Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 76

A large hand carefully brushed away the loose strands of hair. The fingertips, about to touch her round ear, hesitated with a subtle tremor.

“Vanessa.”

Instead, a low, gentle voice awakened Vanessa.

Vanessa startled awake and sat up in surprise. Before her stood a man in uniform, looking at her with concern.

Vanessa rubbed her eyes roughly and checked the time. It was well past one in the morning. She had fallen asleep without realizing it.

Vanessa felt a pain in the back of her neck from sleeping in such an awkward position.

“Why didn’t you use the bed inside? And what happened to your knee?”

The man knelt beside the sofa, examining Vanessa’s leg closely. Even though he saw the injury wasn’t severe, he sighed deeply.

Gideon gently brushed Vanessa’s hair back and lightly lifted her from where she was buried on the sofa. Vanessa mumbled something, then simply relaxed her body. She was extremely drowsy.

*If I use teleportation magic just one or two more times trying to escape, I’ll probably faint.*

“Is it normal to feel sleepy after using teleportation magic?”

Gideon answered softly to her half-asleep voice. His voice was so quiet, as if he didn’t want to wake her.

“Using too much mana makes you sleepy. You’ll get used to it as you use it more. Where did you teleport from and to?”

“From Nardo Street to the front of Friba Royal Castle… Wait!”

Vanessa, suddenly wide awake, began to struggle, causing Gideon to stop heading towards the bedroom. However, he still didn’t put Vanessa down.

“No, wait a minute. There’s something I want to show you on the table!”

Gideon returned to the table and looked at the paper. Despite this, he still didn’t let her go, so Vanessa gave up trying to escape his arms and waited quietly.

After a moment of silence, Gideon asked, puzzled.

“What did you write?”

On the paper on the table, there were only squiggly, strange black lines, nothing that looked like writing. Vanessa blushed, thinking of his perfect handwriting.

“I must have been too sleepy. Just put me down for a second!”

Gideon finally set Vanessa down on the sofa and sat next to her. He leaned his face on her shoulder. Vanessa took his hand and patted it.

“Are you tired?”

“No, I’m fine. Peles contacted me to tell me you had arrived, but I saw it late. I’m sorry. Something… came up.”

He wore a subtle expression, but Vanessa didn’t see it. So, she jokingly said what she wanted to say.

“Do you know I almost got kidnapped just now?”

Gideon straightened up. His expression was cold as he faced her.

“What are you talking about?”

Unexpectedly, Gideon’s expression was so stern that Vanessa flinched slightly. *I thought he would laugh.*

“No, it’s a joke. It’s nothing much.”

And she told him everything that had happened to her in the evening. Vanessa thought everything was fine since the result was good, but he didn’t think so. Gideon’s expression remained cold, without a hint of a smile.

“The letter you sent yesterday was because of this. I had some suspicions, but you went there alone? Without saying anything else?”

“I sent it just in case, and I thought nothing would happen….”

“Vanessa.”

Gideon ran a large hand over his face. His voice, once he had composed himself, sounded like he was trying to be gentle.

“Don’t you think I would worry? If something had happened, I would have blamed myself for not realizing the meaning of the letter.”

“I thought sending the letter was an overreaction. And there’s no reason for anyone to target me! I’m not a great magician. Is it because I’m a magician who doesn’t know the conditions of growing up in an orphanage? I don’t even know what it is, to be honest. Am I misunderstanding something?”

Vanessa shrugged. But Gideon, still not looking pleased, sighed deeply once more as he looked at the wound on Vanessa’s knee. Vanessa felt wronged and defended herself.

“This is because I misused teleportation magic. I fell straight out of the air, I tell you.”

“You used teleportation magic because you were about to experience something bad. And you came here because you didn’t think your house was safe.”

Vanessa became sullen at the cold reply. *It’s true, but….*

“Retima Kina from the Ministry of Finance. Did you see what the magic circle in her hand was?”

“I only saw it roughly. It wasn’t elemental magic, but rather magic that was a bit confusing. I didn’t see it exactly. I think she was probably going to put it right in front of my eyes….”

Gideon stood up. Vanessa was surprised and grabbed his arm.

“Where are you going!”

“I need to contact the Minister of Finance.”

“Now? At this hour? No one will answer! And there’s no evidence. What are you even going to ask?”

Gideon looked down at Vanessa clinging to his arm and eventually sat back down.

She was right. It was difficult to contact him with no concrete evidence. The Minister of Finance was known for being difficult.

Gideon ran his fingers through his hair haphazardly. Golden strands fell over his forehead, slightly covering his eyebrows. He looked somehow depressed.

Vanessa, noticing him, mumbled.

“Should I have followed her? Then there would be evidence….”

“Vanessa.”

