The Hero Stole My Lover, So I Decided to Steal the Hero's Lover Instead - Chapter 26-27

Chapter 26: The Hero’s POV

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“Hey, Alicia. It’s been a while.”

Cain spoke with as cheerful a tone as he could manage. He was wearing a smile meant to leave a good impression.

“Yes.”

Alicia’s response was curt.

“How have you been?”

“I’m doing well.”

Just as she said, Alicia looked very well. Healthy—bright. Had something good or fun happened recently? He couldn’t pinpoint why, but there was a kind of happiness—an aura of joy—seeping from her.

…Am I imagining it…? No. It’s not just my imagination.

Cain thought to himself. Even through the image projected in the air, he could definitely feel something. He had no idea what it might be. Still, he wracked his brain to try and come up with a reason.

Ah!

He nodded to himself as if a lightbulb had gone off.

I see. She’s happy because she gets to talk to me, her boyfriend.

Thinking that made Cain feel very happy. Savoring the warmth of that happiness, Cain chatted with Alicia about trivial things.

However…Alicia seemed distracted, like her heart wasn’t in it.

…What’s going on?

Something felt off. An ominous feeling was bubbling up inside of him. He couldn’t quite put it into words, but a negative sixth sense prickled at Cain’s mind.

What is this? What, what is this…?

A creeping sense of unease churned in his chest. He moistened his dry lips with his tongue and quickly strung words together.

“So, uh…About our marriage. Do you think you could wait a little longer? Once I defeat the Demon King, I’ll head back to Zwein, and then we can—”

“Um!”

Alicia raised her voice strongly, as if summoning all her courage to cut off Cain’s words. She never spoke this forcefully. She must have something very serious to say. That ominous feeling intensified.

“We should break up!”

We should… break up. Break up. Break up… break up…?

“…………Huh?”

Cain was stunned.

His voice and body trembled. If he hadn’t been sitting, he would’ve likely collapsed onto the floor.

“Ah… Ah? Huhhhhhhh……”

Cain’s brain couldn’t process the shock of Alicia’s words. No—it didn’t want to. He wanted to reject it. Pretend it never happened in the first place.

B-break up…? W-who? Us? Me and Alicia? Break up—why… why…!?

His head spun. He was getting dizzy. He could hardly breathe. He was hyperventilating. His vision blurred. The world seemed to get distorted. He wanted to lose consciousness. He wanted to shut it all out. His body turned deathly cold—then, suddenly, burned like magma.

This has to be a joke!

Cain thought.

Yes! That’s it, it must be a joke. Alicia’s not the type to joke around, but maybe, just this once, she’s saying something totally out of character to mess with me…

People’s reaction differed when confronted with an unbearable reality. Some could accept it with grace, facing it head-on. While others… Others could only deny it and replace it with a more convenient delusion in their mind.

Cain was the latter.

Yet, in the deepest part of his heart—the very bottom—he knew Alicia wasn’t joking. He knew she wasn’t the kind of shallow person who would say something so cruel for fun. It wasn’t just her beauty. Cain had been drawn to Alicia’s pure and gentle nature. That was why he had become her boyfriend.

They were lovers, and eventually they would marry each other. So…

Why is Alicia asking to break up with me? Don’t tell me… did she find out I’ve been fooling around?

It wasn’t impossible. But looking at Alicia now, she didn’t seem like someone confronting a cheating partner. If that wasn’t it, then what could the reason be…? He tried to think hard.

Eventually, he came up with five possible reasons:

1: She heard rumors about his womanizing tendency and of course, of his many affairs.

2: She heard about Cain’s various misdeeds.

3: She simply fell out of love with him.

4: She found someone else she loves.

5: She just said it as a casual joke.

Chances were, it wasn’t 1 or 5. If not 1, then probably not the similar 2 either. That left 3 or 4. If it was 4, that was the worst-case scenario. To avoid that worst case, he had to hope it was 3.

Either way, the fact remained that breaking up was something Cain didn’t want to do.

“Could you tell me why… Why do you want to break up?”

Timidly, Cain asked with a trembling voice.

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Chapter 27: The Hero’s POV

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“Could you tell me why… Why do you want to break up?”

Cain asked in a trembling voice, barely daring to speak. Alicia seemed to be struggling with how to respond to Cain’s question. Her face was twisted with unease as she looked down.

A heavy, suffocating silence filled the space. Cain had learned that there were many kinds of silence.

This one felt as if he had been sunk to the bottom of the deep sea—laden with weight and pain. He couldn’t breathe. His body was sinking. Sunlight did not reach the ocean depths. It was filled with darkness and stillness.

Eventually, Alicia slowly parted her small lips.

“I never really liked you to begin with, Cain-san. Oh, I mean… I’m not saying I disliked you! It’s just that…. I never had those kinds of feelings toward you as a lover… I… I never held any romantic feelings toward you, Cain-san.”

“Y-You didn’t like me…? Wha—No… way…”

His stomach felt hot. He nearly vomited, but held it in by clutching his abdomen. He recalled the five breakup reasons he’d thought up earlier—this was number 3:

‘3: She no longer liked Cain.’

At first glance, it seemed similar—but it was completely different. Number 3 assumed she had liked him once, but those feelings had faded over time. But what Alicia was saying now was, “I never liked you in the first place.” In other words—there had never been a single moment when she loved him.

He had believed they were mutually in love, but he had been completely wrong.

I was the only one who had feelings… It was a one-sided love…

A dry laugh escaped his lips.

“Hahaha…”

Strength drained from his entire body. It felt like his soul was about to leave him. Foam threatened to bubble up from his mouth. He wanted to faint—but couldn’t.

“That’s why I want to break up with you.”

Alicia continued, without hesitation.

“If we keep dating like this, I don’t think it’ll be good for either of us. If you break up with me, I’m sure you’ll be able to be with someone who truly loves you, Cain-san. But if things stay as they are—if you stay in a relationship with me—you’ll be completely stuck, right?”

“……”

Alicia didn’t know about Cain’s constant cheating. Or perhaps she had heard rumors, but refused to believe them—choosing instead to believe that Cain was a sincere man.

I betrayed Alicia… No, I’m still betraying her…

He reflected on his actions. He regretted them. But even so—people didn’t change that easily. A brief moment of guilt or remorse wouldn’t erase his behavior. He’d just go back to how he was.

Cain’s sleazy nature wouldn’t change. It wouldn’t waver.

Is there any chance we could start over? Or is it already too late? No, it’s not about being too early or too late. Our relationship never even started in the first place…

If Alicia had once liked him and had grown to dislike him for some reason, then maybe he could find out that reason, fix it, and repair their relationship. But she had clearly said she didn’t like him. That she had no romantic feelings for him.

There was nothing he could fix. There was no chance.

Cain was in despair. He felt like he’d been thrown into a pitch-black hole with no bottom in sight.

“—And so, let’s break up, Cain-san.”

“W-Wait…”

Cain spoke up. If he didn’t stop her, it would all be over.

“If you start to like me from now on, then—”

“I’ve spent quite a lot of time with you already. But I never came to like you, Cain-san. That’s why… I don’t think I’ll ever come to love you in the future either.”

Alicia delivered her words coldly, solemnly.

“Wait—”

Snap!

The image vanished. Alicia hadn’t ended the call. The communication crystal had simply run out of power. Its time was up and the crystal ball shattered. All that was left on the table were fragments of broken crystal. Fittingly, they resembled Cain’s current state of mind.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

Cain’s scream reached no one.

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