Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

“That’s why.”

It was a confident answer.

So calm that there was no room for misunderstanding.

However, the influence of the wine aged in oak barrels for as long as her age, while not overwhelming, was steady. Even after blinking three or four times, she couldn’t understand, only tilting her head.

However.

The moment her dull reason finally grasped the meaning, Julia immediately had to bury her face.

If he were to catch her with such an expression, she felt she’d never be able to act nonchalant in front of him again.

At first glance, it might seem like an ordinary question and an answer that was just as ordinary.

But Eugene is standing far away in the kitchen, showing his back.

Therefore, answering the question immediately is as good as admitting that he’s been closely observing her eyes all along.

Only a handful of people besides family know the color of Eugene’s eyes. Usually, people’s gazes are drawn not to his eyes, but to the unusual color above them.

Simply put…

“…Ugh.”

It probably means something like – I know well that you love me, and I love that about you endlessly.

How unfair.

Whispering only with her lips, she placed her right fist on her chest.

Thump. Thump.

A clear heartbeat.

Her heart, which started beating in her chest without any sign of urgency, soon made Julia’s face flush red.

Finally unable to bear the heat, she lifted her head, but now, she couldn’t bury her face again.

Because she couldn’t take her eyes off his back.

“…”

In this situation of being caught between a rock and a hard place, she thought.

The stew had boiled over.

There’s no turning back now.

It’s neither intoxication nor lust. Pure affection flowed through Julia’s entire body with each thumping heartbeat.

It’s a six-year-long relationship where she couldn’t bring herself to act coy or flirtatious, and where it felt awkward to suddenly express affection honestly.

The aloof expression that had dominated most of that time melted away in an instant. Her lips contorted and her eyes became thoroughly wet.

Julia smiled silently, filled with a burning heart.

“I was so stupid…”

She realizes it now. The important matters of newlyweds need neither dry runs nor schemes.

This feeling comes naturally when a man and woman love each other enough to make a marriage vow.

Her eyelids slowly closed.

Drunken behavior is clear evidence for the theory of evil human nature.

Such a joke circulates because drinking habits are as diverse as there are people, and based on experience so far, Julia seems to fall on the quite benign end of the spectrum.

A chuckle involuntarily escaped.

“I told you that you slept comfortably, and now, you’re really sleeping well.”

I looked down at Julia, who was sound asleep face down.

Her chestnut-brown hair, which she’s been growing for years, showed its luster as it lay scattered on the table, and her soft breathing could be clearly heard.

Her attire… I still don’t know where to look.

Had it been ten minutes since I started cleaning up after the drinking?

In that short time, she had fallen asleep, woken up, and was now sleeping again with even her back rising and falling.

If this is her drunken behavior, it’s undoubtedly on the mild side.

I approached her side quietly, slowly kneeling on one knee to peek at her face deep in slumber.

I might be scolded for being creepy, but regardless, my sight was filled with Julia’s doll-like face. Only her cheeks, flushed from alcohol, and her slightly twitching eyelashes added a spoonful of humanity to that sculptural beauty.

Unconsciously wanting to stroke her cheek or the side of her head, I reached out my right hand but…

I withdrew it.

If I carelessly touched her with my twisted hand, I might wake her from her deep sleep.

Even though there was no one to see, I smiled.

The wedding is tomorrow.

In a situation facing an event promising a lifetime together, this level of tenderness is probably the right seasoning.

I stood up.

If falling asleep is simply drunken behavior, there’s no problem. But considering the day’s events, it was also a plausible hypothesis that she had quickly fallen asleep due to not feeling well.

And whichever of the two is true, the conclusion doesn’t change.

Sleep should be done in a bed. Not on a hard dining table.

“Oof.”

I skillfully lifted Julia into my arms and made my way to the bedroom upstairs.

Of course, it wasn’t as peaceful as that simple sentence might suggest.

Our skin touches.

We’ve spent a long time together. The sensation of holding her in my arms, which I’ve become familiar with from dozens of times during walking practice, doesn’t make my heart flutter anew.

