Chapter 211 : Do I Love Him?

Linda felt a pang of sorrow as she heard Adeline’s words.

A girl like Adeline—so beautiful, so kind, so resilient, and from such a good family—was now asking,“Do you… do you think I still have a chance to win him over?”

Ah… the pain of love.

“Of course you do. You’re not thinking of giving up, are you?”

Adeline traced slow circles on her leg with her fingertip, leaving pale marks on her skin.

“B-But… Felyn already said he doesn’t like me.”

“He said you two weren’t suited for each other, right?”

“Yeah, he did. But doesn’t that mean—”

“He never said he hated you. He never said you weren’t his type. That’s why I think you still have a chance.”

“I… still have a chance?”

Adeline lowered her head and curled up in the chair, resting against her knees.

“Then do you want to give up on him?”

She shook her head.

“Do you want to see him surrounded by other girls, andyounot among them?”

“No… I don’t. I really don’t.”

“Exactly. At least now you know how Felyn feels about you. That’ll save you from wasting time going down the wrong path.”

Linda gently encouraged her not to give up on Felyn.

And the reason she didn’t try to convince Adeline to let go or move on—was because Linda herself was someone who believed in chasing love, no matter what.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been fooled so many times by older women pretending to be shy young boys.

Besides, a love story between a rich girl and a poor boy had always been the kind of romance Linda dreamed about.

“You still have time to be with Felyn before he graduates. All you have to do is make him fall for you before then.”

Before Felyn graduates… make him fall for me…

Adeline repeated Linda’s words in her heart.

But there wasn’t much time left. Just like with Miss Viloti, once the contract ended, Felyn would probably go out of his way to avoid her.

Which meant she only had two months.

Two months to make Felyn fall in love with her.

But was that even possible? Could she really do it?

“Do you… do you think I can?”

Linda let out a sigh and held up a mirror in front of her.

“My lady, look at yourself. Red eyes from crying, messy hair, your nose all pink… You’re this beautiful, this gentle and considerate. If I were Felyn, I’d be heartbroken just seeing you like this. Ifyoucan’t win him over, then who can?”

Adeline stared at her reflection, thinking carefully about Linda’s words.

“…But there’s one more thing,” Linda said, unusually serious for once.

“Now that you know Felyn doesn’t love you, can you still love him?”

Adeline met her eyes and was suddenly struck by a question she’d never truly asked herself.

Do I love Felyn because he loves me?

Do I love Felyn because he’s been kind to me?

Do I love the Felyn from the contract… or the one from that little house in the Mist District?

Sure, the contracted Felyn always said the words she wanted to hear, did the things she liked.

But if that was all it took to win her heart—just some sweet words and a good performance—then could someone as intelligent as her really fall for that alone?

Even the way Felyn chose to act out his role was, in itself, a reflection of who he was inside.

After staying a bit longer and confirming that Adeline had calmed down, Linda quietly took her leave.

Once Linda was gone, Adeline took a warm bath.

She changed into a simple white nightgown, pulled out her chair, and sat at her desk.

Now that her emotions had settled, she began to seriously consider something.

If I were Felyn… would I fall in love with a girl like Adeline?

“From now on, I am Felyn…”

She began running through possible thoughts and motivations in her head.

“I have a client. She thinks I love her, so she’s always asking me to do unreasonable things. And she believes I do them because I love her… always trying to please her.”

Saying it out loud made her feel sick.Was that really me? So full of myself…?

“I spend every day kneeling beside her or sitting at her feet, clinging to her like a child with old wounds. I have to kneel for at least half an hour at a time. I cook for her, prepare her fruit, listen to her complaints…”

Only now did Adeline realize how excessive her demands had been.

She didn’t need to run the full simulation to reach a conclusion. Felyn had no reason to like someone like that.

Without the illusion of“He loves me,”all she saw now was a boy quietly enduring her endless selfishness.

“If it were me… I wouldn’t like her either.”

She spoke softly, her fingers brushing through her still-damp hair.

So all this time… I’ve been hurting him.

And yet, Felyn had never made her feel unwelcome.

He still made her smile every day.

In front of her, he never showed fatigue, never let any impatience slip through. He always gave her his best.

He bore the burdens of the entire Sorester family, yet not once had he shown even a hint of negativity in her presence.

“Felyn, you always say I’m strong. But you… you’re the strongest person I know.”

And it’s that Felyn… that I truly, deeply love.

“But Felyn doesn’t know that.”

Adeline picked up her pen and began writing in her notebook.

“If we’re being realistic, our social status doesn’t match. Being with me would bring shame to the Claude family. And Felyn… would be accused of being a gold-digger.”

“And worse, Felyn probably thinks the version of him I love is just the fake one created by our contract. But…”

But through their long time together, Adeline had come to understand his real self.

It was exactly because of who Felyn was inside that she had grown to like him. Everything else—the illusion that he loved her—had come later.

“But Felyn doesn’t know that.”

“So I have to meet him outside of contract hours. Let him see the real me. Let me see the real him… and fall in love with him all over again.”

After thinking it through, Adeline came to a clear conclusion—there were two things she needed to do next.

First, she had to help Felyn gain a social status equal to hers.

The most realistic way to achieve that would be helping him get accepted into the Royal Capital Academy.

Second, she had to change how she treated him.

She needed to spend time with him genuinely, apologize properly, and truly get to know who he was beyond the contract.

She only had two months left. If she missed that window, Felyn would disappear from her life entirely.

Two months… to make him fall in love with me again. Can I really do it?

From kindergarten until now, she had never once failed. But tonight, she had failed in the thing that mattered to her most.

Adeline was filled with uncertainty.

Late into the night, she got up to pack her things.

She was leaving for the Royal Capital early the next morning, so she began folding her clothes and organizing documents into her suitcase.

Usually, Felyn would do this for her. But with him gone, she had to handle it herself.

She smoothed out the wrinkles on her clothes and gently patted them down inside the suitcase.

“All packed. Let me check if there’s anything else…”

She picked up the plush pig by her bed, gently brushing her fingers over it.

It was a gift from Felyn, given to her after he moved to the Royal Capital.

“When you go home, there’ll be another little pink pig waiting for you. The two of you will make a perfect pair.”

As she whispered those words, her rose-tea-colored hair slipped forward and veiled her face, hiding her expression.

“But I… But I…”

Dark, uneven droplets began to bloom on the pale blue fabric at the top of her suitcase.

Tears, clear and steady, dripped one after another onto the clothes inside, soaking through the fabric.

Adeline knelt in front of her suitcase, hands resting on her knees.

In the silent room, the only sound was the soft patter of her tears falling onto folded clothes.

(End of Chapter)