The man’s voice was cold and stern, as if giving a warning. Vanessa flinched and shut her mouth.

Gideon tried to relax his expression and swallowed a sigh. He reached out towards the injured knee but couldn’t bring himself to touch it, hovering nearby.

“Does it hurt?”

“It honestly hurt at first, but I’m okay now. I didn’t know you would fall straight down if you teleported while sitting.”

Gideon stared intently at Vanessa’s face. Vanessa wrinkled her nose, but he seemed to be thinking about something else. His eyes, stained by the low light, held so much that she couldn’t read.

“Was the journey here okay?”

“Uh….”

Vanessa hesitated for a moment whether to tell him she had met the King. The King had taken her personal information, and she wondered if this was an important issue.

But it was already late at night, and she thought it would only deepen Gideon’s worries. His expression was already so bad.

*I should tell him tomorrow. I met His Majesty!*

So, Vanessa just smiled brightly.

“Nothing happened. It was a bit far, and I looked around a lot, but that’s all.”

Only then did Gideon relax his sharp expression and smile faintly. He gently loosened Vanessa’s messed-up hair, which had been tangled from sleeping with her head buried in the sofa.

“I was so surprised I didn’t say anything, but teleportation magic, congratulations. You’ve still been working hard.”

“I know, right? You should have been surprised about that first! I succeeded in long-distance teleportation magic!”

“Is that long-distance? Let’s call it mid-range.”

“Look at you, showing off because you know how to do it. Yes, I’m a magician who doesn’t even know the conditions.”

Vanessa pouted. Gideon finally broke his stern face and smiled at her words, making Vanessa feel better.

“Go and rest. It’s almost two in the morning.”

“Ramona came to leave your clothes and said you were sleeping in a strange place. I came to carry you to the bed.”

Vanessa groaned.

*I really was sleeping strangely. Why did I curl up on the sofa?*

Still, if they continued talking, Gideon really wouldn’t be able to rest.

Vanessa hurriedly pushed Gideon with force. But the large body didn’t budge.

“Go away! Go and rest!”

“I’m hurt. Why are you chasing me away like this? It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.”

“It’s night, of course. Go to your room, Duke.”

As a tender gaze fell upon her at those words, the smile disappeared from Vanessa’s lips. Suddenly, Vanessa realized where she was.

*Two people in a dark room? The hallway is completely silent?*

Vanessa hastily wrapped her gown around herself and jumped up.

“I, I’m going to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Gideon replied kindly. And, unlike his gentle reply, he suddenly tugged on Vanessa’s gown as she fled from behind.

Vanessa fell very securely into Gideon’s arms. Unable to even scream, she froze.

Gideon’s arm wrapped around her slender waist and pulled her close. Warm, solid heat touched her entire back.

He buried his face in Vanessa’s neckline from behind. As his languid breath tickled her skin, Vanessa’s cheeks and the tips of her ears turned red.

Suddenly, Vanessa remembered the stupid thing she had done. The day she kissed his eyes and cheeks and ran away.

*So, this is how you do it naturally. But how do you do that? Do you just express it when you want to?*

Unlike Vanessa, who was in a state of confusion, Gideon leaned comfortably. After calming his heart with steady breaths for a moment, he released the arm that had been holding her. Vanessa carefully turned around to meet his eyes.

Gideon smiled, his eyes crinkling.

“You’ve had a hard day. Rest well.”

Vanessa stared at Gideon without answering. Unlike Vanessa’s hair, his hair, though disheveled, fell naturally as if intentionally styled.

*What makes him so perfect?*

Gathering as much courage as possible, Vanessa, still facing him, opened her arms wide and embraced Gideon. Gideon stood still and accepted the hug. Only the corners of his lips were slightly raised.

“I feel like I’d be a little more at ease if we were always together like this.”

Vanessa grumbled at the sincere whisper.

“The reason we can’t be together is because Gideon is busy.”

“And not because you have too many friends?”

Vanessa was somehow speechless and buried her face in his arms. She had refused a dinner appointment with him, saying she was meeting Chebati….

Then, Vanessa noticed something strange.

Thump, thump.

His expression was perfectly calm, but the sound of his heart beating throughout his chest was very loud and fast. She always thought only she was nervous, but he was clearly no different from her.

As Vanessa glanced up at him, Gideon frowned as if embarrassed.

“Oh, you noticed.”

“Pfft.”

Vanessa laughed loudly, released her arms, and stood up.

“See you tomorrow.”

Gideon tilted his head slightly and crinkled his eyes.

Vanessa opened the door to the bedroom and went inside. Gideon, left alone in the reception room, slowly erased his expression.

Gideon picked up the paper Vanessa had left behind, with the strange black scribbles on it. And then he went outside.