Chapter 50

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Vivian woke up and blinked her eyes.  As her dream slowly crept into her memories, she screamed silently into her pillow.

‘Why the hell did he call my name like that..… I can’t stop thinking about it.’

It wasn’t the first time in her life she’d heard people call her name. Parents, teachers, and many other acquaintances had in the past.  It had been said so many times and it was a familiar title.

‘Why does it feel so unfamiliar to me when Roger says it?!’

Even though Roger wasn’t there in front of her, the thought of him calling her name in her dream brought heat to her face.  Thanks to this, Vivian had to splash cold water on her face early in the morning.  After making sure her face had calmed down a bit, Vivian headed downstairs for breakfast.

“Did you sleep well?”

As Vivian was walking towards the dining room, she saw Roger waiting for her.  This morning, he had a slightly unusual appearance.  He always had his hair brushed and styled neatly when he was in uniform, but today, even though he was in uniform, his dazzling red hair was a slight mess.

After her gaze had been fixed on him for a long time, Roger patted his cheeks with a shy face.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

He was embarrassed, worried that he might have something on his face.

“It’s nothing. It’s because your hair is different than usual. Normally your hair is like this…….”

Vivian ran her hand over her forehead in the shape of his usual hair.

“Did you not brush it?”

As if he knew the reason now, he let out a short burst of exclamation.

“I started training a little later than usual today. I didn’t have time to tidy up my hair.”

He lightly brushed his flowing hair.  Now that she saw it up close, it was slightly wet from sweat.  He smiled embarrassedly, and led her to the dining room.

Following him, Vivian quietly grabbed her chest as she remembered Roger from her dreams. The only difference between reality and her dreams was that they hadn’t ‘done it’ in reality, but once that difference was removed, she wouldn’t be able tell if this was real or not.

‘Vivian.’

The image of him calling her with a heavy voice, rubbing his tangled hair against her cheek, lingered in her mind.  The heat that had barely subsided from the morning rose again.  Vivian hurriedly fanned her face with her hands.  There was no ice water nearby right now, so she had to do this.

“Oh, by the way.”

Roger, who was walking ahead, turned around without notice.  He saw Vivian fanning her face with both hands and frowned.

“Is it hot in here?”

‘But it’s cold outside’ 

Roger thought, glancing out the window where a gentle wind blew.  Vivian hurriedly waved her hand, as if he had noticed something he shouldn’t have seen.

“No! I’m okay.”

She couldn’t say what she was thinking, so Vivian answered desperately. He didn’t push further, but instead put her on edge with a single raise of his eyebrow.

“What did you talk about with Daniel yesterday?”

He brought up what he was originally going to ask about. Vivian recalled seeing him yesterday while heading to Daniel’s room with a meal. Vivian walked with Roger down the hallway to the dining room, recounting what had happened the previous day. It was not something to hide, because it might have had something to do with the West.

“That’s it.”

Roger hardened his expression when he realized that she had been overflowing with black magic, and his face darkened further when she said that dark magic might be the cause of the crack.

“Did you find the scroll that Daniel spoke of in the Lady’s room?”

“Yes. I haven’t seen another since.  Maybe there are more in other rooms.”

“I’ll ask the servants to look today.  And tell me the location of the bookstore where the old woman was. If you don’t know, I’ll try to find out.”

At Roger’s request, Vivian meekly nodded her head.  She was also concerned about the old woman who claimed to be a warlock.  Roger, who was about to head into the dining room, suddenly swung his body around to face her.  Surprised, Vivian took a step back.

“Then, are you okay now?”

Once he grasped the general situation, the first thing that came to mind was the possibility of her being harmed by the black magic.

“Yes. I’m okay now because Daniel cast purification magic on me. I was so healthy that he wondered if I was even cursed in the first place.”

“Are you sick?”

Vivian tilted her head with a puzzled expression. Then she realized what he was referring to. He was talking about the time when she had a bad cold and was thrashing around.

“That was because a cold wind was blowing while the monsters were attacking. That was also before I found any scrolls.”

Vivian quickly shook her head in denial.  Roger leaned his upper body towards Vivian and examined her with a piercing gaze.  It was like he was trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not.  The helpless Vivian wanted to face him confidently, but she was unintentionally embarrassed by his face, which reminded her of her dreams. She took another step back, feeling the wall behind her.

