Chapter 34

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 34

Chapter Title: Confrontation and Reconciliation

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People gossiped carelessly, dredging up Lucia's long unrequited love and her repeated confessions, insisting that Herwin should accept her.

But was that really said out of true concern for Lucia?

Some might have spoken out of pure goodwill, but to Lucia, at least, it didn't feel like they were genuinely doing it for her sake.

They just found the whole situation entertaining.

That was why they spouted words they couldn't back up, dragging the people involved into ongoing discomfort.

Herwin had pointed out exactly that.

He had simply recognized Lucia's true feelings and responded appropriately.

He had always rejected her earnestly, and since he didn't share her feelings, he hadn't accepted her.

Even in his own awkward position, Herwin had confronted others head-on to protect Lucia.

She felt so grateful and guilty toward him that she could no longer stay by his side.

In the end, with vacation just days away, Lucia resolved to avoid Herwin completely.

She swapped seats with someone else to escape sitting next to him and dodged any situation that required being with him, giving gossipers no opening.

Fortunately, Herwin seemed to grasp her intentions; aside from the first couple of attempts, he didn't try to stop her from avoiding him.

A few days into avoiding Herwin, with three days left until vacation, Lucia found herself being led somewhere by Christine.

"Christine, where are we going?"

"Please forgive my rudeness, Lucia."

Asking where they were headed only earned that response, which was frustrating.

Christine wasn't one for impulsive actions, making it all the more bewildering, though Lucia knew something was off about her demeanor.

'From Christine's perspective, it's like suddenly losing a friend.'

After the birthday party, she had grown completely distant from Bianca.

Bianca had joined the group that had always envied Lucia, acting no differently from them, as if her prior friendliness had been a lie.

Whether she no longer cared to hide her feelings or saw no need to, Bianca now openly showed hostility toward Lucia.

In that situation, returning to their old friendship was impossible.

Drurruk.

Entering an empty classroom with the door sliding open, Lucia startled at the sight of someone inside.

"Bianca..."

"Did you call me here for a three-way confrontation right now?"

Bianca looked surprised at first, then frowned in displeasure at the setup.

"I'm sorry for summoning you so suddenly. But I just can't wrap my head around it..."

The hand Christine had used to grab Lucia slipped away limply.

"I want to ask right here, taking this chance. Bianca, did you really... really set up that situation on purpose to humiliate Lucia?"

Christine voiced the question Lucia had desperately wanted to ask but couldn't bring herself to.

Bianca's face stiffened.

"We were close, weren't we? Just days ago, we were all together in one room, having a great time. How did things end up like this? Please answer me, Bianca."

Christine finally broke into tears.

Friends who had been inseparable just days before had fallen out beyond repair, with one deliberately trying to destroy another.

It was hard to accept that not just any friend, but a best friend, could stoop to that.

Lucia stepped forward in agreement.

"...I want to ask too. Did you really plan the whole thing?"

She knew the answer but wanted to hear it straight from Bianca's mouth.

After freezing for a long moment, Bianca curled her lip into a crooked smirk.

"Everything Duchess's Daughter Lydia said was spot on. I orchestrated it from start to finish."

"Why? I truly thought of you as a close friend..."

"Ha, a friend? I never once saw you that way."

Bianca let out a chilling sneer.

"You rubbed me the wrong way from the first moment we met. A nobody with nothing to her credit, clinging to Herwin just because you're childhood friends, acting so entitled. It was exhausting, you know—smiling and playing along with you all that time."

Lucia bit her lower lip.

"...You really never thought of me as a friend, not even once."

"Nope. Not a single time."

Her heart felt like it was ripping apart, tears welling up. But she refused to cry in front of her.

Unable to sob or lash out, her clenched fists trembled, and gray strands of hair swayed.

Slap!

A sharp crack echoed.

Christine had struck Bianca's cheek.

"I hoped it wasn't true...!"

Bianca's eyes wavered. Clutching her swelling cheek, she glared at Christine.

Christine glared right back before turning sharply and pulling Lucia away.

"...Christine."

"Hic...!"

After walking in silence for a while, Christine collapsed to the spot. Lucia gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Tears streamed down Christine's face. She wore an expression as wounded as Lucia's.

"S-sorry, Lucia. You're the one suffering most right now..."

"........."

