About Your Pride and My Prejudice

Chapter 111: Happy Birthday

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T/N: this chap too is in 3 pov

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Her tender heart beats uncontrollably at his words. Just by basking in the fireplace with him makes her happy like a dream, to be with him until morning.

She wished she could hear this every day. Melissa, who was dizzy just by imagining it, bit her lips.

At this point, it would not be strange to hear the words, I love you right now. So she thought she’d asked him to tell her his pious confession.

But Alan might be more tactless than she thought. His eyes and hands have already whispered love to her many times, yet he couldn’t convey it in words.

Melissa, who was wondering if he was embarrassed just like her, had to swallow her laughter without anyone knowing. It was because she imagined Alan, who was shy with his cheeks red in front of her, however he still looks as cold as the moon in the night sky.

What am I thinking of this man who is like winter?

Such shameful innermost thoughts should never be discovered. Melissa, who was in a hurry to change her expression, made eye contact with Alan as if nothing had happened. The straight gaze had been fixed on her ever since they entered this room together.

As she watched the beautiful cold-colored eyes swaying from time to time, there was one thing that suddenly came to mind.

“Hey, Alan.”

“Yes.”

“Speaking of the cake…….”

Then a long finger tapped Melissa’s lower lip.

“Cherry?”

“That’s not it……!”

Obviously he was making fun of her. Melissa, with thin eyebrows furrowed, grabbed Alan’s hand quickly and asked,

“What’s the date today?”

“The day before the last day of October.”

(30th October)

“……Ah!”

At those words, her pale brown eyes went round.

“What time is it? Isn’t it almost midnight?”

As she hurriedly grabbed his hand and shook it, Alan pulled out a pocket watch from his pants pocket. A silver watch with a laurel pattern embossed on the outside flashed golden in the light.

Soon, as the cover opened, Melissa’s eyes quickly checked the time.

“……It’s fifteen past eleven.” (Melissa)

“Why?” (Alan)

“That… Tomorrow is my birthday.” (Melissa)

His hand gently squeezed her hand. At what point did time pass so much? She was truly immersed in life here. Such new thoughts fluttered through Melissa’s mind.

In fact, the only proof of the months she spent here was the novel <Paradise on the Moon>, which she wrote in vain. And this man who had burned it down,

“Really? There’s less than an hour left.”

“…….”

……She should feel bad, but she was rather flustered.

In the end, the important thing wasn’t the novel, it was Alan who made her write the story. Only that fact, in Melissa’s heart, became as vivid as the color of a tulip filled with sunlight.

* * *

The two of them were sitting next to each other on the bed. With their legs outstretched and their backs leaning against the wall, they looked innocent like children.

Melissa murmured, embracing the cushion in her arms deeper.

“I want to tell you a secret.”

The little hand that did not hold the cushion was clasping affectionately with the hand of her loved one. Melissa added gently, tapping her fingertips on the back of Alan’s hard and cool hand.

“Because it’s the eve of my birthday.”

“……You still have a secret story to tell.”

Alan chuckled. She has a clear voice, as if she has something to say. Then he thought to listen quietly.

“You’re a businessman. So think of this as a deal.”

But Melissa suddenly said something unexpected.

“Deal?”

“Yes. You have to tell me your secret first.”

Alan recalled the day Melissa asked about Monica Elwood one day. Then with the businessman’s habit, he suggested that she exchange secrets with him.

Even with such a ridiculous joke, it tickled his heart to see her diligently divulging secrets.

Obviously, until then, he thought the ripples that Melissa Collins had created were so shallow that they wouldn’t wet his ankles at best. But even though it was certainly him who kissed her lips that day, it was also him who got swallowed by the tsunami that Melissa created.

Melissa clasped Alan’s hand who didn’t answer.

“You can’t say no. It’s the eve of my birthday.”

“…….”

Alan thought for a moment. Don’t tell me you’re trying to get your own revenge for that?

Whatever it was, he was willing to follow it as she wanted, even if it wasn’t the eve of her birthday. Whether it’s revenge or something.

“All right, how many do you need?”

“Well… one.”

“One is enough?”

Alan raised his eyebrows unexpectedly.

That day, he enjoyed the sweet secrets that Melissa, who blushed, painstakingly recited. Even thinking about it now, he was so mischievous that he pretended to be bored and asked for the next secret because he wanted to keep seeing her reaction. He also remembered the touch of her lips, which were wet with tears.

But to think she only needed one. He didn’t think that’s a good deal for revenge.

Then Melissa added hastily.

“Instead, you have to speak longer.”

“One thing? Longer?”

“Yes, that’s the rule I just made…….”

Melissa’s eyes shone like stars. Her voice was trembling faintly.

Naturally, she didn’t even think about revenge.  She just wanted to calm her mind before telling Alan her secret. Because this is the most secret story she hasn’t been able to tell anyone here.

So now his low, calm voice was desperately needed.

“Well, when I was young…”

An ecstatic low whispering voice came out only for one person and Melissa gently leaned her head on Alan’s shoulder.

