Grey carried Eulalia to her house. At the door, he used his fingerprint to unlock it. The fact that he could still open it made his heart feel warm.
After all the commotion, Eulalia was feeling a bit tired. She lay quietly on Grey's back, muttering about her headache.
After placing her on the sofa, Grey went to the kitchen to make some hangover soup.
Eulalia sat up from the sofa, her vision blurry and her head heavy with heat. When she saw Grey, she even wondered if he was just a hallucination.
She remained silent, quietly watching the "illusion" move about the house. It was still the same home, the furniture hadn't been rearranged. Everything seemed as though nothing had happened.
She hadn't met Alexander through matchmaking, and Grey hadn't left.
In just a few days, everything had changed.
It took Eulalia a long time to blink, thinking about everything that had happened. The anger was gone, replaced only by a deep sadness.
She only wanted to find someone with whom she could share a warm, peaceful life. Why was it so hard?
Now, thinking about it, she had been deceived by that scumbag, and Grey had left too. She was once again alone in the house.
There was too much heartache to put into words. She stared blankly at the tall, lean "illusion," and tears silently rolled down her face.
Grey wasn't a good guy either. She had treated him so well, but he turned and left, quickly returning to his normal, happy life—buying a house, marrying a wife.
The "illusion" came out of the kitchen, holding a bowl of something.
Eulalia stared at him and smiled faintly, "An ungraceful brat, just like me."
He was, and she was.
Thinking about how she had heard from others that her older brother had gotten married, Eulalia was relieved they hadn't informed her.
She had no ties left to her family.
Now, thinking about it, she had the life she had always wanted. She had broken free from that suffocating family, and had her own little home. She should be happy.
But perhaps it was the alcohol playing tricks on her. People always became more sentimental when drunk. She didn't want to cry aloud, but the tears kept flowing freely, as if they didn't cost a thing.
Her vision blurred, and the "illusion" became harder to see, until it disappeared.
There was no Grey, no illusion. In this overly quiet home, there was only her, a drunken soul.
Then, she felt someone wipe away her tears, and a familiar, deep voice spoke up, "Why are you crying? I thought you were pretty tough."
Eulalia blinked, her vision clearing slightly. She looked up at Grey, who was crouching in front of her. He was tall, and even crouched down, he was still hardly shorter than her. His gaze tilted upward, meeting hers for a brief moment before he lowered his eyes with an air of dissatisfaction, muttering under his breath, "... Just a few days, and you're crying for him?"
Eulalia sniffed, her irritation rising as she glared at this ungrateful brat. Normally so quiet and taciturn, now even a "illusion" was saying such things.
She retorted with righteous indignation, "What? Am I not allowed to cry?"
Staring at him with her wet, round eyes, Grey paused for a moment, his voice dropping an octave. "You can."
Eulalia huffed, her voice growing louder, "Of course I can!"
Grey silently thought to himself: but not for some other man...
He picked up the hangover soup and offered it to her. "Drink this, you'll feel better."
But Eulalia shot back, "What's this? Trying to poison me?"
Grey:...
He paused for two seconds in silence, then patiently replied, "This is a hangover soup, made by humans."
"When did you, this ungraceful werewolf, learn how to make hangover soup?"
Grey held back but finally corrected her, "I'm not ungraceful, I remembered all your kindness."
"Hangover soup... I learned it last time." It was after Eulalia came home drunk and caused a ruckus, complaining about a headache, that he had learned to make it.
But Eulalia seemed not to have really listened to him. Instead, she sighed deeply, feeling emotional, and reached out to ruffle his spiky hair. "Not bad, you even made me hangover soup."
Grey squatted there, motionless, letting her ruffle his hair, his ears tinged with a faint red.
His gaze shifted slightly upward, focusing on this cute, soft, and entirely human woman. Fragments of light from the chandelier scattered across his eyes, and in addition to the glow, there was an unmistakable trust and affection shining through. Even his usually sharp and somewhat unapproachable features softened just a little.
This hair feels just like real hair... The more Eulalia touched it, the more real it felt. She frowned, a straight line flashing in her mind. Her eyes widened, she leaned back, and exclaimed, "It's real!"
She stopped touching his head. Grey pressed his lips together lightly, unsure of what she was talking about.
Eulalia snapped back to full awareness, her face full of astonishment. "Grey, why are you here?"
"... " Grey now understood what she meant by "it's real."
Eulalia's mind raced, trying to piece together memories. She had been drunk and carried home by someone. So it must have been Grey who carried her back?
She scratched her head. "Sigh... you saw it too, right? My blind date ended in disaster. It would have been better if it hadn't even worked out in the first place. What a waste of my time... and you had to..." leave.
She didn't finish the last word.
"Am I the most failed, least charming human woman you've ever seen?" She gave a self-deprecating smile. "I've failed at blind dates so many times, and when I finally succeed, I end up meeting a terrible person."
Grey's hand tightened by his side, and his handsome face grew serious.
The most failed human woman he had ever seen? Grey didn't even know how she could say that. He felt uncomfortable and his tone grew a little sharper. "Of course... not!"
He didn't want to see her speak like that about herself. Even if it was herself saying it, she shouldn't.
"Isn't it?" Eulalia looked at him.
Grey shook his head. "You're great... really great."
"Really?" Eulalia was a bit surprised. Grey didn't say much, but he was quite honest.
"Tell me how I'm great, I want to hear it," she said, her eyes curving into a smile, pretending to listen intently.
Grey felt sweat on his palms. He nervously swallowed, his crush staring at him and asking how she was great...
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His face turned red first.
"Go on," Eulalia urged him. She guessed that after drinking, she had gained the courage to be so forward.
Grey felt like he had lost the ability to speak. He was anxious and nervous, embarrassed, unable to get a single word out.
Eulalia slowly lost hope. "What's this? You're just messing with me, huh? Alright, stop making things hard for yourself."
"You don't have to say it," she sighed.
"No..." Grey took a deep breath, his eyes shining as he stared at her. "You're really great, very cute... very warm... you talk a lot, and that's good, your voice is nice... and you're also cute when you eat..." he stammered.
"What are you saying?" But Eulalia laughed. His words were simple and direct, almost like a child speaking.
Under the soft lighting, the atmosphere seemed to improve a little.
Grey suddenly spoke, "That person was a bad one?"
"Yeah, he's scum."
"Then you weren't crying for him..." Grey murmured. Was she crying because of her bad luck? He sighed in relief. Grey didn't know why, but he let out a sigh of relief.
Eulalia had some hangover soup, then said, "Thank you for tonight, it's so late and you..."
"I'll come again tomorrow," Grey stood up.
Eulalia froze for a moment, wondering what he was coming for tomorrow.
Grey stared at her for a few moments, then said, "Remember to have breakfast."
"Okay."
"And, don't cry."
Eulalia blinked, nodding dazedly, "Oh..."
"Don't overthink it."
"Okay." Eulalia scratched her hair.
Wait, what's up with this guy? Who's older here? Just as she was feeling a bit confused, Grey took a few steps, then turned back to look at her. "Eula."
?
"I'm going to call you Eula from now on."
???
"And also, you are the best, most charming woman I've ever met among all pure humans."
With that, Grey turned and walked off without looking back, almost fleeing in a hurry.
