Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 144

To Teacher, From Vanessa 144

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As soon as the two left, the man’s back bent sharply. A large hand cupped her cheek, lifting Vanessa’s flushed face.

“Gideon, that…”

Before she could say anything, their foreheads met. Their lips were within a hair’s breadth, but he didn’t move any closer.

“Why won’t your fever go down?”

He teased, his red lips slightly parted.

It’s not a fever.

Vanessa frowned and grabbed his collar, pulling his lips down to hers in a deep kiss.

The man, who had pretended to be purely checking her temperature, quickly revealed his desire. Vanessa had initiated the pull, but he was the one who dove in. He licked and nibbled at her inner lip, tangling his tongue with hers in a greedy manner.

She was too busy accepting the man’s advances to even think about being equally demanding. She tried to pull away, but his large hand blocked her retreat.

Frustrated, she hit his chest, giving her only a moment to catch her breath before he tilted his head and kissed her again.

She was definitely standing on tiptoe, but when she came to her senses, he had lifted her up. Her arms were naturally around his neck, and her legs were wrapped around his waist.

They fell back with a soft thud. Her cheeks flushed at the touch that traced her heated lips. She bit the long fingers that tried to delve deeper and buried her face in his chest, trying to catch her breath.

The man’s body wasn’t artificially built up; it was made of tough muscles from actual combat and training. Every place she touched was firm and solid, stirring up unnecessary fantasies.

Gideon lingered for a while longer. He was acting as if he had some pent-up desires lately.

The funny thing was, it was all his fault. Because Vanessa hadn’t fully recovered her health yet – although this was now his own assertion – the man, who was strictly abstaining, seemed to be running out of patience.

Of course, his abstinence never applied above the waist.

“Why won’t your fever go down?”

It feels like it’s because of you. As Vanessa grumbled, Gideon chuckled and placed her back on the sofa. Then, he sat beside her and pressed his lips to her neck a few more times.

Vanessa looked at him with curious eyes. Gideon was struggling to stop himself from getting close again, faced with her sparkling blue eyes and pouting lips.

“I heard you officially returned to your position as commander. How was it?”

The man made a strange expression and didn’t answer. But after Vanessa pressed him a few more times, he finally opened his mouth.

“It was such a mess that I wanted to quit.”

“You say that, but you’ll probably stay up all night again, right?”

“No, I mean it. The paperwork…”

It’s endless. Gideon said that and then tilted his head back before straightening it. The face he turned back to her was full of smiles.

“Vanessa seems to have had fun without thinking about me. I’m a little sad.”

“Oh, I was so happy when Lina and Chebati came. I’m planning to invite Evan and Daloys next time too. Did you know Daloys sent me three letters this week alone?”

“Well, I doubt those two will be able to come; they’re busy with work.”

Gideon smirked, and Vanessa raised her hand to pull down the corners of his mouth.

“Don’t tease me.”

“Your friends are the ones teasing me. Do you know how they wrote their reports this time?”

It was no different from a diary recording their feelings. Vanessa laughed out loud at the blunt assessment.

The two ate without formality. They didn’t want to go to the dining hall today, so they just put a few cold dishes on a low table.

It seemed like Gideon doing that was incredibly surprising to the Valder Castle staff. But Peres’s face looked very pleased, so they decided to just assume it was a good thing.

She leaned back on the sofa, eating, and was so happy that she didn’t even care that she had cream on her cheek. Vanessa laughed so hard she couldn’t breathe as Gideon imitated the expressions of the joint meeting attendees who found out about their relationship. Whoever it was, it was clear that the head of the Latitia family was very surprised.

“Puhaha, no way!”

“It’s true. They might have opened their mouths even wider than that.”

“That’s impossible. Why were they so surprised? Did you hide it so well that they felt betrayed?”

“Maybe. Latitia has three lovers, and his wife found out about all of them. And that wife wonderfully took more than half of Marquis Latitia’s assets.”

“Wow, I’m really modest compared to that. Since I only have one lover.”

Gideon smirked.

“One of you will be enough.”

“Why are you so sure? My type might actually be dark hair. Or red hair, too.”

“What does hair color matter so much?”

So said the man, leaning in close to whisper in Vanessa’s ear.

“‘A beauty that takes the breath away, regardless of gender,’ I think that’s what you wrote. Isn’t it?”

“Aaaagh!”

Vanessa, horrified, jumped up to run away, but her waist was instantly grabbed, and she was pulled into his large embrace. That was definitely what she had written in the letter to her teacher when she first saw him.

The two could now throw the past around like a joke. Even the things that had made them doubt their feelings and caused so many hardships afterward had already been well-divided and cleanly resolved. Since there were no lingering emotions, there were no thorns to prick each other.

Clearly, it was progress, and it was a good thing, but she should have torn up that letter.

“Let go!”

Vanessa tried to cover her ears, but it was impossible because he hugged her from behind, as if binding her whole body. No matter how much she struggled, it was no use.

“A neatly exposed forehead and…”

“Ah, I can’t hear! I can’t hear you!”

“I can’t quite remember what comes after this. It’s hard for me to read this letter more than once. Should I just go get it and read it?”

