Confession (1)

The next day dawned after I steeled my resolve. Since there were no exams for my major today and all I had to do was hand in assignments, I had plenty of time to talk with my acquaintances.

Originally, I'd prayed that nothing would happen, but after going through one incident after another, I changed my outlook. Rather than pray that nothing would happen, I decided to hone my ability to deal with whatever did.

I told myself to develop my own abilities instead of relying on my family. Adopting that mindset left me with no choice but to feel tense.

In any event, my first priority was to ask Cecily about what had happened yesterday. What could her intention have been in seducing me? She'd acted that way without even presenting proper evidence, so I was beyond flustered—utterly bewildered.

'And...'

I had also changed my mind about how to deal with Marie after agonizing over it for a long time. If I truly wanted what was best for her, I should prevent her from being harmed if my secret were revealed later.

At the very least, I had to keep a woman who liked me from suffering because of my indecision. Unlike the others, Marie didn't even suspect that I was the author of The Life of Xenon, but if things went wrong, she might even feel betrayed.

Would she wonder if I trusted someone else more than I trusted her? Why hadn't I been able to tell her that secret?

I was worried that the relationship we'd painstakingly built through a chance connection would collapse all at once because of my careless judgment. Besides, Marie was quite perceptive; perhaps she'd already picked up on something.

More than anything, I'd hurt her once already because of what happened yesterday. Even I would have been hurt seeing the woman I liked alone with another man...