<Chapter 53>
#5. The Throb of Excitement (8)
Melty couldn’t easily answer her question. He still hadn’t fully understood what she said, making the back of his head feel numb. Trying to regain his composure, he tapped his cheeks lightly with his hands before opening his mouth to ask a question.
“Ca-Calix-ssi said that he has a partner.”
“He does. A partner.”
“But he doesn’t have a fiancée…?”
Melty’s voice grew progressively quieter as he retraced the things she had mentioned. At the end of his statement, which hung with a question mark, she burst out laughing with a “pft” and looked at him with an amused expression.
“Hasn’t Calix-nim told you anything?”
“About what?”
“I wonder if I should tell you this without Calix-nim’s permission~”
Lila, who had leaned comfortably against the chair’s backrest, played with her hair while dragging out her words. Sensing that she was teasing him, Melty glared at her with a sulky expression. Finding him cute, Lila leaned toward where Melty was sitting.
“He already has someone he’s interested in.”
After finishing her words, Lila’s finger poked Melty’s arm. Startled by her movement, which implied a lot, Melty pulled his body back as far as he could. In this suspicious situation, Pel’s sharp gaze fell on Lila. Showing her hands slightly in a gesture of harmlessness, Lila obediently moved her body backward.
“H-h-how did you know? I-I didn’t say anything!”
“You just did.”
Left speechless by Lila’s casual observation, Melty earnestly opened and closed his innocent mouth. Perhaps because he was surprised by her sudden pointing out, his heart pounded loudly and vigorously. Though he felt like he had been ‘caught’ by her, his startled heart wouldn’t easily calm down.
“I didn’t expect you to be this surprised. I’m sorry.”
“N-no, it’s fine.”
“Just to let you know in advance, I didn’t figure it out from your behavior—I already knew. I’m naturally quick to notice things related to love.”
As Lila went on explaining that it was natural to develop such perception if one wanted to quickly catch someone they liked, Melty nodded his head obediently. In an instant, their tea time conversation had transformed into a lesson about love.
“People in love can’t usually hide it. No matter how thorough a person is, it always shows. With Calix-nim showing it so obviously, I wouldn’t be Lila McNeil if I hadn’t noticed.”
Each time she spoke, Melty responded with an impressed expression, letting out exclamations of “wow.” As a result, Lila’s voice grew increasingly confident. Having placed her hands on her hips somewhere along the way, she raised her nose high and concluded her speech, prompting Melty to applaud. Like an actor appearing on a famous stage, she lightly touched her chest with her hand and slightly bowed her head in acknowledgment.
“Was Calix-ssi that obvious?”
“Very much so.”
At Lila’s decisive answer, Melty fidgeted with the hands he had placed gently on his legs. He hadn’t noticed at all. That’s why Calix’s confession had felt so sudden. Slowly turning his gaze to the side, Melty looked at Pel, who was standing steadfastly at a slight distance. Following his gaze, Lila rested her chin on her hand and tapped her cheek with her fingers.
“If we speak quietly, he won’t hear us.”
At her casually dropped remark, Melty hurriedly shifted his gaze back to her. Lila smiled brightly at Melty and said in a sweet voice:
“Did you want to tell me a secret?”
At Lila’s question, which had already seen through his actions, Melty swallowed hard. He needed someone to discuss his troubled feelings with. Writing a letter to his family had helped organize his thoughts, but he desperately needed someone’s advice.
However, for Melty, who had few acquaintances or people he knew, there weren’t many people he could consult about these troubled feelings. Even those few people were all from the mansion. He felt that if he talked to people working in Calix’s mansion about this, he would only receive biased advice. Melty needed someone who could view the situation objectively.
Looking around, Melty leaned toward Lila and whispered with a serious expression and a low voice.
“Lila-ssi, are you a love expert?”
Despite the content, Melty’s infinitely serious face made Lila barely manage to swallow the laughter that almost burst out. Then, nodding her head vigorously, she said:
“Of course. Who else could earn such a title if not me?”
“I have something to ask.”
“By all means.”
Nodding her head, she listened attentively to his words with a haughty expression. Looking up at her, Melty opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“To be in a relationship, two people need to like each other, right?”
“Generally, yes. Unless it’s a forced marriage arranged between families.”
Lila deliberately added additional explanation so that Melty could understand better. At her words, Melty nodded his head vigorously and asked another question.
“But how do you know if you like the other person?”
And the question Melty casually threw out was unexpected. Quickly erasing the bewildered expression that had appeared on her face, Lila let out a brief dry cough.
“Why are you curious about that?”
“Well… because I’m not sure.”
