Chapter 11

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 11

Chapter Title: Guarding the Door

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As Lucia and Julian left the hall, Scarlett thawed the frozen atmosphere.

"Come on, everyone. What are you all standing around for? Get moving."

The people, who had been frozen in place as if time itself had stopped, began to stir.

"What in the world...?"

Lucas watched his sister walk away, his heart a tangled mess.

He'd felt the first shock when she'd confessed she liked Herwin, and the second when Herwin turned her down. But now that it had all fizzled out so abruptly, even those shocks felt like they'd evaporated into thin air.

"Sis likes big bro...?"

Henry mumbled blankly, clearly quite shaken himself.

'Come to think of it, this little guy's always had a huge crush on Lucia.'

"Henry, you like Sis, and you like big bro too...?"

The five-year-old struggled to process the sudden influx of information.

Lucas patted Henry's shoulder.

"You should give up. You've got no chance."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll never catch up to Herwin. Maybe when you're older, but right now...?"

"...I don't get what you're saying."

Henry scrunched up his nose. Lucas pondered how to explain, but decided ignorance might be bliss.

"Just give up early."

"Hey! Don't ruffle my hair! It'll make me shorter!"

As Henry flailed to escape Lucas's hand, Lucas's playful side kicked in.

"Waaah! Let gooo!"

"After I dragged you all the way here."

Lucas adored Henry even as he sneakily glanced toward where Herwin and Lucia had disappeared.

"...They'll figure it out themselves."

He didn't want to dwell on those two anymore.

"Miss! Your hair's still wet!"

"You'll catch a cold!"

Lucia burst out of the bathroom after her shower, without properly drying off.

Her damp hair soaked her clothes, but she ignored it and looked around frantically.

"Ah! Don't take that!"

"Pardon?"

A maid gathering Lucia's discarded clothes startled and froze.

Lucia rushed over and snatched the clothes from her.

"Found it!"

She rummaged through a hidden pocket in the dress, pulling out something green.

"Miss, what's that?"

"My number one treasure!"

"That leaf is your treasure?"

Ignoring the bewildered question, Lucia headed to the desk in the corner of the room.

An music box from the capital sat on the desk.

Lucia opened it and flipped it upside down.

Ribbons, beads, hairpins—items that had been her treasures just an hour ago—were unceremoniously dumped onto the floor and desk.

With the box now empty, Lucia carefully placed the clover inside.

"Hee hee, my treasure."

"Goodness, Miss. You'll catch a cold."

Only after the maids approached with towels did Lucia's brief escapade end.

"Herwin, how could you reject her outright like that? You're embarrassing her."

Scarlett approached Herwin, who was huddled under the covers on the bed.

'He's so bad at being honest.'

The confessions of children not even ten years old were so innocent and cute they made her smile involuntarily.

Scarlett plopped down on the bed and gazed warmly at the lumpy blanket.

"I'd approve of Lucia in a heartbeat. She's kind-hearted, straightforward, and adorable. Isn't she perfect? Don't let pride get in the way and reject her. Herwin, you like her too."

Children spilled their true feelings with just a little prodding.

Scarlett expected Herwin to emerge from the covers soon.

But as time passed, he showed no reaction.

"Herwin, are you listening to Mom?"

No answer even after asking again.

He always responded promptly to his parents, no matter his mood—this was off.

"...Herwin?"

When she touched the rounded blanket, she felt a body trembling beneath.

Scarlett yanked the covers away in alarm.

"Don't look, don't look, don't look..."

"Oh my God! Herwin!"

Herwin muttered the same words over and over, his red eyes unfocused.

His clearly abnormal state terrified Scarlett.

She hurriedly pulled him into her arms.

"Herwin, calm down. Mom's right here. Okay? Herwin...!"

"...I don't like Lucia. So don't look..."

"Yes, yes, you don't like Lucia. So please..."

Herwin's breathing grew even rougher.

Clenching his eyes shut, he vividly saw the children's faces smirking from afar.

Kekekekeke!

Their laughter rang in his ears.

At first, just young voices, but they deepened, and more joined in.

"Hah, haah, haah..."

Even when meeting retainers' children lately, he hadn't reacted like before—he'd thought he'd improved. But no.

The trauma hadn't vanished; it had just stayed hidden.

"...! Doctor! Call the doctor...!"

Herwin's eyes fluttered open briefly. He saw Scarlett shouting desperately.

