Chapter 13

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 13

Chapter Title: No Confessions in Public

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Herwin's lips slowly curved downward.

"...You like me?"

Lucia couldn't even meet Herwin's eyes as she fidgeted, mumbling under her breath before nodding her head.

Thump!

Herwin's heart sank. He'd thought she no longer liked him because she wasn't acting any differently than before.

But if that wasn't the case... anxiety crept in, the fear that what had happened in the hall six days ago might repeat itself.

Lucia squeezed her eyes shut against her pounding heart, then cautiously opened them at the sudden silence around her.

Herwin's face had gone deathly pale.

Hail's words suddenly flashed through Lucia's mind, and she hurriedly spoke up.

"Don't worry. I won't confess in front of other people."

"...Huh?"

"I said I won't confess in front of other people."

For a brief moment overtaken by fear, Herwin couldn't comprehend her words.

"You said you like me?"

"Yeah, I like you! Actually, more than Mom and Dad! But you don't, right?"

"........."

"Mom said if someone likes you, never make it hard for them. You don't like it when I say I like you in front of people, do you, Herwin?"

Herwin nodded in a daze.

"So I won't confess when there are people around."

As if to prove her firm resolve, Lucia huffed through her nose.

"But... when it's just the two of us like this, it's okay to say I like you, right?"

She leaned her head on his knee and flashed Herwin a beaming smile.

Her rosy cheeks, flushed a pretty pink, and her softly crinkled eyes only amplified her cuteness.

It was the same smile he'd seen before, yet this time it felt entirely different.

Her blue eyes, peeking through curved lashes, brimmed with overwhelming emotion as they fixed on Herwin.

It was burdensome, heavy even, yet a faint tickle stirred in one corner of his chest.

But the pounding anxiety drowned it out, and Herwin failed to notice the flutter.

Herwin fully understood what Lucia meant. The sincerity in her words as well...

So he answered earnestly.

"...I won't fall in love with you."

"Then I'll confess again!"

"What?"

He'd braced for her to be hurt by his words, but Lucia countered with startling cheer.

"Didn't you hear me? I said I won't date you."

"Yeah, I know. But I still like you?"

In this utterly absurd situation, Herwin rejected her fervently, but Lucia looped back every time, insisting she liked him.

"Seriously! You're so persistent...!"

As the exchange dragged on, Herwin was the first to snap in frustration.

"No matter what you say, I won't date you!"

He huffed and stood up, only to falter at the sight of her clear sky-blue eyes gazing up at him innocently.

"You really hate me?"

"Of course! I don't... hate you, but..."

If only he could flatly say he hated her—but since he didn't truly feel that way, Herwin couldn't force the words out.

Lucia's lips curved upward widely.

"Then you like me?"

"How'd it turn into that?"

"Because you said you don't hate me. I like you, Herwin."

"Stop! I won't accept it no matter how many times you say it."

"No, I mean as a friend."

Caught off guard, Herwin's expression turned bewildered.

"I like you as a friend, and enough to want to date you. What about you? Do you like me as a friend?"

"...Yeah."

Herwin pouted his lower lip and nodded. His answer came a beat late, but it wasn't reluctant.

"Then we're good!"

Apparently satisfied with that, Lucia grinned broadly and jumped to her feet.

"Let's be good friends! But since I like you, I'll keep confessing."

"What even is that..."

It was a total mess. What was the point of saying she liked him but then suggesting they just be friends?

"Haha, this is weird."

But the anxiety had vanished.

As Herwin let out an incredulous laugh, Lucia smiled along with him.

After laughing for a while, Herwin took the hand she extended toward him.

"Alright, let's get along as friends from now on."

The lingering awkwardness between the two children dissolved completely. They felt even closer than when they'd been in the capital.

"I like you, Herwin!"

"It's only been five minutes since we said we'd be friends."

Herwin no longer feared Lucia's confessions. He even had the leisure to toss back a light joke.

Age eight, midsummer. Even under the scorching sun, they spent cool, pleasant days together.

Their briefly severed bond rekindled in the north.

"Thinking back now, it's no wonder Herwin was flustered."

On a sleepless night, Lucia finally asked her maid for some wine.

She sat on the terrace, sipping the wine while gazing at the dark landscape as her snack.

The first time she'd fallen for Herwin was a whopping thirteen years ago.

Honestly, she only vaguely recalled the moment she'd fallen for him and the scene of her confession—everything else was a blur.

If she couldn't remember details from a year ago, how could she from thirteen years back?

