CH 61

<CHAPTER 61

“Where is mother now?”

“She’s in her room.”

Bern hurried up to the mansion and headed for his mother, Tiana’s room.

“Mother!”

Inside the room were the maids, the doctor, and Tiana in bed.

Bern breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her flushed complexion.

“Is my mother all right?”

“Yes, thanks to quick action, she has regained stability.”

“Why did you come when it wasn’t a big deal.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t a big deal? I was so surprised to hear that my mother collapsed. Are you okay now?”

Tiana’s rebuke didn’t stop Bern from reaching out and taking her hand.

Tiana, who had been reluctant at first, smiled weakly at Bern’s concern.

“Okay. It’s okay now.”

“I just need you to take care of yourself. You’ve got a lot on your plate, and you’re exhausted.”

“I’m still alive and well. You’re asking me to stop doing what I do because I’m barely leading? I don’t like that.”

“But, Mother.”

“You don’t have a father, and I should be able to provide for you.”

Bern sighed heavily as Tiana turned her head away bluntly.

“I think you were outside and came in, but aren’t you overdoing it because of me?”

Tiana, who thought Bern had gone outside for work, said in a concerned tone.

“I didn’t go out for work.”

“Then did you meet anyone?”

After a moment of silence, Bern finally spoke with a dark face.

“I met with ……Lady Agnes.”

Tiana’s face brightened instantly.

“Oh, I see you’re on a date, and oh dear, I hope I didn’t just ruin a fun date for you.”

“Fortunately, the young lady was understanding.”

Tiana nodded in satisfaction.

“Yeah, yeah. A friend of mine told me the other day that Lucia Agnes is quite a speaker for a woman of her age. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“The engagement isn’t finalized yet. It’s too soon, isn’t it?”

“However, didn’t you say that you attended the royal engagement as a partner, so everyone will assume that you are engaged to Agnes?”

Bern only nodded with a dark face without saying a word.

“Well, the rumors about Agnes do bother me a bit, but you’ve got your share of blemishes, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Bern frowned for a moment, then finally stood up,

“Since you seem to be in good health, I’ll leave you to it.”

Tiana stiffened at her son’s sudden change in demeanor. She hurried to speak before he could leave.

“Don’t tell me you still haven’t gotten over her.”

Bern stopped walking.

“Forget her! She’s not worthy of you! You know what your father was thinking when he……!”

“Yes, and that’s why I’m like this now.”

Finally, Bern turned around and looked at his mother, his face devoid of any emotion.

“Don’t worry. I won’t go against my mother and father’s will.”

No, there was a glint of resignation in his eyes. Tiana pursed her lips as she watched her son seemingly let go of everything.

Bern hurried out of the room before his mother could catch him.

Entering his room, he flopped down on the bed without changing clothes.

He raised his arms to shade his eyes.

He remembered her giving him a fresh smile, brighter than the sun.

But then her face faded, replaced by the face of Lucia he’d seen just an hour earlier.

“……Yes. That’s it.”

He can’t connect with her anymore. She’s out of his reach now, so this is enough.

Bern let out a small breath and stared out the window at the moonlight. The moon was bright tonight.

* * *

It’s been five days since Herwin and Arista met.

She hadn’t received any letters or calls from him since the strange parting of ways.

Nor had she contacted him.

She seriously wondered if he had been swayed by her, but the way he had reacted that night and the lack of communication since then made her think she was mistaken.

He’d never seen her as the opposite sex, so she assumed he was just confused by the news that his best friend was getting engaged.

It was much easier for Lucia that way.

“Does Lady Agnes think so, too?”

Lucia, who had been held in her thoughts, came to her senses at the voice calling her.

Yeah, it’s not time for this. She was at a tea party now.

“Yes, I think that’s probably a good idea, don’t you?”

“I guess so, I’ll have to think about it again.”

“Well, if you need anything else, just let me know. I’d be happy to help.”

Lucia smiled mechanically as she listened to the conversation around the round table.

Today’s gathering was a mix of single women with fiancés and married women who hadn’t been married very long.

Perhaps because of the nature of the gathering, the conversation tended to revolve around gossip about fiancés, husbands, and other people.

“By the way, I’m curious about Lady Agnes’ story.”

Lucia looked up as someone addressed her. It was a woman with a familiar face.

‘Surely, it was Celine?’

The woman from the last meeting. The one who was supposedly in love with Bern.

“And how did you come to be associated with Marquis Casper? I’ve heard it said that you met on a blind date.”

“Oh. I wondered about that too.”

“Well, until Lady Agnes came along, the Marquis of Casper was very popular with unmarried women.”

Others encouraged Lucia, saying they were curious.

