Episode 104

Briley walked down to the hotel lobby when Caleb stopped her.

“Are they up to no good, the two of them? Huh?” 

Caleb shrugged.

“Well, if you’re worried, should we knock on the door and go in?” 

“Oh… maybe. Yeah. But, you know, Rose is quite smitten with that guy…” 

Rose really likes Jasper Conway. Briley couldn’t bring herself to say anything and swallowed hard.

She had noticed a subtle chemistry between the two from the beginning, but she never expected Rose to fall for Jasper this deeply. She had come to the Republic because of Jasper’s news of being injured.

‘Rose, who claimed not to be interested in romance or love…!’

Briley found herself supporting Rose on one hand while feeling a strange bitterness and regret on the other. It was as if she had lost a close friend who was with her every day, and it was all too childish. 

Moreover, it wasn’t just anyone, but Jasper Conway as the other party. Knowing Rose’s desire for a quiet life, Briley had various concerns.

Amid her already troubled thoughts, Caleb’s voice came from beside her.

“Even if they’re having an inappropriate relationship… so what?”

“So what? What, what, what?” 

Briley squinted her eyes and glared at Caleb. Caleb evaded Briley’s gaze with a guilty look.

“You’re the poster child for inappropriate relationships, aren’t you? That’s why you failed in love.”

“No, why is the conversation going in that direction again? You’re hitting people’s weaknesses. Weren’t we becoming friends? And I never did anything like that to Rebecca!”

Taking turns taking care of Jasper in Valloch, Briley frequently ran into Caleb. They had become more comfortable with each other than before, but Caleb still irked her when she thought of Rebecca.

Caleb scratched the back of his head, looking crestfallen, and sat on the lobby sofa. When Briley glared at him, Caleb coughed.

“Why are you staring at me?”

“Oh Lord, I beseech thee to smite this troublesome man.” 

Briley exaggeratedly raised her voice and clasped her hands together. Caleb protested with an indignant expression.

“I’m living properly these days!”

“I’m glad to hear that in the midst of all this. When are you going back to the capital?”

“None of your business. I’m not approaching Rebecca. We had a huge fight from the start. I haven’t seen her face since leaving on the Lepti!”

“Never see her again. You should have broken up from the beginning.”

Caleb, who had been boldly arguing, bit his lip and lowered his head. 

Briley expected Caleb to get defensive, but he remained silent for a long time, wearing a puzzled expression.

After taking a deep breath, Caleb mumbled.

“I thought it would just pass. Everyone does. Love at this age is like a child’s game.”

When Caleb’s voice became more serious, Briley relaxed her tense expression and looked at him.

“Hey, Caleb. You’re acting strange all of a sudden. It’s not like you. Can you change the mood a bit?”

“I thought it was just a pure liking, so it felt awkward. People think that the love at this age is just a joke.”

Caleb didn’t say anything further. Briley looked at him with a strange expression and asked.

“Do you still have feelings for Rebecca?”

“I won’t appear near Rebecca until I completely get over her, so don’t worry.”

“…What? Stop being so serious. It’s making me feel unnecessarily complicated.”

Caleb jumped up and stretched his arms. His face, which had settled, returned to its usual self.

“A few years from now, when we meet again, it will be like meeting an old friend, right?”

“How many years will that take?”

Briley shook her head and touched her forehead with her hand. 

It seemed like she should slowly detach herself from this whirlwind of love that could have come out of a romance novel. It was probably going to be difficult.

‘I was the one who wanted to date the most at the beginning of the spring semester. What is this?’

For some reason, Briley felt unjustified.

***

With a gasp, Rose stared intently at the vast, rolling sea in front of her. 

After spending several more days in Valloch, Rose boarded the West End, the Lepti Empire’s ship, along with Jasper and Briley. 

Caleb, like a wanderer, had disappeared once again.

During her trip to the Republic, Rose had been too preoccupied to take in the view. This time, she had the leisure to explore the ship’s luxury amenities and gaze out at the waves.

Another difference was that Jasper was by her side.

“The sun is about to set. Isn’t it cold?” 

Rose nodded in response to his question. 

“Let’s watch the sunset and then go inside.”

“Sure.”

Jasper and Rose stood side by side, holding onto the ship’s railing at the stern. 

