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I started to check other parts of the body and applied ointment to the face. In the bright light, the condition looked even more serious.

It was at the time when he was calmly resolving to smash the hands that made this woman like this into hundreds of pieces. The woman, who was staring at him as if he were a stranger, asked.

"Aren't you disgusted by me?"

"I hate you."

"But why...."

"I dislike you, but I understand why you made that choice, so I can't blame you."


You're not bad. The situation was bad.


She added words in support of her and began to apply the ointment again. The woman, who was quietly receiving his touch, muttered blankly.


"I... can't understand you."


There was a clear look of discomfort on his face.


"You don't understand you, not me."


It's not me who makes you uncomfortable, it's you.


Leon asked a question with an answer already decided, staring straight at the increasingly uncomfortable expression on his face.


"Why can't you say what I say without hesitation? Right?"


Grace was just reflecting on the words of the man who had caught her off guard a little while ago.


I dislike you, but I know why you made that choice, so I can't blame you.


You're not bad. The situation was bad.


Yeah. You boldly interrupt the things I want to say and need to say. I just can't bring myself to do it.


"I'm sure it feels unpleasant for me to look into your insides right now. You're angry, right?"


Leon chuckled as he watched the woman avoiding his gaze, just like when she was forcibly stripped bare.


"You’re actually angry at yourself, not me. I wonder what I should do for you to acknowledge that fact."


No, this man doesn't need to do anything. Grace already knew this fact.


I reflected on the past three years, during which I directed my anger at a man who wasn't even by my side. I thought of him all day long, as if it were my own prerogative. I couldn't stop thinking about him even when I fell asleep. Then, I blamed a man who didn't even exist.


You're unbearable. You're really unbearable. You always do this whenever I decide to leave. For three years, you've been swirling around in my head without a moment's rest, and you still act like this.


In truth, it was a rebuke that should have been directed at herself, not this man. She was angry with herself for allowing her heart to become entangled with Leon Winston, even after freeing her body from him.


"Do you remember? You asked me if the person who has sinned couldn't love openly, so did that make you innocent? Honestly, there was some truth to that."


“…….”


"However, I can now confidently say it. I love you, even with all your sins."


Grace looked at the man who easily said he loved the guilty with wary eyes.


"Isn't it uncomfortable? You say you love me no matter what I do. As if you were some kind of saint. I feel that you are narrow-minded for not being able to confidently say that you love me, a sinful person."


"I... love you."


I don't love you. I was going to say that but I stopped.


Refuting with my own words was, rather, a way to reinforce his argument. The man laughed with a sly smile, as if he already knew my true intentions.


"How can I forgive the man who caused me pain? How can I love? This is how your conscience will scold you."
need to get Ellie back first."


Grace tried to speak the words she had not said yet, but the man left without giving her a chance.


The next step is up to you.


His last words resonated in my mind like gunfire.



* * *

Chapter end