CH 65

“Hahaha! Is that so?”

“Gee, you’re a big eater.”

As Brian searched for his friends who might have attended the party, he found himself rapidly approaching a beautiful woman he had never seen before.

He smiled broadly at her as she laughed with every word she spoke.

“Hey, if you don’t happen to be hanging out with anyone, I’d love to hang out with you at…….”

Blushing and shy, it was obvious what she was going to say. As he waited for her to ask him out, he noticed that her complexion was slowly turning pale.

“Well, you can hang out with me later when you’re free, and then I’ll be off to……!”

“Aah! Wait!”

Did she see a ghost or something? The atmosphere was spooky.

Brian cocked his head as he watched the woman run away.

“Is there something behind me?”

Looking back, Brian encountered Herwin, who was standing without a trace.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, when did you get here?”

“……just now.”

Taking a moment to steady his racing heart, Brian glanced over at Herwin. He looked gaunt.

He didn’t look so good that he wondered if he was angry. However, Brian, who has been with him for years, has now noticed that Herwin is depressed.

‘He was like that the last time I was there.’

He hadn’t been much different when he’d gone to see Herwin drop off Christine’s invitation.

‘Did something happen to you?’

‘Nothing…….’

‘Then why are you so upset, did you get dumped by someone?’

The words he threw at him to make him feel better only made him stiffen even more and shut his mouth.

It was clear that something had happened to Herwin. But he couldn’t figure out why.

He had come there to try and have a little conversation with him, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood. Eventually, Brian finished his business and handed him Christine’s invitation.

‘Christine’s having a party. Lucia and all the other girls are coming, will you be there?’

‘……Lucia’s going?’

Herwin, who hadn’t reacted to anything he’d said, was the first to respond. Brian was surprised to see a glimmer of life in his dying red eyes.

‘Yes, sir. I heard she’s going with Marquis Casper.

Herwin frowned at the mention of Marquis Casper, wondering if he was responding to Lucia.

‘…… In that case, I’ll be there.’

His eyes were fiery, unlike his meek acceptance of the invitation.

Brian glanced over at Herwin, who was darting around.

‘You look a little pale compared to before.’

He’d been shaking like a dying man then, but now he seemed to have recovered a bit. Of course, that dark gleam was still there.

“Ah! Herwin, Brian! You guys are here!”

“Ethan! Arista is here too?”

Looking back at Ethan’s voice, he was coming there with Arista.

“We bumped into each other at the entrance. Christine must have put a lot of work into this, judging by all the people here.”

“This is her first business, so she must have done a lot of preparation. And it looks like people are interested in her business.”

It’s no wonder since it’s the first business of the only daughter of the Diores family who leads the group.

“Everyone! You’re here!”

Christine approached with a cheerful voice. As the host of the party, she was beautifully dressed.

Her glassy eyes, usually hidden beneath her eyelids, were revealed, and she looked like a fairy as she carried a bouquet.

“Oh my God, Christine, you look so beautiful!”

“Hey, I don’t know who this is, but isn’t she so pretty that the guys are drooling over her?”

“Oh, it’s not that bad.”

Hearing Arista and Ethan’s compliments, Christine blushed in embarrassment.

Her gaze fell on Brian, who she expected to be the first to say something awkward, but to her surprise, he said nothing.

Instead, he just stared at her, his deep gold eyes seeming to pierce through her, and Christine scratched her cheek.

“Is it a little strange……?”

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s not that…….”

Brian, who had been out of his mind for a while, was rarely flustered.

“Hmm. Yes, pretty…….”

Ethan and Arista burst into laughter at the manly behavior that women had never encountered.

“Hahaha! What kind of reaction is that?”

“Christine, you must be pretty. That Brian of the world is shy! I’ll have to leave that figure and keep it in place.”

“Shut up! Who’s shy?”

Even when Brian warned them to be quiet, they continued to grope.

Christine looked at Brian from a distance. His earlobe looked a little red.

Christine hummed to herself as she realized that this was a new reaction from the man who always teased her.

Meanwhile, Herwin’s mind was sold elsewhere, regardless of whether her friends were making noise or not. Christine, who found the figure, asked.

“Are you looking for someone?”

“I was wondering if Lucia had arrived.”

“If it’s Lucia, she’s here.”

Herwin paused and looked back at Christine.

“I just came back from saying hello to Lucia and Marquis Casper.”

“The two were together?”

“Yes. They were over there and… oh, they’re gone?”

Pointing to the spot where she and Lucia had met, Christine looked around for Lucia, who had disappeared within minutes.

