Chapter 196: Chapter 196

“Please stay with me here tonight.”

The worry that Kyle felt instantly disappeared at Noah’s words. The small sheepish tone she used replaced that dread with embarrassment. When Noah drew closer and buried her face once more against his chest, a light blush dusted itself across Kyle’s cheeks.

“Let’s talk a bit more until I fall asleep. Don’t leave me in the middle like this.”

With a sigh, Kyle quickly buries his feelings, yet again. I almost misunderstood, he thought as he started playing with Noah’s hair, a small exasperated smile playing on his lips. This woman… She can control me like a puppet.

Noah, surprised and distracted by the feeling of his fingers running through his hair, blushed and quickly spoke out without thinking.

“Let’s sleep here together. Though I know those words hold a lot of confusion, I believe you know what I’m saying right now, right?”

Of course not! Kyle thought as he moved to look down, only seeing the top of Noah’s head.

Unaware of Kyle’s internal dilemma, Noah, seeing that Kyle didn’t respond, bit her lip in thought. Then, she said in a small voice, “I spoke without thinking earlier, forgive me. I’m sorry.”

Startled, Kyle asked, “For what?”

Was there something she ought to apologize for? Kyle wondered, trying to recall any memory. Fortunately, Noah explained: “I whined like a spoiled child earlier. I’m sorry.”

Confused, Kyle asked, “When?”

“When I was choosing a room… And when I said I wasn’t going to have dinner.”

As Noah continued to explain herself, Kyle merely continued to look at her, confused. If those incidents warranted an apology, then Noah had more things to apologize for.

“To be honest, I was a little upset that you avoided me all day. But, now that I think about it, I’ve also done that to you before. You know… After the trial, I’m sorry for that.” Noah said in a small voice, regret palpably coating her words.

“Ah, yes. That did happen.” Kyle mused, mortified as he thought about it. His actions were ungentlemanly but thinking about the time when Noah did it, his actions were no match for what she did. After all, at that time, Noah had tried her best to keep herself away from him. She wouldn’t let her come within a ten-foot radius.

Thinking about that time, Kyle couldn’t help but feel as though a heart lodged itself into his throat. At that time, he had no clue why she did that. And now, he still didn’t.

As Kyle opened his mouth to voice out the question weighing on his mind, he honestly felt terrible. It felt as though his own heart was going to leap out of his mouth. It was already practically deafening his ears.

But, before he could voice out a syllable, Noah’s clear voice rang through the silence, her words causing him to stiffen in shock.

“I like you, that’s why.”

All the negative emotions that weighed Kyle down like a boulder evaporated and the stone that lodged itself in his throat seemed to disappear. His heart, however, seemed to double its pace. Though, this time, it didn’t feel as though it was pierced with an arrow. He was so ecstatic and dumbfounded that Noah’s next words sounded like a garbled mess.

“So I guess that’s why I kept acting like a ridiculous kid. I’m so sorry. I know, it must’ve made you so uncomfortable.”

“No, no, wait.” Kyle hurriedly cut her off once he snapped out of it, unconsciously placing his hands on her shoulders as he moved back, trying to get a glimpse at her face. “Noah. Say it again. What did you just say?”

Despite his pleading, Noah simply turned her head while scrunching her nose, avoiding his gaze. That expression–Kyle felt it could mean multitude of things. Is she annoyed that I cut her off? Or does she think my request was a hassle? Kyle thought as he stared at Noah, his heart thumping madly.  Every time she moved, the light casted different shadows over her face, giving her an ethereal and endearing look. Is she embarrassed? He finally thought, hopeful.

At the thought, he became excited and, without really thinking it over, he started shaking Noah’s form by her shoulders.

“Noah. Say what you just said again.” Kyle begged, causing Noah to recoil back, an attempt to hide the faint blush forming on her face.

“After the trial?”

“Not that.”

“Why did you pretend to listen when you didn’t?” Noah suddenly yelled out as she placed her hands on his chest and tried pushing herself away. “Let go. I’m not repeating it,” she continued, pouting right after.

While Noah was battling her nerves and trying to push Kyle away, he struggled back and managed to see the quickly darkening blush that coated her cheeks.

He started hugging her tight. A few moments after, they somehow found themselves in a weird position.

With Kyle’s tight embrace and his constant moving, Noah had somehow found herself somewhat on top of Kyle’s form. Propping herself up with her hands, she found her eyes meeting Kyle’s, who was underneath her. Blushing even more fiercely, Noah tried to scramble back to a proper position beside him. A feat that was interrupted by Kyle, when he tightened his hold on her waist.

“Hey… Don’t do this. Even my butler isn’t this foolish.”

“Who asked me to stay with them? You can hug me, but I can’t hug you?” Kyle retorted, his lips formed into a wide, roguish smile.

Noah, on the other hand, started imitating a fish, opening and closing her eyes, as though she was going to protest. Unfortunately, she didn’t even know what she wanted to say. So, instead, she swallowed and bowed her head, and, since she was nervous, her tongue darted out to unconsciously wet her lips. An action that instantly caught Kyle’s eyes.