CH 6

“What about my friend…….”

“I don’t think so.”

Antonio, who thought he would take the offer as a given, was shocked by the grave Herwin’s refusal.

“Jeez, are you telling me you’re going to reject me? Don’t you know who I am? I’m Antonio, Count of Travin!”

“Apologize.”

As Antonio rumbled in excitement, Herwin interrupted him.

“What?”

“Apologize. Those ants died because of you.”

Lucia, who had been sitting helplessly and looking at the dead ants, turned her head and stared at Herwin blankly.

“You want me to apologize for those ants?”

“Yes, because the ants are dead and Lucia is sad.”

Antonio blew out a breath of air and looked at Lucia. It was ridiculous that he had to apologize to this one little girl.

“Come on, apologize already…….”

Lucia tugged on the hem of his robe as Herwin tried to get him to apologize.

“Let’s just go.”

Gone was the sulking, and Lucia was back to her normal self.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I’m a little sad, but Herwin got mad at him for me, so it’s okay.”

“……Yes, okay.”

Helping Lucia to her feet, Herwin walked away with her.

“Yaaaaaah!”

Antonio shouted as loudly as he could as he watched the two slowly walk away, ignoring him. When they turned around, he scowled and pointed at Herwin.

“I’m not done talking to you, where are you going!”

“What, are you going to apologize now?”

“Who says I’m apologizing now!”

“Then why did you call me, I’m not friends with you?”

When things didn’t go his way, Antonio’s anger reached a fever pitch. He blushed for a moment, then suddenly sneered.

“You’re a fourth-generation duke, and you’re just following a woman around.”

Ignoring Antonio, Herwin stopped dead in his tracks.

“Am I right, you’re following that girl around like you’re a servant or something. Oh, are you a girl?”

Herwin’s eyes fluttered open. The sight of those vibrant red eyes made Antonio shrink back, and the man next to him whispered.

“Mr. Antonio, the House of Phoenaeus has only sons.”

“It’s, uh, it is, isn’t it? I just got confused for a second because his face looks like a girl’s.”

Embarrassed by the misinformation, Antonio coughed and resumed his grip on the weights.

Herwin’s eyes were still glowering.

“Hmph, if it’s not that, are you in love with her or something?”

Thud.

Herwin’s heart dropped. It was a rough guess, but Herwin blushed with embarrassment. Antonio, who had inadvertently caught his weakness, smirked.

“Yeah, it was kind of weird, that’s what it was.”

Antonio let out a mocking laugh.

“Phoenaeus is in love with that girl!”

“Yes, he is!”

To Antonio’s tune, his companions began to tease the two in earnest.

Thump, thump, thump.

Herwin’s heart fluttered unpleasantly, just as it did when he was a boy and was teased for being a girl.

Herwin hated it when people made fun of him, something that had happened to him as a child in the north, something that had traumatized him even after all these years.

Herwin clenched his fists and shouted.

“Shut up, who likes who, me and Lucia, we’re not like that!”

The children, who had been shouting in unison at the top of their lungs, clamped their mouths shut.

After a moment of silence, they burst out laughing.

“Why are you so angry? It’s because we’re right, isn’t it?”

“No!”

“Is it because you got hit?”

The more he responded, the louder the commotion became, with no sign of abating. The constant teasing stirred Herwin’s trauma.

His breath caught in his throat and he began to feel nauseous.

When he finally mustered up the courage to speak once more, Lucia, who had been standing at a distance, spoke first.

“So you guys like each other too?”

Lucia pointed to the three of them, including Antonio.

“You guys are just as stuck together as the rest of us, but you’re not really into each other?”

Lucia smirked as the three children stared at her in confusion.

“That’s right.”

The initiative quickly shifted to Lucia. Herwin’s jaw dropped at the 180-degree change in mood.

The pounding in his heart had gradually subsided.

Antonio and his companions looked around in confusion as people who had been curious about what was going on began to gather around them.

Then, one of them shouted out.

“I, I didn’t do that!”

“Me, too, no!”

One by one, the others fled, leaving Antonio alone in the field.

Restless and bereft of his wings, he cries out in frustration as he hears the voices of others chanting at him.

Lucia put her arms around him cheerfully.

Embarrassed, he soon burst into tears and ran away.

“Ahahaha! Herwin, look at that.”

Herwin looked at Lucia, who was giggling.

His heart, which had been calm, grew louder. Unlike before, when he had been frightened, this time his chest tickled with both comfort and excitement.

Herwin’s earlobes were now bright red.

Of course, no one knew of his transformation. Not even Herwin himself.

* * *

Back at Countess Agnes’, Herwin and Lucia headed to the playroom as usual.

Unlike Lucia, who was humming, Herwin followed her with a rather somber face.

He was bothered by what had just happened at the park. More specifically, he was curious about Lucia’s reaction.

At the time, he had been so embarrassed that he had said he didn’t like Lucia, but he hadn’t meant it.

He didn’t “like” Lucia as a person of the opposite sex, as the kids would say, but he did “like” her as a friend.

He wondered if his words had hurt her.

“Herwin, let’s play with this today!”

Lucia held out the toy to Herwin. Herwin didn’t take it but stood still and opened his mouth.