“She must have gone elsewhere, she seemed to be exchanging pleasantries with Marquis Casper here and there.”

“I see, thank you. I’ll go see Lucia for a moment.”

With a quick nod of thanks, Herwin hurried off to where Lucia was.

Watching his back, Christine scratched her head and covered her face with her hands.

“Well, that’s odd.”

“What?”

“No, I mean Herwin, doesn’t it seem like something’s up? I wonder what happened with Lucia?”

“Oh…….”

Knowing what happened between Lucia and Herwin, Arista let out a small sigh.

She had purposely left them alone. Was he still not over it?

“No. I don’t think so.”

Just then, Brian said.

“What?”

“Because when a man is in love, there’s nothing to see.”

Brian looked at Christine with a meaningful look. But Christine just stood there dumbfounded, not sure what he meant.

Brian looked at Herwin and one corner of his mouth lifted.

* * *

Herwin arrived at the place Christine had told him. Using his large height, he looked around frantically, but Lucia was nowhere to be found.

“…… Where the hell did she go?”

She didn’t know why she was looking for Lucia, only that he needed to talk to her.

When Henry came to see him and asked if he was going to let Lucia’s engagement go through, Herwin admitted his agitation

‘I don’t see Lucia as….…’

That she wasn’t just a friend.

But even as he acknowledged that he couldn’t see how he felt about her.

If he loved Lucia, what did that mean for his feelings for Arista?

Did he love her the way Lucia did, as if she could give him everything she had?

These were the only questions he could think of, but as much as he tried to regain his composure, his mind and body were already tuned to Lucia.

Even when he met Arista, he didn’t pay attention to her, only to Lucia.

Feeling the balance in his heart starting to tilt little by little, Herwin wandered around in search of Lucia.

‘I want to meet her.’

He wants to meet her and talk to her.

Only then would he be able to untangle his emotions, which had become as tightly wound as a thread.

When he had searched the hall and Lucia was nowhere to be seen, Herwin turned his gaze outside.

“Has she gone to the garden?”

She wouldn’t have gone home already, so the only place left was outside. Herwin hurried to the garden.

The party had just started, so there weren’t many people in the garden. With quick steps, Herwin looked around the garden and headed toward the fountain.

Tadat-!

A woman coming from the other direction bumped into him.

“Ah, I’m sorry…….”

The woman had impressive freckles around her nose, but her eyes were filled with tears of despair as if something had happened to her.

After a moment of confusion, the woman hurried past him.

As he watched her walk away, he turned his head back to the front.

And there she was, Lucia.

“Luci-…….”

For a moment, he was overjoyed to find Lucia, but then he froze at the sight before him.

Bern leaned down and kissed Lucia as she sat by the fountain.

And she was holding him still, hugging him around the neck.

Herwin’s heart sank, and his vision flickered.

‘What’s wrong with me?’

They’re about to get engaged, so he can kiss her like that anytime.

Worse than that, they’ll have children. So why this….…

‘I feel like there’s a hole in my chest.’

He wanted to run away from this place right now. He wanted to get Bern away from Lucia. He wanted to make sure that it wasn’t Bern who was in love with Lucia and….…

Herwin sucked in a sharp breath at the thought that seemed to go on forever.

Then he remembered what he had imagined just a moment ago.

“Do I like Lucia…….”

He felt strongly that it had to be him, not Bern, who was kissing her.

Even when he thought he liked Arista, he never thought about making out with her….…

His stomach churned. Herwin stiffened and took a step closer to the kissing couple.

After what seemed like an eternity, the kiss ended and they looked at each other.

At that moment, Lucia burst into tears. Bern gently hugged her as she cried.

“It’s okay, Lucia…it’s okay.”

Bern soothed the sobbing Lucia.

The sight made Herwin stop dead in his tracks again.

He was mad as hell that he hadn’t been the one to kiss her, but he didn’t know if she would turn to him even if he was there.

‘How long has this been going on?’

In retrospect, he realizes that since when? Lucia didn’t rely on him anymore, she didn’t confide in him.

And no matter how sad she was, she wouldn’t show tears in front of him.

‘Please don’t make me miserable anymore…….’

The last time Lucia cried, she made a final confession to him.

He wanted to comfort her, but he couldn’t, because he rejected her.

If he couldn’t support her if he couldn’t comfort her, if he could make her cry, what right did he have to stand beside her?

There was no place for him to intervene between the two.

The light in his red eyes slowly faded.

Soon after, only the grass marks remained in his place.