Melty’s voice became more muffled toward the end. Seeing him looking dejected, Lila sipped her tea to buy time, frantically working through her thoughts. She didn’t know what had happened in just one day, but at the banquet, Melty had firmly stated that Calix wasn’t his type, yet now he was conflicted. She wasn’t sure what had triggered this, but it was clear that Melty was now conscious of Calix.
‘I wonder if I’m putting a fluffy hamster into a snake’s mouth.’
In theory, she felt she should create an atmosphere favorable to Calix, but she was reluctant to do so. In the end, she decided to explain her theory neatly without taking anyone’s side.
“The way to know if you like someone is very simple. First, your heart should race when you’re together.”
As she spoke, raising one finger, Melty placed his hand over his heart with a gasp.
“And even when you’re not together, that person should keep coming to mind.”
Lila’s second finger unfurled. Once again, with the sound of swallowing his breath, Melty pressed his head with both hands.
“Most importantly, people who fall in love will do anything for that person.”
This time, the symptoms didn’t match. Slowly lowering the hands that had been pressing his head, Melty looked at her with sparkling eyes.
“Anything?”
“Of course. Love makes people reckless.”
At her words, Melty nodded his head obediently while wearing a puzzled expression. For his benefit, as he clearly wasn’t grasping the concept, Lila added more.
“The most definitive thing is the ‘feeling.’ When you get that moment of ‘Ah, it’s this person!’ you must hold onto them to avoid regret. Got it?”
Having instantly become a teacher instructing a young child, Lila waved her index finger instead of a pointer stick as she spoke. Having become an enthusiastic student of her teachings, Melty kept nodding his head.
“When you fall in love, you dislike seeing other people beside that person. That’s what we call ‘jealousy.'”
“I’ve read about that a lot in books.”
At Melty’s spirited answer, Lila nodded with a satisfied expression.
“If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.”
Almost adding “Student Melty” after her words, she quickly closed her mouth and waited for Melty’s question. Completely unaware of the words that had lingered in her mouth without being spoken, Melty asked her with a worried expression.
“Then, can your heart race and you keep thinking about someone even if you don’t like them?”
“……”
Though the sentence was missing the subject of who was experiencing these symptoms, Lila easily realized that these were Melty’s current symptoms.
‘Calix-nim and the cutie did seem to get along well originally.’
Despite some bickering, Calix’s eyes were warm when looking at Melty. Melty also seemed very comfortable with him. There was already a good current flowing between them.
“Did you receive a confession?”
“Hic!”
At Lila’s question, asked with a deep smile on her lips, Melty’s body jerked noticeably. Though he covered his mouth with both hands, Melty continued to hiccup several more times. It was frightening how she seemed to see right through his thoughts. Lila smiled as she watched Melty, who had barely calmed his trembling insides by gulping down warm tea.
“Usually, such symptoms appear after receiving a confession.”
“R-really?”
“If you have even a little interest in that person. But don’t accept until you’re certain.”
At her continued words, Melty nodded his head vigorously up and down. The fact that Melty showed such symptoms meant that there was some possibility with Calix. Knowing Calix’s personality very well, she didn’t want Melty to be hooked by him so soon.
He was already being territorial about others’ contact with Melty, and if their relationship developed into one of lovers, it was obvious that even having comfortable conversations with Melty like now would be forbidden. Lila didn’t want to lose such a pleasant conversation partner so easily.
“By the way, do you know what people do when they’re in a relationship?”
“I know that much at least. They give pecks, kiss…”
Despite using words like pecks and kisses, whatever he was imagining made Melty’s cheeks turn red. Watching him lower his head in extreme embarrassment, she felt her mischievous streak returning. Lila deliberately raised her voice.
“You think that’s all? You don’t know the most important thing.”
“The most important thing?”
At Lila’s words, Melty whispered a small “love…?” However, Lila lightly shook her straight index finger from side to side, indicating that his answer was wrong.
“Not that either?”
“Of course, everything Melty-ssi mentioned is important. But there’s still one thing left.”
“What is it?”
After struggling to figure it out on his own, Melty finally surrendered. He looked at her with a face full of curiosity. Glancing slightly at Pel, Lila turned back to Melty. Placing her hand against her cheek so Pel couldn’t see, she conveyed a secret word with just the movement of her lips. However, there was no way he could understand that word which contained no sound.
“What is it?”
To Melty’s puzzled question, Lila smiled brightly and quietly wiggled her hand. At her gesture to come closer, Melty leaned in. Settling herself by Melty’s ear, she conveyed a sanitized version of her sexual knowledge.
Her knowledge transfer continued until Melty’s face, which had been turning increasingly red as the conversation progressed with more stimulating and detailed stories than when delivered in short terms, turned completely white.