Lucia silently patted her slender shoulders. Christine fought back sobs before finally clinging to Lucia tightly with a whimper.

It was the instant she lost a friend she had considered so dear.

"Vacation's finally here."

"Phew, this grueling first semester is over at last."

Right before boarding carriages home for the break, the friends exchanged farewells.

"At least it all blew up just before vacation."

"Yeah. The rumors should settle by next semester."

The friends still fretted over the blazing gossip. As Ethan said, it was a relief vacation had come so quickly.

"...Will Herwin and Lucia stay unreconciled like this?"

"Wonder what next semester will bring..."

The two hadn't exchanged a single word since that day.

The friends worried their rift would carry into the second semester.

"But where are Herwin and Lucia?"

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them since earlier."

Starting with Christine, the friends scanned the area. They'd all been together at the vacation ceremony in the auditorium, yet now they were missing.

While Brian, Arista, and the others searched for Herwin and Lucia, the pair hid in a deserted corner.

Herwin had dragged her there moments before she could bolt, trapping her between his arms.

"Lucia, no more running."

His low voice made Lucia fidget anxiously, her attention fixed on their surroundings rather than him.

Herwin bit his lower lip at her wary glances, despite no one being around.

"How long are you going to keep this up? Planning to avoid me forever?"

"Herwin..."

"What's got you so scared? Still worried about people's stares? Is that why you're dodging me?"

Lucia only worked her lips silently, refusing to speak, so Herwin let out a deep sigh.

"Lucia Agnes. If you really never want to see me again, say it now."

Lucia's heart plummeted. More than his stern tone, the weary look in his red eyes gazing down at her choked her throat.

'I didn't avoid him to make him look like this...'

She had done it to spare him more trouble, more gossip, more harm.

Not to hurt him.

"Every time you pull away like this, I don't know what to do."

Herwin dragged a hand over his haggard face.

"I..."

"Forget everyone else! This is between you and me! Nothing they say can touch us! So..."

Red eyes flickered through the gaps in his large hand shielding his face.

"Please... just say something."

Overlapping the towering man before her was the image of an eight-year-old boy. He seemed so fragile that Lucia's lips quivered.

"You don't hate me...?"

"Hate you? Why would I?"

"Because all this happened because of me..."

Lucia's voice began to quiver faintly. The pain she couldn't share with anyone—Bianca's betrayal, the mockery from others—spilled out.

"If I hadn't confessed... if I hadn't stupidly believed Bianca... no, if I'd just given up on liking you...!"

Heavy teardrops fell in splats. Her voice rose louder.

"You wouldn't be in this mess! I hate... I hate that you're the talk of the town because of me. You despise that kind of thing. You never do anything people can blame you for. Yet because of me—one person—your reputation's in ruins..."

Lucia poured out her pent-up anguish.

"How can I stay by your side!"

"...So you avoided me because you hated seeing me troubled?"

Herwin swept his hair back, gripped her shoulders, and locked eyes with her.

"If you annoyed me, I'd have pushed you away ages ago. If the stares really bothered me, I wouldn't even be talking to you now. Think I don't know why I haven't?"

Lucia shook her head.

"Because I want you by my side."

Lucia's blue eyes wavered, then crumpled.

"Your feelings burden me sometimes, and yeah, your confessions get on my nerves occasionally. But just like you said before—friends are fine by me too. I like you as a friend. I don't want to lose someone so precious over something like this."

"Really... you never hated me?"

"Nope. Not once."

Her heart churned wildly. Fresh tears flooded eyes she'd thought empty.

His words felt like pure salvation.

She had tried positive self-talk, but a nagging anxiety had lingered in her heart.

What if he secretly despised her persistence? What if childhood ties forced him to keep her around?

But no.

Herwin hesitated before gently wiping her tears.

"If you're okay with it, keep confessing like before. Don't stew in silence over this—tell me everything."

Through her clearing vision, Lucia saw his rough, large hand—and on his cuff, a red gem cufflink.

Her eyes squeezed shut at the sight.

"I like you... Herwin..."

"Yeah."

"Sorry for liking you..."

Herwin stayed by her side until the tears stopped.

After lingering there a while, the two soon returned to their friends.

The group sighed in relief at seeing them side by side.

Onlookers whispered about the reconciled pair, but Lucia no longer feared them or shied from Herwin.

The breeze brushing her cheek simply felt pleasant.