Chapter 47

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 47

Chapter Title: Introducing My Fiancé

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“Is the road blocked or something?”

“With so many invitees, that could be possible.”

Leaving Herwin lost in thought behind them, his friends brought up Lucia. Ethan, who had been glancing around wondering when she might arrive, spotted someone off in the distance.

“Hey? Isn't that Lucas up ahead?”

At his words, his friends turned their heads. Sure enough, there was Lucas far away, chatting with some other people.

A beautiful woman stood beside him.

“If your brother's here, then Lucia must be too, right?”

“I don't see Lucia.”

“They probably didn't come together. Lucas has been with the Lydia Young Lord this whole time. Looks like he came up to the capital today. Right, Arista?”

Arista, who had been spacing out at Herwin's question, snapped back to attention. She nodded dazedly.

“Y-yeah. He was with my brother in the ducal territory.”

“Oh, right. He's working as the Young Lord's aide, isn't he?”

His friends belatedly remembered that Lucas was Ares Lydia's aide.

“Still, aren't those people over there Yohan and Julian, the Agnes Count couple?”

This time, Brian spotted Yohan and Julian on the opposite side. Everyone from the Agnes Count House except Lucia had arrived at the party.

“……Yeah. So Lucia must have arrived too.”

“The hall's so huge, she might not be able to find us.”

The whispering friends widened their eyes even more and redoubled their efforts to spot Lucia.

Herwin scanned the banquet hall, searching for her as well.

There were plenty of women around with brown hair and light eyes like Lucia's, but he turned away without a second glance.

“Huh?”

A dazed voice rang out suddenly.

“What's up?”

“……Over there. That's Lucia, right?”

Following Arista's pointing finger through the crowd, Lucia's face came into view.

“Yeah, it's Lucia.”

“……But who's that next to her?”

Their joy at finding Lucia was short-lived as the friends were stunned by the man at her side.

Just three minutes before her friends spotted her, Lucia entered the party venue with Bern.

“Would it be all right if I introduced you to my friends today?”

Lucia looked at Bern for a moment at his question.

“If it's a burden, feel free to decline.”

Bern waited patiently for her answer, urging her to respond comfortably.

Lucia pondered briefly. It seemed Bern wanted to introduce her as his fiancée.

She hadn't fully decided on the engagement yet, but judging by the atmosphere, it would happen eventually.

That's probably why he brought it up. She had come to announce her engagement to him anyway, so there was no reason to refuse.

“Yes, that's fine. I'll introduce my friends to you too.”

“Really? Your friends—I look forward to it.”

Lucia smiled along with him as he flashed a gentle smile, but then she spotted her friends off in the distance. Even Herwin among them.

The moment she saw him, her heart sank.

“There they are.”

Her voice trembled for an instant, but Lucia forced herself to stay calm as she turned back to Bern and gripped his arm tightly.

Bern matched her steps. As they drew closer to her friends, their shocked expressions became vividly clear.

Tension rose to her throat. Lucia felt the weight of the earrings Bern had gifted her, mentally coaching herself not to tremble.

“Hey, guys. Long time no see.”

“Uh? Oh, yeah. Long time no see, Lucia.”

Unlike the composed Lucia, her friends looked utterly dazed. Arista, who had been smiling, asked cautiously with a somewhat stiff face.

“Lucia, who's this with you?”

Her friends were thrown off by Lucia entering with a man they'd never seen before as her partner.

Herwin looked shocked too—his red eyes were wide open.

She felt pressure as if they were demanding an explanation, but Lucia deliberately avoided his gaze and spoke.

“This is the man who's going to be my fiancé.”

Ethan and Brian's mouths fell open in shock, Christine's eyes widened to reveal her glass-bead-like pupils, and Arista covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes bulging.

They'd suspected something when they saw her being affectionate with some guy, but when she gave exactly the answer they'd feared, her friends were horrified.

However, that shock quickly shifted everyone's gaze naturally toward Herwin.

Herwin glared at Bern beside Lucia with wide eyes.

Lucia, who had been avoiding Herwin's gaze on purpose, didn't catch his expression.

Bern, who had no idea what was going on and was suddenly receiving this intense stare, could only look awkward.

“Aren't you guys overreacting? It's rude to the other person.”

“Oh, s-sorry… It was just unexpected.”

“If we've offended you, we're sorry. So……”

“I'm Bern Casper. I've heard a lot about you from Lucia. We might be seeing more of each other.”

They realized belatedly it was Marquis Casper—someone vaguely familiar—and surprise bloomed on their faces again.

Bern extended his hand politely. But Herwin scowled with a rigid expression, just staring blankly at it.

Only then did Lucia notice Herwin's face and panic. No matter how much of a stranger he was, Herwin wasn't the type to be rude.

Just as Bern's hand was starting to look awkward, Ethan grabbed it.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Ethan Belluna. Lucia's academy classmate and close friend.”

Starting with Ethan, they introduced themselves one by one.

“I'm Arista Lydia.”

After Arista's greeting, it was finally Herwin's turn.

Arista, unable to stand his wary glare at Bern any longer, poked him in the side. Herwin finally spoke.

“……Herwin Peneus.”

