CH 27

“Ha, thank goodness you’re not hurt.”

“I told you I wasn’t hurt. More importantly, how did you know I was here?”

Dumbfounded, Lucia suddenly turned to Herwin, who shook his head in disbelief.

Herwin couldn’t have tipped off Lucas, and then who the hell could….…

“How can I not know your business, I know everything!”

“Because there was a rumor this afternoon that there was a big accident among the first years. His eyes lit up when your name appeared on it.”

Ares explained on Lucas’ behalf. His expression softened, though not as much as Lucas’.

It was easy to see what Lucas had been up to.

“I see you’re having a hard time with my ugly brother, so I’ll apologize on his behalf…….”

“Hahaha, it’s okay, he’s the reason I never get bored.”

Ares laughed heartily. Still, Lucia frowned and scratched her head.

“Hey, do you know that guy…….”

“Isn’t that …… Arista’s brother?”

It took a moment to realize that Lucas was Lucia’s biological brother. The friends realized it was Ares Lydia who came with Lucas.

Their gazes turned sideways.

To Arista, who was now hidden in the corner.

Ares heard the whispers of her friends and turned his head, his face immediately contorting.

“Arista?”

The long blonde shuddered from her hiding place in the corner.

“Why are you here?”

Ares’ face contorted as if he were looking at something grotesque. Arista frowned as well, but then she felt his eyes on her and shut up.

“Then why are you here?”

“Why, I’m here because my friend’s sister is sick. Oh, and by the way, do you know Lucia?”

“A friend ……?”

Arista frowned and cocked her head to the side, then locked eyes with Lucia’s equally blue eyes.

“Uh… hi, I mean, Miss Arista?”

Arista’s violet eyes fluttered as Lucas awkwardly greeted her.

It had been three years since Lucas and Ares had become friends, but this was the first time Lucas had seen Arista in person.

“Hello. I’m Arista Lydia. I’m Lucia’s friend…….”

“Yeah, I’m Lucas Agnes, it’s so cool that you’re friends.”

“Well, yeah, that’s interesting.”

The woman who was used to being friendly to strangers was suddenly very shy.

She wondered if the others sensed it, and her friends, especially Ares, gave her strange looks.

Lucas snapped his head around after the greeting, his attention focused solely on Lucia.

“What the hell happened, I was so surprised to hear you passed out.”

“Uh, a blade flew at me for a second…….”

“What, a blade?!”

“Herwin saved me, so I wasn’t hurt. I don’t know why I fainted either, but when I woke up, I was in the infirmary.”

Unlike Lucia, who sounded nonchalant, Lucas was serious.

“What kind of chewed-up guy did that to you?”

Lucas’ voice had lost all playfulness, and Lucia, sensing that he was genuinely upset, avoided his gaze.

“Lucia, look me in the eye. Who is it?”

Lucia was sweating profusely. She didn’t know what Lucas would do if she answered Arista here.

When she finally chose silence for everyone’s sake, Lucas changed the subject.

“Does anyone know who did it?”

Brian and Ethan gulped unnecessarily as a thick scent of flesh took over their surroundings. Herwin broke out in a cold sweat.

“Uh, over here…….”

Lucas’ head snapped around. The voice was Arista.

“It’s me… the culprit…….”

“……what?”

“Arista, you?”

Both Lucas and Ares were stunned by the unexpected identity of the culprit.

Arista didn’t dare to look up but shakily confessed her fault.

“My, my friend and I were crossing swords, and the blade got cut off, and it fell into Lucia’s…… I’m so sorry!”

Lucia thought Arista was going to cry because the corners of her eyes were reddened, if only slightly.

Lucia felt Lucas’ hand on her shoulder tighten and turned her head.

Lucas’ initial embarrassment was replaced by a stern face and a cold glare.

Snap!

“Thwack!”

Lucas grabbed his forehead with a jarring sound.

“Lucia, why are you suddenly……!”

“Stop giving the impression that it’s something serious. It’s just an accident.”

“An accident…?”

“Yeah, I don’t know the details, but… Anyway, she didn’t do it on purpose, she didn’t mean to hurt me, Arista apologized to me a while ago, and I’m unharmed anyway because Herwin saved me, right?”

There was a moment of silence. The atmosphere, which had been so heavy it was hard to breathe, had lightened, but remained rigid.

Lucas looked conflicted.

He didn’t think he could forgive the man who had put his sister in harm’s way, but it was his best friend’s sister, and the accident had been an accident.

He was still angry, but he couldn’t bring himself to show it.

After a moment of silence, Lucas spoke up.

“Herwin, you saved our Lucia?”

“……Yes.”

Herwin tensed as he met Lucas’ piercing gaze. Lucas glared at him for a moment, then sighed heavily.

“Hah, thank you for saving Lucia. We’re lucky we have you. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to…….”

Lucas trailed off, and Arista bowed her head even more.

