Free Web NovelChapter 19: Breakfast with a Yandere
The morning sun shone brightly as its warm rays dawned through the window into the quiet room. The only sound that could be heard was the soft clattering of kitchen utensils. Alicia was busy making fresh tea for both Alden and herself, along with a warm breakfast.
But thanks to the potion she had mixed into his tea the night before, Alden was still sleeping peacefully on the sofa.
Inside the kitchen, Alicia smiled to herself.
"Hehe... It seems he is still sleeping peacefully. What if he just remains asleep in my room forever? Then I wouldn’t have to worry about him ever leaving me... I could just tie him here to a chair. No one would find out, and even if they did, no one would dare point a finger at me. And if he woke up, I could just forcefully make him drink another sleeping potion. He would stay with me forever. Hehe... Let’s plan that for later."
She served the breakfast and poured proper tea—this time with the exclusion of the sleeping potion—and walked out of the kitchen.
She looked down at his handsome face. A slight line of drool was dropping from his lips as he slept. His face looked so soft and peaceful, making her want to lean down and kiss him, but she held back... At least for now.
She placed the dishes on the wooden table, stepped closer to his sleeping figure, and kneeled down on the floor, looking at his face continuously.
"Hehe... come on, wake up, sleepyhead. Your mommy made breakfast for you..."
She started to gently stroke his dark hair while her eyes stared at him possessively.
She didn’t force him to wake up right away because she was too busy enjoying the sight of him. She didn’t want to let the warmth radiating from his body go just yet.
"Sigh... It seems I am still a weak-hearted person in the end. I cannot live without you, my love."
"Forget going to the academy. I just want you to lay here forever so that I can always see you."
As she looked closely at him, she noticed a slight movement in his body. He was slowly waking up. His eyelids started to flutter as he slowly opened his sleepy eyes. His gaze flickered around the room, taking time to adjust to the unfamiliar surroundings.
Alicia quickly stood up, stepped back, and sat gracefully on the couch, waiting for him to fully wake up.
As Alden’s eyes fell on the surrounding furniture, he finally realized exactly where he was.
’Damn, did I just fall asleep in her room? How the hell did that happen? Was I that much tired yesterday? Or was it because of eating that massive amount of food?’
As he tried to sit up, his head started to throb. He couldn’t remember what exactly happened right before he fell asleep. It seemed his memory had gotten blurry after sleeping so deeply.
His eyes flicked toward the silver-haired girl sitting on the couch opposite him in regal grace, already wearing her academy uniform. She looked so pretty that Alden almost mistook the sight, thinking he was still dreaming.
"Oh, did you finally wake up? I guessed you are still feeling sleepy. You can lie back down if you want to..."
Alden’s eyes snapped clear at her voice. The remaining sleepiness vanished entirely as he sat up properly. He looked at her and fully realized that this was not a dream; it was highly real.
’Shit! Why did I even fall asleep in Alicia’s room?! I have to hurry and leave right now. If any other student saw us together, her reputation might get ruined because of me... I don’t want that to happen.’
Alden quickly stood up to leave.
Alicia also stood up defensively.
"Where are you leaving? You haven’t even eaten breakfast yet."
Her voice was cold, similar to her usual expression.
"No, but I literally fell asleep here all night! I can’t just stay here anymore. I have to go, or other people will misunderstand if they see us walking out together..."
"Huh? Don’t worry about any other people. No one will dare open their mouth. You should just relax and eat the breakfast."
"But—"
"Are you going to eat it, or should I have to feed it to you myself? Are you okay with wasting my hard work making this breakfast for us?"
Alden blushed heavily at the casual mention of her feeding him, but he didn’t deny her logic. She had taken the time to make breakfast for them. If he didn’t eat it, it would not just be disrespectful to the food, but also disrespectful to the person who made it.
"Okay, okay. I will eat it. Fine..."
Alden then looked around the room and asked,
"Where is the washroom?"
"Oh, it is on the far right side of the room in the corner."
As she replied to him, Alden nodded and walked inside the bathroom to wash his face before eating breakfast.
*Creak—* *Thud!*
As the door of the washroom closed, Alicia leaned back in her chair, looking at the closed door.
"Well, that wasn’t bad. I got to see him flustered. Hehe... It seems acting a little unruly in front of him has many benefits. Well, I should act like this sometimes. He is so docile; he will surely have to listen to me."
She sipped her hot tea as silence returned to the quiet room.
A few minutes later, Alden walked out of the washroom, looking much fresher, and walked over to sit on the couch.
"Eat the breakfast and drink the tea. Only after that can you go."
"Okay..."
Alden took a piece of buttered bread and ate it. Surprisingly, it gave him the exact same feeling as the breakfast his own mother used to make when he was a young child in his past world.
