Chapter 1. I was abandoned by my family
***
“Why did that man come here?”
Elle, who was watching Leticia and Levion from a small distance, asked with a dissatisfied look. Ian, who was standing next to her, answered as if it was obvious.
“He must have come to pick her up.”
“Why?”
“Their families must be close.”
“Really?”
Elle, who had no idea about any of this, opened her eyes wide in surprise and immediately turned her head to Enoch.
“What if she says she’s going, Brother?”
In his head, Leticia had already decided to leave. Elle looked up at Enoch with a worried look, but Enoch just looked at Leticia and Levion without saying a word.
Enoch said with a resignation in his voice.
“Well.”
If Leticia agreed to follow Levion, no one could hold her here.
But…
“We’ll have a conversation before that.”
Like the Leroy family, the El family has special abilities. Leticia, who was expelled from her family for having no ability, was unlikely to be welcomed.
I was wondering how I could talk to her if she decided to leave, when Levion stood up quickly with a stiff face.
Shortly after, he quickly strode towards Enoch as if enraged.
“….”
“….”
Levion wore a look of deep disapproval.
Enoch did not shy away, rather he faced him with a cold stare.
Levion stood in front of Enoch as if he had something to say, he glared and then walked away.
Elle, who was watching the whole scene, burst into stunned laughter.
“If you suddenly visit, shouldn’t you say sorry or thank you?”
“Elle.”
“It’s not just the Leroy family’s personality, but the other family’s personality is also bad.”
Elle mumbled to herself that next time she sees him, she won’t let him get away with it.
She felt someone hesitatingly approaching her from behind. Elle looked behind her, Leticia stood there, touching her fingertips together with a look of embarrassment.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been so rude.”
“No! Leticia didn’t do anything wrong.”
Elle waved her hands frantically while saying it was all a joke. Leticia’s expression finally softened.
Seeing that Leticia’s mood had improved, Elle’s curiosity started to get the best of her.
“Well, by the way…”
“….?”
“What did you talk about?”
“Ian.”
Just as Elle was about to ask, Enoch interrupted her and looked at Ian. Ian realized what the look meant, and he tactfully tugged on Elle’s arm.
“Come with me to pick strawberries.”
“Didn’t we pick all the strawberries? Just let me ask… “
“Yes, yes. Let’s go pick apples then.”
When Ian took Elle, who was trying to stay, there was only Enoch and Leticia left in the room.
As he looked at Leticia, who was wearing a puzzled expression, Enoch managed to swallow what he wanted to ask her.
‘Are you leaving?’
He felt like she’d be hurt again
He didn’t want her to be hurt again.
So don’t go, the words rose up in his chest.
Enoch, however, managed to bear it and smiled calmly.
“Let’s go as well.”
“Wait…!”
Leticia, who had been avoiding eye contact this whole time, caught Enoch as he was about to turn away.
“I have something to say.”
A grim Enoch looked at Leticia wordlessly.
He couldn’t resist her, because her blue eyes looked at him mournfully.
Enoch was forced to nod.
He hoped that she would not talk about leaving.
***
They went to Enoch’s room so that they could talk in private, but they were both hesitant to speak. Enoch just waited quietly until Letisha was ready to speak. The silence continued for a while as Letisha pondered what to say.
Strangely enough, Leticia didn’t find the silence uncomfortable at all.
‘It’s amazing.’
She was so frustrated when she was with Levion.
‘I feel safe with this person.’
It was hard to believe that it could be this comfortable, even though we have only known each other for a brief time.
His face is expressionless, as cold as the winter winds, but when you meet his eyes, they’re as warm as a summer day.
‘Just like now.’
“I know it might be a nuisance, but I want to stay here for a while.”
Leticia said, clenching her hands in her lap.
Now that she’d confessed, she wondered if she should’ve waited to say anything.
As soon as she lifted her head, her gaze intertwined with the black eyes in front of her.
There was a pleasant smile blossoming across his face. A sigh of relief escaped his lips.
“Oh, I thought you’d say you were leaving.”
“What? No, not at all!”
She never expected him to be thinking that way, Leticia quickly waved her hands.
Enoch smiled more broadly at Letisha’s sincere no.
Thanks to that smile, Leticia spoke more decisively than before.
“I want to stay here.”
“I already told you to do what you want.”
“But I never said that myself.”
“Yes, I see.”
Leticia was watching Enoch, who was all too willing to say yes, spoke a little more this time.
“I might stay longer than I thought.”
“That’s all right, we have a lot of rooms.”
“….”
Enoch smiled and nodded as soon as she had finished talking.
‘How can a man be so sweet?’
Sometimes I wondered what Enoch was thinking.
“I’m telling you, I might stay a really long time.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
“I’m telling you, I might stay the rest of my life!”
Leticia strained to make her story sound like a joke. After I spoke, my head dropped involuntarily in embarrassment.
‘I must be crazy!’
Why was she so delusional!
How dare she push the boundaries in such a way just because she wanted to know how far he would allow her to go. Not quite confident enough to look Enoch in the eyes, she could only wiggle her fingers, but soon she heard a low chuckle.
