A Summer With Bitter Rivals - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Destiny

“Come on. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Emeline greeted him with a bright smile.

Zenon stared at her face, glowing under the soft light, as if mesmerized, before finally responding.

“Yes, I’m finally here. I missed you so much that I thought I might die on my way here…”

“And now?”

“Now, I feel like I might die from being too happy seeing you.”

Zenon pulled her into a sudden embrace, rubbing his head against hers like a playful child. Emeline chuckled at his antics.

Who else would do something like this while holding her in their arms?

Since she didn’t dislike it, Emeline simply let him be.

After holding each other quietly for a while, they eventually settled on the sofa and began chatting comfortably.

Prompted by Zenon’s playful gestures, Emeline found herself lying with her head resting on his lap. The lantern’s light softly illuminated their faces.

“By the way, did you read the book I gave you?”

“If you mean About Joe, then yes, I’ve finished it.”

“What did you think?”

Zenon looked at her with a mix of curiosity and a hint of concern. Reflecting on her thoughts, Emeline answered honestly.

“It was a good book. A little complex, though.”

“Right? That’s an accurate assessment.”

Zenon gazed at Emeline with admiration, gently stroking her cheek. His touch sent a ticklish sensation through her, like a faint electric current.

Smiling quietly, Emeline continued, “Now I understand why you’ve read it multiple times. It felt like the more I delved into it, the deeper interpretations I could uncover.”

“Exactly.”

Zenon’s gaze grew more profound as he watched her speak in a soft, deliberate tone.

His hand, which had been stroking her cheek, moved to brush her hair aside. After his gentle touch, his fingers lingered near her ear.

“But what part captivated you so much that you read it until the book was worn out?”

Emeline looked up at him, puzzled.

Although she loved reading, she’d never reread a book to the point of wearing it out.

The lantern beside them cast faint light across Zenon’s face, highlighting his features as he softly replied.

“The final scene.”

“The final scene? That part… was the hardest for me to understand.”

In the last scene of “About Joe,” the protagonist, Joe, contemplates his existence even as he feels his life slipping away, lying in a field. By the next day, Joe has vanished without a trace.

“What exactly was Joe, to disappear completely without leaving behind even a body?”

Feeling Zenon’s hand tracing circles near her ear, Emeline frowned slightly but didn’t think much of it as she asked.

“I don’t know either. The author didn’t specify. It’s all just speculation. I like to think that Joe was the wind from the beginning.”

“…Why?”

Emeline stared at him intently, as if struggling to understand. Zenon stopped his hand movements and pondered for a moment before answering.

“The author frequently described Joe as ‘whirling around’ whenever he moved. Wherever Joe went, things seemed to end up in disarray. And the people in those places, while flustered, always accepted Joe’s presence as natural. Doesn’t that sound just like the wind?”

“Now that you mention it… it does.”

“And if you think of Joe as the wind, the book becomes perfect.”

Bound by the fate of constant motion, Joe lingers stubbornly in one place at the end, contemplating his existence.

It seems like a final act of defiance against destiny, resisting until the very end.

And when Joe vanishes without a trace, it could be interpreted as the wind escaping its form, finally breaking free from the fate of being the wind.

Through that desperate struggle to defy his destiny and stay in one place, he finally attains freedom. No longer swept away, nor taken for granted by others.

“……”

As she listened to him, Emeline found herself dazed. It felt as if something had struck her mind with force.

“Ah…”

Suddenly, she felt a sharp sensation on her earlobe.

Startled, Emeline looked up at him. Zenon gave her a mischievous smile.

His playful, boyish grin gradually softened into something more tender and lingering. The hand pressing against her ear ventured slightly further inward.

The slow, deliberate movement brushing against her ear made Emeline shudder.

“What are you doing… all of a sudden?”

“I couldn’t help it… You’re just so beautiful from up here.”

Blushing, Zenon confessed and leaned down to plant a birdlike kiss on her lips.

The continuous kisses made Emeline laugh helplessly.

As if surrendering, she cupped his cheek, and the light pecks soon deepened into a fervent kiss.

“Mm…”

Their breaths, filled with longing, intermingled sweetly and tenderly. Her heart pounded as if it couldn’t beat any faster.

As the walls between them crumbled, a warm intensity filled the space between them.

Breaths mingled and scattered into the air. Their entwined tongues brushed against each other, eliciting a delicate quiver in Emeline’s closed eyelids.

When their lips finally parted, leaving behind moist friction, Emeline found herself seated on Zenon’s lap, facing him.

Zenon kissed her cheek and asked softly, “You like that book, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

“I thought you would. We’re similar, after all.”

“Zenon… wait…”

His lips, which had been landing gently all over her face, reached her ear. His moist breath enveloped her ear, leaving a stinging sensation in its wake.

Flustered, Emeline grabbed his shoulders.