Briley had left earlier, leaving behind a message.

“I’m going to have a billiards match with a charming young man from the Southern Isles. I’m off to find love, kids. This is my chance!”

As Rose and Jasper admired the sea, Rose’s tied-up red hair swayed in the moist breeze.

She felt the persistent gaze of someone looking at her from the side. Rose kept her head held high, fixed on the horizon.

Lately, whenever she was alone with Jasper, she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious and didn’t know what to do.

“I want to date you. No, I want to…” 

She had blurted it out in a drunken haze. Rose tried hard to shake off the memory from her mind and gripped the railing tightly.

She still couldn’t believe it. She was in a relationship with Jasper Conway. 

Her feelings were clear, but adapting to the current situation was not easy. It almost felt more comfortable when she and Jasper were just friends.

The moment she became aware of their romantic relationship, she felt an overwhelming sense of embarrassment, and her cheeks flushed. It would surely look strange.

‘But I don’t know how to handle this.’

And for some reason, every time she looked at Jasper, her face would flush. Her breathing quickened, and sometimes she even forgot how to breathe.

“What’s on your mind?” 

Jasper’s voice pierced through her daze. Rose jolted, her shoulder twitched, and she turned her head towards Jasper. No, she tried to turn but hastily looked ahead again.

Thump, thump, thump. 

Her heart started racing, and her breathing became uneven to the point where she had to consciously take each breath.

‘I can’t look at Jasper properly…!’

Rose’s toe tapped anxiously. The problem was that Jasper Conway was too good-looking. Even though she knew this fact very well, she suddenly realized how devastatingly handsome he was.

As Rose mumbled to herself, Jasper’s hand moved slowly along the railing. 

Tock. While doing so, their pinkies brushed against each other.

Surprised by the warmth of his skin against hers, Rose held her breath for a moment. 

Tock, tock. Jasper subtly nudged Rose’s pinky and whispered.

“I want to hold hands.”

Rose was acutely aware of her pinky touching Jasper’s. Jasper let out a small sigh and mumbled.

“Then, I suppose it’s not possible.”

For now, they had decided to keep their romantic relationship a secret. What had started as a private tutoring relationship had evolved into a secret romance.

Rose tried to regain her wandering mind and speak as calmly as possible. 

“Yes. Let’s not make it too obvious.”

Rose slowly began to move her hand away from Jasper’s, but his fingers, thick and strong, swiftly caught her pinky. In a low, hushed voice, Jasper spoke.

“It seems like you’re avoiding me.”

“Oh, no, not at all.”

Rose’s trapped pinky twitched. Jasper furrowed his brow as if he were deeply contemplating something.

“Do you regret it by any chance?”

Jasper’s voice at the end was shaky.

“Regret? Regret meeting me… accepting me, do you regret that? Did you realize you said something unnecessary?” 

Jasper’s breath became slightly rough.

“But no matter how much you regret it, you can’t take it back, Rose Bell. At least until we graduate, you promised to date me. I’m someone who takes promises seriously, so I won’t say it twice…”

“What? That’s not it!”

Rose hastily interrupted Jasper’s words. Jasper stared at her with his lips tightly pressed together, his blue eyes tinged with unease.

Rose swallowed hard.

“I don’t regret it.”

She was worried, but ever since she had come to Valloch to see Jasper, she believed there was no turning back. Her heart had traveled too far to stop.

So, instead of avoiding Jasper, she decided to become someone who could stand by his side. It might be difficult to become someone more renowned than a nobleman’s son and a promising knight, but she was determined to try.

Jasper still spoke with a hint of unease. 

“Then why do you avoid me?”

“Huh? Well, that’s…”

Jasper’s thick eyebrows twitched. Rose felt her face rapidly flush and couldn’t seem to find her words.

“That’s, uh…”

“Embarrassed, I guess. For some reason, I feel embarrassed when I look at you.”

Jasper grinned. Rose lowered her gaze slightly and continued to speak.

“I don’t know how to handle it. My heart keeps racing, and I get nervous, and even now, our faces are too close! Our fingers are touching too…”

Jasper gazed at Rose in silence for a while and then burst into laughter.

“Is that it? You’re making being infatuated with me sound cute.”