CH 102

<CHAPTER 102

Sitting side by side with Herwin in the carriage, Lucia touched her lips with a frown.

Even without looking in the mirror, she could tell from the feel of her hand that her lips were puffy.

Whether or not he knew what she was thinking, Herwin was smiling at Lucia.

“You really should do it in moderation, Lucia. If anyone else sees you, they’ll know.”

Until the imperial servant arrived, Lucia couldn’t get away from Herwin. It was a good thing the servant came at the right time, or else….…

A shiver ran down her spine and she swept his arm away. 

That’s when Herwin pulled her into his arms. Lucia was drawn in naturally, and she felt a distant force pulling at her every fiber.

“Haha, that’s good…….”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the sincerity in his voice. Herwin nuzzled his face into Lucia’s neck to make her laugh.

He was so affectionate that Lucia stroked his hair. After a while, however, Lucia realized that it was getting weird.

For some reason, Herwin’s breath was hot on her neck, and his large hand was squeezing hers.

After a moment of confusion, Lucia locked eyes with the red eyes that burned with desire. 

Something was about to happen.

Sure enough, Herwin leaned in, her eyes wide, and before his lips could reach hers, Lucia covered them with her hand.

Herwin looked at the tiny hand that covered her mouth. His eyes narrowed with a different meaning.

“Why stop me.”

“Why, because once you start, you won’t let go until you get there.”

“Tsk.”

As she suspected, Herwin clicked his tongue and buried his face in Lucia’s neck again.

The feeling of being wrapped up and restrained by Herwin was frustrating, but it wasn’t so bad because she was desperate for his affection.

Lucia fiddled with Herwin’s hand, then remembered something and smiled.

“Come to think of it, you know what?”

“Know what?”

“That I’ve confessed to you 99 times.”

The arm around Lucia twitched. She glanced sideways to see Herwin looking embarrassed and apologetic.

“I feel bad for you, too, don’t you? If you confessed 99 times in 13 years, no matter how much we were friends, you would have lost all your affection.”

She could only laugh now. Just a few days ago, she hadn’t imagined that she and Herwin would become lovers.

As Lucia reminisced and stuck her tongue out at him, Herwin’s arm tightened around her.

Soon, Herwin sighed heavily.

“Don’t you think I’m being unkind? I should have apologized to you for what I did.”

“Huh? I wasn’t looking for an apology…….”

Lucia shuddered as he took her joke seriously. When Herwin didn’t show any signs of easing up, Lucia mumbled.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d make it to 100, but you confessed to me, and that’s 101 if you count this time! I’m not the only one who confessed, so you shouldn’t be so upset…….”

Lucia paused at the sight of red, tear-stained eyes. It was hard to fathom the guilt Herwin carried, but somehow-

“Pfftt!……”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the look in Herwin’s eyes because it was so out of character for him.

Lucia, who was trying to hold back her laughter, burst out laughing, and Herwin’s expression grew even fatter.

“Funny? Am I that funny?”

“Hahahaha! It’s not that, it’s… haha!”

After laughing for a while, Lucia finally cleared her throat when she saw that Herwin was about to pout.

“Eh, it’s just that it’s awkward to see someone who always has a cold expression on his face being all cuddly and tearful.”

“You don’t know how I feel, and that’s not fair.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Are you pouting?”

Her lips stuck out, Herwin glanced at Lucia, blushed, and pressed his forehead against hers.

“Maybe if you let me kiss you, it’ll loosen up.”

“No.”

“Tsk.”

Lucia, realizing it was a ploy, refused once and for all. Herwin clicked his tongue.

It was a different kind of distance than when they were friends. Lucia looked away from him in frustration, then grabbed his face and kissed him briefly on the cheek.

It happened so quickly that Herwin’s eyes slowly widened.

When he jerked his head away, Lucia blushed and whimpered.

“I don’t mind a …… kiss.”

Herwin paused for a moment, then grinned broadly and kissed Lucia on the cheek. No, he kissed her whole face.

Lucia’s laughter faded as Herwin’s face gradually moved lower and lower.

His lips moved from her earlobe to the nape of her neck, making her feel unnecessarily weird.

“Now, wait a minute, Herwin…….”

Herwin stopped and nuzzled his face into Lucia’s neck.

“Thank you, Lucia.”

“Huh?”

“For not giving up on me for thirteen years, thank you.”

A sob escaped Lucia’s lips. She didn’t expect to be thanked for her feelings.

It was as if all the hard moments and all the pain she’d been through had been consoled in an instant. 

“I’ll tell you 200 times, 500 times, 1,000 times for the rest of my life. I love you, Lucia.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn’t want to cry right now. She wanted to laugh at this joyous moment.

“I love you too.”

Turning to face each other, smiling like the happiest people in the world, they closed their eyes and kissed, as casually as anyone could.

It wasn’t a passionate kiss, full of lust, devouring each other, but a soft, sweet, playful kiss.

Suddenly, out the window, they could see the mansion getting closer and closer. 

They both wished they could take the time slow this time.

* * *

Lucia arrived at the mansion well into the night, and after dismissing Herwin’s offer to follow her, she entered the gates alone.

In truth, it had been a while since they’d arrived, but they’d delayed because they didn’t want to be separated.

When Lucia got out of the carriage and greeted him, she could see Herwin’s disheveled dress and his excited eyes.

It was obvious that he had done something embarrassing. 

Worried that she might be the same way, Lucia quickly checked herself.

When she entered the house, she was greeted by John and Julian.

They rushed to her, tears streaming down their faces.

“My darling, are you hurt?”

