CH 22

“What the hell is going on? Just tell me.”

“It’s just… it’s nothing…….”

Lucia hesitated to speak but finally revealed her uneasy state.

Over the past two weeks, the feeling of foreboding that had started as a sense of strangeness had grown, eventually turning into jealousy. It was so different from what she had felt before.

When Arista and Herwin talk, even if they don’t say much, she keeps wondering if there’s a meaning behind it, and she finds it hard to watch them together, to the point where it’s painful just to look at them.

These feelings were new to her, and Lucia’s current state made it difficult for her to deal with them.

“Arista saved Herwin’s life… and I know it shouldn’t be like this. I don’t want to see her.”

Bianca wrapped her arms around Lucia’s shoulders as she sobbed in pain.

Her face tightened as if she understood Lucia’s feelings.

“It’s okay, it’s natural, don’t feel so guilty.”

“Is this natural? Because I’m so mean…….”

“Awww, you’re not being mean. I see it now. You’re struggling just to hate one person. You’re too good by nature. It’s natural for a person to dislike other people, and it’s natural for a person to hate other people.”

“But Arista hasn’t done anything wrong to me…she’s looking out for me.”

She knew how good Arista was, and how well she had treated her, and it pained Lucia to hate her now.

“But don’t you have your reasons for disliking Princess Lydia, for example…….”

That Herwin is interested in the princess.

Lucia stiffened at Bianca’s words. Her guess was correct.

She hated and disliked Arista solely because Herwin was interested in her.

“You used to say that no matter who he likes, you would stay still…….”

Bianca sighed, remembering the conversation they’d had a few weeks ago.

She realized now how complacent she had been.

The reality was much different.

When your crush likes someone else, it’s not something you can take lightly.

“Bianca, what do I do now?”

Even if her head told her that Arista had done nothing wrong, her heart rejected it, and she couldn’t go on as usual.

“What do you mean? You have to follow your heart.”

“If I follow my heart… are you telling me to stay away from Arista?”

“If that’s what makes you feel better. But this isn’t just about you and Princess Lydia, there’s Herwin in the middle, and I don’t think it can be solved simply by you avoiding her.”

“That’s true…….”

Lucia’s shoulders sagged again, and Bianca hastily added a postscript.

“Just follow your heart. If you want to stay away from her, stay away, and if you want to be close to her, be close. Just remember this.”

Her eyes locked with Bianca’s hazel ones.

“You care too much about other people. It’s okay to take care of others, but take care of your heart first. You might not even have the strength to look after yourself later.”

True to her word, Lucia’s tendency to put others first was both a strength and a weakness.

Lucia silently reflected on Bianca’s advice.

* * *

After talking to Bianca, Lucia decides to stay away from Arista.

Bianca encouraged her to get angry, but she didn’t feel comfortable doing so, so she decided to do the best she could and keep her distance.

But she couldn’t avoid Arista all the time.

She made up excuses to avoid being alone with her, but she couldn’t stay away from her when she was with all of their friends or when she was with the three of them.

Still, lately, Arista, who had always approached her casually when she sensed her avoidance, had begun to treat Lucia awkwardly.

She could see in her eyes that she wanted to make things right, but Lucia could only pretend to be oblivious to her feelings.

No matter how much she hated Arista, Lucia didn’t feel good about pushing her away.

The mere thought that Herwin might like her was enough to push her away.

Even though she thought she was being so petty and cowardly, Lucia couldn’t bring herself to let Arista near her.

Eventually, her friends began to notice her strange behavior over the past few days.

No matter how hard she tried not to show it, Lucia was a terrible liar and her emotions showed through on her face.

Today, as usual, she was chatting with her friends when Arista approached her.

As soon as Lucia saw her, she became visibly uneasy and jumped up from her seat with Bianca.

“Hey, girls, I’m sorry, but I have to go to the restroom for a minute.”

“……Yes, go ahead.”

Before Arista could reach her, Lucia was off with Bianca as if being chased by someone.

Her remaining friends, including Herwin and Christine, stared at Lucia as she walked out the door.

After a moment of silence, Brian looked back at Arista and asked.

“Did you do something wrong to Lucia?”

Arista stiffened and shook her head.

“I want to know, too. What the hell is Lucia doing to me.”

“Maybe you did something to upset her. She’s not the kind of person who would hate someone so easily.”

“Upset or not, I haven’t talked to Lucia much, just a quick hello and some small talk…….”

“Lucia’s been acting weird the last few days, to be sure.”

“Bianca seemed to know something, but… Christine, have you heard anything?”

At Ethan’s question, Christine shook her head.

No one here knew what Lucia was up to right now.

It was frustrating not to know what was going on with her.

Arista, the most frustrated of them all, sighed heavily and turned to Herwin.

“Herwin, do you know anything?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re supposed to be her best friend and you don’t know anything about that! I want you to find out now!”

