Chapter 23

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 23

Chapter Title: Do You Like Arista?

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“Herwin, there's something I want to ask you……”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Do you… like Arista by any chance?”

Herwin, who had thought he'd answer anything, momentarily panicked and stepped back. His reaction only fueled her unease even more.

“Really… you like Arista?”

“Me, like Arista…?”

Herwin looked bewildered. He couldn't hide the trembling in his eyes.

He seemed to be chewing over Lucia's words.

“I…”

Herwin furrowed his brow, but soon his ears flushed red. As if struck by a realization, his eyebrows shot upward.

And then, a faint trace of excitement softly settled on his face.

It was an expression Lucia had never seen on Herwin before, yet at the same time, it felt all too familiar to her.

Because it mirrored exactly the look on her own face whenever she thought of him.

Whenever Herwin came to mind, try as she might to conceal the thrill and excitement bubbling inside, her pounding heart betrayed her plainly on her face. And Herwin was no different.

So Lucia felt utterly wretched.

She had thought there was nowhere left to retreat, but she was wrong.

Pushed over an endless cliff, Lucia filled with utter despair.

Her heart plummeted with a thud, feeling as if it had stopped dead. Her mind blanked out in a flash of white as she asked hollowly.

“……So you do like Arista.”

Herwin neither confirmed nor denied it. If anything, his silence felt like resounding affirmation.

Lucia's lips quivered.

“Why? What's so great about Arista? Is it… because she saved you before?”

“……Lucia?”

Something was off in Lucia's voice. Herwin sensed it and turned to her. He shuddered without realizing.

Lucia wore a strange expression impossible to pin as either a smile or a sob. Her mouth curved in a forced arc, but her eyes wept openly.

“What's so great about Arista? Huh? Just tell me……”

“Lucia, what's wrong? Your face looks strange.”

“I said tell me. What's so great about her?”

Even as Herwin cut in midway, Lucia's question remained unchanged.

Normally, she would have instantly picked up on his worry, but right now, Lucia had no room for that.

Swallowed by a vortex of jealousy, her vision had narrowed. To her, Herwin just seemed to be dodging.

“Don't like Arista.”

“……What?”

“I said don't like her. I get why you'd like her since she saved you, but Arista… she's not the good person you think she is.”

Conversations with Bianca replayed in Lucia's head.

‘Lucia, take a good look. She doesn't even care about that guy but throws sly smiles to seduce people, and under the pretense of joking, she sneaks in touches. Others might not see it, but I do. That's her reeling in connections.’

‘Ha, friends? What friends? Guys and girls can't just be friends. It's all excuses. Look, you like Herwin too.’

‘I saw it from the start. She smiles all sweet up front like she's so nice, but behind closed doors, she's trash-talking everyone. And she's a real pro at it. She knows exactly how to wrap men around her finger.’

From the moment Lucia had started wary of Arista up until now, Bianca had relentlessly badmouthed her.

It had sounded utterly ridiculous before, but now it felt like Arista really was playing the field.

Unable to hold back her emotions any longer, Lucia began parroting everything Bianca had said.

It was a desperate flail to wrench Herwin's attention away from Arista.

But the more Lucia spoke, the darker Herwin's expression grew.

He started off confused by her words, then his face hardened, until finally he clamped his mouth shut and scowled deeply.

“……So Arista isn't the good person you think she……”

“Lucia.”

Lucia froze mid-sentence, her eerie smile vanishing. Herwin's voice whispering in her ear was bone-chillingly cold.

Sensing something had gone terribly wrong, Lucia raised her head. Her eyes widened even further.

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

Herwin's face bore a faint contempt, like he was staring down flies buzzing around the Peneus name.

“Do you even realize what you're saying right now?”

The overwhelming pressure radiating from Herwin made Lucia stagger back.

“Just because I like her, you're badmouthing Arista?”

“W-When did I badmouth Arista… I just wanted you to know the truth……”

“Truth? You think that's truth coming out of your mouth?”

The crease between Herwin's brows deepened.

“You're so blinded by jealousy you're trying to tear her down however you can.”

Thud.

The heart she'd thought buried plunged anew.

“What's gotten into you? This isn't like you at all. You hate most of all people gossiping behind backs—things they wouldn't dare say to a face—and spreading nonsense rumors. Take a look at yourself right now.”

Herwin's face filled with regret. Lucia had no comeback.

In the most pathetic way, she was behaving exactly like the people she loathed most.

“I, I……”

“No matter how much you like me, you don't get to control my heart.”

Lucia bit her lower lip hard.

“I'm disappointed in you, Lucia.”

The callous words stabbed into her ear.

Lucia could only gape at him blankly. He was wearing that rigid mask he reserved for outsiders—now turned on her.

