CH 93

The song was slowly building to a climax, and Herwin realized that the dance would soon be over, and he didn’t want to be separated from Lucia.

He wanted to be with Lucia just a little longer.

He subtly distracted Lucia so that they could dance again in the next song.

“By the way, I met Brother Lucas just now.”

“My brother?”

“Yeah. He was apologizing to me. I mean, I’m the one who owes him an apology, but I didn’t expect him to apologize to me first.”

Lucia looked surprised at first, then frowned.

“Of course, he should apologize first, he’s not even a person if he doesn’t apologize after leaving you outside all day and making you sick.”

“Did you …… fight with your brother?”

At Lucia’s reaction, which was more intense than usual, Herwin slowly raised the corner of his mouth. 

After a moment of excitement, Lucia mumbled in a crawling voice.

“……a little.”

“I can’t believe you’re fighting with your brother. You fought because of me, didn’t you?”

“Well, because he did something wrong, and I’d be just as angry if he’d done it to someone else.”

More excuses followed, but they fell on deaf ears. He was only thrilled that Lucia had argued with Lucas on his behalf.

“He apologized properly, didn’t he?”

Lucia, oblivious to Herwin’s delight, focused on Lucas’ apology. 

She wondered if Lucas had forced himself to apologize to Herwin to make up for their fight, though it was highly unlikely.

Sensing Lucia’s thoughts, Herwin smiled and leaned closer to her.

“What, do you think your brother apologized for something?”

“No, no… I just wanted to know how it went.”

Lucia stammered, and Herwin smirked.

“He did apologize properly, and if he didn’t mean it, he wouldn’t be apologizing with his fiancée right next to him.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“He apologized properly, so you shouldn’t worry about it anymore…….”

“No, wait, don’t say that. Didn’t you say something just now?”

“What?”

“That he’s definitely with his fiancée…….”

“Oh, his fiancée?”

Lucia’s eyes slowly widened, causing Herwin to panic.

“……Didn’t you know that your brother has a fiancée?”

“My brother has a fiancée?!”

Lucia shouted, causing the people dancing around her to stare at her. But right now, Lucia didn’t have time to look around.

“Your brother never told you?”

“No, he didn’t say anything at home either. No, I mean, he has a fiancée, why didn’t he tell me? Do our parents know about this?”

“Wait, Lucia, calm down a bit.”

As Lucia stuttered and fumbled, Herwin held her tightly, trying to calm her down.

Still, Lucia’s eyes fluttered open and she looked around, spotting Lucas dancing with a woman on the other side of the room.

It was his girlfriend, whom she had only seen once.

“Oh my God, is that his fiancée?”

“Yes, she is, and she just told me herself that they’re getting engaged.”

Lucia was stunned. Herwin suddenly realized that Lucia cared a lot about her family.

It was overshadowed by Lucas’ outstretched arms, but she did care about him.

“It’s strange. If my brother had decided to get engaged, he would have told our parents or me right away, so why didn’t he say anything?”

“Well… come to think of it, your brother was kind of weird.”

“How?”

Herwin paused for a moment when he saw the wall between words he faced in an instant, and then continued to talk.

“Hmmm, I guess I could say he was a little reluctant to talk about the engagement, because his fiancée seemed like she couldn’t wait to tell everyone about it, and he seemed to be the opposite.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And this is what I think… His fiancée, there’s something off about her.”

“Off-putting in what way?”

“It’s a little hard to explain, but you know, I have this gut feeling that she doesn’t seem like a very nice person, and she’s kind of wary of Arista.”

“Why would she be wary of Arista?”

“I mean. I don’t think the two of them have ever met, and she seems to be particularly conscious of Arista.”

“Hmmm…….”

There was something fishy about Herwin’s words. 

It was strange that Lucas didn’t tell his family as soon as the engagement was finalized. Moreover, he had recently laughed off his parents’ nagging about when he would get married.

At the time, he didn’t think he’d go all the way to marriage with his current girlfriend. They’ve decided to get engaged.

‘What the hell is he doing?’

Lucia suddenly wondered about Becky. She hadn’t gotten to know her well enough to say hello in their short time together.

But Herwin, who had a sharp eye for people, said he didn’t like her….…

‘She doesn’t seem like a very nice person.’

She wondered if that was why he hadn’t told his family about the engagement.

Lucia glared at Lucas and Becky. 

Her focus on the two of them was the only reason Herwin was able to dance with Lucia again and again.

* * *

When everyone was enjoying themselves, Bern grabbed Celine’s hand and snuck out of the party. 

As soon as he saw Lucia dancing with Herwin, he dragged Celine out.

When Bern saw that no one was around, he opened his mouth.

“Are you out of your mind? What the hell were you thinking? I’m just glad Lucia was at least understanding, or else I’d have had to…….”

“I know, how rude I was.”

“You shouldn’t have done that if you knew!”

At the sound of Bern’s rising voice, Celine clenched her fists. She looked up at him, her eyes hardened.

“You expect me to stand by and watch you walk away from me forever?”

Speechless, Bern pursed his lips.

“I know how good Lady Agnes is, and I know how mean I am to her! I just can’t believe you won’t give her up.”

“……….”

“Let me ask you a question. Does Lady Agnes know about your relationship with me?”

“……Yes.”

Her guess was correct, and Celine’s face hardened even more. 

