North x Northwest - Chapter 128

Chapter 128

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Lil couldn’t believe it and muttered.

“How could this be…”

“Why? Do you usually have trouble sleeping?”

“Yes. I can’t sleep well. But how much time has passed?”

“Um… that’s… why?”

“One hour? Two hours?”

“Uh… well, is that really important? But first, what are you going to do with this?”

“…”

Ed pointed to his bangs smeared with ointment. In her absentminded state, Lil had covered the teeth mark with so much medicine that it was now completely buried by the salve. Frowning at her disastrous ointment application, Lil squinted at the door to avoid taking responsibility.

“This is why I need you to cover it with a cotton cloth again.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s it?”

“I need to go.”

“So you want me to fix the troubles you caused myself?”

“I’m very busy.”

Lil turned around and grabbed her doorknob, when…

“Truth is, I don’t have a mirror… so please give me a hand.”

‘Damn it.’

Lil’s face distorted in frustration.

‘I rather have Ed threatening me to inform everyone about the cause of his wound as I can easily ignore that. But what I can’t ignore is someone’s helplessness, especially when I’m apologetic about it.’

Despite already gripping the handle, Lil gritted her teeth, let it go and returned to the bedside.

‘I should have gone out quietly after laying him down on his bed. How annoying, I just gave myself more work.’

Ed, who had no idea what was going on in her head, sat meekly and stared at Lil. She didn’t like his sudden docile behaviour either. Ed hasn’t offended Lil with his eccentric speech recently, and he hasn’t done anything intrusive. Moreso, he secretly assisted her and put his life on the line for her. As a result, Lil had no reason to be prejudiced and treat him differently than the other sailors. She was a generous captain, always willing to help a crew member who asked for assistance and taking responsibility when she was the cause of the damage.

“Where is it?”

Ed pointed to the medicine bag on the desk. Lil rummaged through it until she found the cotton cloth, before wiping the white ointment from his hair. Her application appeared to be far worse than when she saw it from a distance. Lil tried to see the positive side of it.

‘If I had left it alone, he would have whined about it for weeks. Even if I set out to be that cruel, what I did was wrong, and I have to sincerely apologise.’

Lil murmured with tense shoulders.

“…Look, I’m sorry. This really is thick. I would have regretted it if I just left it like this…”

“…”

“Ugh, I know I shouldn’t be mean to you, but sometimes I can’t help it. You’re acting strangely sly.”

“Well, I was surprised you even thought of applying the medicine yourself.”

“I was the one who hurt you, so I should at least do this much.”

“Isn’t it because I keep getting caught by your eyes?”

Lil frowned at Ed, who was talking nonsense.

“You’re talking bullshit again.”

Ed kept his mouth shut. When Lil caught sight of him, she soon resumed her work.

Ed licked his parched lips with his tongue.

‘It seems like now will be a good time to confess. In a place where we’re alone and no one can bother us. There’s no guarantee that another opportunity like this will arise. But I’m still curious about the meaning and sudden change of ‘Liloa’ that only I can see. Did she have a change of heart? What’s her opinion of me now? I can barely stand my curiosity. If I have to guess, it’s most likely a positive turning point. There’s no way she would show the person she despised, her true face she hasn’t shown anyone else.’

Time passed while he was thinking it over and he became increasingly nervous.

‘If I confess my identity here and ask for forgiveness, I’ll most certainly be rejected. It’s easy to predict how betrayed Liloa will feel. If that happens, our fragile relationship will be irreversibly damaged, and we might never speak again. Then, I’ll never be able to figure out what this all meant or why the necklace stopped working…’

As a result, Ed desired their relationship to remain the same until he figured it out. He knew it was shameless greed, but he was afraid he would never know if their relationship ended here. It was a secret that felt too big to keep hidden from him, from Lil, or anyone else.

“What does the Captain think of me?”

“You’re part of my crew.”

“Is that all?”

“Why are you even asking? Do you think you’ve become someone special because I’ve deemed you innocent? It appears that you’re thinking incorrectly; I just recognized you as a sailor, okay? I had been watching you closely before because you were suspicious, but now I’ve decided to accept you without any reservations. Don’t act like you’re getting special treatment.”

Her voice was exceptionally cold. Ed looked over Lil’s shoulder, some morning light streamed in through the wooden shutters.

‘Liloa thinks it’s still night. If she knows it’s already morning, she’ll leave the cabin immediately… I don’t have much time left. What shall I do? What words can I use to convince her?’

Ed lowered his tingling eyes that became stiff from being awake all night. Through his vision blurred by fatigue, he could see his and Lil’s legs almost touching. As if they had brushed against each other, the muscles in his legs became stiff and hot. Lil, on the other hand, acted normal and was completely unaware of the loss of her necklace’s divine power.

Her denial that he was ‘just part of her crew’ was too much for Ed.

‘If I’m really just another ordinary sailor in her eyes, then everyone should be seeing her like this. Right?’

“Really?”

“Huh, why? Do you think you’re an exception?”

“…”

A snort of laughter could be heard, mocking his expectations.

“Is that what you have been thinking?”

“I thought you cared for me, though. In this brief period of time, we had good conversations and great experiences together, right?”

“If you really think what you’re saying is true, then I have to distance myself from you again. I’m the Captain and the leader here, so I always have to be fair, but if you feel that way, my other crew members might also think you’re my favourite. I have no intention of making that happen.”

‘Don’t lie.’

Ed glared at the woman in front of him, with her long, undone black hair.

‘No one knows that her hair is this long, it’s something only I can see. I’m not seeing an illusion or a hallucination. How can you dismiss me as no different from the other guys when I’m seeing you as the woman you are, right in front of me? Why would you tell such an obvious lie to someone who knows this is clearly something else? How could you?’

Of course, Lil has no idea how she appeared to him. However, it was appalling that she didn’t even want to admit that she had a change of heart or an awakening that couldn’t be ignored. Ed vividly recalled the moment Lil changed. And how happy she was at that very moment.

‘Time is running out. My heart can’t take this anymore. I can’t turn a blind eye to this any longer. If she refuses to acknowledge it herself, then I’ll have to make her admit it.’

“Then why do you only look like this to me?”

Lil asked with a completely unintelligible face.

“…What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what?’?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Why do you think I’ve been tailing you around for?”

It was only then that Lil, who sensed something was off, tensed up.

“Wait a minute, tell me again from the beginning. I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“It seems so obvious, why are you pretending not to know what I mean to you?”

“What are you talking about…”

“Why on earth? Are you afraid that admitting it will make it irreversible?”

The space between the bed and the desk wasn’t wide. Lil, who was backing away from him, eventually bumped against the desk.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“What are you so afraid of? What kind of immense feelings do you have?”

“What the hell are you talking about? If you want to have a conversation, get away from me and explain yourself properly.”

Lil kept a straight face and started to shove him on the shoulder. Even as Ed was being pushed away, he didn’t bother to stop her. He knew she was going to stop the moment she heard the crazy words from him anyway.

“By any chance… Do you love me?”

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