A shift had cracked the impenetrable bond between them.

Lucia knew it instinctively. Herwin was disappointed in her. He'd erected an invisible wall and was now on guard, ensuring she couldn't cross it.

She'd been shoved completely beyond the line he'd drawn.

All her painstaking efforts from before crumbled in that one fleeting choice.

She might not even qualify to stand by his side anymore.

The realization pierced her skin and burrowed into her bones.

It was a agony no word like “despair” could capture.

A single tear traced silently down Lucia's cheek.

This time, Herwin betrayed no flicker of emotion. He passed her coldly.

“Think hard about what you did wrong.”

He offered no comfort and simply walked away from her.

Lucia couldn't bring herself to grab him. She could only watch Herwin go.

“Damn it……!”

Herwin ground his teeth and spat a curse as he stormed toward the classroom, face set hard.

His chest felt choked, congested like he was coming down with something.

Moments ago, when Lucia asked if he liked Arista, Herwin had finally realized he did see her as special.

Up until then, she'd been just like Christine—one of his close friends. But after facing that ogre in the mountains, his feelings had shifted.

When the ogre's attack injured him, he'd been certain he was dead.

With his ankle sprained badly enough he couldn't move, dodging was next to impossible.

Had he known how to wield aura, he might've held his own against the ogre, but Herwin still couldn't produce it.

Then, in that dire moment, Arista appeared.

‘Herwin!’

Her shout echoed through the forest as purple aura erupted from her sword like a cascading waterfall. It cleaved the downpour in two and bisected the ogre itself.

After that, half-delirious, he barely remembered fleeing the woods.

All that lingered was the image of Arista slicing the ogre clean in half.

From that point on, Herwin harbored a deep fondness for her.

Her saving his life played a big part, but he was awestruck by her power to unleash such potent aura.

So when they talked again in the infirmary, he'd thanked her profusely and promised a spar once he recovered.

It sparked a rivalry and thrill he hadn't felt in ages.

They'd always been evenly matched before, bringing simple enjoyment, but now it thrummed with something even more exhilarating.

Was this what it meant to like someone? He wasn't sure, but it was undeniably a feeling like nothing before.

‘Arista isn't as good a person as you think.’

Lucia's words from earlier resurfaced.

Everything that followed was pure confusion and outrage.

She, who despised trash-talking others more than anyone, was spewing it all just because he harbored feelings for Arista.

And worse, none of it rang true. It was baffling how she could view Arista through such a warped lens.

When he'd called her out, her already pale face had drained to ghostly white, her eyes shaking wildly—she knew she'd crossed a line.

He'd been furious when she slandered Arista, yet pitying too, knowing it wasn't her character.

That's why her tears had softened him.

“Haa……”

Now he had no idea how to regard Lucia.

Herwin ruffled his tangled thoughts and stepped into the classroom.

“Herwin, why're you by yourself?”

“Where's Lucia?”

The friends eyed him curiously— he'd gone looking for her and come back alone.

“You didn't find her?”

Bianca rose from her seat and approached.

Already sour, Herwin scowled deeper at the sight of her.

‘……She's been buddying up with Bianca a lot lately.’

Lucia's changes had started right after getting chummy with her. Could Bianca be the influence?

Herwin stared hard at Bianca, and unnoticed by others, her ears pinked.

“W-What?”

“……Nothing.”

Suspicion gnawed at him, but it was just a hunch. Bianca had always rubbed him wrong in a subtle way unlike Christine; time to dig deeper.

“Herwin, everything go okay with Lucia? Did she mention anything about me?”

Arista stepped forward. Meeting her violet eyes, Herwin hesitated.

“No idea.”

“What? What kinda answer is that?”

Arista gaped in disbelief, prodding him to spill properly, but Herwin clammed up.

Creak.

The back door slid open. Lucia entered, and the friends greeted her warmly.

“Lucia, you feeling bet—”

Ethan tried cheerfully to lighten the awkward air, but the words died on seeing her face.

Even a glance screamed she'd been crying—her eyes rimmed bright red.

The kids froze. Herwin stirred inwardly but kept a straight face.

“……Lucia.”

Arista called softly, but Lucia brushed her off and took her seat.

Cruelly enough, it was right beside Herwin.

Herwin snuck a glance. Lucia hid her face behind her long hair, head bowed low, then slumped forward, arms pillowed on the desk.

The mood plummeted further.

The friends knew it in a heartbeat.

Herwin and Lucia had fought.

When others quarreled, they'd scramble to patch things up. But not now.

Lucia was usually the peacemaker, always smoothing things over no matter what. Her clashing with Herwin of all people? That spelled serious trouble.