“One is enough. I’m saying one lover is enough!”

“Good choice.”

At the shameless answer, Vanessa huffed and slammed the back of her head against his chest. Despite her best headbutt, Gideon laughed contentedly, as if it didn’t hurt at all.

At that moment, amid all the commotion, the glass on the table shook, and some water spilled.

“That’s a shame.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could have stopped that in an instant in the old days.”

Gideon smiled wryly for a moment. Vanessa, who had noticed his emotions even with her head leaning against his chest, waved her hand and said.

“No, when you think about it, it’s a good thing that that’s all you’re regretting. Water can be wiped up with a dry cloth.”

“Have there been any other times you’ve regretted something? I’ll take care of it for you whenever that happens now.”

Hugging her from behind, he kissed her hair several times. Her heart tickled at the affectionate words.

She tried to act nonchalant and racked her brain. There really wasn’t anything she particularly regretted, so nothing much came to mind.

“Um, when it’s a little hotter? I used to be able to make the wind blow quickly when I sang like this. Right?”

Vanessa pursed her lips into a circle. It sounded like the wind was brushing past. And at that moment.

Crash!

All the windows of Valder Castle facing the garden shattered as they were, due to the violently swirling wind.

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Vanessa and Gideon stared at the broken glass fragments with stunned expressions. They were finely shattered and sparkled even under the low light. Belated screams were heard from downstairs.

“What’s going on!”

“Who did this! Catch them immediately!”

Silence hung in the air between the two for a moment. Vanessa swallowed hard, her eyes twitching.

“…G, Gideon. Did you use magic?”

“No, it wasn’t me…”

“Then me…?”

He also looked genuinely embarrassed. Because.

“There are magic prohibition circuits hidden on this entire floor; how could you?” [Magic prohibition circuits are magical barriers that prevent the use of magic within a specific area.]

It was inexplicable. She still couldn’t feel the magic flowing through her body. As the Black Wolf and Bam Vandalu had said, you can’t fill a broken glass with water [an idiom meaning it’s impossible to restore something that’s fundamentally broken or lost].

But magic had been realized again even with another challenge. However, the control of power was a little difficult. She had only wanted a light to brighten her eyes, but the round lights filled the bedroom, making her eyes sting.

“…….”

“Does anything hurt?”

“No….?”

Vanessa, with a bewildered face, looked down at her hand and suddenly raised her head.

“H, perhaps Bam Vandalu’s magic circle was wrong?”

Gideon repeated that it couldn’t be with an anxious face, but Vanessa didn’t calm down easily.

In the end, he contacted the royal palace. Even as he scribbled down the details quickly, Vanessa wandered around. The light that filled the room disappeared in an instant.

“Gideon, are you going to collapse again? Right? Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

Vanessa babbled, groping from his neck to his shoulders and chest. Gideon gently kissed her teary eyes, showing how surprised she was. And he held her in his arms and went into the bathroom.

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In the bathroom where the sound of water flowed, Vanessa washed away her fearful feelings. The warm water, the blue garden visible far outside the window, and Gideon were helpful.

The wound on his wrist had healed without a trace. His skin was clean without any dark spots. So nothing had happened.

Lina was right. She needed time to control her anxiety.

When she came out flushed for various reasons, the royal palace had already contacted her.

“The content is that Bam Vandalu’s magic circle is no different than usual. It seems to be in very good condition.”

Gideon shook the letter stamped with the king’s seal, dripping water from his hair. Vanessa let out a sigh of relief.

He left briefly to clean up the broken windows, and Vanessa, left alone, lay on the bed, holding back the urge to use magic.

What the heck is it? They clearly said I wouldn’t be able to use magic anymore. That my body wouldn’t be filled with magic. And I don’t feel anything at all.

Her thoughts deepened, but there were no answers.

Gideon, who returned, naturally lay down beside her and put his arm around her. Vanessa, exhausted in many ways, snuggled in and blinked her eyes.

He didn’t sleep until Vanessa yawned and closed her flickering eyes. A gaze as soft as sunlight constantly poured over the bridge of her nose. It was so warm that she fell asleep.

Then, something brushed against her toes and woke her up.

“Uh….”

It was already very late at night, but thanks to the bright moon or the garden lights, she could vaguely make out her surroundings through the faint light seeping through the curtains.

The curtains separating the bed from the outside environment were draped over the top and swaying gently in the wind. It seemed to have brushed against her toes.

He had definitely come in after completely lowering the bed curtains. Was the window open? Could the latch have been broken because it was broken earlier? Were some of the glass fragments not properly attached?

No matter how nice the weather is, the wind is cold at night. Just in case Gideon catches a cold.

Vanessa carefully released Gideon’s hand wrapped around her waist. He was hugging her, completely covering her back, so her movements naturally became cautious.

Fortunately, the man, who would usually jump up at even the slightest twitch from Vanessa, seemed to be in a deep sleep today.

She pulled back the thin blanket and got out of bed.

The moment she stepped on the floor and completely 벗어난 [Korean word meaning ‘escaped’ or ‘gotten out of’] the curtains, the sight that came into view was…