“Nice to meet you all.”

Though it could have been unpleasant, Bern kept smiling. Lucia felt unnecessarily sorry toward him.

“We were so startled seeing you two come in together. Lucia, you should've said something beforehand.”

“Yeah. Then we wouldn't have been so flustered.”

“Sorry for telling you just now. It's not like we've known each other that long……”

Herwin's eyebrow twitched as Lucia called Bern by name so casually.

“You didn't have any connections, so how did you end up meeting?”

Christine, unable to contain her curiosity, asked.

“We met through an arranged meeting. I was late due to some circumstances, but Lucia waited for me. It was truly a blessing—I might have missed out on such a wonderful woman otherwise.”

It was praise so effusive it was almost embarrassing. Lucia pushed him lightly, telling him not to overhype her. Bern chuckled softly.

Anyone could see the two looked like lovers. It felt strange yet fitting, and her friends stole glances at them.

“An arranged meeting? When……”

“We'll get going then. We need to greet some other people. See you later.”

Before Herwin could finish, Lucia cut him off.

Herwin, suddenly at a loss for words, reached out to grab her, but she had already left with Bern.

Herwin stared blankly at the back of Lucia's head as she walked away, arm linked with Bern's.

“Who would've thought Lucia went on an arranged meeting.”

“I thought Herwin and Lucia would get married.”

“Does this mean it's over between them?”

Brian, Ethan, and Christine whispered in low voices so Herwin wouldn't hear.

It was beyond imagination. If they didn't end up together, they'd assumed it would be Herwin's fault, not that Lucia would make the first move.

Knowing full well how much she'd liked Herwin, the shock lingered.

Herwin felt the same. He stared vacantly at the spot where Lucia had been, like a soulless man.

Worried for Herwin, Arista asked cautiously.

“Herwin, you didn't hear anything either?”

“……No.”

“Really? I thought she might've at least hinted to you……”

At Arista's trailing words, Herwin suddenly recalled his last meeting with Lucia before heading north.

'Let's meet again with smiles on our faces.'

Lucia had said it with a strange expression, like she was crying and smiling at once.

'Is this what you meant by meeting with smiles?'

Lucia had indeed been smiling happily with Bern.

She had completely let go of her one-sided love for him.

He'd hoped this day would come, so why couldn't he smile?

If Lucia was happy with another man, he could finally be true friends with her. But for some reason, he couldn't wish her that happiness.

No, the man beside her was so irritating he couldn't bear it.

It felt like a huge hole had opened in his chest—a hollow emptiness. Why did it feel this way?

Light began to flicker in his vacant red eyes, sharpening them. Soon, Herwin clenched his fist with eyes blazing fiercely.

“I need to ask her exactly what happened.”

His low, chilling voice made his friends swallow hard.

They worried this might cause a fight between Herwin and Lucia.

Lucia clung to Bern's arm like a lifeline and hurried away from her friends.

'My heart's about to burst.'

Herwin's twisted face and voice had set her barely calmed heart pounding madly again.

It wasn't the flutter of excitement—this was from tension and fear.

She hadn't even been scolded, so why was it so terrifying?

The thumping grew louder, narrowing her vision and leaving her feeling utterly abandoned.

As Lucia's face paled and her hands trembled, Bern placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Lucia. Are you okay?”

When she didn't snap out of it even at his question, he hurriedly wrapped his arm around her shoulders and met her eyes.

“Lucia!”

“-Gasp.”

She'd been holding her breath—Lucia sucked in air sharply. Seeing her condition was worse than expected, Bern frowned.

“S-sorry. What did you say?”

“I didn't say anything. More importantly, your color's bad. Should we rest for a bit?”

Staring at Bern's worried gaze, Lucia finally looked around.

Nearby guests' eyes were fixed on them.

“I'm fine. The party's barely started.”

“But……”

“Really, I'm okay. Must be nerves.”

No matter how much she smiled and insisted, Bern wouldn't relax his frown.

He glanced briefly toward her friends.

Herwin was glaring daggers at them, still wary of Bern.

He could roughly guess why Lucia had gotten like this.

He had many questions but swallowed them down.

“Lucia. Look only at me.”

“……Pardon?”

Before she could panic further, Bern took both her hands firmly and met her eyes gently.

“Look into my eyes and take deep breaths. In…… out……”

Lucia dazedly followed his breathing. After a couple tries, her pounding heart began to settle.

Color returned to her face, and Bern gave a faint smile. He carefully brushed her cheek with his finger.

“Better now?”

“Yes, I'm really okay now.”

Her quivering voice had steadied to calm. Bern nodded, relieved.

He stood beside her again, placing her hand on his arm.

“If you feel tense again or get unwell, try the breathing I showed you. Or hold my hand. I'll help you again.”

“Thank you. This is so embarrassing. I keep showing you my worst side… You must've been startled by my friends just now, right? I hadn't told anyone about the arranged meeting, so they were really surprised.”

Finally back to her senses, Lucia mentioned what had happened with her friends.

“No, it's fine. That's understandable. And my friends are the same. I haven't told anyone either, just like you.”

Bern whispered playfully in her ear. Knowing it was to ease her tension, Lucia let out a small laugh.