‘What… what am I doing…’
‘Why did I think of Fen…’
He was just genuinely concerned about her… had helped her so much…
Fen just wanted to maintain their brotherly bond simply and sincerely.
And she was thinking such impure thoughts about him.
“How awful…”
She even fantasized about him confessing to her.
Thinking about it made her feel guilty and nervous, and Elena unconsciously tightened her grip on Fen’s palm.
“Hisss—”
“It hurts, it hurts—”
Only when the man whose hand was being squeezed protested did she come back to her senses.
—
Narrator: And so, Her Highness the Prince boldly declared her love to another once again…
So this time… would she still be a loser in love?
“So.”
“So would you be willing—”
It was visible to the naked eye that speaking these words took all the prince’s strength.
“Would you be willing… to spend the rest of your life with me?”
The final sentence carried a clearly trembling tail.
The prince was distracted, staring nervously at the floor.
She was too afraid of failing yet again.
“Of course.”
But this time, there were no surprises.
The girl’s head snapped up, not bothering to hide the joy sparkling in her eyes.
“Re-really?”
“Of course.”
“My love for you is real too.”
Seeing the blonde girl still seemed uneasy, the hunter kindly added.
“The True Love Curse requires both parties to break it together—”
“With it as proof… how could my love for you be false?”
The golden-haired girl could no longer contain herself, covering her face as she wept.
“Phew—”
“So, would you marry me, Your Highness?”
After confirming her emotions had fully settled, the hunter smiled.
“Huh?”
“Not willing?”
The hunter gently patted the prince’s back.
“St-stupid! Of course I’m willing!”
“I… didn’t I already ask you that before?”
The young man on screen gently stroked the girl’s hair in his arms and laughed heartily.
“Because I think a proposal like this… should probably be done by the man, right?”
“Pr-proposal!?”
The prince covered her face again, but this time from shyness.
“Not saying anything? Then I’ll take that as a yes?”
“Ugh—”
—
What the hell!
There was no way to connect this golden-haired little bride on screen with the White Horse Prince from before!
Fen silently complained in his mind.
‘This prince fell fast…’
‘Fell even faster than Elena…’
“Then—”
“Please take care of me for the rest of my life.”
“My prince.”
The girl smiled, and the hunter smiled too.
—
“The White Horse Prince found his happiness…”
Watching the golden-haired woman whose face bloomed with a happy smile on screen, Elena felt a mix of emotions.
She was genuinely happy for the prince, but she also felt a trace of jealousy stir within her.
‘What does that feeling feel like…?’
‘Like the love Mother, Nora, and Lila once had for me…’
‘How is it different from family love, friendship…?’
On screen, witnessed by all the audience, the girl and young man embraced.
Unconsciously, the distance between their lips grew closer.
Finally, they merged, as if vowing to exchange their admiration, their love, and everything they had.
“Huh!? Th-they… they’re kissing?”
The girl beside Fen let out a sharp shriek.
Aside from that time she’d peeked at Voss and her family doing unspeakable things, Elena had only ever read about scenes of intimate male-female interaction in novels.
After all, in written form, the impact wasn’t as strong as visual.
Even though she’d peeked once before, the passionate kiss between the lead actors on screen was still a bit much for Little Elena.
“S-so… this is how you celebrate victory after a successful proposal!”
“Is th-this some kind of custom?”
“Uh… no, there’s no such strange custom.”
Watching Elena, who was as terribly clueless as ever, Fen smiled nervously.
D-don’t use that little brain of yours to think about such absurd and strange things!
“The leads probably… just wanted to do it, that’s all?”
“W-wanted to do it?”
Fen brushed it off vaguely, then nervously scanned the theater.
Sure enough, many couples sitting together were starting to get restless.
‘N-not this?’ ‘Don’t do this to me!’
Though he stayed calm verbally, Fen, who was still holding Elena’s hand, was genuinely panicking this time.
‘Why did the leads suddenly kiss?’
This plot was clearly leading them to take the next step!
He was still holding Elena’s hand now…
And he didn’t dare just let go…
The atmosphere had built up to this point…
If he suddenly released Elena’s hand, it would be too abrupt, and even if the girl was dense, she’d notice!
That would be the equivalent of blatantly telling Elena—”I saw the leads’ kiss scene, thought about our relationship, and let go because I was shy.”
If that happened, their normal brotherly relationship would really be over!!!
“…”
Can’t let go, can’t hold on either…
‘Caught between a rock and a hard place…’
Maybe he was wrong.
He shouldn’t have listened to Masha’s advice and brought Elena to watch this film!
