The Bride Who Read the Contract novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Unwritten
"Come in," Fumika said.
He didn't move.
"That's not an answer."
"It's the first half of one. You're dripping on her books."
He looked down. A stack of poetry on the trestle by the door was turning dark at the corners.
The bookseller's wife made a small sound of despair behind Fumika.
He stepped inside and stood dripping on the floor of the dark shop, among the stacks, ducking his horns under the beams.
The bookseller's wife looked up at him. Then at Fumika.
"I'll get towels," she said. "Several."
She went.
He stood there in the dark with rain running off him.
"I walked," he said. "Suzuna hid the car keys."
"From the mountain?"
"From the mountain. It's further than it looks."
"Why did she hide them?"
"She said if I drove I'd turn round halfway."
He pushed the wet hair off his face. "She was right. I turned round four times. On foot it's harder."
Fumika laughed. She couldn't help it.
He didn't laugh.
"I was wrong," he said.
"The other night, in your room. I called my silence kindness."
"I remember."
"It was a choice I made for you."
"Yes. You did."
"I want you in my house," he said.
"Not because a scroll says so."
"Then why?"
"Because I wake up and look for you. Because I want to be forty and still be looking for you."
Her eyes stung.
"You said nothing written down."
"Nothing. Nobody's ever going to read it aloud before seven clans." He took one step closer. "Just you and me and a bookshop."
The stairs creaked.
Kaede came down them in her sleeping kimono with her hair in a plait and her bedding rolled in her arms.
She looked at Ibuki, dripping. Then at Fumika.
"I'm going to sleep in the shop," she said. "With the books. I've always wanted to."
"Kaede."
"Mrs. Bookseller says there's a bench by the stove." She marched past them into the back with her bedding. "Goodnight. Don't burn anything."
The bookseller's wife came back with an armful of towels, took one look at them and handed them all to Fumika.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Bride Who Read the Contract are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend