Chapter 8: I don’t mind at all
However, Diana is not foolish enough to persist in doing something she has been told to stop.
If she is told to stop, it’s better not to do it.
However, she was curious about the reason.
――Because I will fall in love.
(I see. . .Leon can’t fall in love with me)
Night fell.
Diana gazed at Leon’s sleeping face under the moonlight from under the bed.
(From his perspective, he probably thought he was threatening me. So if I interfere too much, it will only trouble Leon. . .)
Leon, who had been sleeping on the hard floor because he helped Diana.
(Maybe I should leave this place as soon as possible.)
However. . .
Even Diana, who was told that, was inwardly confused.
(To accept someone’s affection like that and reject it. . .What kind of mentality is that?)
The more she thought about it, the more she was drawn to Leon’s strange sincerity, as if she had stepped into a swamp.
(Despite his imposing figure, he’s like a child. . .)
Diana buried herself deep in the covers.
Today, too, she had worked hard in one way or another.
The young lady fell into a deep sleep.
In her dream. . .
Diana was surrounded by flames.
She tried to run away, but no matter how far she went, there was only inferno.
“Leon!”
She shouted. Just like that time, he would surely come to her rescue.
“Someone! Anyone. . .”
And then,
She noticed a body lying at her feet.
Diana cautiously looked down.
There, she saw the charred and distorted body of Leon.
“No, nooooo!”
Diana ran in a different direction. However, the flames grew higher and she couldn’t break through ahead.
“No. . .a world without you. . .”
Diana burst into tears.
“Leon. . .! Leon!”
“Diana.”
A voice sounded.
Diana opened her tear-filled eyes.
Leon was kneeling, peering down at her on the bed.
“I. . .I. . .”
Diana looked around. They were in that familiar cabin. Leon had a serious expression for a while, but then he tried to smile as if he had just realized something.
“I woke up because you called. What happened?”
Diana hiccuped after being taken aback.
“Uuu. . .Leon.”
“Did you have another bad dream?”
She couldn’t bear it anymore.
Diana threw herself at Leon’s neck while crying. Leon seemed a little bewildered, but gently wrapped his arms around her back.
“. . .I wanted to touch you.”
Leon held his breath and remained silent.
“I’m sorry. But. . .”
He gently touched Diana’s hair, which was wet with tears, around his neck.
“I’m sorry for touching you.”
Diana herself didn’t know what she was saying.
Her feelings of wanting to apologize and wanting to be accepted were exploding.
And then. . .
In a muffled voice, Leon said.
“. . .It’s okay.”
Diana nodded while crying.
Leon let go of her body and wiped away Diana’s tears.
“If you want to be touched, anytime. But I want you to let me know first.”
“. . .Okay.”
“If it’s sudden, it will startle me.”
“. . .I’m sorry.”
“I’m the one who should apologize. I said unnecessary things without thinking. I’ve been regretting it until now.”
Diana shook her head.
“I’m sorry for troubling you.”
“I’m sorry too.”
“Someday, I will definitely leave. . .”
“. . .”
Leon stroked the back of Diana’s head and held her tightly again.
And he waited until Diana fell asleep again.
After Diana fell asleep, Leon let go of her body.
That night, Leon didn’t sleep and kept staring at the sleeping face of the girl with a tense expression.
Leon didn’t wake up early in the morning.
Diana took advantage of this and used the kitchen on her own.
Fresh cow’s milk, sugar, flour, and oil.
She mixed them together and cooked them in a frying pan.
A flat pancake was ready.
“Leon, wake up.”
Diana squatted down and shook Leon, who was on the floor.
“Umm. . .”
“You’re really slow to wake up today, huh?”
Leon looked up at Diana, squinting his eyes, and opened them.
“Oh, is it already morning?”
“Yes. Wake up quickly. The pancakes will get cold.”
The two sat facing each other at the dining table.
Diana took out the syrup of wisteria flowers and poured it over the pancakes.
“. . .Ah, that.”
“Yes. It reminds me of the past.”
“. . .It smells good.”
“Yes, it does.”
The sound of cutting pancakes with a fork and knife. And then. . .
Clang.
“. . .Huh?”
There was a noise outside the cabin. Diana stretched to look out the window, but Leon stopped her.
“. . .Diana, wait here.”
With a frying pan in hand, Leon cautiously stood up.
Bam! He forcefully opened the door――
“Whoa! You scared me!”
A man’s voice. Leon gently lowered the frying pan he had been prepared to strike with.
“Oh, it’s you. . .Fritz!”
“What’s up, Leon! Don’t act like that towards your older brother!”
Leon sulked.
“. . .What do you want now?”
“Well, I heard from the neighborhood ladies.”
Fritz was bigger than Leon, a stout man.
“They said Leon got himself a wife!”
Diana opened her mouth in surprise and dropped her knife and fork.
“What the heck! Why didn’t you come and tell me?”
“. . .I don’t have anything to do with you guys anymore.”
“Hey, are you still hung up on that thing? I don’t know about the other siblings, but I don’t hate Leon. So, well, since you got a wife, I thought I could at least say hello. . .”
“Go home.”
“What’s with you? We’re the closest in age among the siblings, let’s get along. . .”
Suddenly, Diana and Fritz’s eyes met in the room.
Diana bowed her head.
Fritz’s eyes changed.
“Wow! She’s so cute, your wife!”
“Get out, you piece of shit!”
“Hey, wife! Come over here! I’m Fritz, the fourth son!”
Leon forcefully closed the door.
“Sigh. . .No room for complacency or mistakes. . .”
However, Fritz went around to the window and started knocking on it.
“Hey! Let me in!”
Diana blushed, and Leon held his head.
