CH 53

After receiving Christine’s letter, Lucia replied that she didn’t mind meeting anytime.

Christine makes an appointment just two days later, and Lucia is on her way to meet her.

When she arrives at the place Christine told her about, she sees a restaurant with the mark of a “Tion” organization run by Christine’s family.

After giving her name, the hostess leads her to a VVIP room. Inside were Christine and Arista, who had arrived first.

“Am I a little late?”

“No, you’re still on time. I just got here.”

“Welcome, Lucia!”

Arista spoke leisurely, saying she still had plenty of time, and Christine jumped up from her seat and welcomed Lucia enthusiastically.

Lucia was drawn to Christine because she was cute and talkative.

Arista asked Christine if she had finished looking around the room.

“I didn’t know this place existed. I heard you were starting a new business, is this part of it?”

“Yes! That’s right, this time I’ve been authorized by my father himself.”

“Oh, really, so this is your first business?”

Christine wrapped her hands around her flushed cheeks in embarrassment.

“Oh, that’s great. I thought you said you wanted to follow in your father’s footsteps. Congratulations, if I had known, I would have gotten you a present.”

“Actually, Lucia, that’s an excuse, and I thought she called us here to tell us this.”

Arista joked with a sneer as Lucia expressed her sincere congratulations.

“Of course not, I’ve only brought you two together for a little girl talk.”

Christine put her hands on her hips and stuck out her lips, then giggled.

“You know, I don’t have anything I want to brag about.”

“Hahahaha, I knew it.”

“Since you are the first VVIP customer, please give us a serious evaluation. I’ll pay for everything today!”

Lucia and Arista applauded enthusiastically as the imposing Christine walked away. 

They then casually ordered a variety of kajitsu food and got down to business.

Of course, it started with Lucia’s confrontation.

As soon as the waitress left, Christine and Arista’s eyes lit up, and Lucia, who had anticipated the scene, raised her hands and feet and told them everything.

She left out the part about getting dumped by Herwin.

When asked to name the three worst people she’d ever had to deal with before meeting Bern, the two reacted differently.

“How could all three of them be so rude? It makes me angry to listen to them!”

“Well, with your dad’s personality, he wouldn’t have picked weird people to go up against… By the way, in what sense…….”

Lucia let out a ragged laugh as Christine got angry and Arista reacted in disbelief.

“Great, huh?”

Christine and Arista nodded.

“At first, when I heard that Marquis Casper was late, I thought that was really bad, but it’s nothing compared to the first three.”

“What family do they belong to, I’ll never get along with them!”

“Come on, they were just people I walked past, I don’t even remember them.”

It’s comfortable to think that she just stepped on poop. In fact, she couldn’t remember their faces well as time passed.

“Well, that’s the end of my confrontation story, anyway. No big deal, right?”

“Not much, but it’s been an eventful one.”

“Exactly, and I’m glad you got to meet the Marquis of Casper.”

“……Right. I’m glad I met Bern.”

Lucia smiled weakly. It was bittersweet and somehow comforting at the same time.

The two of them looked at each other, feeling like they shouldn’t be together, and then Lucia asked cautiously.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Lucia lost in thought, looked up at the sound of her friends’ concerned voices. The two were looking at her with concern.

“Of course. It’s something I’ll have to do someday, just a little sooner than you guys.”

“But, Lucia, you and Herwin can’t…….”

“Christine!”

Arista called urgently to Christine. Christine’s face turned pale and she fidgeted.

She wondered why she has heard Herwin’s name. Contrary to their worries, Lucia seemed relaxed.

“I’m sorry, Lucia, I said the wrong thing…….”

“It’s okay, I didn’t do what you think I did, I just had a one-sided crush on him in the first place, we didn’t date or anything. I told him we’d just stay friends.”

Despite Lucia’s best efforts to lighten the mood, it didn’t seem to change.

To change the mood, Lucia narrowed her eyes playfully.

“Instead of worrying about me, you guys should be nervous now, aren’t you guys talking about your engagement at home?”

At the mention of the engagement, they both sighed in disgust. They tried to look the other way, but Lucia couldn’t miss it.

“Mm-hmm… yeah, my parents have been sneakily asking me lately if I’m thinking about getting married, and I always pretend like I don’t know… but you never know when we’ll be forced to meet.”

Christine looked tired like Lucia just before the meeting. Arista, on the other hand, looked relaxed.

“I’m relatively relaxed this time because Ares is engaged. I guess it’s good to be related to the imperial family. Now that they’re engaged, I’m sure my parents don’t want to go down that road.”

“Really? Everyone has their reasons. If you had a date, what kind of person would you like to meet?”

“Honestly, I don’t care if he’s weird, my business is more important to me than marriage right now. Oh, and if there’s one thing I’d like, it’d be someone who doesn’t object to what I do, because I’ve heard some people say that some want their wives not to work.”

