered chin and hands. Liloa reflexively tried to pull her body back, but she was already leaning against the headboard and had nowhere to go.

‘He seems to be used to taking care of someone.’

“If you’re so scared, why did you sneak in? I also want you to disappear quickly, so don’t keep lying around making trouble. Get out now.”

“…”

Liloa looked at the boy, who was now standing in front of his desk with his back to her. But even after turning around, the boy continued to mumble something that sounded like a series of complaints.

“…Really… who would’ve thought that you would faint so suddenly… ah…”

“It was because you looked so strange.”

The boy asked back with his eyes wide open.

“…What?”

It appeared to be the first time he had ever heard a negative remark about his appearance. And because it was clearly a look of judging her answer as absurd, Liloa hesitated to elaborate.

“…You looked really scary because of the candlelight. The flame was flickering and…”

“Hah!”

“..?”

After the boy burst into laughter again, he shook his head at her and pointed to the door.

“Get out quickly. You’re annoying me to no end.”

Even though the boy ordered her to leave as soon as possible, he never dared to lift the blanket covering her or push her away by pressing her body. Because of that, Liloa was able to take her time quite comfortably. And even though she drank water in an unfamiliar place, nothing was wrong with her body – in fact, her vitality even began to return – and because the boy wasn’t threatening at all, both curiosity and relief snuck up her head. Still, there were remnants of fear, so Liloa’s desire to run away quickly collided with her desire to get to know the boy who was the owner of the mansion.

Liloa’s heart pounded.

‘Could he be a prince who came into exile from a fallen country?’

“I’m sorry for coming into your house without permission.”

“So the kid knows how to apologise? At least you know.”

“What do you mean, kid? You look like a kid, too!”

The boy who had half-heartedly been looking at the books on the desk got pissed again and turned his head.

“What? You small little crab!”

Liloa didn’t want to lose to him and fought back harder.

“Why do you keep calling me small? I have a name too! I’m..!”

‘Oh no… Oops.’

Liloa didn’t want her whole neighbourhood to know that she was roaming and trespassing a house without permission, so she forced herself to hide her real name quickly.

“I have a name! Philly!”

“That’s a funny name.”contemporary romance

“…What?”

“So, you do understand the situation you got yourself into. You crept into someone else’s house without permission. Seeing how you’re hiding your real name, at least you know that much.”

“No!”

“Okay.”

“..?”

One corner of the boy’s mouth twitched up like a sneer. Under normal circumstances, such an expression would have put Liloa in a bad mood, but for this boy, she thought it suited him amazingly well. Because at first glance, it just seemed like a smile. Liloa forgot to retort and looked at the smiling boy leaning against the sunlight.

The boy similarly remained glancing at Liloa while stroking his chin.

“…It will be difficult if you fall in love.”

Hearing those words, Liloa came to her senses immediately. Her face turned red as she screamed.

“I won’t!”

“Are you sure?”

“I said no!”

“All right, I get it.”

“…”

The boy waved his hand and took out a pocket watch. After checking the time, he frowned and looked up at the sky outside the window.

“All jokes aside, it’s been half an hour since you came in. Don’t you think they’re starting to get worried outside?”

“..!”

Liloa looked out the window.

‘Now that I think about it, it’s really time for them to come find me.’

Liloa wanted to rush out as she was afraid that Ann or Charlotte would find out about her adventures. The thought of it made her heart anxious. But when she pulled up the blanket and was about to get out of bed, she found that she had no shoes on.

“Huh?”

Only then did she remember that she had left her shoes at the door of this mansion. Seeing Liloa’s hesitation, the boy inadvertently looked towards the bed and saw her feet sticking out from under her dress.

surprised, he turned around again.

“Why is that?”

“Oh, you see, I left my shoes at the front door.”

The boy touched his forehead and sighed.

“Oh, come on. Really…”

The boy left the room before Liloa could say anything more. Only after the boy left was Liloa able to look around the room. It looked like an ordinary guest room in any mansion. The lambris, decorated in light green and grey, seemed cosy.

Liloa picked up the book the boy had been reading on the nightstand.

“…Medicine?”

The cover was worn so she couldn’t read the entire title, but Liloa could tell it was some sort of medical book as it was full of pictures and explanations that seemed to depict medicinal herbs.

“Is he a doctor?”

‘But even if he’s a doctor, it’s still strange…’

Because Liloa had never heard of a doctor as young as the boy.

‘He looks younger than Venua. Also, doctors are normally not wealthy enough to own such mansions…’

Liloa tilted her head as she thought about the boy whose identity was becoming increasingly more difficult to guess.

When the boy reappeared with her shoes in his hands, Liloa asked impatiently.

“What’s your name?”

“Why should I tell you?”

The boy put her shoes down at the foot of the bed and stepped back. Liloa found it strange how he respectfully displayed his manners to her.

‘His actions and the way he speaks are extremely perverse, like when he was surprised to see my shoeless feet earlier, and the way he refuses to look at me putting my shoes on now, it’s all strange… He seems to have strange standards for practising his manners.’

As soon as Liloa got off the bed, the boy gestured towards the door.

“Now, get out.”

done.co