“So, I can understand this level of jealousy. Like I said before, I might even be starting to enjoy it a little.”
“I see. So this much is fine?”
In an instant, an image flashed through Lowell’s mind of Felix being jealous at every waking moment without hiding it.
Even in that split second, he knew that wasn’t it.
“Ah—I mean, once in a while is what I meant!”
Felix clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Feeling a cold sweat on his back, Lowell decided he should just say what he came to say.
“There is something I want to show you, Felix.”
“The result of your work with Taylor?”
“Yes.”
Lowell’s palms began to sweat.
It was a nervous tension he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“I’m curious to see what kind of masterpiece it is.”
“It’s not anything that grand.”
Meeting Felix’s gaze—which held sincere anticipation rather than mockery—Lowell felt flustered.
He wrinkled his nose and rubbed the back of his neck.
He had chosen this method because he thought starting the conversation out of the blue would be too disorganized and might shock Felix, but as he worked on it, his ambition grew, and the project had become quite large.
“Let’s go inside.”
As the studio door opened, the distinct scent of paint wafted through the air.
Felix ignored the unfamiliar smell and swept his eyes across the studio.
It was a gaze that tried to measure how Lowell had spent his time in this place.
After returning from their trip, Lowell had spent most of his time here, and conversely, Felix had not been allowed to enter this room without permission.
He had even felt anxious, as if this room had stolen Lowell away.
If Lowell’s unusual behavior had continued for just a few more weeks, Felix’s heart would have been scorched with worry.
“Sit there. I’ll open the curtains.”
Lowell moved about as if hosting a guest, seating Felix on a plush sofa.
As the curtains opened, sunlight crept over Felix’s lap.
“The last two pages aren’t quite dry yet.”
As he gathered his works, Lowell realized he was acting a bit too hastily out of excitement.
Because Felix had seemed so curious, he had gotten caught up in the mood and wanted to show him as quickly as possible.
“Is it multiple pages?”
“Yes. It’s a picture book.”
Lowell flushed, smiling shyly like a blooming flower.
Felix was impressed to see that even Lowell trembled when showing a first work he had prepared so hard.
He loved everything Lowell did, but his heart still raced whenever he was shown a new side of him.
It was a marvel that Lowell became more lovable every single day.
“You wanted to make a fairy tale? I’ve never heard of this story before.”
“It was my first attempt, but it was quite fun.”
Having finished his preparations, Lowell sat down right next to Felix, tucking himself close.
Felix moved his arm out of the way so Lowell could sit comfortably.
“Let’s read it together.”
Felix found the sight of Lowell wanting to read his own picture book together both cute and a little funny.
Lowell, who usually felt so mature, making a picture book… it was unfitting, yet somehow fit him perfectly.
“I’d like that.”
With a light heart, Felix looked at the first page and then glanced back and forth between the drawing and Lowell’s face.
“He looks like you.”
It wasn’t a literal drawing of Lowell, but the blonde young man in the painting certainly shared a resemblance with the person who painted him.
“Please, keep reading.”
Felix adopted a serious attitude and read the book.
It was easy to read and entertainingly presented, but it was a story like a myth that could be heard anywhere in the Empire.
It was a familiar trope: a person who saved a god in the form of a snake was granted a new, healthy body.
Felix turned the page, still unable to shake his curiosity.
The unique point of the story appeared here.
The original owner of that healthy body appeared.
Without knowing why, he had ended up in the blonde young man’s body.
‘Did this man do something to deserve punishment?’
Felix naturally thought the story would go that way, but it didn’t.
He adapted well to his weak body and eventually met someone he loved.
To Felix, it was a unique and interesting ending, but after finishing it, only questions remained.
“Is this a story you made up, Lowell?”
He flipped back to the first page as if checking for a hidden motive.
Lowell placed his hand over Felix’s to turn the pages until they reached the illustration of the sturdy young man.
“This is me. No, to be precise, it was me.”
“What?”
Felix immediately questioned the sudden declaration.
Lowell’s hands and feet wouldn’t stay still, and he finally spoke in a trembling voice.
“It really isn’t easy to say it out loud honestly.”
“So, Lowell, what you’re trying to say is that you weren’t originally the owner of this body?”
Felix’s gaze was a mixture of confusion and worry.
Lowell, who had anticipated various reactions from Felix, regained his composure and nodded.
“It’s a bit different, but it’s very similar to this story.”
“Why…?”
Whether he believed it or not was secondary; Felix wanted to know why Lowell was only telling the truth now, and why he was revealing something he had kept secret for so long.
“I realized that keeping it hidden could be a form of lying. I didn’t want to keep deceiving you, Felix.”
Lowell calmly shared his thoughts.
He wasn’t the type to play jokes with such matters, nor did he seem to have lost his mind.
Felix decided to listen quietly to everything Lowell had to say.
“To be honest, I knew that if I told you the truth, you would eventually believe me, even if it took time. What I was more worried about was that you might fret over whether I’d return to my original body, and I was afraid you might see me differently than before.”
Lowell conveyed his sincerity without reservation.
“But now I have completely become Lowell, and I’m certain you won’t see me differently. Or, even if you do see me differently, it will be in a better way.”
“You’re stating the obvious.”
Despite his firm voice, Felix pulled Lowell’s slightly trembling body into an embrace.
“That’s also why I don’t know much about Lowell’s life before meeting you. Because I wasn’t Lowell before I met you.”
“I see.”
He patted Lowell’s chest with his large hand so he wouldn’t feel anxious.
At that tender comfort, Lowell didn’t lose his way and stepped toward his goal.
“Both you and I have had our share of hard times. I didn’t face any grand trials, but I’ve had moments where I thought negatively—wondering if I was just unlucky, or if God’s grace only bypassed me.”
It was the same for Felix.
He had once thought he had done something wrong to fall out of God’s favor.
While meeting Lowell had completely dispelled those doubts, he certainly felt that way in the past.
“But at this point, couldn’t we see our meeting itself as something God planned? Perhaps we entered into His grace from that moment on.”
Lowell and Felix’s hearts beat simultaneously, thump, thump, as if they were connected.
“A lot has happened since we met. Dangerous things, too… but in the end, it all turned out well. If we had even a bit of bad luck, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”
They both recalled the horrific memories of almost losing each other.
