CH 75

Herwin stared helplessly at Lucia, who was getting further and further away.

She was already leaving his side, just as she had in the dream. He’ll never see her again, forever….…

‘You haven’t even started and you’re already sounding weak?’

Herwin flinched, suddenly remembering Arista’s words.

‘Are you sure you won’t regret it? You’ll regret it even more if you don’t start anything and end up losing everything.’

“You’re right. I will regret it…….”

‘It’s your turn to be brave this time.’

Arista was right. Lucia had approached her hard despite many objections. Compared to her, I haven’t even started yet.

No matter how much Lucia’s rejection hurt, no matter how much he feared she would leave him for another man, he couldn’t let it happen.

Herwin clenched his fists and stalked toward Lucia.

Gently, he grasped her shoulders and turned her around, and he could see that she was crying.

He felt an abject disgust at himself for having made her cry. But at the same time, he was relieved to see that she still seemed to be shaken by him.

Herwin grabbed Lucia’s shoulders and locked eyes with her.

“What are you doing…….?”

“I’m not giving up on you.”

Lucia clamped her mouth shut as she met his steady red eyes.

“I’ll wait for you this time.”

Unable to take his eyes off Lucia’s lips, Herwin carefully took her hand.

Trembling lips brushed against the back of Lucia’s hand.

“I love you, Lucia.”

The corners of Herwin’s eyes flushed, and his features softened.

Lucia stared at him for a moment, then turned away and walked into the mansion.

Long after Lucia entered the mansion, Herwin did not leave her presence until the sky was dark.

* * *

“Miss, how are you? You’re a little late today…….”

Lucia spotted Sean, and she greeted her. Before she could reach her, Lucia walked past her.

Surprised, Sean turned around and looked at Lucia, who was quickly walking away.

“Are you crying?”

Her face was too red to be called crying.

Even more than crying….…

“You look like you’re embarrassed.”

Debating between finishing her work and talking to Lucia, Sean started to walk away.

“Let’s give her some time alone first.”

She didn’t know what was going on, but she needed some alone time right now.

Meanwhile, Lucia, who had hurried into the room, collapsed against the doorway.

“Ha, ha, ha…….”

Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe.

She couldn’t get his eyes out of her head, more vivid than she’d ever seen them in her dreams. She could still feel his breath on the back of her hand.

Lucia squeezed the back of her trembling hand.

“Herwin said…….”

Like. He, who had never seen her as the opposite sex, likes her.

The words were so unbelievable, so unbelievable, that a trickle of anxiety crept into her hesitant heart.

The way he looked at her and the way he held her hand at the end didn’t seem to be real, and she kept shaking.

“Ha, ha, ha…….”

She couldn’t tell if the laughter was out of frustration or elation; it just kept coming.

“My confession ended at 99…….”

She didn’t think she’d ever get to 100 confessions, but she didn’t think Herwin would.

After 99 confessions, 13 years, and counting, she gave up. She can’t believe he finally saw her.

Lucia, mesmerized by Herwin’s confession, clenched her fists as she slowly came to grips with reality.

“Why is he… saying that now…….”

It was true that Herwin’s confession had been dreamlike and swoon-worthy, but it was too late.

She promised Bern to be engaged today. Not just engaged, but engaged to marry him as soon as the ceremony was over.

She can’t accept Herwin when she’s already committed herself to a future with another man.

“No, it’s better this way.”

Herwin is mistaking love for jealousy over the loss of his best friend.

No, it must be a mistake. It would be too miserable if it wasn’t.

She had finally let go of her feelings for Herwin and was ready to marry another man, and now he was holding on to her.

“What the hell am I supposed to do…….”

Tears blurred her vision. Lucia rubbed the corners of her eyes as tears rolled down.

Her head was spinning as her feelings for Herwin, her struggle to give him up, and her joy at Herwin’s words just a moment ago that he liked her, clashed.

As she sobbed silently, tears dripping down her cheeks, there was a knock on the door.

Lucia was startled and quickly wiped her tears away.

“Who is it?”

“Lucia, it’s me. Can I come in for a minute?”

It was Lucas. Thinking it was Sean at best, Lucia wiped her tears away and cleared her throat.

Then she hurriedly sat down on the couch as if nothing had happened.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Lucas stuck his head out.

“I heard your voice right outside the door, when did you go there?”

“Nothing, what do you mean, I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Yeah, or not.”

Lucas scratched his head in confusion, and Lucia quickly changed the subject.

“So what are you doing here at this hour?”

“Uh, nothing… I just wanted to see if everything was okay…….”

Lucas paused as he realized the look on Lucia’s face.

