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His lashes fluttered, Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “I need to think about it.”
“Think, then.” I smiled, suddenly excited. I watched his navy-green eyes slowly trace my face, and my cheeks warm again. His half-lidded eyes caged my gaze, and I knew I would never forget the sparkle in them for the rest of my life.
“Real.” He stroked my hair again, then the back of my neck. Slowly, gently. “You’re my real. Everything can disappear, but you… I…”
He swallowed, and failed to go on. To my surprise, he was blushing. I had been expecting something far cheesier, but this was strange enough.
“What do you mean by ‘real,’ Remi? We can’t see the real, we can’t feel it. Am I… something like that? Like a ghost?”
“Of course not!”
“You’re panicking! I can’t believe you, Remi… so I really am like a ghost, then!”
“No, Mina…” I giggled at his genuine panic, asking through my laughter.
“Then, answer! If I were a ghost, would you love me?”
“Of course.”
“But you wouldn’t be able to touch me.” My fingers brushed his lashes, he yielded to it. “You’d still want me?”
“I’ll turn into a ghost too.”
“What if I were an evil spirit? Would you keep loving me no matter what I became?”
“Of course.” He repeated it, and my smile faded. That tone in his voice—one that brooked no argument—had returned, along with that cold demeanor.
“Isn’t that what love is? To keep loving someone no matter what they become.”
But then…. what value do I have? How will we decide who I am? How can you say you love me if you won’t love the real me among all those masks?
The real me… who’s that?
“Remi… Do you still see me as your master? Like when we were children?”
He let out a soft laugh. “What’s with that all of a sudden?”
“I realized I’ve never actually asked you before.”
“Hmm… ‘master,’ you say… I’m not sure. All I know is that you’ve always been above me.”
“Above you?”
“How should I put it… it was like a huge sin if I did something to upset you.”
“Am I a demon?” My eyes flew open. “Or a witch who always punishes you?”
“Maybe you are…” Raymond whispered, his voice sounding more amused than anything else, but in that moment, I felt my blood run cold.
“Am I witch, Remi?”
“It’s true that you always punish me.”
“You probably deserve it.”
“Of course. If you say so, it must be right. Whatever you do is right, anyway.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