“Then why did you tell Daniel first?”

“What?”

“Why did you tell Daniel first, and not me?”

Vivian stared at him.  

‘Does it matter at this point?’

Vivian’s frustrations popped up from time to time, but his body was so close that she couldn’t think straight.

“I thought it would be a good idea to ask Daniel first since it was something related to magic…”

“And again.”

“…… What?”

“Why do you call him by his first name?”

“Him……  Are you talking about Daniel?”

As Roger expressed his affirmation, she blinked slowly in mild shock.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard the Lady call someone by their first name so freely.”

“No, it’s because there is no title to call him…….”

“Wizard, him, that b*stard. Those are titles, right?”

His words were not wrong, but Vivian had never thought deeply about his title from the beginning.  She just called him by name because he was introduced as ‘Daniel’.

“That’s…..  Does it matter?”

Vivian asked with an awkward smile.  Roger flinched at the question, and immediately leaned closer to her.  He sometimes acted like this, ignoring the proper respectful distance and acting recklessly.  Every time it happened, Vivian felt like her heart would beat out of her chest.

“It’s a little trivial, yes.  Talking to a guy who wasn’t me first, and calling him by his name kindly.”

This was pure jealousy. Jealousy, as red and dark as his hair.

He was jealous of Daniel.

Vivian couldn’t face him while his eyes burned with blazing fire, so she hurriedly averted her gaze. She didn’t know why there were suddenly no people in the hallway, which was the central hub of the mansion. Did they all already go into the dining room to eat?  If someone passed by, she would’ve been able to ask for help with her eyes.

“Does the Lady have that type of taste?”

“…… That type?”

“The type of person who is always rude and uses a lot of useless words.”

Daniel was seen that way by him. Vivian couldn’t help but smile, but couldn’t tell him that he wasn’t that kind of person.

“No, I don’t like that…..”

In order to distance herself from him, Vivian gave the answer that he seemed to want.  Pleased with her answer, Roger leaned back a little with a faint smile.  But he was still too close.

“Then what type do you prefer?”

Vivian’s lips, who had been smiling softly, hardened again. She didn’t expect that he would ask such a direct question.

What was the purpose of asking for her taste in men? Unless Vivian was an idiot, at this point, she had no choice but to accept it.  That this man had feelings for her, deeper than a partner.  Even though she had been denying it, saying that she might have been mistaken, he was so blatantly obvious that Vivian had no choice but to accept the truth.

Gradually, their relationship in her dreams and reality were being reversed.  At first, she was comfortable with him in her dreams and she was uncomfortable in reality, but after coming to the West, that changed.  There were times when she suddenly felt uncomfortable in her dreams, and a little more comfortable in reality.

However, when she saw him in reality, he sometimes acted the way he did in her dreams, which left Vivian very confused.  Roger was two people to her, and they were suddenly merging. She didn’t know how to react.

Vivian hesitated and looked up at him cautiously. Roger was staring at her lips, waiting for an answer. Today, especially with his hair down, he felt more like dream Roger.  Perhaps because of that, Vivian came up with an answer that she would’ve never normally told him.

“I like someone who supports me.”

Roger wrinkled his nose, as if her words were too vague. Vivian wrung her hands and averted her gaze. She didn’t know if she would be able to tell him this story.

“…I have a very simple personality, so if I can’t do what I want to do, my anger tends to flare up.  When I was young, I often got angry, but… Anyway, I like someone who will hold me stable and support me.”

Shameful memories of her hot-tempered childhood flashed through her mind, but Vivian shook them away and looked up at Roger again. He was looking at her, but his eyes were gloomy as if he had lost something precious.

“I like friendly people too.”

Vivian listed the next most important condition. Who in the world didn’t like a friendly man? Some people said they liked funny men, but in her opinion, it was better to have a man who didn’t have a lot of fun.  At Vivian’s words, focus returned to his eyes. Eventually, the corners of his lips curled up.

“The first one may be difficult.”

He came one step closer. The already close space between them became narrower. Her throat was dry, and she was worried that he would be able to hear the frantic beating of her heart.

“The second is more likely.”

The second. A friendly man.

He strengthened his voice, confident enough to do so. His hesitation disappeared and his confident demeanor was so beautiful that she couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

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