“Lucia.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you feel sorry for me just now?”

“Just now? Why would I feel sorry for you?”

“I told you I don’t… like you.”

Lucia paused, her mouth hanging open. Her brow wrinkled as if she was thinking about something.

“Oh, when you made fun of Antonio or something?”

“Yeah. Did you feel bad about it?”

“No?”

Lucia shook her head, flatly. He’s glad she wasn’t hurt, but why does her reaction bother him?

“Why didn’t you feel bad?”

“Uhm… well, you know, you like me.”

“What, what?”

“I like you, and you like me, don’t you?”

After a moment of confusion, Herwin was able to interpret Lucia’s words correctly.

She liked him as a friend. Not the way he thought she liked him.

“And you don’t like it when people tease you.”

“How is that…….”

“Well, you used to get angry if anyone talked about Herwin, and it’s okay if you don’t like me because I like Herwin!”

Lucia bared her teeth and smiled brightly. She went back to playing with her toy.

Herwin stood and watched the brown hair recede into the distance.

The tickling sensation he’d felt in the park had returned, along with an unexplained discomfort.

“That’s weird…….”

“Herwin, do you want to play?”

“Yes! Go!”

Herwin ignored the pounding in his chest and ran to Lucia.

* * *

Lucia hummed to herself and looked at the items in the music box. The music box had been a gift from the New Year when she was five years old.

Sitting on the couch, watching Lucia, Herwin spoke up.

“Lucia, what the hell did you put in there?”

“It’s a secret, even from Herwin!”

“Chi, just tell me.”

Herwin whined as Lucia hugged the music box tightly and refused to show it to him.

“What are you so curious about, it’s a treasure chest, I’m sure you have things you treasure.”

Lucas, who happened to be reading next to him, said bluntly without looking up from his book.

“She’s been into insects lately, so there might be some carcasses. The last time she collected leaves, there was nothing but leaves in there.”

Oops.

Goosebumps broke out all over his body at the thought of insects in the music box.

“It’s not insects. It’s my treasure.”

“Look at her. The way she’s reacting, it must be an insect.”

Lucia blew on her cheeks in frustration.

Someone knocked.

“Yes, come in.”

At Lucas’ words, the door opened and a maid bowed.

“The Count wishes to see you, ladies and gentlemen.”

“He means all of us?”

The maid nodded. All of a sudden, everyone. The three children looked at each other, wondering what was going on.

They followed the maid’s lead to a room, and before they could open the door, they heard Henry’s cries from inside.

“Henry!”

Fearing something was wrong with Henry, Herwin rushed inside.

“Huh?”

“Uh! He’s…….”

Soon they could see a panicked figure holding a sobbing Henry.

“This is awkward… Henry, are you sure you don’t remember me?”

The person holding Henry was none other than Hail. Seeing the nostalgic face he hadn’t seen in a year and a half, Herwin opened his mouth to ask.

“……Dad?”

Hail, who had been soothing Henry with his hands, caught sight of Herwin and smiled broadly.

“My goodness, my boy, you’ve grown up so much.”

“……You’re my real dad, right?”

“Well, I’m the real dad. Let’s see how much my boy has grown, shall we?”

Hail, still as handsome as ever, laughed softly and swept Herwin into a quick hug.

“My, you’ve gotten a lot heavier, and by the looks of it, a lot taller too?”

“It’s my dad…my real dad!”

Wide-eyed and surprised, Herwin squealed with delight and threw his arms around Hail’s neck.

“Hahaha, Herwin, I’m glad you remembered me. Henry didn’t recognize me, and I was worried that you wouldn’t either.”

“You can’t help it, you left when he was just two years old, he’ll just have to learn to recognize you gradually from now on.”

Scarlett smiled a real smile, not the weak one she had been using. After all these years, the whole family was finally together.

Lucas’ palms touched as he remembered.

“Ah, you must be Duke Phoenaeus.”

“If you’re Duke Phoenaeus… you’re Herwin’s dad?”

“Yes, that’s right, and you don’t happen to remember me?”

“Hmm, I think I recognize you from somewhere…you look exactly like Herwin.”

“That’s right. You’re Herwin’s dad.”

Lucia didn’t remember him at all from the short time they had lived together.

“Dad, are we going to be together now? Did you defeat all the monsters?”

“Yes, we’re on our way back down after defeating all the monsters.”

“Waaaah! That’s exciting!”

“Hoo-hoo, now the whole family is going to go up north and live as we used to.”

“What?”

The smiling Herwin stopped laughing as if he had heard something inaudible. Scarlett cocked her head.

“Aren’t you glad, after all, you sang about missing your dad.”

“It’s nice to be with my dad, but…….”

Herwin trailed off, staring at the floor. In the doorway, Lucia and her brother were talking.

“So, are we leaving?”

“Of course we are, we’re going home.”

“……….”

He had mixed feelings. He was so excited to meet his real dad, to be with his whole family now, but he couldn’t help but not to smile.

“What? Did I get something on my face?”

Lucia made eye contact with Herwin and touched her face.

If they went north, he wouldn’t see her anymore. That realization brought a deep sense of loss to Herwin.