Arista gave Herwin a small tantrum.

“Hah, I don’t want to be alienated from Lucia like this, we’ve barely gotten to know each other! I wish she would at least tell me what I did wrong!”

Arista sulked.

Arista had wanted to be friends with Lucia since the first day of school.

But aside from being in the same class, they hadn’t had much contact or opportunity to talk.

Recently, she’s been getting closer to her through Herwin, Ethan, Brian, and others. She thought that by rescuing Herwin, she would be able to get close to her, but where did it go wrong?

“Herwin, you have to do something. I don’t want to be separated from Lucia like this.”

Arista clasped her hands together and pleaded with Herwin. Herwin sidestepped Arista’s approach and smirked at her tight-lipped expression.

“Okay, I’ll ask her.”

“Aaah! You have to, you have to, okay? And if I’ve done something wrong, let me know. So I can fix it.”

“Okay, now stop making faces.”

By now, Arista’s face was close. When Herwin pulled away, Arista backed away without a word.

Thud.

The sound of a door opening was heard.

Everyone turned to see Lucia and Bianca, who had returned.

Bianca frowned slightly and whispered something to Lucia, which made Lucia’s face darken.

“Lucia, did you go to the bathroom?”

Arista greeted her as cheerfully as she could, hoping to repair her relationship with Lucia.

However, Lucia’s face contorted and she ran out of the classroom again.

She looked like she was about to cry, and everyone was confused.

“Did I do something wrong again?”

Arista looked back at their friends, wondering what she had done wrong this time, but they just shook their heads.

“Herwin, what about you when you saw it?”

“I’ll go to …… Lucia.”

Herwin stood up with a serious look on his face and hurried after Lucia. Arista followed the shuffling Herwin to the doorway.

Bianca glanced at Herwin as he brushed past her, then at Arista standing in the doorway.

“A fox or something.”

It was a small sound, but enough for Arista, who was right next to her, to hear.

Arista frowned and glanced to the side, wondering if she had misheard.

Bianca glared at Arista, gave her a dismissive smirk, then smiled and turned back to her friends.

The change in demeanor came so quickly that no one but Arista noticed the change in Bianca’s demeanor.

“……what?”

Arista frowned, and her mood drastically changed.

Ever since she and Lucia had gotten to know each other, Bianca had been guarding herself for some reason and doing a lot of things that irritated her without anyone noticing.

At one point, she thought about getting angry at her, but couldn’t because she was one of the few people who were close to Lucia.

She didn’t want to be alienated by Lucia again just because of Bianca.

Arista shrugged it off and walked into the classroom.

* * *

Lucia hurried away from the classroom at a brisk pace, struggling to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

Just a moment ago, Arista and Herwin had seemed like the sweetest of lovers. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, the two of them were damn good together.

That alone was enough to make her heart sink, but she couldn’t bear to see them so close to kissing anymore.

‘That must be her trying to get you to look at her. Look, she’s laughing at you.’

She hoped Bianca was lying, but the look on Arista’s face as she smiled at her was more like a sneer.

‘Herwin… do you really like Arista?’

The question rose in her throat like a chimney, but she couldn’t quite get it out.

If he did like her, if what he thought he did was right.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do…….’

“Lucia.”

Lucia covered her mouth and twisted her face away, only to be stopped by a strong tug from behind.

Standing right in front of her was someone she didn’t want to face right now.

“……are you crying?”

Herwin was taken aback. Her behavior had been strange the past few days, and Lucia was crying.

Or, more accurately, she was on the verge of crying. The blue walls seemed to be filled with moisture, and if you touched her, she would burst into tears.

After a moment of panic, Herwin scowled.

“Someone.”

“Huh?”

“Who are you crying for!”

Herwin was angry, and he meant it. It had been a long time since he’d been this angry.

It made the tears that were about to fall. Even as Lucia’s tears faded, Herwin’s chest rose and fell with anger.

“Tell me now. Who the hell made you cry?”

“……Do you care that I’m crying?”

“Of course I do, who doesn’t care when their one and only childhood friend is crying!”

It was heartwarming to know that he cared, even when he was angry, but it also hurt to know that he still saw her as just a little friend.

Lucia blushed again, and Herwin ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

No matter how innocent and sweet Lucia was, she didn’t show tears easily.

So the fact that she was crying and he couldn’t figure out why was driving him crazy.

Herwin swallowed hard at his boiling anger and grabbed Lucia’s shoulders to bring them to eye level.

“It’s okay, just tell me. What the hell happened?”

Lucia’s mouth dropped open. She wasn’t sure if she should tell him what she was feeling.

“Lucia.”

Herwin called out to her once more.

Lucia could barely make eye contact with him. The red eyes staring back at her were so serious.

It stirred her heart and made it throb again.