~Chapter 6~
After punching the column a few times, I felt a little better.
Of course, since the column looked like it could fall apart at any moment, I made sure not to hit it too hard.
I brushed my messy hair back and tried to calm my heavy breathing.
“I’ll say it again. I’m not the witch you’re looking for.”
“Even if there’s proof you are the witch, there’s no proof you aren’t, is there?”
Wow, that really gets on my nerves.
But sadly, he wasn’t wrong. Since Yushen had proof that I was Leana, I also needed to show proof that I wasn’t.
‘What’s different between me and Leana…? What is there?’
I stared at Leana’s face printed on the paper in my hand, thinking hard. Suddenly, I remembered proof that I wasn’t Leana.
I pointed to just under the left corner of my mouth.
“This.”
“This?”
Yushen frowned, wanting me to explain clearly.
“I have a mole here. Leana doesn’t.”
“……”
“And I forgot to say, I’m not the witch Leana you’re looking for. I’m her twin sister, her older twin. I’m a completely different person!”
“……”
Of course, just having one mole isn’t enough to completely convince him I’m not Leana.
But since I’ve been saying the same thing from the start, I thought it would be convincing enough.
“Now, we’re done talking, right? Don’t bother me again.”
Yushen didn’t argue. He just stared at my face with a blank look.
Yeah, I bet he wants to deny it. He searched everywhere for the witch, and now I’m telling him he’s wrong.
But what can he do? That’s the truth. He should accept it.
I twisted up one side of my mouth on purpose and gave a little laugh, then quickly turned away.
“Wait.”
Yushen, who’d been standing there like a scarecrow, blocked my way again. This time, he grabbed both my shoulders tightly.
“Why are you acting so clingy? Are you really my ex-boyfriend or something?”
“Don’t move.”
“What?”
“I have something to check.”
Surprised by his bossy attitude, I tried to back away. But Yushen squeezed my shoulders even tighter, so I couldn’t move.
No matter what I wanted, the space between me and Yushen got smaller and smaller.
As he got closer, I didn’t know where to look.
‘Is this suddenly turning into a romance story?’
Yushen stopped just in front of me and looked down. I saw his long, curved eyelashes so close.
‘Even his eyelashes are handsome… Wait, no! That’s not important!’
Now’s not the time to think silly things. Maybe Yushen knew Leana was weak to handsome men and was trying to use that against me.
I quickly got my mind straight and glared at him like I wanted to kill him. But even with my sharp stare, he just kept looking closely—right at my lips.
‘Wait… Is he really going to kiss me?’
Just a moment ago, we were arguing about witches and stuff, weren’t we?
Anyway, no matter what, I didn’t want Yushen to take my first kiss.
Sure, he’s handsome, but of course, I want my first kiss to be with someone I love.
Just as I was about to push Yushen away, he stopped with just enough space for a fist between us.
“What…”
Right when I was about to ask what he was doing, something touched the edge of my lips. It didn’t just touch, it pressed down with some weight.
…His face was right in front of me.
I looked down and saw a white-gloved hand.
He was rubbing the spot with the mole with his thumb, over and over, in every direction.
I blinked a couple of times, then slapped his hand away.
Yushen didn’t look upset. He just stepped back like he’d finished what he wanted.
“…What did you just do to me?”
“I was checking if it was real.”
His confident answer actually made me more embarrassed.
“The mole doesn’t come off.”
“Of course it doesn’t! It’s mine!”
“Are you sure you didn’t use black magic to make it stay?”
Wow… he’s the king of making people frustrated.
At first, I was mad that Yushen kept talking about black magic and didn’t believe me. But now, all I could do was let out a tired laugh.
“You keep saying black magic this, black magic that. Are you sure you aren’t the one obsessed with black magic?”
“Obsessed with black magic?”
“Yeah! Don’t you ever get tired of saying it?”
Yushen frowned, looking annoyed. But honestly, that was fair from my point of view.
I was just frustrated, but if I thought about all the things Yushen had said to me, he seemed even more crazy about black magic than Leana.
I know he only cares about it to catch Leana, but still, isn’t it a bit much?
Then Yushen shook his head and started taking off his white gloves.
“Huh?”
In the original story, Yushen never takes off his gloves, no matter what. Because of his trauma, he hates touching other people’s skin.
He might touch people if he has no choice at work, but he never gets close to others on his own.
But just now, he took off his gloves just to check if my mole was real.
That’s the kind of thing he only ever did for the heroine.
‘…Is this one of those butterfly effects from me becoming Letitia?’
Ah, so is that why he’s taking off his gloves now? Will he put them back on?
Even though I knew I should act like I didn’t notice, I spoke without thinking.
“Those gloves…”
“Hmm?”
Yushen raised his eyebrows like he was asking if I had something to say.
I shook my head.
No point letting him know I understood what the gloves meant.
He squinted his eyes, then finished what he was doing.
He tossed the old gloves on the ground like trash.
‘Huh? Why did he just throw those away?’
But soon I saw why. He pulled out another pair of white gloves from inside his jacket and put them on.
I stared at him, then gave a little laugh.
‘Does he think I’m dirty? Like I’m a germ?’
After touching my face, he changed his gloves like he’d touched something dirty.
“It’s like you’re treating me as if I’m some kind of dirty germ.”
“It’s just a habit.”
“A habit, huh.”
I knew from the novel that his trauma made him obsessed with wearing gloves. It was explained a few times.
But the way he changed gloves just now—I never saw that before. Yushen never acted rude in front of his own people.
So, he was showing me I wasn’t “his person.”
I know Yushen wears gloves because of trauma, but I don’t know why he has that trauma.
No other readers know, either.
‘The novel never really explained Yushen’s past.’
It just mentioned that he had a tough childhood because of his family, but only in passing.
Even until the end of the story, he never went without gloves. I always guessed his trauma was so bad that even the heroine couldn’t help him.
‘Whew. I’m letting it slide because you’re the male lead. If some extra did this to me, I’d give him a hard smack.’
After finishing my thoughts, I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.
Yushen, too, seemed to have made up his mind about something.
“…For now, I’ll keep it a secret that you’re staying here.”
“Why? Wouldn’t it be better to go catch Leana instead of hiding me?”
“No. If you really are Leana’s twin, you’ll be even more useful to me later.”
“……”
“And maybe you haven’t gone so far as to betray your family for black magic yet.”
By now, even Yushen was confused. He wasn’t sure if I was really Leana or not, so he picked a decision that was somewhere in the middle.
Of course, Yushen is smart, so I can see why he’d think that… but he’s wrong.
Leana could throw me away any time. I’m not really her family.
Actually, even if I was her real family, she’d probably still throw me away.
Who else would think of bringing someone back from the dead just to use them as a tool?
Maybe Leana always saw her sister as a tool from the start.
Yushen doesn’t know that, so for now, he still thinks of Leana as human.
But I know there’s another reason, too.
‘With Yushen’s personality, there’s no way he’d just watch this temple be ruined.’
Even though I keep saying I’m not Leana, to Yushen, I’m still her twin and look almost the same, so people might think I’m a witch.
If people found out a witch had been living in this temple for a while?
All the priests, even the assistant priest in charge, would be fired. If they were lucky. More likely, they’d get blamed and live a terrible life.
‘In the worst case… they could all be executed.’
That’s why Yushen said he’d keep my secret. Not for me, but for the people working at the temple.
It’s just what you’d expect from the male lead and the famous captain of the Luche Knights.
‘Too bad he’s not so kind to me.’
Even if I’m sad about it, what can I do? That’s the role I have in this world.