From the moment they stepped into this theater, they were making a colossal mistake!
“Mwah—”
“Mwah—”
Not just on screen, but now in the theater itself, faint sounds of kissing between couples could be heard from all around.
“…”
“Damn…”
‘Why are all of you kissing too?’
So no matter which world… the only people who specially come to theaters to watch romance films are always couples!
Masha said to let us watch a romance film…
So this was her plan, huh?
The theater was already small in audience, and they were all couples kissing…
Which just made the two of them sitting stiffly like door gods in the back row look like the odd ones out!
‘This is so awkward for us…’
Maybe it was his imagination, but Fen felt the girl’s palm in his hand starting to grow hot.
He sensed a very strange, very subtle atmosphere beginning to brew between him and Elena.
“Ha… haha—”
The girl’s awkward laughter finally broke the stalemate between them.
“Th-they… kissed so suddenly…”
“Y-yeah…”
Fen didn’t know if she was commenting on the plot or the couples kissing below.
As soon as she said that, Elena regretted it.
The atmosphere between her and Fen had obviously become even more awkward!
She shouldn’t have tried to lighten the mood by speaking…
If she hadn’t spoken, she could have just pretended to be clueless and ignored the kiss scene and the couples making out below.
The atmosphere between her and Fen wouldn’t have been so awkward either…
But now that she’d pointed it out, she had to do something.
Suddenly, in her mind, a “little angel” Elena and a “little demon” Elena appeared simultaneously.
“What are you waiting for! Go kiss Fen too! The atmosphere’s perfect for it!” the little demon shouted at her.
“Huh!?”
Elena was terrified by this bold suggestion.
“How can you! A true knight shouldn’t change their heart just because of external circumstances!”
The little angel thumped the little demon hard on the head.
“So what! Fen is her good friend, he won’t mind!”
“Precisely because they’re friends… you can’t be so casual! Fen will get angry!”
“This isn’t Elena’s true intention either!”
The little demon and little angel started wrestling.
“True intention?” the little demon stubbornly yelled.
The little creature pointed at the girl’s cute nose while fighting back against the angel.
“Hey! You like Fen, don’t you!”
“I…? H-how could—”
She was about to deny it.
“The image of your beloved in your mind just now… it was clearly Fen, right?” the little demon muttered grumpily.
“…”
The girl hesitated.
The little demon had clearly hit the mark; those words left an indelible impression on her heart.
“I…”
“I… like Fen?”
—
‘What do I do now…’
Her palm felt sweaty.
‘C-can’t just keep holding hands forever, right…?’
Fen didn’t have to wait long.
“Si-since everyone else is doing it…”
The silver-haired girl gently shook his hand, looking at him with an alluring, hazy gaze.
“Want…”
“Want to—give it a try?”
She leaned in on her own.
The girl’s cherry-red lips slightly parted, like a bud waiting to bloom, as if expecting something.
“Give it… a try?”
Fen felt like he was stepping into a dangerous trap.
“Give… give what a try?”
He tried to play dumb.
“You… aren’t you curious…”
“What that feeling is like?”
Fen leaned back slightly, trying to keep his composure.
“E-Elena.”
‘How did she suddenly become…’
‘So seductive, so tempting?’
Elena seemed completely influenced by the theater’s atmosphere…
Was… was she hinting something to him?
“It’s okay.”
“The lights are so dim. We’re in the back row too.”
“Besides you and me—”
The silver-haired girl mustered her courage.
“No one else will know…”
‘This is bad…’
Even though after Elian became Elena, she’d unconsciously “rewarded” Fen with that female body many times due to not understanding the boundaries of opposite-sex friendship—
He still genuinely considered Elena his bro!
No matter how much he could fool himself, he knew very well—now, Elena had clearly crossed the line.
Obviously, this wasn’t within the scope of a good friendship at all.
In the dim light, Fen could see the girl’s golden cross-shaped pupils with perfect clarity.
What was in those eyes was clearly excitement and anticipation.
Right now, the girl had completely dropped all her defenses and all her pretenses with him.
Now, it was his turn to answer.
The young man’s mind began to overload.
In a daze, he remembered a topic he’d seen while browsing the internet:
“If a beautiful girl throws herself at you, would you accept or refuse?”
The answer was also simple and clear:
“Do it and you’re a beast, don’t do it and you’re worse than a beast.”
Fen never thought—that one day, he’d have the chance to answer this question himself…
And so, in his heart rose that eternal dilemma that had troubled countless young men.
Should he go for it?
‘Sh-should I kiss her…?’
“Gulp—”
Facing Elena, who was completely unguarded in front of him, he swallowed.