“……I just wish Lucia hadn’t gotten hurt.”

Her tightly closed eyes fluttered open. Violet eyes flashed.

“Lucia has forgiven Ms. Arista, and I have no say in the matter. It would be different if Lucia had been hurt in the slightest, but…….”

Lucas looked back at Lucia, who was unharmed.

“It’s okay that you’re okay, I just want you to know that no matter how much of an accident it is, people can get hurt.”

“Of course, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again, and of course, I’ll be good to Lucia!”

Arista reiterated her promise to Lucia. Lucas smirked at that.

“Good, then.”

Relief washed over Arista’s face. She was relieved that the situation had been resolved.

Ding, ding, ding, ding

Just then, the bell rang.

“Big brother, you have to go now.”

“Tss, if I didn’t have class, I’d just stay here. Just this once, I’m going to skip class…….”

“I’m going to tell our parents.”

Lucas’ shoulders slumped at Lucia’s attitude of trying to get him out somehow.

“Come on, we need to get to class.”

He finally allowed himself to be tugged by Ares’ hand.

“We’ll go too. We’ll be back at the next break, so get some rest. Okay?”

Arista and her friends got up to leave for their next class.

Lucia waved to her friends, then turned her gaze sideways.

“……Herwin, aren’t you going?”

Herwin would have to go to class, too, and he was still sitting in the support chair.

“No, I’m not going.”

“……Why?”

“You’ve been asking me this since earlier, do you not know?”

Herwin raised one eyebrow. She had a vague idea why he was staying. However, she couldn’t bear to ask if it was her illusion.

“…… Because you’re worried about me?”

“Yeah.”

It was a simple answer, devoid of any emotion, but why did it make her feel so excited?

Lucia’s face had suddenly turned bright red. Herwin noticed the change and looked away.

“Herwin.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry…….”

Lucia apologized for her behavior during their last fight.

Herwin’s eyes softened. He pursed his lips for a moment but eventually said nothing.

Instead, he laid Lucia down on the bed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders.

“Get some sleep. I know you said you don’t remember… but you’re shaking.”

At his words, Lucia looked down at her hands. They were shaking slightly.

“You must have been very frightened, so get some rest today.”

She didn’t even realize it, so how did Herwin know?

He was always noticing little things that she didn’t even realize were there. She couldn’t help but like him for that.

Lucia buried her face in the quilt and glanced up at Herwin.

“Herwin, can I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?”

“Hold my hand.”

Lucia stuck out her left hand.

Normally, she wouldn’t have even asked, but now she knew he would. Lucia nervously waited for Herwin to respond.

After a moment of silence, Herwin held out her hand.

“Are you ready?”

“Hee-hee, yes.”

“Then go to sleep.”

His large hand was very warm in her. She could feel his hard calluses against her skin and his rough but kind heart.

“I love you, Herwin…….”

Lucia’s eyes fluttered open, then closed. Satisfied that she had fallen into a deep sleep, Herwin pushed aside the brown hair that shaded her eyes.

Erkk.

A short distance away from Lucia and Herwin’s bed.

A woman stood behind the curtain, her eyes lighting up as she glared at the two of them.

Then she clicked her tongue and hurried away.

* * *

The first semester of the school year has come to a close with the onset of the hot summer.

After the initial chaos of the first semester, the atmosphere on campus had calmed down considerably, and so had the number of people approaching Herwin.

They realized that they couldn’t get close to him no matter what they did.

Strangely enough, the girls who had been pestering Lucia to introduce them to Herwin hadn’t approached her since the day he saved Lucia’s life.

Instead, they would gossip and mumble something as Lucia passed by.

Lucia could see a familiar glint in their eyes.

Jealousy.

They were jealous because they thought Herwin and Lucia had a special relationship.

Lucia didn’t know how to react to their stares.

It wouldn’t have mattered if they were right, but they were still just childhood friends.

If anything, it made them feel ridiculous because she knew who he liked.

That wasn’t the only change.

From that day on, Lucia grew closer to Arista.

Arista hovered around Lucia so closely that Lucia wondered if she was lying when she promised to be good.

Lucia had made up her mind not to hate Arista, but as long as Herwin liked her, she couldn’t fully open up to her.

But as they got to know each other better, and Arista steadily approached her, she warmed to her.

It still pained her sometimes to see him with Arista, but she was no longer caught up in the spiral of jealousy as she had been before.

But as one gain, one loses.

The closer she got to Arista, the more she drifted away from Bianca.

They no longer shared secrets or confided in each other.

They still went to school together, but Bianca had moved on to other friends.

She was just as friendly as Ethan, so she had good relationships with people everywhere.

Lucia was initially sad to be separated from Bianca. However, she realized that she had a life of her own and didn’t let it show.

Just as she was getting used to the change, the first semester came to an end.

That meant that summer vacation was coming, and Herwin’s birthday was just around the corner.