Chapter 26: Do Not Belong
—CELIA—
"But that is not what marriage would be with ."
The mont those words left Sebastian’s mouth, sothing inside my brain quietly collapsed.
Because what exactly was this conversation anymore?
I stared at him in complete disbelief while my thoughts rapidly spiraled into chaos.
Wait.
Wait wait wait.
Was this man...
Confessing?
No.
Impossible.
Absolutely not.
This was Duke Sebastian Blackwood.
The sa man who used to look at Original Aria with disdain.
So what changed?!
What happened?!
Did Cynthia accidentally hit him with love magic?!
Was there carbon monoxide in the capital?!
I blinked at him several tis just to make sure I was not hallucinating.
Unfortunately, he remained there looking tall, handso, and disturbingly sincere.
Oh no.
No no no.
My body imdiately entered fight-or-flight mode.
Unfortunately, because I was Celia, both responses manifested through awkward panic and emotional avoidance.
I straightened instinctively and took another careful step backward.
Sebastian noticed imdiately.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"...Why are you retreating?"
Because you are suddenly talking like a male lead nearing Chapter seventy-five character developnt!
But obviously I could not say that aloud.
So instead, I pointed at him accusingly.
"You just said sothing weird."
"I said marriage with would not imprison you."
"Yes!" I exclaid. "Exactly! That!"
His brows furrowed faintly.
"...I fail to understand the issue."
"Because normal people do not suddenly say things like that while looking at soone like they are trying to emotionally rearrange their entire worldview!"
Sebastian stared at , confused.
"...Emotionally rearrange your worldview?" he repeated.
I froze.
Ah.
Right.
"I misspoke," I said imdiately.
"You clearly did not."
"Unfortunately."
A strange look crossed his face then.
"You are behaving strangely again," he said quietly.
I gritted my teeth, trying to calm myself down. "Because–! ...you are behaving strangely first..."
"I am rely speaking honestly."
"That is exactly the problem, haha..." I awkwardly laughed.
Sebastian looked genuinely caught off guard by that answer.
Honestly, understandable.
Most people probably appreciated honesty during romantic conversations.
anwhile, I was internally preparing evacuation plans.
Because here was the issue...
I did not know how to handle this.
Romance had always felt absurd to even back in my old world.
And now I had sohow transmigrated into a novel where every male lead is aggressively in love.
No thank you.
I liked peace.
I took a deep breath and finally looked directly at him properly.
"Sebastian," I said carefully.
Sothing shifted imdiately in his posture at the sound of his na spoken so calmly.
His attention focused entirely on .
And sohow that made this harder.
I swallowed once before continuing.
"I think..." I paused carefully. "You are confusing things..."
His brows lowered slightly.
"Confusing what?"
"Your feelings."
The mont I said that, his expression instantly changed.
And for so reason that made even more nervous.
But I forced myself to continue anyway.
"You spent so long disliking ," I said honestly. "Now suddenly I changed a little and you are reacting emotionally because things beca unfamiliar."
Sebastian remained silent.
"So maybe," I continued carefully, "what you are feeling is not actually affection."
"And what exactly do you believe I am feeling?" he suddenly asked so serious, which made nervous.
Oh dear lord.
Why did he ask that so directly?!
I imdiately looked away toward the nearest passing carriage like it might rescue from this conversation.
"I do not know," I admitted weakly. "But whatever it is, it will probably disappear soon."
Silence settled heavily between us after that.
For several monts, neither of us moved. The sounds of the street around us suddenly felt distant compared to the tension standing directly in front of .
Eventually, I made the mistake of looking back at him again.
And imdiately regretted it.
Because Sebastian looked offended.
"And you have decided that for already?" he asked evenly.
"Yes," I replied imdiately.
Sebastian blinked once in complete disbelief, as though he genuinely could not comprehend how quickly I answered.
I looked away first.
Because the truth was, I answered too quickly on purpose.
If I hesitated even a little, I might begin doubting myself.
And I could not afford that.
Not here. Not with him, and not in this world.
I folded my arms tightly against myself and nodded once with certainty.
"Yes," I repeated. "I have reached that conclusion independently."
"That is absurd."
"Please, Sebastian." My voice softened despite myself. "I am trying to end this peacefully. I do not want any hard feelings between us."
His gaze remained fixed on .
"But you are determined to create distance anyway."
"Yes," I answered honestly this ti.
He went silent again.
Sothing about that expression on his face made my chest ache faintly, but I ignored it quickly before it could settle deeper.
I already knew where feelings led people in stories like this.
Destruction.
Obsession.
Pain.
And eventually tragedy.
I had watched it happen over and over again while reading my sister’s novel.
Every character who loved too deeply suffered for it eventually.
Especially the ones who believed they could change fate.
I inhaled slowly before continuing more carefully.
"If I were you," I said quietly, "I would try getting to know Cynthia instead. She truly is the one for you."
In fact, for all of you.
Sebastian’s brows slowly furrowed.
"You speak as though you know sothing I do not."
I nearly flinched.
"Well..." I awkwardly laughed once. "Won are very intuitive."
"Hm..." he managed.
His eyes narrowed slightly, though the reaction lacked its usual sharpness.
He looked tired and conflicted.
Honestly, neither option comforted .
I sighed softly and forced myself to continue.
"I am sorry," I said sincerely. "But if this was a confession... then all I can do is reject you, and I wish to not have this conversation with you anymore..."
His gaze sharpened slightly at that, but I walked past him afterward before my courage disappeared entirely.
I headed straight toward the carriage where Ren waited quietly nearby.
The mont I stepped inside, the atmosphere changed completely.
The carriage doors closed behind , muffling the outside world almost instantly.
And only then did I finally allow my shoulders to sag.
The exhaustion hit imdiately afterward.
I leaned back against the seat and stared blankly ahead.
Why did that feel so unpleasant?
I already knew rejecting him was the correct decision.
There was no logical reason to feel guilty.
No reason at all.
And yet, my chest tightened faintly anyway.
I pressed a hand lightly against it and exhaled slowly.
I know for certain what I did was right.
There truly was no reason to cling to feelings that might not even be real to begin with.
This world was still a novel.
A fantasy romance story written by my own sister.
The people here had predetermined roles. Predetermined endings. Predetermined loves.
And who knew?
Maybe tomorrow I would wake up back inside my original body as if none of this had ever happened.
Maybe this entire world would disappear the mont I found whatever answer brought here.
If that happened...
Then what would beco of feelings left behind in this place?
The thought alone was enough to make draw a firm line inside myself again.
No.
I would not compromise.
And certainly not for a man originally ant to love soone else.
I slowly turned my head toward the carriage window, watching the capital pass by outside.
A beautiful fantasy world.
But no matter how convincing it felt sotis...
I must never forget that I do not belong here.
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