Chapter 198: A Flag That Was Finally Raised…

“Actually… I didn’t cheat on you.”

The words that came right out of his mouth instantly caused her eyes to widen.

Confusion spread across her face instantly, her lips parting as if she wanted to ask what he meant, but before she could say a single word, Gray continued.

“You noticed my eyes, right?” he said softly, lifting a hand and pointing at his black pupils.

“They’re different now.”

Lyra sniffled and nodded, staring deeply at him without even blinking. She truly loved him, so even though she was still deeply hurt by his words, she decided to let him continue.

’Maybe there was a reason…’ she thought.

“…That’s because I had a split personality.”

Her breathing stopped for a second.

Gray noticed it instantly and continued in a thoughtful tone. “However, one of them was… how do I put this…”

He paused, pretending to think, but creating a small space for Lyra to truly focus on his appearance… since the Authority of Beauty still had the effect of “enticing” someone, or making your words more believable.

And it was working as Lyra’s curious eyes were locked on him the moment he said “split-personality”.

But Gray knew that the only reason she was like this was that, in the past, Lyra had told Gray that she had a split personality, so she knew exactly how it felt.

Hence, the reason she didn’t try to shout or slap him yet and simply stayed looking at him while waiting for him to explain.

“…Well, he was emotionless, I’d say. You might have met him, but unfortunately, I do not have memories of when our personality switches.”

Another lie.

However, it seemed to have worked as her hands trembled the moment he spoke those words.

“But recently…” Gray lifted his eyes and met hers directly, “…I realized that the other personality was starting to consume me.”

The look he was giving her made something click in her mind almost immediately. Her eyes widened even more, her pale pink lips trembling as hope slowly, painfully formed.

“D-does that mean t-that you… sniff… l-lied about cheating on m-me?”

Tears pooled in her golden eyes, spilling over her lashes, but this time, they truly contained a huge amount of hope, awaiting Gray’s response.

“…Unfortunately, yes,” Gray replied, scratching the back of his neck.

Another lie, after all, he did cheat on her… although he had only kissed Selina.

“And now… I kind of consumed him instead.”

He lowered his hand and gently took hers.

Her hand was cold and trembling, but he didn’t mind. He wrapped both of his hands around it and patted it softly, grounding her.

“In return… I lost that small ring in my eyes,” he uttered quietly, “and sacrificed a bit of my power.”

Her fingers tightened around his.

“The reason I said those things back then…” Gray lowered his head. “It wasn’t because I wanted to hurt you.”

He brought her hand closer and rested his forehead against it.

“I didn’t want him to hurt you.”

His voice softened even more.

“If I tried to break normally… I knew you would make a mess out of it… so I resorted to the fastest and ugliest way by saying that I cheated on you…”

He buried his face against her hand, his breath brushing against her skin.

“I’m sorry, Lyra…”

His voice trembled.

“I’m truly sorry.”

At his words, Lyra stayed silent for a long moment.

Her hand was still in his, but her fingers slowly loosened, neither pulling away nor holding tighter, as if she didn’t know which one she wanted to do.

“Fuuuhh…”

Her shoulders trembled, and she took a shaky breath, like she was trying very hard not to cry again.

“….Gray, I really hate you.”

Her voice reached out to him, causing his breath to hitch, and she noticed this instantly.

She wiped at her cheek with her free hand, smearing away tears that just kept coming no matter how much she tried to stop them.

“I hate that I love your smile,” she continued, her voice shaking. “I hate that I love when you tease me. I hate your stupid sexual jokes that always make me flustered.”

Her lips trembled as she spoke faster, her emotions practically spilling out.

“I hate that you can be comforting when I least expect it. I hate that when you embrace me…” her voice softened, “…I feel happier than I ever should.”

She paused slighly, her lips quivering, as she looked down at him. She gently raised his head and pulled back just a little, enough to look at him properly.

“And I really hate how you keep everything to yourself and never ask me for help.”

