## Chapter 151 – Jane . The Last
Number 25 was quite taken aback by Jane’s unexpectedly candid demeanor.
Her wavering gaze, more tremulous breathing than usual, and slightly flushed face clearly indicated that she was speaking the truth, not a lie. There was no avoiding it.
Because there’s nothing more miserable than pushing away someone who’s approaching you with sincerity. Even if this answer meant the end of their relationship, it was an issue that needed to be addressed definitively.
Objectively speaking, Jane was a good woman.
A high position as the Demon Lord of District 3, with the responsibility befitting that position. Her appearance was also quite outstanding. Her breasts were a modest size, fitting in one hand, but her wicked pelvis, flowing down from her slender waist, was more than enough to ignite the hearts of many men.
However, one shouldn’t hastily accept her feelings simply because she has a good appearance or out of pity for the love she’s experienced so far. Number 25 instinctively knew how miserable and painful the end would be if the relationship didn’t start with genuine feelings. He had never approached women with false emotions.
Number 25 took Jane’s hand and carefully prepared to start talking.
A moment of silence.
The sound of their hearts beating echoed in the back alley, and even the sound of swallowing could be heard clearly.
Even the sound of other people laughing and chatting outside seemed to fade away from the world. The silence that had come as if only the two of them were left on this street seemed like it would last forever.
Until Number 25 opened his mouth.
“First of all, thank you.”
Jane’s expression brightened for a moment upon hearing the word “thank you,” but the world doesn’t flow so smoothly. Number 25 lowered his gaze, swallowed hard, and then looked straight into Jane’s eyes with an upright gaze, conveying his feelings clearly.
“But I can’t accept it. It’s not that I dislike you, Unni… but as you know, I have Master and a place to return to.”
Jane carefully released Number 25’s hand, which she was holding, and stepped back again, leaning against the wall.
She looked up at the sky and let out a sigh, her expression seeming somewhat relieved.
“Well, if that’s the answer, there’s nothing I can do.”
Jane, who finished speaking in a more nonchalant tone than expected, turned her back and stretched.
Her back view was no different from usual, but Number 25 couldn’t easily speak to her because of the precarious atmosphere that seemed like she would collapse at any moment if touched.
Contrary to Number 25’s worries, Jane continued to speak in a voice without the slightest tremor.
“It feels rather refreshing to at least say it like this. It would have been hard if I had kept suffering alone.”
Jane was speaking to let him know that she was okay, but it looked different to Number 25.
“Are you really okay?”
“Really okay?”
Jane turned around and looked at Number 25 as soon as she finished speaking. She was smiling with the corners of her lips slightly raised, but it only looked somewhat bitter. Forcing a smile, she stroked Number 25’s head and said in a gentle voice.
“I’m really okay. So you don’t have to worry about me.”
Jane’s voice faded towards the end.
Number 25, noticing the faint trembling sob in her calm tone, let out a sigh and approached her.
Jane looked flustered as the man who had rejected her confession approached her, but it didn’t seem like she disliked it that much.
“Why? Are you going to make fun of me for all the things I’ve suffered?”
If she didn’t utter such playful words, she felt like the beating of her heart would be heard as it was, and furthermore, she would have burst into tears that she had been holding back.
“There’s no way I’d make fun of you.”
Number 25, who answered curtly as he usually treated her, changed his expression and cleared his throat.
“I don’t know where to start or how to say it.”
Jane turned her gaze away and waved her hand, refusing.
“What are you talking about? Isn’t it all over now?”
Jane’s voice was already locked and quite low. Number 25 shook his head at Jane’s words that it was all over and continued to speak again.
“No, I think I should say it for sure anyway.”
“What do you mean by ‘for sure’…”
Number 25 opened his arms wide and took a pose as if telling her to hug him. Seeing that, Jane looked around in embarrassment at first.
“What… how miserable are you trying to make me…”
Unlike her hesitant words, Jane approached Number 25 at some point and hugged him. Number 25 stroked Jane’s back in his arms and said gently in a soft voice.