…Or so I thought, but it seems the presence or absence of consciousness is more important than expected.

Even while climbing the stairs, Julia only made soft breathing sounds without moving at all.

While I’m seen as someone she can entrust herself to with peace of mind, I’m also holding an unresisting woman in my arms. Amidst the coexistence of tenderness and a sense of sin, feeling the touch of her flimsy nightgown made my arms tense up.

The wedding.

After reminding myself again and again how important an event it is, I was finally able to lay Julia down on the bed.

The bedroom was sufficiently large, and the bed was sizeable to match the room.

That’s how it appears from my perspective, having spent years in a storage room.

The bed we bought for the two of us to use was visibly smaller than Julia’s bed in the mansion.

It was because we prioritized quality over size, but now that I’ve laid Julia down, I finally realize it. It wouldn’t be strange if someone were to roll over and immediately overlap with the other person.

“…”

Roll.

I carefully rolled Julia once to move her to the far side of the bed.

Fortunately, she seemed to be in deep slumber.

After confirming that I could still hear her tired breathing from behind me, I loosened my tie and placed it on the bedside table opposite the bed.

I prepared myself for sleep.

Even though I only had one glass, there’s a faint heat in my breath.

If we both oversleep, our families and acquaintances will find themselves at a modest wedding venue without a bride and groom. That would be quite troublesome.

Just as I had undone a couple of buttons at the top of my shirt…

“Meow.”

“—Goodness!”

“Haha, did I startle you?”

I turned around in surprise.

In the bright darkness of the winter night stood a figure that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

Julia, who should have been sound asleep, was awake.

And she had even taken off her thin robe.

I’ve seen this attire about twice now, the first time being two years ago, but I still can’t get used to it. It’s fortunate that it’s dark, at least.

Just then…

“Ah.”

“…Ugh.”

The clouds cleared and moonlight streamed in.

As the bright darkness transformed into dim light, Julia, who had been just a faint shadow, suddenly became blurry.

No, she became transparent.

She wore a negligee with a deep neckline. Shadows fell on her collarbone, prominent above her white skin, and the moonlight, gradually increasing in intensity, soon illuminated the entire bedroom.

Despite the loose fit, her silhouette was clearly visible.

This doesn’t seem to have been her intention.

Julia tugged at the hem of her skirt for no reason and raised her eyes.

“This bedroom has good lighting.”

“You were awake, no, you were pretending to sleep?”

“Maybe.”

She answered vaguely and approached me one step at a time.

Eventually, with my back to the bed, facing Julia, I used a slightly forceful method. I tried to grab her shoulders and half-forcefully lay her back down on the bed.

But Julia was one step ahead.

“Ugh.”

Her slender hands grabbed my face and pulled me in.

Because of this, I had no choice but to meet Julia’s gaze.

Her amber eyes, always filled with sharp reason, which had been captivating since we first met, were now moist as if on the verge of tears.

Peck.

It was the sound of a light kiss, and also the sound of my consciousness crossing the final line of resistance.

Julia, with an expression immersed in happiness, looked at me blankly and said:

“I might still be drunk on sleep… So much that I couldn’t resist anything you might do, Eugene.”

“…”

“…A month. It’s been a month, you know.”

What surprised me more than those words was her next action. 

Thud. 

Julia gently let the brooch she had been holding roll onto the floor.

The effect wears off.

Naturally, Julia’s body immediately lost its support.

Unlike me, who can use one leg, Julia can’t walk even ten steps on her own without [Walk Assistance]. Drunk walking was therefore impossible.

“Huu, ugh.”

I caught Julia, who was collapsing forward, as if embracing her. Her weakened voice tickled my ear.

I didn’t realize there were so many curves in a human body.

The loose silhouette of the negligee is nothing but a lie. It clings to the skin as soon as I embrace her, as if it were spun from spider silk. At this rate, it seems incapable of fulfilling even the basic function of clothing – concealment, let alone warmth.

It felt like embracing a naked body.

The sweet scent of skin. The sound of breathing in the silence. The sound of each other’s heartbeats. The unique noise made by thin clothes touching and brushing against each other.