'I like Herwin the best!'

Closing them again, the scene of Lucia's confession replayed.

Thump! Thump! Thump...!

His pounding heart and ragged breaths began to steady.

Thinking of Lucia's smiling face eased the maddening feeling, bit by bit. But then terror gripped him again.

'I don't like Lucia...'

It stemmed from her confession, so rejecting her would set everything right.

To shield himself from the storm of emotions, Herwin repeated inwardly that he didn't like her.

'I don't like Lucia, I don't like Lucia...'

Through his blurring vision, he saw servants and a doctor rushing over.

'Herwin...!'

He recalled Lucia's tearful face as she clung to him after he'd saved her from the wild dogs on the back hill.

But before he could process it, Herwin's consciousness faded.

"It seems he suffered significant mental shock."

The doctor spoke after finishing his examination.

"Not from the dog bite?"

"No, aside from a minor bruise, he's in excellent health."

"Then what could have shocked him...?"

"Hm... We'd need the young master to wake up for details, but I suspect it was due to all those gazes on him."

"Gazes?"

"Yes. I wasn't in the hall, so I don't know the details, but I heard Lady Agnes confessed to him."

"Yes, she did. But why would that...?"

"Since Lady Agnes confessed in front of everyone, naturally all eyes turned to the young master. He's quite sensitive to external stimuli compared to his peers. The weight of so many stares must have been too much."

"Are you saying our Herwin dislikes crowded places?"

"Not quite. It's not crowds—it's the simultaneous attention from many eyes focused on him."

Scarlett never imagined her son had such an issue.

He'd never shown symptoms before, so she'd assumed all was well...

"Ah, could it be...!"

Something clicked, and Scarlett looked up sharply.

"Do you recall something?"

"Herwin had trouble with a retainer's child before. After that, he'd get unusually sensitive whenever someone called him 'pretty' or 'girly.'"

"Then it might be connected to that incident."

Thinking back, some of the children in the hall had been involved in that past trouble with Herwin.

"For now, restrict access to his room until tomorrow so he can rest fully. Ideally, only the Duke, Madam, and his personal maid should enter."

"Very well."

After the doctor left, Scarlett gently stroked her sleeping son's face.

She stayed by his side until he woke again.

"I'm sorry, Miss. We're under orders not to let anyone in. You'll have to see the young master another time."

"I can't go in either? But I'm his little brother...!"

"My apologies, Young Master Henry. If you have a message, I'll make sure to relay it to Young Master Herwin."

After yesterday's chaos, Lucia, Lucas, and Henry had come to see Herwin.

But they couldn't see him yesterday or today.

Yesterday, maybe he was just exhausted, but after a full day, this felt wrong.

Rejected again, Henry started to tear up.

"Is he sick or something?"

"...He's quite fatigued, so he needs rest until tomorrow."

Lucas glanced at the firmly shut door and sighed deeply.

"If that's how it is, no choice. Kids, we'll come back tomorrow."

"Ugh, I miss big bro..."

As Henry began to wail, Lucas scooped him up. This time, Henry didn't resist and nestled in.

Patting Henry's small back as he walked ahead, Lucas felt something missing and turned.

"Lucia, what are you doing? Come on."

"I'm staying here."

"What?"

Lucia stood rooted like a statue before Herwin's door.

Her resolve startled not just Lucas but the blocking maid too.

"Miss, this won't help. He'll be better tomorrow, so please come back then..."

"Yeah, I know. But I wanna stay here."

Despite persuasion, she was firm. Clutching her music box, Lucia slid down the wall opposite the door.

As the maid fidgeted, Lucas approached.

"Won't you get bored alone?"

"It's fine, I won't."

"Hm, alright then?"

Lucas thought for a moment, then plopped down beside her.

"If you're staying, so am I. Henry, you cool with that?"

Henry nodded and turned toward Lucia.

"Yeah. I wanna be with Sis."

In the end, the three children sat side by side, keeping watch before Herwin's room.

"Don't mind us—go back to what you were doing. Weren't you tending to Herwin?"

The maid hesitated, then opened the door.

"Then I'll go in. Call if you need anything."

As the maid entered Herwin's room, the hallway fell quiet.

The heavy silence felt awkward, so Lucas glanced sideways.

Henry fiddled with the music box Lucia had brought and opened the lid. With the tinkling melody came the sight of a lone four-leaf clover inside.