Zenon playfully tugged at her earlobe as if kissing it. The damp sound, embarrassingly intimate, went straight to her ears.

As he carefully licked the spots he had teased earlier, Emeline shuddered involuntarily.

The sensation was so intense that her thoughts blurred, and she instinctively pressed her legs together. In response, Zenon tightened his grip around her waist.

Their bodies pressed together with no space between them, and Emeline gasped in surprise.

She couldn’t ignore the foreign sensation pressing against her from below.

Zenon, who had been teasing her ear, slowly trailed kisses down her neck.

“Zenon…”

Her breath, filled with warmth, seemed to cloud her mind. By then, his lips were lingering near her collarbone.

Emeline slowly raised her hand to wrap her arms around him.

With only a thin nightgown and underwear separating them, the heat from below radiated clearly through the fabric.

Emeline, trembling slightly, shifted her lower body. She wasn’t sure if it was to escape the pressure or to feel it more.

Her movement elicited a restrained groan from Zenon. Their sensitive points brushed against each other, quickening their breaths.

“Hah… Emeline…”

Eventually, Zenon’s hand slid beneath her clothing. A sigh-like moan escaped her lips.

Not wanting to part from him, she clung even tighter to Zenon.

His warm hand roamed over her delicate skin, eliciting quickened breaths from Emeline.

The soft lips that had been resting on her collarbone began to follow the line of her dress, kissing lower as the shoulder straps slipped down to her waist.

“Mm… ah…”

Each touch and kiss ignited a tingling sensation that was impossible to endure. The damp attention continued until it suddenly stopped.

Zenon, who had been biting and sucking at her skin until it turned red, finally met her gaze.

Their heated breaths filled the space between them. As Emeline lifted her hips slightly, the sound of a buckle being unfastened reached her ears.

Then, a hot and painful sensation penetrated her entire body. However, perhaps because it was not the first time, the pain was short-lived.

“Zenon…”

Caught in the crest of an overwhelming wave, Emeline buried her face in his shoulder, then lifted her head.

Their eyes met amidst the motion, and though his brows furrowed slightly, Zenon still smiled. That expression was indescribably special.

Even as her tears blurred her vision, Emeline never looked away from Zenon for a moment.

As the tide of sensation surged through her, Emeline weakly clung to his head, her energy spent. The sofa rocked beneath them, then gradually stilled.

Zenon, still holding Emeline’s back as it rose and fell, steadied his breathing. At the end of it, he leaned down to kiss her, his lips playfully teasing hers.

Feeling him gently lick her lips, Emeline couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re like a puppy… really…”

“…That’s not an insult, right? Last time, you said I was like a dog.”

“I mean it in a cute way. Like a puppy.”

Emeline gently smoothed Zenon’s tousled blonde hair.

For some reason, her compliment made Zenon’s expression mischievous.

He slid his lips down to her chin, leaving a kiss there, then moved lightly to her neck before continuing down. He kissed the peak of her chest, and before long, as if intent on devouring her, he took it in his mouth once more. The sensation of his teeth brushing her made Emeline flinch.

“Ah… mm…”

“I’m still inside you.”

A faint movement came from where their lower bodies were still joined. Ultimately, Emeline found herself utterly exhausted again, thanks to Zenon’s reaction to a single compliment.

After some time resting, Emeline neatly buttoned his shirt for him. Meanwhile, Zenon, under the guise of helping her fix her clothes, showered her skin with kisses and kept undoing her outfit again. At one point, he even pulled her into a sudden embrace, hindering her efforts entirely.

Emeline pinched Zenon’s cheek. “Do you want to get scolded?”

“Sorry…”

Only then did Zenon finally help her properly arrange her attire.

“It’s getting late. I think I should go now.”

“Okay.”

Despite his reluctant gaze, Zenon obediently followed her to stand. They walked to the terrace, where they exchanged goodbyes.

“Take care.”

“Yeah. I’ll miss you.”

“Me too.”

Zenon gave her a light kiss before vaulting over the railing and landing on the ground effortlessly. While it always seemed risky to her, the height wasn’t actually precarious enough to be dangerous, even for her.

Emeline quietly watched Zenon’s retreating figure as he began to walk away. Then, as if he had something to say, he stopped abruptly and turned back to face her. He was only a few steps away when he opened his mouth to speak.

“Who’s there?”

A sudden voice interrupted, freezing both Emeline and Zenon in place. Recognizing the voice, Emeline stiffly turned her head to look in its direction.

Antony’s gaze locked onto hers, then slid to Zenon.

“Is that… the young lord of Trancium? Why are you leaving my sister’s room at this hour?”

Antony narrowed his eyes and tilted his head slightly, the absurdity of the situation evident in the furrow of his brow.

“Someone who’s supposed to be feuding with our family.”