He stiffened and walked over to her.

“Were you crying?”

“……?”

“Did you cry?”

She’d wiped away her tears and steadied her ragged breathing, but how could he know she’d cried?

Lucas’ smile narrowed further as Lucia stammered, unable to speak.

“If I knew this would happen, I would just kick him out…….”

Lucas’s mumbled voice pierced Lucia’s ears.

Unable to comprehend what he was talking about, Lucia suddenly remembered Herwin standing at the gate.

She wondered why he hadn’t come in, since he had been coming in and out of this place like it was his home….…

“Brother, has Herwin been here by any chance?”

“You ran into that asshole.”

The sudden profanity startled Lucia.

“That asshole…! Why would you say that to Herwin? He’s not in the mansion, he’s at the gate! If you have guests, you let them in!”

“Guests? Who are the guests?”

“Brother!”

Lucia stared at Lucas in horror.

Even if there was something between her and Herwin, Lucas was also close to Herwin.

She couldn’t believe that Lucas would react so strongly to Herwin.

“Don’t tell me it’s because of my crush on Herwin. Don’t do that. You’re so close to him, sometimes you say he’s more like a brother to you than me, and no matter what happened between me and Herwin, you’re not going to…….”

“Lucia, are you taking his side?”

“I’m not taking sides, I’m just saying it’s true! It’s hurting Herwin if you do this to him!”

“Ha, hurt, you mean I’m supposed to take him up on it, giggling like an idiot when it’s obvious he’s hurt you?”

“…… brother.”

She had never seen Lucas’ cold eyes and sarcastic tone like this before. Lucia realized he was genuinely angry.

“I erased him from my life when he rejected you.”

“But when I confessed to Herwin during our freshman year, you stayed quiet.”

After the incident on Herwin’s birthday, Lucas had treated him a little awkwardly, but they’d quickly warmed up and become close, so why now….…

“At the time, I thought it was between you two and none of my business. I thought you two liked each other, and I thought you might become lovers in time, but you said the other day that you’ve confessed to Herwin many times, and he’s given you the benefit of the doubt.”

“No. He never did.”

Lucas raised his voice, obviously unhappy that Lucia continued to support Herwin.

“No, to me, it looks like he’s been messing with you. He’s given you all the hurt you didn’t deserve, and then today he comes to me out of the blue and says……!”

But then he trailed off, his mouth twitching.

“Whatever! I’ve erased him from my life now, I just didn’t want the man who hurt you in my house.”

“It’s bad enough that my mom and dad seem to not want him, but I don’t want my brother to do it. This is between me and him, not you and our parents.”

“It’s your business, how can we stay still?”

Lucia stared at Lucas as she couldn’t understand what he said.

“If you’re going to keep saying that, get out of my room.”

Lucas panicked as Lucia jumped to her feet and pushed him away.

“No, wait a minute Lucia, listen to your brother……!”

“No! Don’t you realize that the more you talk to me like that, the more I feel sorry for Herwin? I don’t even want to look at you right now, so get out!”

Boom!

After being kicked out of the room, Lucas saw the door slam shut in front of him.

He banged on the door desperately, begging Lucia to listen to him, but she didn’t respond.

Finally, Lucas sighed and stared at the closed door.

“You don’t even know how I feel…….”

It’s not like he’d feel comfortable kicking Herwin out on his own.

He was angry that he had hurt Lucia because, as Lucia had said, he considered him his brother.

He has not been able to sleep since he realized that the reason Lucia agreed to date back was because of the hurt she felt from Herwin.

At the time, he laughed at Lucia, but inside, she resented Herwin.

If only Herwin had accepted Lucia, she wouldn’t have had to go through what she did, and she wouldn’t have had to spend her nights crying.

Even when Lucia went about her life as if nothing was wrong, her family could see that she was becoming less energetic with each passing day.

She doesn’t know how many times John and Julian sighed and worried without her.

‘It’s a shame Lucia didn’t come back until after she got her act together…….’

It was seven hours ago that Herwin came to the mansion.

Lucas was the only one home, so Lucas greeted him.

‘What are you doing here?’

The source of Lucia’s distress. Lucas could not look at Herwin kindly.

‘I’ve come to say something to Lucia. Lucia, are you here?’

Herwin didn’t look much better than the last time they’d met. Lucas narrowed his eyes at the desperation in his voice.

‘Lucia’s not here.’

‘Oh, so when will she be back…….?’

‘Before then, you. Who the hell do you think you are, visiting Lucia?’

Herwin had been so focused on Lucia that he realized Lucas’ sharp voice had turned against him.