’Sigh... I should not get used to eating the food made by her hands. It will seriously get me addicted at this rate...’
’But I didn’t expect her to be such an incredibly good cook. For a while, I even forgot that she was the daughter of an SS-ranker. She just looked like a normal, caring girl... Forget it. I shouldn’t meddle in her own business.’
Then, a thought struck his mind.
’Oh, I remember! She was going to tell me the actual reason behind why she called me, and she stopped right at the ’I like you—’ part. I have to ask her about that.’
Alden turned his eyes toward Alicia, who sat poised while staring blankly at nothing.
"Alicia? Can you tell me why you actually called me yesterday for dinner? You said something like ’I like you’ and then just paused..."
Alden’s face turned a little red as he asked her directly. He was curious to know if she had really confessed to him or if it was just a misunderstanding.
Alicia looked at him, acting confused, and said,
"No... I do not remember saying something like that yesterday."
She replied calmly, acting exactly as if she hadn’t uttered such words. Alden looked confused, unsure if it was all just a weird dream or if she was actively playing with his mind.
"No, I remember it perfectly. You definitely said ’I like you’..."
"Oh? Did I say that? I cannot remember saying that at all. Can you repeat again what I said?"
"Oh, you said ’I like you’."
"Oh, so you like me?"
Alden blushed fiercely, trying to bury his face in the couch cushion, and continued.
"I meant to say, you told me that you liked me!"
"So did you mean to say, you told ’I like you’ to me?"
"Yes, I said that..."
Alden paused as he muttered the words. His face turned bright red as he realized he had just misspoken the wrong answer.
"Hey, wait! I mean to say, you said that you liked me! I didn’t say anything! Right after saying that, you just left for the door because someone had come knocking..."
Alicia looked completely calm while staring at his flustered face.
"Oh. But no one came here yesterday except you."
"W-what? How can that be possible..."
Alden looked unsure about the whole situation. He felt confused and frowned.
Alicia sat calmly, perfectly manipulating his entire thought process.
She had cleverly taken his questions, slammed them right back at him, and confused the whole situation so much that he would start to doubt himself. She wanted him to question himself if he was actually right or not.
"Oh, it must have been in your dream. You know, after I came back from making the tea yesterday, you were already sleeping heavily on the couch. I think you were just dreaming about everything. Besides, why would I randomly propose to you? And why wouldn’t I have remembered it if I had proposed?"
Since Alden was still suffering from a mild headache caused by the sleeping potion, his recent memories were mostly blurry. It was genuinely difficult for him to separate what he had actually heard from what he might have seen in a vivid dream.
’Yeah... That must be the reason. Why would she, the beautiful daughter of an SS-ranker, one of the main pillars of Elderia, even fall for me? An exiled, weak heir of the Astra family. Even then, we had not spent nearly enough time together to make her fall for me. I am just being delusional, it seems.’
Unknown to him, Alicia had easily formed a new narrative. She created a story that seemed much easier and more appropriate for the situation, one that he would find logical and perfect. This way, he wouldn’t overthink yesterday’s incident.
He finished his breakfast and drank the warm tea.
He stood up from the cushion. For a brief second, he felt like he saw a disappointed expression flash in her eyes, but he dismissed it as his own delusion since her face was completely expressionless.
"Okay. Thank you for the breakfast. I will see you later then."
Alden bowed slightly. Alicia didn’t say anything as he walked toward the door. He paused, turned around to look at her, and asked one last thing.
"Then why did you actually call me for dinner yesterday?"
Alicia met his gaze and stated calmly,
"I just wanted to make a friend."
Alden blinked at her simple comment.
"Oh... Was that the reason? Well... we can be friends. But it will take time to become real friends, as I don’t trust people easily. I am sorry if I sound weird..."
Alicia looked at him and replied calmly.
"No, do not apologize. I also do not need a friend who will just start to like me with an empty heart."
Alden pursed his lips and nodded.
"I will leave you then... See you in class."
*Creak—* *Thud!*
As the door of the room closed, Alicia leaned back in her seat. A small, dark smile revealed itself on her lips as she sank into the cushion.
"Friends? Nah. Alden, I am not satisfied with just being your friend."
"And about your words saying that you don’t trust people easily... I will not take that as an excuse to put distance between us. If you do not get closer to me, then I will force myself closer and make sure you know that I care about you. But if you still ignore me and distance yourself away from me..."
A small, wicked smile curled on her lips. Her eyes turned intense as she looked at the exact spot on the couch where he had slept the whole night.
"Then, I will forget about caring for your feelings and your heart. I will just claim what is rightfully mine, and you will not be able to stop me."