“Let’s see. I called the doctor, so let’s take another look… What’s wrong with your hand? They said it wasn’t hurt……!”

Unsurprisingly, they both circled Lucia, scanning her with hawk-like eyes to make sure she wasn’t injured.

When they saw the bandages on Lucia’s hands, they gagged.

One would have thought she was dead.

No, she was close to death, so that wasn’t wrong.

“Awww, Mom, Dad, calm down. Lucia is walking and talking just fine.”

“How can you be so calm when your brother said you almost got killed by a monster!”

“What a damned imperial, how do they do their job, and then an orc shows up?!”

Lucas’ words barely registered in the ears of the two people whose eyes were already rolling back in their heads.

Lucia smiled awkwardly and pulled John and Julian into a tight hug. Only then did they stop.

“I’m really fine, and I’m sorry to have worried you.”

The two, who calmed down a little, hugged Lucia tightly until their bones were crushed. Julian, who took a step back, swept Lucia’s face down with tears.

“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have come to the hunting festival if I knew this would happen…….”

“Next time I won’t leave you alone in such a dangerous place. You’re not really sick anywhere, are you?”

Lucia nodded with a smile, and Julian wiped away a tear. 

How surprised she was to hear that Lucia had been captured by the orcs. For a moment, it felt like the world was falling apart.

She was relieved to hear that she had been rescued, but not until she saw her with her own two eyes.

The tension in the air was finally lifted, and they were both very relieved. 

As their vision of Lucia gradually widened, many things came to mind that they hadn’t thought of before.

John’s relieved grip on Lucia’s hand tightened, and for a moment, his face hardened into a silent fury.

“I will not stand idly by in this matter. No matter how imperial it is, they can’t get away with almost killing my daughter.”

“From the sounds of it, Lucia wasn’t the only casualty. You should join them in lodging a formal complaint.”

Julian agreed with John that he was right.

“Lucas told us about it. You were attacked by an orc while you were alone?”

“Yes, that’s how it happened.”

After a moment of meekly affirming that there was nothing to hide, Lucia noticed that John’s face was turning grim.

Just as she was wondering what was wrong with him, he spoke up.

“Where the hell was Marquis Casper to leave you alone in that dangerous place?”

John was angry with Bern now. It wasn’t Bern’s fault this had happened, but he had plenty of room to be angry that he hadn’t been there for his fiancée when she was in danger.

Bewildered, Lucia glanced at Lucas.

When she awoke, he had already left for the mansion. Herwin had told her that Lucas knew she had broken up with Bern.

So she thought he would have told their parents….…

She looked at Lucas, and he lifted his shoulders in a tell-it-yourself gesture.

“Yeah, right, what the hell was the Marquis doing at that hour?”

Julian joined in, urging her to tell the truth. There was a look in their eyes that said Bern would not be spared unless it was for a good reason.

Lucia ran a hand through her oily hair.

“There’s no point in covering for a man who can’t even protect his fiancée. Tell me the truth.”

John, who had assumed that Lucia was defending Bern from her silence, nudged her in a soothing tone.

Lucia laughed in response.

“Mother, it’s not what you think it is.”

“If it isn’t, then what the……!”

“I’m separated from Bern.”

The suddenness of Lucia’s words stopped John in his tracks, and Julian’s eyes widened as if she’d heard something unheard.

After a moment of silence, they both shouted at the same time.

“What?!”

Lucas and Lucia covered their ears at the same time. Their parents were now babbling in a frenzy of excitement.

What’s all the fuss about, why did they break up, weren’t they getting along until this morning, etc… All sorts of questions poured out of Lucia, but she couldn’t answer them all.

Instead, Lucia blurted out something that made up for it all.

“And I’m going to marry Herwin.”

John and Julian gasped as if they’d been punched in the face, and this time it was Lucas who looked wide-eyed and surprised.

“You’re not even dating, you’re getting married?”

“Yeah, it just kind of happened.”

Lucas’ mouth dropped open, wondering if this was the kind of thing that could be described as ‘accidental,’ but then he remembered what had happened today and finally nodded.

“Uh, well, yeah… First of all… congratulations?”

Lucia looked surprised at Lucas’ awkward smile and congratulatory gesture.

“What happened? To the man who said he’d erased Herwin from his life?”

Lucas stumbled back, clutching his chest at the sharp words.

“Well, I had my reasons back then, and… well, it’s obvious how much you two like each other, and I can’t argue with that.”

Lucia, momentarily stunned by Lucas’ 180-degree turn, patted his arm. It was a gesture of gratitude.

“Oh, come to think of it, didn’t you say you were getting engaged too?”

Another bombshell, this time. Stunned, Julian and John’s faces turned to Lucas. Flustered, Lucas stammered.

“No, I mean… where did you hear that?”

“Herwin told me yesterday. Apparently, you’ve been getting engaged for a while. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“A lot is going on, yeah, I thought we were getting engaged until yesterday…….”

Lucas frowned at the memory of Becky. He rubbed the corners of his eyes as tiredness overcame him, and he looked shakily at his parents, who had now moved closer to him.

“Engaged, what the hell do you mean?”

“What did happen to the kid who didn’t even listen to me when I told him to get engaged…. By any chance, have you gotten into an accident… … !”

“Argh! No! No way! What a strange thing to say!”

Lucas blurted out, explaining that he hadn’t gotten into an accident and that they weren’t getting engaged.

Nevertheless, Julian and John were upset to hear that their son, who had only ever been in a relationship, was getting engaged.

Lucia was able to breathe a sigh of relief that her parents were more upset with Lucas than with her.