CH 82

Thud. Thud. Thud.

At regular intervals, the sound of heels echoed behind him. Bern knew he was being followed relentlessly, but he ignored it.

“Bern, I’m tired.”

Bern flinched at the voice behind him.

“Bern, I’m tired, slow down a bit.”

He could now hear the occasional pounding of her feet. Bern frowned and turned around.

There was the beautifully dressed Celine.

Ever since her last visit to the Marquis, Celine had been hovering around him.

At first, it was nothing more than letters, gifts, and requests for a meeting, but Bern refused to see her.

At some point, she realized that her tactics weren’t working, so she started following him around.

This, of course, without disrupting his schedule.

But today was much bolder than last time. Unlike the last time, when they had only met in a cafe, this time it went all the way.

If she was trying to get on his nerves, she had succeeded.

From the moment Celine appeared in front of Bern, all his attention was on her. He just doesn’t show it.

Realizing that once he started to accept her, it would be easy for him to crumble, Bern decided not to show any reaction.

‘She’ll get tired of this and fall off.’

Bern quickened his pace, ignoring Celine’s voice behind him.

As Bern picked up his pace, Celine hurried after him. The height difference made it a little difficult to keep up.

Watching Bern’s backside recede into the distance, Celine bit her bottom lip tightly. 

‘I can’t give up like this.’

She couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.

In her impatience, she started to run, but her foot caught on a rock.

“Aah!”

Celine let out a short scream and fell to the ground. 

“Ugh…….”

She felt a tingling sensation in her palms and knees. But more than that, her ankle began to throb.

She lifted the hem of her dress to reveal her shoes were off and her feet were raw. She put her hand to her ankle and felt a searing heat and a gradual swelling.

As she fell, her ankle snapped. 

Stifling a groan that threatened to escape, Celine tried to get to her feet, but she couldn’t get up, not sure if she’d taken a bad fall.

The sight of her mangled body and the pain she felt everywhere made her want to cry. But she was more concerned about losing Bern than anything else.

Just as she was about to look up, wondering if Bern had left, a shadow fell in front of her.

“Celine, are you okay?”

It was Bern, running toward her from the distance.

The look on Bern’s face, which was always so urgent when he ignored her, left Celine speechless.

“Look at your hands! They’re all bruised! What’s wrong with your feet? Did you sprain them?”

Before Celine could say anything, Bern examined her carefully.

The way he worried about her, the way he fidgeted to make sure she wasn’t too badly hurt.

It was just like when they were lovers. 

Beyond his glasses, Celine bit her lower lip tightly at her reflection.

‘I’m so glad. He still likes me…….’

She had vowed to get him to come back to her, but she felt nervous when he continued to ignore her.

She wondered if Bern had truly forgotten her. That she didn’t matter to him anymore.

But Bern hadn’t forgotten her, she could tell by the look in his eyes.

Relief washed over her, and her tension melted away. Tears welled up in her eyes as all the emotions she had been holding back burst forth at once.

Bern was visibly taken aback by Celine’s tears and was at a loss for words.

“Are you in a lot of pain? Where does it hurt?”

“Hmph, it’s not that…….”

Celine’s inability to speak through her tears made Bern even more nervous.

Finally, Bern had enough and picked her up in a hug.

“Bern, Bern!”

The hug wiped away Celine’s tears. Celine stumbled back into the air and reflexively hugged Bern.

“My carriage is nearby, let’s go there first.”

Bern said in a determined tone and started walking quickly. 

No matter how injured Celine was, the way she looked now could be misleading to others.

As much as she wanted to bring him back to her, she had no intention of putting him on the spot.

Celine looked around quickly. Fortunately, no one was nearby. With a sigh of relief, Celine slowly raised her head.

Bern was staring straight ahead with a stern face. Realizing that he was angry, she shut up.

A whimper.

It was only a small whimper, which made Bern frown even more and quicken his pace.

Soon they were in the carriage. Bern immediately ordered the coachman to take them to the hospital.

“Look at your ankle.”

Then he tried to examine Celine’s condition again, but she was hesitant, unwilling to speak.

Annoyed by her silence whenever he tried to talk to her, Bern grabbed her foot.

“Now, wait!”

Before Celine could protest, Bern lifted the tiny foot.

Her underwear could have been seen, but Bern was only focused on Celine’s foot.

In that short time, Celine’s ankle was swollen and bruised.

“It’s already swollen.”

“Ugh…….”

After a moment of embarrassment, Bern’s hand touched her ankle and she felt a dull pain.

Celine moaned, and Bern’s touch became more careful.

“Ha, why are you following me? You should just give up and go home.”

“…… I didn’t want to lose you like this.”

At the sound of her voice, Bern lifted his head. The corners of her eyes were slightly red from crying earlier.