It was a very Christine answer. As the child of the target group, she had a vested interest in top management.

And given the recent talk of succession and the new business she was starting, she didn’t seem too interested in marriage.

Rather, she was likely to treat marriage like a business and find a mate to maximize her profits.

“Arista, what about you?”

She turned her head to Arista and looked at her. She was deep in thought for a moment, then said with a rather dark face.

“I want to live with someone I love, because ……it is the person I’ll be with for the rest of my life.”

Lucia’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer, as well as Christine’s.

The word “love” had never come out of Arista’s mouth before. All this time, they thought she didn’t care about the opposite sex or love….…

“Oh my God, Arista, do you have a crush on anyone right now?”

Christine asked, jumping out of her seat and pacing the desk. Arista shook her head with a self-deprecating smile.

Then Christine’s shoulders slumped.

“Oh… what, I thought you had a crush on someone.”

“Haha, what are you going to do with the person I like?”

“No, no. Just. I thought you were going to say that Arista is going to marry a sword.”

“What? I wouldn’t say that, no matter how much I love swords.”

Arista burst out laughing. She was followed by Christine, who started laughing as well, and the room was soon filled with giggles.

Only Lucia stared at Arista quizzically.

Somehow, right now, it felt like she was lying.

‘Who could it be?’

Lucia whispered to herself as she tried to think of someone Arista might like or a man she knew.

She could see Herwin’s face in her mind’s eye.

If Arista likes Herwin, then….…

Lucia clamped her mouth shut, but then she forced a smile.

“I’m sure Arista could do that.”

Arista looked back at Lucia. Lucia smiled.

“I don’t know any man in the world who would say no to Arista.”

“Lucia.”

“So if you ever have a crush on someone, make sure you tell him. Do you know if he likes you?”

Herwin would definitely accept Arista’s confession.

‘Unlike me….…’

Lucia closed her eyes, thinking of Herwin.

It was ridiculous to compare her to Arista in the first place.

She and herself had different starting points. Arista had entered Herwin’s mind for the first time, and she hadn’t.

It seems like a small difference, but it’s a big one.

The blow was not as big as she thought because she had imagined Herwin dating Arista since he admitted liking her.

‘Still, I can’t help but be bitter.’

Of course, that’s not to say she doesn’t feel it. It’s only natural when the person you’ve had a crush on for 13 years has a girlfriend.

“Thank you, Lucia.”

Lucia opened her closed eyes at Arista’s gratitude. Her violet eyes widened as if encouraged by her own words.

“I’m relieved to hear you say that. I will do as you say.”

“……Yes.”

Lucia’s eyes narrowed for a natural smile.

She wondered if anyone else would notice, but contrary to her fears, neither of them noticed her agitation.

This allowed Lucia to keep a smile on her face until the end of the meeting.

* * *

“Thank you for the invitation, Lucia.”

Bern, who had come to Countess Agnes at Lucia’s invitation, appeared immaculately dressed and carrying a bouquet.

The scent of vivid pink roses was strong in the air.

Julian, who happened to be with her, saw Lucia accept the roses and greeted Bern with joy.

“Welcome to Agnes, Marquis.”

“It’s been a long time, my lady.”

Bern was unfazed and deftly blew a small kiss on Julian’s hand, which Julian returned with a cupped cheek.

“I see you weren’t too upbeat the last time I saw you, so I have a little gift for you.”

Bern turned around and looked at the carriage he was riding in. Then his servants, who had accompanied him, carried out the gifts.

There were four gifts, each customized for a different member of Agnes’s family. Bern picked up the smallest box and handed it to Julian.

“This is for you. I hope you like it.”

“Oh, my goodness. We didn’t prepare anything…….”

“It’s just something I wanted to give you, no pressure.”

Julian hadn’t even unwrapped the gift yet, but she was already smiling. She patted Lucia on the back.

“Come on, come on, come inside. Lucia, show him around.”

With those words, Julian stepped aside so they could be alone. With that, she left them alone in the hall, and soon it was just Bern and Lucia.

Lucia’s cheeks flushed, wondering if she was acting out of character.

“……I’m sorry, Bern. I thought my mother was more excited than I was.”

“Haha, no, it’s just nice to be recognized. How do you like the flowers?”

Lucia looked down at the bunch of roses in her hand. The beautiful pink roses, which were almost full to the brim, were pleasing to the eye and nose.

“Yes, they smell very nice.”

“For some reason, these flowers remind me of Lucia.”

Bern stretched his bent back and caught a glimpse of Lucia. She was clutching a pink rose, and she looked better than he’d expected.

For a moment, Bern’s eyes glazed over as he saw something in Lucia. He stuttered for a moment, then regained his composure and smiled benevolently.

“It suits you very well.”

“I’ll have to tell them to decorate my room, but come on in. I’ll show you around.”

Lucia took Bern’s arm, which he offered casually, and led him through the house in earnest.