"God, I'm pathetic. Rejected for so long, and I still can't let go."

If only she could move on as easily as others suggested—but it wasn't that simple, making her feel like a fool.

"Next one's the 99th confession, huh."

Just one last chance remaining.

"Would've been nice to hit a full hundred. What a shame."

A murmur escaped her, half-joking, half-serious.

Giggling to herself, Lucia flipped through her diary.

It was her confession journal, steadily filled from age eight when she'd first started liking Herwin up to the present.

Days of joy imagining he might accept her, days of agony from failed confessions.

All her joys and sorrows were etched into these pages.

As she read her raw emotions, Lucia paused around the 60th confession.

"This is when I started at the academy, right?"

Age sixteen, her enrollment at the Imperial Academy. Three years living alongside Herwin.

"...So much happened back then."

Being with Herwin was wonderful, but jealousy and petty rivalries made it tough at times too.

Suddenly, Lucia recalled her first day at the academy.

The academy buzzed with returning students for the new semester and this year's freshmen.

Amid the crowd of carriages, the door of one emblazoned with the Agnes family crest opened, revealing a young man.

Several nearby girls blushed and whispered upon seeing him.

The heartthrob was Lucas, freshly turned eighteen.

Nearly six feet tall with a lean, muscled build free of excess fat, rich chocolate-brown hair, and sky-clear blue eyes.

He was handsome enough to draw all the female students' attention.

"Lucia, be careful."

Lucas extended a hand from the carriage to escort her down.

"Wow, it's really the academy."

"Congrats on enrolling, little sis."

Lucas grinned, sincerely celebrating her admission.

Like any freshman, she couldn't hide her excitement as she looked around. Her brother found her adorable and smiled.

"Like I said before, the uniform suits you perfectly."

"Really? It doesn't look weird?"

"Weird? I'm just worried pests might swarm you."

"Seriously. Always the same thing. You're great otherwise, but the overprotectiveness is too much."

Lucia playfully swatted his arm at his casual flattery.

"Lucia! Overprotective? Look at you!"

She glanced down at herself in surprise.

"What about me...?"

"So cute and lovable—who wouldn't fall for you?"

Lucia sighed, shaking her head at her brother's doting spree.

But Lucas's worries were perfectly valid.

Gentle wavy brown hair, fair skin, delicate features, soft eyes with blue irises.

She resembled Lucas but was cuter, and her height barely scraping 4'11" triggered protective instincts.

She insisted she'd grow more, but even as an adult, she'd likely top out under 5'3".

Lucas loudly listed her virtues, drawing stares. Blushing, Lucia pulled away from him.

"I'll go by myself."

"Wait! Lucia!"

Lucas hurried after his pouting sister.

It took longer than expected to coax her out of her sulk.

After stowing their luggage at the storage depot, the Agnes siblings began properly touring the academy.

Lucas, intimately familiar with the grounds, explained key buildings and school rules as he walked beside Lucia.

The campus was already lively with students milling about. Friends of Lucas greeted him one by one.

"Lucas, good break?"

"Oh, Ares. Long time. You too?"

"Of course."

Lucia stepped back a pace each time, watching his friends curiously.

Unlike the quick hellos from passersby, this friend chatted at length.

Pale blond hair, violet eyes—a handsome man.

Slender build, but his aura was intensely commanding, warding off casual approaches.

'Purple eyes...'

"Oh, is this your sister?"

"Yeah. Lucia, this is my best friend, Ares Lydia."

Ah, as expected—the signature purple eyes of the Lydia Ducal House.

Surprised her brother hobnobbed with such a prominent figure, Lucia curtsied.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Lucia Agnes."

"No need for formalities."

Ares waved it off with an awkward smile.

"You mentioned a sister too, right? Same age as Lucia, I think."

"Ah, Arista?"

"Yeah. Where's she now?"

"No idea. Probably fine wherever."

"What? Is that something a brother should say?"

"You're the weird one. I'm surprised you even care about yours... Oh, sorry, sis. Wasn't meant for you."

Ares, baffled by Lucas's sister obsession, caught Lucia's wide-eyed stare and quickly changed tack.

"It's fine. My brother's a bit eccentric."

Ares paused at Lucia's smile—similar to Lucas's yet somehow different.

"...I get why you dote on her so much."

"Hey, watch that cheeky look! Scram!"

"Bro! To Young Lord Lydia...!"

"Haha, it's okay. My bad."

As Lucas growled protectively, Ares stepped back with a laugh.