The reason these small sounds, barely audible unless you concentrate, feel as loud as a train whistle or a ship’s horn is probably because I’m as tense as I’ve ever been in my life.

The same was true for Julia in my arms.

It’s neither a joke nor pretense.

Her fragile side, which had been hidden by thick coats and equally dense social skills, was now exposed like the flesh of an open clam. Even under the pale moonlight, I could tell her white face had turned bright red.

When my hand brushed somewhere, Julia’s entire body trembled.

We met each other’s gaze simultaneously.

Compared to what happened in the alley a month ago, the situation is much more subtle, but our breathing is even more intense.

The reason was clear.

Unlike then, when only one of us was eager, now, we both want each other.

No more words are necessary.

However, the scholar who advocates reason and the woman who once held a prominent position in high society, while honest in expression and gesture, remained dishonest in speech until the end.

Julia whispered in a thin voice:

“Eugene. You’re still wearing the tie pin I gave you well these days.”

“It’s your gift, after all.”

“It’s not a gift, that. It seems like you really didn’t know. You’re so naive, you probably don’t know this either.”

“Don’t know what?”

“Many women’s clothes are fastened from the back. Many nightgowns only use a single waist tie, hah…”

My left hand stiffened like a stone, as if imitating my twisted right hand.  

Realizing that I had abruptly stopped fumbling in the wrong place, Julia giggled.

“Not there. The tie is back here.”

“…”

“Ahaha. You’re blushing. You’re so clumsy, Eugene.”

“I’m sorry for being clumsy.”

“Mm. But still…”

Julia, who had been leaning on me with her powerless body, suddenly  

pushed me with all her remaining strength.

“I like you just like that.”

Her full weight pressed against me.  

No matter how slender, a person’s weight is still substantial. It was nearly impossible for me, with my impaired right leg, to support Julia as she was about to fall forward.  

The best I could do was to embrace her shoulders and fall onto the soft bed to ensure she wouldn’t get hurt…  

Yes.  

Let’s go with that.

#December 29th. Clear.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes to the cool morning air was Julia’s back, sitting on the edge of the bed, having put her nightgown back on.

Even though it’s just her back, is this what it looks like?

It was striking enough at night, but even more so in the morning. The color of her skin shows right through the cotton fabric.

While feeling a sense of guilt as if I’ve seen something I shouldn’t, considering last night, I also think it’s a bit late for that now.

I shook off my thoughts.

It’s the morning of our wedding day. We should leave love as love, and start preparing to face the main ceremony with a pure heart.

Just then…

“E-Eugene. What should I do?”

When Julia in her nightgown turned towards me, I couldn’t help but pause.

It wasn’t for the vulgar reason that her front view was as surprising as her back view.

Her amber eyes were clearly trembling.

Julia spoke with an equally trembling voice.

“I-I can’t walk.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

She shook her head.

Her long chestnut hair swayed in the morning sunlight.

“It’s not a joke. R-really. Even with [Walk Assistance], I can’t put strength in my legs, and I feel like I’ve forgotten how to walk… W-what should I do? Don’t tell me I have to attend the ceremony in a wheelchair?”

“Pfft.”

“No way. I’ve waited six years for— Huh?”

“Hahaha, khuh…”

Julia’s eyes widened at my sudden burst of laughter.

“Why are you laughing? Even though I asked you to be gentle, you kept embracing me, and now this has happened. At this rate, we won’t even be able to do the bride and groom kiss. Do you want to marry a bride who enters in a wheelchair?”

Julia, thoroughly flustered, continued her reproach without pause, but the laughter showed no signs of stopping. 

I just kept laughing and…

Julia was the first to raise the white flag.

“…Really.”

A puff of air escaped between her crimson lips, and as if we had made a promise, we burst into laughter at the same time.

Surely…

We must have shared the same happiness at the same time.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

How poetic it is for this to happen in Chapter 143; it’s funny how it hit me only after finishing this chapter. This author really is a genius.

See you in the next one!