Her hand gently caressed Gray’s cheeks, and at this, Gray gently held it and kept looking at Lyra, awaiting her response.

“I love you, Gray….” she whispered lovingly.

“I really, really, really, really love you…”

Her thumb pressed against his lips softly, parting them slighly as the tears finally stopped swelling in her eyes.

“For some reason… I had never fallen in love, but then… I met you. That small encounter during the entrance exam… I didn’t expect it to get us here,” she laughed cheekily.

“At that time, I had only seen you as a particularly handsome guy, and of course, I wanted to be your friend. Just for the eye candy… hehe,” she teased playfully.

Her smile softened as she kept talking.

“But as I spent more and more time with you… I became increasingly curious about you. The rumours said that you were a Playboy, and you confirmed that fact yourself as you always accompanied two girls… and that other girl whose name I forgot. And the day that girl died… I noticed that you changed.”

Her expression dimmed a little.

“…That you weren’t actually a playboy and really cared for that girl. I think that’s where I truly started falling for you.”

She smiled brightly at him.

“So, Gray…” she called out sweetly.

“My boyfriend. My future husband. My first love. My last love. My only love. My darling. My precious. My idiot. My handsome idiot. My everything. My honey…”

She kept on adding more nicknames, and this action actually made Gray feel a little cold.

He didn’t know why, but… the way she kept whispering those nicknames sounded… utterly possessively and maddeningly obsessively.

“…Mine,” she whispered.

Her fingers tightened slightly on his cheek.

“In the future,” Lyra continued sweetly, “I won’t EVER let you go.”

Her eyes curved into a happy smile, but an overwhelming amount of possessiveness shone behind them.

“You will always be mine… ♡”

“Huhuhu♡~”

She beamed at him, holding him close, as if the idea of losing him had never existed in her world at all.

And to this, Gray lifted a hand and patted the back of her head lightly.

’…’

[…]

’I didn’t expect that Lyra had this kind of attribute.’

[Me neither.]

’Well… that makes things a lot easier for me,’ Gray smiled lightly, planting a soft kiss on her shoulder that instantly made a small giggle escape her lips.

They kept that position for a while before Gray finally whispered into her ear.

“Shall we go back to the inn?”

“Um!” Lyra nodded quickly, a big smile spreading across her face.

Gray nodded back and, without warning, picked her up. Lyra let out a small sound of surprise before wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Hehe…♡”

She buried her face against the nape of his neck, breathing him in, and slowly closed her eyes, looking completely at ease.

Just like that, Gray carried her back to the inn.

Once inside, he gently set her down on their bed and lay down beside her, looking at her beautiful golden eyes.

Instantly, she shifted closer to him, putting her head on his chest.

Thump… thump…

She could hear the sound of his heartbeat along with the small sound of his breathing. That somehow made her truly feel at ease…

But she wasn’t satisfied…

Rustle~

Her fingers started moving, and carefully, she slipped one hand under the edge of his shirt.

Gray stiffened slightly.

Lyra noticed.

“Hehe…” she let out a soft giggle.

Her hand moved across his skin, her fingers tracing the hard lines of his stomach, feeling the muscles tense under her touch.

She pressed lightly, then slid her hand a bit higher, as if testing how far she could go.

Gray looked down at her, surprised.

“Lyra…?”

She didn’t answer.

Instead, she scooted closer, her body pressing gently against his side.

Her other hand followed, resting on his chest, her fingers spreading slowly as she felt his heartbeat under her palm.

“So firm…” she murmured unconsciously.

Her head lifted, and then she leaned in, close enough that he could feel her breath, and then planted a soft kiss on his chin.

Lingering for half a second longer than needed.

She pulled back slightly and smiled up at him, her eyes shining with mischief.

“…You’re mine,” she repeated in a loving tone.

Hearing her words, Gray sighed before pulling her closer to his chest.

“I’m yours…”

“Hehehe~”

She laughed in pure delight.

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