No matter how little they felt for each other, no one would stand by and let an ex-lover approach their fiancé. Lucia, however, was too laid-back and remained silent when Celine approached Bern.

Was it because she was certain of her marriage to Bern? If not, there was only one way to explain her ease.

“By any chance, does the young lady have a crush on anyone?”

When Bern shuddered, Celine knew she was right. 

Ever since Bern had told her he was engaged to Lucia, she’d been looking up who she was.

She could see that Lucia had a longtime crush on Phoenaeus.

Apparently, they had danced together before leaving the party.

“Why do you want to continue your engagement when the people you have in your heart are different? This isn’t right. You said Lady Agnes likes someone else. I saw earlier that the atmosphere with him didn’t look so bad, but why…….”

“Yes, I and Lucia have someone else in mind.”

Bern interrupted before Celine could finish her sentence. After a moment of speechlessness, Celine realized that Bern still liked her.

“But, when I first met Lucia, we were both already exhausted, me being me and Lucia being Lucia, and we were both unable to get the love that we want.”

Celine’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the hidden hurt in Bern’s confession. 

“I didn’t get engaged to find new love, I just wanted a partner to move forward with. It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t love me, we just need to understand each other’s wounds and look forward to a future together.”

“But… it’s weird as it is…….”

“I know it’s weird, but I’ve already talked to Lucia, and it turns out we have a lot in common.”

Bern smiled at the thought of Lucia. 

Before, he had thought he had feelings for her, but now he realized that he didn’t have feelings for her, he just respected her as a person.

If he simply had a crush on Lucia, it would be easy to see through him, but since he didn’t, he was hard to catch. 

Their relationship was strong because it was built on trust, not love.

At this rate, it looked like Bern might get engaged to Lucia. Her nervousness turned to panic, and Celine wanted to hold on to something.

“Really, is Lady Agnes okay with this?”

Bern swallowed hard as Celine leaned closer, clutching the hem of his dress.

“Maybe Lady Agnes will hear us out and break off the engagement. You’re still in love with me……!”

“Celine, I don’t…….”

“Don’t tell me you don’t. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize the look in your eyes even if I were cornered.”

Bern’s mouth dropped open as he tried to defend himself, but she was right, he still had Celine in his heart.

“I don’t want to be separated from you again like this, and if you can’t tell her, I’ll tell Lady Agnes. I don’t care if you think I’m acting alone, can’t you at least try?”

Celine burst into tears, unable to control her rising emotions.

She was desperate. Bern looked at her, unable to wipe her tears away, unable to turn away.

When they had bumped into each other in the café before the summer festival, Lucia had noticed Bern’s feelings and had been kind enough to ask him to tell her if he ever changed his mind.

He’d be lying if he’ll said he wasn’t swayed by her words. If he’s being honest, he wanted to be reunited with Celine as soon as Lucia said it was okay. 

But he was also worried about Lucia, who would be alone if he left her with Celine.

He couldn’t easily answer the question of whether or not she was above love, but he didn’t want her to be hurt any more than he was, having been in the same position and suffered the same pain.

Concluding his mind, Bern pushed Celine away with difficulty.

“……It’s not that I haven’t thought about it as you have, but I can’t.”

“……Why?”

Not understanding, Celine turned her tear-stained face away. Bern barely managed to open his mouth without falling off.

“If your husband hadn’t died in an accident, you wouldn’t be coming up to me right now.”

Celine’s shoulders shook.

“Then I would still be safely engaged to Lucia, but it’s only because your husband died that you’ve come to seize me now, and I can’t leave her alone for the sake of my love when we’ve vowed to work through our differences and move forward together.”

Beyond Celine’s dazed vision, she could see Bern, equally in pain. Bern was worried enough about Lucia to endure the pain. 

Celine knew instinctively that unless Lucia’s situation was resolved, Bern would not come to her.

Celine bit her lip in impatience, then remembered the image of Lucia from earlier. Sure enough, Lucia was dancing with Herwin.

‘What did she look like?’

Lucia, who had been so mature and composed when she was with Bern, could not easily conceal her expression when she was with Herwin; she was disheveled to the point of being vulnerable and blushing like someone in love.

And it was obvious-

‘It was the same with the man.’

According to Bern, Lucia was in love that could not be fulfilled, and she was in the same situation as Bern. 

At least from what she could see today, they seemed to love each other.

She hadn’t had time to look closely, but she was sure. No, she had to be sure.

She didn’t know what the story was, but if Lucia had broken up with Bern and there was a place for her to go,

‘They’ll break up their marriage in a heartbeat.’

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Celine grasped Bern’s hand.

“You mean, you can’t leave Lady Agnes alone, can you?”

“……Yes.”

“What if there’s a place for the young lady to go back? What if you can fulfill the young lady’s love, too?”

Bern looked shocked as if he’d been punched in the face because he’d never thought about it.

As he considered Celine’s words, he stammered out a reply.

“In that case… we’ll break off the marriage…….”

It was a much more hopeful answer than the one he’d given her when he said he’d get married. Overwhelmed with emotion for a moment, Celine let out a shaky breath.

“I’ll talk to Lady Agnes.”

“……….”

“I’m not going to just tell her to break up with you, so if she listens to me and she says she’s going to break up with you…….”

Celine’s lips quivered and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Then I want you to marry me.”

Unable to pull away from Celine’s gentle embrace, Bern bit his lower lip.