Lucia smiled awkwardly and looked at Celine.

She looked better now than she had before when she was on the verge of falling apart.

She wondered if she felt some sort of rivalry with her since she seemed to like Bern, but she didn’t see any struggle in her eyes.

She was just looking at her nervously.

‘There’s nothing I can’t say.’

She didn’t know how Celine felt, but she didn’t want to be held back by her.

Lucia readily obliged, explaining in detail how she and Bern had met and how things were going now.

The more she did, the more Celine’s face hardened.

“My, you are quite the lover.”

“And is that the necklace you’re wearing?”

“Yes, that’s right, and even though I told him several times that it was fine, he gave it to me because he wanted to repay me. It’s too much for me.”

“It looks so good on you.”

“I thought you looked sincere, but you’re more likable than I expected, Young lady, you must be happy to have found someone so nice.”

The compliments poured in, but Lucia only smiled.

“So, does that mean you’re no longer in love with Phoenaeus?”

Just then, someone brought up Herwin. Lucia shuddered inwardly and turned her head.

A woman was fanning herself. She didn’t recognize the face, but it wasn’t unfamiliar; she must have recognized one of the people who’d been following Herwin.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“What I mean is, hasn’t the young lady been fond of Phoenaeus for quite some time?”

The tone was clearly an attack on Lucia.

Everyone knew the rumors surrounding Lucia, but they kept them to themselves.

It was the same now. Surprised people looked at Lucia.

“If you’re talking about what happened to me at the academy, it’s a misunderstanding.”

The woman fanning herself gave her a venomous glare.

“I indeed had a crush on Herwin, but that is in the past. It’s been three years since I graduated from the Academy.”

“Well, it is, isn’t it, otherwise you wouldn’t be engaged to Marquis Casper.”

“There isn’t a person in the world who hasn’t had an unrequited love, is there?”

The others stared at Lucia as she gently but firmly affirmed her relationship with Herwin.

The woman fanned herself nervously, as if unhappy that things hadn’t gone her way.

When the dust settled, Lucia walked away from the crowd.

She managed to get past the awkward situation, but once she did, it was hard to control her emotions.

“You saw that, didn’t you? Agnes talking.”

Lucia continued on her way but stopped when she heard her name.

In a room, two women are touching up their makeup and talking.

“She’s not as tough as she looks. She looks like she could burst into tears if you touched her.”

“I mean, she’s a lot more mature than the others.”

Lucia was nervous at first, wondering if they were talking about her behind her back, but then she relaxed.

“That’s what I’m saying is that compared to Agnes, Leyran is a fool.”

“Who’s talking to whom. Isn’t Leyran rather fond of Phoenaeus?”

“Young Agnes is close to Phoenaeus. That’s why she’s jealous.”

“Hahaha, she’s cute, but she’s still young.”

Judging by the playful tone of the voice, she was saying it without any malice. When she had nothing more to add, Lucia slipped away.

“What is it with Viscountess Romario?”

But she was stopped in her tracks by the sound of a name behind her.

Romario. It was Celine’s last name.

‘And she’s a viscountess?’

The way she cried at the mention of Bern, she had no doubt she was just an unmarried young lady.

“Don’t you know, there were rumors that the Viscountess Romario was once a lover of Marquis Casper.”

What followed was a much more unexpected truth than she had expected.

“It would be unseemly for a married woman to do so now.”

“Wouldn’t it be inevitable? I mean, I’d do the same thing if I were her since she has almost been sold to Viscount Romario.”

“No matter how you look at it, she can’t behave like that in front of the fiancée. Do you think Lady Agnes knows about this?”

“Well, I doubt it. Not many people know about the relationship in the first place. It could just be that the Viscountess has a crush on Marquis Casper.”

“Well, that seems more likely. The Viscountess was lower in rank than the Marquis even before she was married, so it’s unlikely they were lovers in the first place.”

When they had finished applying their makeup, they rose from their seats and moved toward the door. Lucia hurriedly ducked behind the door.

“They were lovers?”

They seemed to think that Celine had a crush on Bern, but Lucia had a hunch that maybe they had been lovers in the past.

“That’s why she was crying like that.”

She remembered Celine showing tears in front of her before. Whatever had happened between them, Celine was now the wife of Viscount Romario, and Bern was her prospective fiancé.

Seeing that Bern had lingering feelings, it never seemed like they broke up by agreement.

‘Because you resemble me a lot… that’s why I chose you.’

She suddenly remembered what Bern had said.

“Maybe that has something to do with it.”

She wondered what he was referring to when he said she was like him, and what his relationship with Celine was like.

Lucia moved on, vowing to ask Bern when he met him later.