“Thank you for liking me. The time we spent together was short and you did a lot of strange things to me, but I know now that you’re a good person, Unni. The time I spent with you was a good memory for me too. So much so that I probably won’t be able to forget it even after a lifetime. But please forget me, Unni. Forget me and meet someone better.”
Although it was a gentle voice, the content was too cruel for Jane. But Jane accepted it surprisingly calmly.
She smiled and hugged Number 25’s small body tightly.
“Well, if you say that much, there’s nothing I can do.”
In Jane’s expression, who finished the long hug, there was no regret left. Just like when they first met, she pinched Number 25’s cheek with a strange smile.
“You even took my first kiss…”
“T, that was on your own accord!”
Before Number 25 could finish speaking, Jane grabbed Number 25’s cheeks and covered his lips for the last time.
She grabbed the back of Number 25’s neck so he couldn’t escape, and started to bite his lips lightly or lick his lower lip with her tongue.
The ecstatic kiss was only temporary, and just as Number 25 came to his senses and tried to escape, Jane stepped back on her own and threw a nonchalant smile.
“Tell me if you change your mind. Until then, you’re my last man. Let’s go back now.”
She, who was self-willed from beginning to end, remained strongly in Number 25’s memory, whether he liked it or not.
Number 25 wiped the saliva left on his lips with his sleeve and followed Jane. In her light footsteps, which were no different from the beginning, there was no glimpse of the worries that had been lingering in her heart.
●
When they returned to the mansion, Acer was waiting anxiously in the yard. She was startled to see the two returning and assessed the atmosphere.
The distance between them, the two who couldn’t make eye contact properly like awkward strangers, the cut-off conversation and the desolate air.
Acer instinctively realized that Jane had heard something bad from Number 25.
A woman’s intuition is quite accurate. Acer read the atmosphere flowing between the two at once, and thought that everything that had happened between Number 25 and Jane had been resolved.
Jane smiled at Acer, who was standing far away and looking at Number 25 and herself, and waved her hand as if to reassure her.
“You don’t have to look at me like that. I got properly dumped.”
“Isn’t that obvious? Number 25 likes me the most.”
Acer, who finished speaking, snatched Number 25 into her arms as if she was catching him, looked down at him with loving eyes, and stroked his head.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Jane looked bitterly at Number 25’s expression, which was clearly different from when he hugged her earlier, and asked Acer a question.
“Yeah… did you find what you wanted?”
“What I wanted?”
“Isn’t the reason you came to District 3 to find something to properly govern your district?”
At Jane’s question, Acer’s eyes lit up and she nodded.
“I wouldn’t be preparing to go back now if I hadn’t gained anything.”
It was only Number 25 who was surprised by that.
“Really?!”
“Yeah, I think I can see it little by little now.”
“That’s a relief.”
Number 25, who had been watching Acer’s mental struggles right next to her, knew how hard it had been for her. The fact that she had realized something in District 3 meant that she could relieve some of the burden that had been bothering her until now. Number 25 was truly happy and hugged Acer’s waist tightly.
Jane, who was watching the two, coughed and said in a regretful tone.
“Yeah… so you’re really leaving now.”
Jane looked at Number 25 and Acer with regretful eyes.
“Thank you for everything so far.”
Perhaps because they were old friends, Jane and Acer didn’t exchange any special greetings. They just waved their hands a few times and left without looking back.
Only Number 25 continued to wave his hand until Jane’s figure was out of sight.
Immediately after the two had completely disappeared, Jane headed straight to the basement without even having time to feel lonely.
Jane, looking at the statue that was not yet completely carved, smiled and savored what had happened earlier.
“If you say things like that, I can’t forget you even more. This little brat…”
Jane sat back in her seat, grabbed the carving knife, and continued carving without a word.
Number 25 was no longer there, but her sculpture was more lively and flowing than any other work she had made so far.