He felt like his hand was going to go out without realizing it, so Bern clenched his fist tightly.

“It’s just this once. Next time, I won’t react if you get hurt, or if you come after me, so stop right here.”

“No.”

“Celine!”

“No! I finally have a chance to turn everything around. Do you think I’m going to let this happen? I know I look like a wimp to you. I’m desperate.”

Bern looked away quickly, feeling as if he might shake if he met Celine’s eyes.

“It’s no use, though. I’m getting engaged to Lucia.”

Celine’s heart sank. Celine said urgently,

“What? Ha, but you didn’t exactly confirm the engagement last time……!”

“We decided that after you left ……, and now that we’re organizing the date of the engagement ceremony, I can’t even bite.”

“After I… went?”

“Yeah.”

Looking into the dull golden eyes that showed no sign of the worry she’d been feeling, Celine wondered if the man in front of her was the Bern she knew. 

‘How… how are you getting engaged to Lucia so soon after I left…….?’

It wasn’t particularly surprising that he was getting engaged to Lucia, but it was shocking that it was after she had met him that he had confirmed the engagement.

Why did he decide to hold another woman’s hand?

‘I’m right here in front of you…….’

The pain in her chest was worse than her bruised palm and sprained ankle.

“Marquis, we’ve arrived at the hospital.”

After a stifling silence, the carriage finally stopped. 

“We can talk about that later, let’s get you treated.”

Bern tried to support Celine, but she reflexively brushed his hand away. 

“I… I can do this alone.”

Celine stood up precariously, pale and unable to make eye contact with Bern. 

Bern hurried to catch her.

“Don’t be so stubborn, take my hand, you can barely stand.”

After a moment of silence, Celine looked back at Bern. 

There were no tears, but the corners of her eyes crinkled as if she were about to cry.

“You’re so sweet, even in times like this, when I’m dying for your words.”

Bern’s grip loosened, and Celine left him in the carriage and limped out.

Just before entering the hospital, Celine bowed her head for a moment, then looked back, rubbing the corners of her eyes.

“But… I’m not giving up on you.”

Celine’s words seemed to come from nowhere. Bern, who had unconsciously reached for her hand, didn’t realize it until after the hospital door had closed.

The engagement was a deliberate ploy to keep Celine away. 

He shouldn’t be swayed by her, and he should end the relationship coldly here. 

But the image of Celine’s hurt face kept flashing before his eyes.

“……Darn it!”

Bern ruffled his hair, letting out a rare expletive. 

* * *

“Haaaaah…….”

A deep sigh echoed through the office.

“Haaaaah…….”

It wasn’t long before another sigh was heard, and Arista put down her papers and looked toward the source.

There was Lucas, slumped over with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Why the hell am I still employing that asshole?”

Not far from Lucas was Ares, who glared at him with an icy stare.

Ares’ irritation at Lucas’ sighs, which had been going on for days, had reached a boiling point.

If he didn’t do his job properly, he would have kicked him out with that excuse, but Lucas did his job even though he was dying of death.

It’s easy to ask what’s going on, but Ares didn’t want to say anything because he knew that if he asked the wrong person, Lucas would bother him for days and days.

Eventually, with nothing to do and his stress levels reaching a breaking point, Ares seriously considered firing Lucas.

Sensing Ares’ thoughts, Arista rolled her eyes and sneaked up on him.

“I’ll talk to him, brother. Why don’t you go outside and freshen up?”

Ares stared at Arista for a moment, then glanced over at a stunned Lucas and nodded.

“……Yes, that would be good for my mental health.”

Ares scrambled to his feet, glaring. 

“Don’t listen to him too much. Let it flow in moderation. He’ll get spoiled otherwise.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Feeling a pang of sympathy for Arista, Ares looked at Lucas, clicked his tongue, and hurried out of the room.

Lucas, who was lost in his world whether Ares was outside or not, sighed once more.

“Hmph!”

Arista coughed and knocked on Lucas’ desk. Lucas snapped out of his reverie and looked up at Arista.

“Hey, big brother. What’s been bothering you lately?”

“Nothing…….”

“Nothing. You’ve been sighing every day.”

Lucas pursed his lips, scratched the back of his head coolly, and sighed. 

“See, you’re still doing it.”

When she pointed out the sigh, Lucas realized he’d been sighing.

“I see. How long has it been like that?”

“For a while now. Talk to me if something is bothering you. I might be able to help.”

“But…….”

“If you sigh one more time, Ares will have you fired.”

Ares was a man who would remain like that. Lucas covered his mouth and looked over Ares’ seat. Thankfully, he wasn’t there.

Lucas, who was thinking for a while about whether to say something or not, finally opened his mouth.