She was a woman susceptible to good looks.
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That had to be the reason why her heart still skipped a beat whenever their eyes met, even half a year after first seeing Vera’s face.
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To put it in words currently trending in the Academy’s Secondary School, Renee was a hardcore ‘sucker for a handsome face’.
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Should it be considered a gift?
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Vera gained the funny ability to defuse Renee’s anger merely by showing her his face.
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...Of course, this was something Vera remained unaware of.
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“Saint?”
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Vera raised his head to look at her. As he saw her unfocused eyes and subtly flushing face with slightly parted lips, he grew worried.
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‘Is she still adjusting to that body?’
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It wasn’t the body of a human, but the body of a heavenly being.
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Naturally, her body was extremely healthy with a lifespan and constitution that easily surpassed the human norm. However, that came with the risk of a disconnection with her soul.
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Thus, the issue Vera worried most about over the past half year was whether her soul had safely settled, and it tore him on the inside whenever she became vacant like this.
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“Oh, it’s nothing...!”
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Renee subtly avoided Vera’s gaze, then she squeezed her eyes shut.
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‘He’s so handsome...!’
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Whoever’s boyfriend he is, he’s really handsome!
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Too handsome!
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No matter how I think about it, being handsome is the best!
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That worried face looking at her, the talkative face happily laughing, that sleepy face about to pass out, and even the face with tears streaming down.
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Thump thump.
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Renee remembered the expression Vera had when she first opened her eyes.
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It was something Vera hadn’t shown even once since that day.
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The memory of his tears made her heart flutter.
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Renee agonized.
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‘...Can’t I see it just once more?’
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She wanted to see Vera’s crying face.
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Whenever she thought about that face, a naughty feeling would arise and wouldn’t leave her mind, to the point where she couldn’t stand not seeing it again.
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However, that was an incredibly difficult task.
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Vera was a knight at heart.
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Moreover, even if his stomach were slashed open, he would vomit blood but he wouldn’t cry.
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A frustrated noise escaped Renee’s tightly pursed lips as she agonized further.
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“We’ve arrived,” Vera said.
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Renee instantly raised her head and looked around.
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They had already reached the center of the lake before she knew it.
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The lake where frost crystals that couldn’t fully freeze glistened in the sunlight.
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It was being dyed crimson.
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“Ah... the sun is setting.”
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The sun sank below the snowy mountains.
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How had time passed so quickly?
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As Renee absentmindedly expressed awe at the scenery, Vera said.
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“It was this spot the last time as well.”
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Thump.
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Renee’s fingertips trembled.
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She immediately realized what he meant by ’last time’.
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‘The confession...’
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The day he confessed.
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It must have meant that she was standing at this very spot on that clumsy and therefore thrilling day of confession.
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Renee’s gaze turned toward Vera.
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His gently curved ashen eyes looked back at her.
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Those eyes that seemed to draw her in made her body tense up for no reason.
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“Do you remember the promise I made back then?”
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Thump—
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Renee’s heart skipped a beat.
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Her eyes widened.
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- …proposal.
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The words engraved deeply in her mind made her thoughts come to a halt.
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It took her breath away and ignited her body with heat.
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There was a suggestive silence enveloping the two of them, which continued for quite some time.
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The setting sun disappeared, and the world darkened.
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The eyes looking at each other shifted from the color of the evening glow to the color of starlight.
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“...You promised a magnificent proposal.”
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Vera took a step forward and took out a small case from his pocket.
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Click—
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As the case opened, something with a powerful presence entered Renee’s view.
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Her face contained a dazed look.
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Vera smiled and moved his lips.
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Worried he might mess up like last time if he just went in blindly, he shamelessly recited the words he had rehearsed while watching himself in the mirror.
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“I want you for the rest of my life.”
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It was a confession true to his style.
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The corners of Vera’s mouth quirked up subtly.
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“Will you allow me?”
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Renee captured it all in her eyes.
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In the middle of the lake underneath the night sky that seemed to melt away, a man was kneeling down on one knee and was extending a ring towards her.
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His pale face shining in the moonlight, and a flush of red spreading across it.
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Her trembling gaze soon found herself etched in the depths of his ashen eyes.
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There was a woman with a foolish expression on her face.
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What followed was an utterly cliché reaction.
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Renee covered her mouth with one hand.
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Her face went through all sorts of emotions as tears streamed down her face.
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Then, she reached out her hand and gave her answer.
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“Yes...”
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It was fortunate.
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The time of day Vera had chosen after much agonizing allowed the lake where winter broke to illuminate her tears with starlight as they fell over his body. The frigid air scattered those tears, transforming each one into another star in the sky.
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Vera tried to calm his pounding heart but found it impossible.
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As his long-awaited moment had arrived, she was so breathtakingly beautiful that Vera could not help but lose his composure and laugh like a little boy.
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Vera picked up the ring, and slipped it onto her ring finger very slowly.
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They didn't speak further.
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Gazing at each other with their hands interlocked, their lips quietly overlapped.
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As promised so very long ago.
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After a long and arduous journey, the man and woman marked the conclusion of their lengthy tale with a cliché yet beautiful proposal.
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『The Regressor and the Blind Saint <End>』