“Do you think such threats will work on me?”
“Huh? Ah, no, I’m…”
She didn’t mean to threaten him.
Leticia couldn’t speak properly because she was embarrassed. She tried to quickly shake her head and deny it, but Enoch slowly rose from his seat and slowly approached Leticia.
“Well, look, uh…”
“I’m sorry, but those kinds of threats don’t work on me.”
“No, I didn’t mean to threaten you at all.”
Leticia’s head was a mess trying to figure out how to explain. Before she knew it, Enoch was right in front of her.
Just as she was about to say something.
“I especially like the threat this time, so let’s think about it.”
“Yes?”
As soon as I looked up, I met Enoch gaze, who was smiling slightly.
The more she saw him, the more amazing he was. A face that looks so cool and softens instantly when he smiles.
She stared at him blankly, but Enoch gently raised the corners of his mouth and asked.
“Is there anything else you would like to say?”
“Yes? Pardon? Oh, no! I’m leaving now!”
Embarrassed, Leticia rushed to the door. But strangely enough, the door wouldn’t open.
‘Huh?’
Why isn’t it opening?
She tried to turn the doorknob harder this time. Enoch walked up behind her, and spoke in a low voice.
“The doorknob.”
“What?”
Their eyes met when she looked up in surprise, he was close enough she could see the color of his eyes. Leticia felt her breath catch.
“You need to turn it the other way.”
“Oh, oh…”
When Enoch leaned forward to grab the doorknob, she became trapped in Enoch’s arms. Leticia’s face burned red as her imagination ran wild.
However her entrapment was short-lived, as Enoch opened the door and took a step back.
“Take care.”
As soon as the door closed, Leticia released the breath she was holding. But Enoch’s voice kept ringing in her ears.
[I especially like the threat this time, so let’s think about it.]
‘It’s not a threat though…’
But he looked strangely happy for someone who said it was a threat. When she remembered that expression, Leticia’s heart felt ticklish.
***
The next day, Leticia briefly described her conversation with Levion to Elle and Ian.
“What if he comes back? Do you know how worried I was?”
Elle said with a pained expression on her face.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to worry.”
“If you know he’s coming back, tell me right away. Okay?”
“Yes, I will.”
Elle bobbed her head with a smile and grabbed Leticia’s hand.
“Now that we’re here, should we go there?”
“There?”
“Where we first met.”
“Where we first met…”
She was trying to remember where, but Elle pulled Letisha’s hand without giving her time to think.
“Here, here.”
“Oh, here…”
This is the place where you can win a prize if you can get a coin into the hole.
“It’s been a while, let’s try again together.”
Ian said while handing a coin to Leticia, but she smiled awkwardly and shook her head.
“No, I’m really bad at this.”
“There’s nothing you can’t do. Give it a try, please?”
When Elle clung to her arm and said she could do anything, Leticia was forced to acquiesce.
Sadly the coin never went into the hole.
“See… I’m not very good at this.”
“But you got this doll.”
Seeing how disappointed she was, the owner gave her a small rabbit doll that was the size of her palm. Letisha was still upset, so Elle took her hand and shook it back and forth.
“Oh, I still enjoyed watching you try so hard.”
Although it was just a game, Leticia worked so hard that she looked as if she was risking her life. The results betrayed her effort, but Elle was not disappointed at all because her time with Letisha was fun.
Leticia, on the other hand, was muttering with a somber look.
“I wanted to win a bag of flour…”
“Flour? Why?”
“That night…”
Leticia replied, looking alternately between Elle and Ian, who nodded their heads in encouragement.
“At that time Lord Achilles, and the two of you, liked it.”
Elle and Ian were shocked into silence for a while, then they burst into laughter.
Leticia was the only one who didn’t understand.
“Why are you laughing?”
“No, it’s not that…”
Ian said instead of Elle, who still couldn’t stop laughing.
“It’s nice to have a bag of flour, but what’s so important about it?”
“What?”
“We’re having so much fun together.”
“Ah…”
Leticia was briefly astonished at the unexpected words, but she felt warmth blossom inside of her.
‘That’s right, bags of flour aren’t important.’
Without even realizing it, she had thought that she had to make sure that Elle and Ian got what they liked. But they were cherishing their time spent together, as Enoch had.
Only then did Leticia understand a little bit what Enoch meant by “I don’t like subservient relationships”.
‘If it was her family…’
They would have said something else if she couldn’t win anything.
Elle and Ian, on the other hand, were happy to enjoy this moment with her. Because of this, Leticia was able to smile happily and nod.
“That’s right.”
“Where do we go now?”
Asked Elle, her eyes twinkling at Letisha’s much better mood.
The moment Leticia tried to answer, her gaze caught on something, and she automatically shut up.
“What’s wrong?”
As soon as they followed Leticia’s gaze, Elle and Ian’s faces hardened at once.
“Emil…”
There was Emil, Letisha’s brother and the third Leroy child, looking on with an indifferent expression.