“I almost died by drowning in an ice pond.”

Melissa held her breath at the sudden story.

“What? You must have been so scared…….”

“No, it wasn’t scary. At first, it was so cold that it was painful, but after a while it was rather……….”

“…….”

“Comfortable.”

Alan reached out his unclasped arm and stroked Melissa’s head on his shoulder. Very gentle and softly as if touching something precious.

The fragrant brown hair, which had been covered with the smell of the wood in the garden at night, and his white and hard hand, got gently buried in it.

“Shall we talk a little more?”

As Melissa leaned her head and nodded her head, Alan’s lips curved into a beautiful line.

“Well, sometimes I wonder if it was after then that I became so cold. I heard that if I had been pulled out a little later, my heart would have frozen.”

“Something like that…….”

“But now that I think about it, I’m rather fortunate that something like that happened.”

Confused, Melissa looked up quickly and faced Alan. Her transparent brown eyes were glittering with water.

“Fortunate? What do you mean by that?”

Alan’s eyes were as serene as a lake as his eyes looked at her.

“Because you said you love me who is like winter.”

“…….”

“Now it’s your turn.”

Instead of answering, Melissa thought, leaning her cheek on his shoulder. If Alan Leopold was as hot as summer, could she not have loved him? 

Of course, she would have loved him like the hot sun without knowing that her heart was burning. She would have been nervous every day about whether her heart would turn to ashes, and it would be terribly awful.

In fact, calling him winter might be too simplistic. Because she has loved Alan Leopold unchangingly through the countless repeating seasons.

“Melissa.”

And that feeling will remain the same in the future.

“Did you fall asleep?”

Alan asked in a locked voice and she took a small breath. His early-morning rose garden-like body scent swept through Melissa’s heart like a wave.

“…… No, Alan. Then I’ll tell you my secret.”

“Yes.”

“It’s the first time I’m telling you.”

After a brief deep breath, Melissa, who had her nervous expression on her face, licked her trembling lips.

“Actually……”

“…….”

“This is my second life.”

“Melissa, you…….”

As soon as Alan stopped talking, she wondered if there would be a moment of silence, but he eventually burst into laughter.

“It can’t be helped, you’re an artist.”

Then he kissed the tip of her little nose repeatedly. It was clear that he thought it was a joke.

In fact, this response did not deviate from Melissa’s expectations at all. She just closed her eyes reflexively at the unexpected kiss, thinking that Alan smiles a lot today, it’s a joyful birthday eve.

“What was your first life like? Were you happy? Did you find winter-like love?”

He asked, with a smile on his face that he couldn’t bear to hide. As if he is willing to talk to his own eccentric and lovely novelist.

“No.”

But Melissa’s answer was dry.

“It’s like life here. timid, boring…… I was lonely.”

“…….”

Tuk, Alan rested his cheek on Melissa’s head, who was leaning back helplessly on his shoulder. as if consoling her in his own way. Their bodies fit together like a puzzle.

“I used to think that I didn’t know you for ten years at most……….”

“…….”

“To think you had a first life. It’s kind of odd.”

Melissa smiled slightly. He must have thought it’s a joke, but she’s unfamiliar with Alan, who’s talking to her with all his heart.

There may be a belief in being kind to someone who’s about to have a birthday. He’s a gentleman anyway.

“No. I died of an illness at the age of twenty.”

Melissa murmured with a misty face.

“It was a short life.”

The voice sounded distant as if she was going to disappear any momentarily.

Alan, who felt strange anxiety even though he was holding her hand tightly, turned gently. Melissa’s brown eyes, which tilted her head, sank into a dark light. Her face was full of emotions.

Alan looked at her with a strange expression and a silent look.

At that moment, a dim clock sounded from the far corridor. It was midnight, the last night of October.

“Happy birthday.”

Alan, who whispered little, kissed with her small chin in his hand. It was a sweet, warm kiss like a hug.

When his lips fell for a moment, he whispered quietly, close enough to feel each other’s breath clearly.

“Melissa, who smells like wood.”

Melissa’s little lips overlapped again over his beautiful lips. As if that was her only breath, with a longing and earnest attraction.

The tip of Melissa’s tongue did not have the slightest leeway to convey her sincerity with words. So she hugged the neck of her beloved, who offered her passionate kisses, hoping that her sincerity would reach him.

Second life. She’d be lying if she wasn’t bored sometimes, but this is the first time she has stepped into the 21 in her life.

So it’s all new from now on, Alan.

I’m so happy to have this gift-like start with you.

Star-like tears slowly flowed down the cheeks from the slender corners of the eyes. It was a deep night when the clock sounded lazy.

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T/rant: idk why…but I was embarrassed while Translating this chapter??? Help??? Also, alan my dude, you could have directly said the date and not go around in such a way and ruin my mood, waste my time. Why, why do you have to go around in such a way, instead of just saying the date in a manner which humans use???

Readers comment a lot, like this chapter a lot, you are the only reason why I am able to reach here, love ya!