Chapter 40 - Is This Love?
Chapter 40 – Is This Love?
After our late breakfast, I told them I would want to stay outside the inn to get some fresh air. But, they just followed me although they were keeping a distance. Since it was the first town, we arrived after days on the road, we would be staying for another night before setting off.
Sitting on the bench, I glanced at the people standing several meters away from me. If Hugo wasn't around, these werewolves would just follow me around like guards. Although they keep their distance so I could 'enjoy' my personal space, their gaze refrained me from feeling so.
"They were practically digging a hole in the back of my head," I murmured, smiling faintly as I gazed ahead, watching the very few people passing the street. "I was thankful to them, though."
Ever since that incident, Hugo wouldn't let me out of his sight. If he didn't need to run an errand today himself, I was certain that he would be sitting beside me. If he could, he would even watch me bathe; although I was certain, if I didn't fight for my right to bathe alone, he would, by all means, enjoy that.
"Hmm…" I pressed my lips after noticing the weak smile resurfacing on it. Hugo was weird. I couldn't understand why he liked me so much, nor he could explain it. But honestly, whenever he wasn't around, part of me kept thinking about him.
He usually tickled my interest. Although he was always blunt and never lied about his feeling — for example, how many children he wants or his attraction towards me — I commended that he never did anything that could violate my human rights.
Werewolves were different, and the way I saw it, they usually followed their instincts and desires. Hugo said he wanted me like a real lover and wanted to do things like what lovers do the other night. Right… he had also been sleeping next to me. So we usually talk until I fall asleep.
Now that I thought about it, he never slept before me. I was always the one who would fall asleep first.
"Does he stare at me before sleeping? I wonder what he was thinking?" I wondered. I always felt safe with him around, so the thought of Hugo doing something immoral to me while asleep never crossed me.
'I trust him so much… I didn't think I would….'
"Hello there, gorgeous."
I jumped when someone suddenly sat down beside me, making me turn my head to him. Hugo cocked his head and raised his brows, draping an arm over the bench with his eyes on me.
"Why do you look so surprised?" he asked, blinking innocently. "What were you thinking so quietly?"
I snapped my eyes and cleared my throat, peeling my eyes away from him. "You, obviously."
"Me?" Hugo moved closer to me with his clear golden eyes glimmering at me. "Tell me about it. What do you think of the great me?"
I cast him a side-eye, humming a low tune while pressing my lips into a thin line. "I was thinking of what you want."
"You." His answer was quick, looking at me in dismay as if he couldn't believe how slow I was. He didn't need to look at me as if I was a dimwit, so I clicked my tongue faintly. That was not what I meant.
"Not that," I said, shaking my head lightly. "I was thinking what you want us to do if ever we become lovers."
"Uhm… do what lovers do?"
I slowly set my eyes back on him. "Do you know what lovers normally do?"
This time, Hugo didn't answer as he pondered about it. See? We're both innocent in this matter. Hugo would tear his enemies' limbs without batting an eye, but he was actually very innocent. The twins even told me in secret that if Hugo didn't set an example back in their home, they would tease him as the only virgin Alpha.
Apparently, according to them, that was Hugo's only flaw, aside from his way of speaking. It made me secretly relieved in a way, though.
"I don't actually know how human lovers do it. In our Ronmin Empire, they just mate endlessly," he mumbled while rubbing his chin curiously before he smacked his lips and turned his head to me. "What about you? You're the one who is human here. Why are you asking me?"
"Because I'm curious about what you think about being lovers," I answered flatly. I didn't know love or the real essence of it. The love I received my entire life left a gigantic question mark on my head, so I was curious about it. Hugo was in the same boat as I was, but unlike me, he had real people who respected and tolerated his whims.
"Why are you curious about that?"
"Love," I said while staring at his golden eyes directly. "I want to give that to you."
"Ah?" He looked at me vacantly, as if his brain died for a second.
I took a deep breath, catching a woman and a man from across the street. "I don't know Love. From what I heard, Love is beautiful, magical, and genuine. So far, I doubt that. With everything that happened to me so far, I keep thinking about it. And the more I think about it…" I trailed off as I turned my eyes back to his stupefied countenance.
"The more I think about it, Love looks like you." If I opened up a bit more, my gut feeling told me he would look like Love. "I wanted to see Love and his face clearly."
Hugo just looked at me, wide-eyed. So, I glanced at the woman and man from across the street before mimicking what they were doing. I looked at his arm, draping over the bench before slipping my fingers in between his fingers.
"That," I said, pointing at the man and woman from across the street.. "I think they are lovers because they were secretly holding hands. Is this love?"