CH 103

What should have been a three-day summer festival was cut short.

The hunting festival has suffered many casualties, including two deaths.

The imperial family wanted to finish the festival, as it was an annual event, but many people, including the families of the deceased, objected, and the festival was finally canceled.

The sudden absence of the scheduled summer festivities caused time to spin out of control.

However, before she could take a break, Lucia was inundated with letters. 

Most of them were worries and greetings, but a few of them, sensing the unusual atmosphere between her and Herwin, secretly wondered what was going on with him.

Lucia was about to reply to each one of them when she was interrupted by Julian, who was fuming.

Julian gritted her teeth to make sure it wouldn’t happen again, so it would be quiet for a while.

‘I’m sure there’ll be more trouble when word gets out about me and Herwin.’

The news of her separation from Bern and her marriage to Herwin was not shared with anyone outside of her family.

Of course, it was only a day after the event, so it made sense not to tell anyone.

Summer vacation came and went, and the engagement she had planned with Bern ended in a flash, leaving her packed schedule empty.

This allowed Lucia to relax for the first time in a long time.

“Miss, you have a visitor.”

Until a second ago.

Just when she thought she was done organizing the unwanted mail, she had a visitor. Lucia followed Aaron’s lead and headed for the drawing room.

Upon entering the drawing room, Lucia was immediately overwhelmed by fragrant smells and soft touches.

After a moment of confusion, she looked up at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Christine?”

“Lu, Lucia……!”

Tears were streaming down Christine’s face. Lucia, who had been told that she had a visitor but had no idea who it was, panicked.

But first, she had to calm Christine down, so she patted her back.

“What’s wrong, what happened?”

“Uh, yesterday, Lucia… Lucia… Lucia… ……!”

The more she patted her, the louder Christine’s voice got until she finally broke down and someone pulled her away from Lucia.

“Brian!”

“I’ve been anxious all day since I saw you taken by the orcs yesterday. I heard you weren’t badly hurt, but I can’t seem to calm down.”

Suddenly, Lucia’s eyes caught sight of the others. In addition to Christine and Brian, there were Arista and Ethan in the drawing room.

All of them had risen from their seats and were looking at her with concern.

She wondered why she hadn’t gotten any letters from her friends in the mail.

Lucia giggled at the realization that they had come to see her.

“Are you all worried about me?”

“That’s what you say?! Do you know how surprised I was to hear that you were captured by orcs?”

Ethan, who had been out hunting during the orc rampage, said he thought he was going to faint when he heard the news.

“It’s a good thing Herwin showed up just in time. I wish I knew how to use an auror, too…….”

Brian apologized for being there and not being able to save her.

“I, I thought I was going to pass out, Lucia, I thought you were going to die…….”

Christine grabbed Lucia’s arm and once again burst into tears like chicken droppings.

Lucia, who was beautifully worried about her friends, burst into laughter. Lucia, who was laughing so hard that she cried, suddenly felt Arista being especially quiet.

Turning her head, she saw that Arista’s expression was more serious than the others.

“Arista?”

“……I’m sorry, Lucia.”

Suddenly, Arista was apologizing. Bending down to her waist to apologize, Lucia was flustered and hurried to help her to her feet.

“I’m sorry that a mere Sword Expert couldn’t do anything.”

Arista hadn’t been able to do anything before Lucia had been dragged into the forest by the orcs.

All she did was get the orc’s attention. Arista felt very disappointed and disgusted at her helplessness.

As Arista bit her lower lip until it bled, Lucia placed her hand on her face.

Arista shuddered, then narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists.

“There’s nothing you should be sorry for.”

“……….”

“You saved my life, and honestly, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

It wasn’t empty words, and in fact, Arista’s insistence on calling her name and telling her to stay still had helped.

It helped her out of her panic and out of the orc’s way.

Arista bowed her head deeply when she saw the warm comforting blue wall. Her shoulders trembled and tears fell between her pale blonde.

Lucia chuckled and hugged Arista. Christine’s presence beside her was a bonus.

She was so grateful to have friends who could think, get angry, and empathize like it was their job.

After the crying party, they calmed down a bit and stopped sobbing.

Arista’s cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, and Christine’s real eyes had grown even puffier and goldfish-like.

Brian teased her and wiped her tears with his handkerchief.

“Thank you all. Actually, I was a little sad that you were the only one who didn’t send me a letter.”

“Even if we were bummed, isn’t it better to see you like this than in a letter?”

“Of course!”

Lucia burst out laughing, and everyone smiled warmly. 

“Still, it’s a relief to see your face. We didn’t say it, but we’re nervous.”

“Yeah, even if you were rescued safely, it’s still a traumatic experience.”

“I’m fine, but I’m still a little shaken up.”

Trying to put on a good front, Lucia raised her hands to the four pairs of eyes staring at her.

Only this morning she had woken up in a cold sweat from a nightmare involving orcs.

“I’ll be fine in time. Won’t it?”

Her friends only silently comforted her with sympathetic eyes and then decided that it was not a good idea to bring up yesterday’s events any further, so they changed the subject.

“Oh, yeah, I’m supposed to look the other way.”

That’s when Christine excitedly announced the good news. It was only two days ago that she said she wanted to get engaged, and now she’s seeing the light.

“Already? It’s only been two days since you said you wanted to get engaged.”

Ethan seemed to be surprised, too.

“I didn’t tell you, but I’ve been talking to my parents about it for a while, and today they said they had a perfect match for me, and they wanted me to meet him.”

Her face brightened compared to the previous time when she complained about not wanting to confront her parent’s nagging.

As Christine chattered away happily, Lucia stole a glance at Brian.

It was clear that Brian had feelings for Christine, and she couldn’t wait to see how he would react.

‘What?’

Lucia couldn’t help but look a little nervous.

Brian was looking at Christine lovingly with a deep smile.

Just as Lucia was wondering why he was so fond of her when the subject matter was so unappealing, he made eye contact with her.

Brian shrugged and looked away, a little embarrassed. Lucia decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Lucia, if I ever get a fiancé, would you like to go to the park? With Marquis Casper!”

Lucia sighed at the last part of Bern’s surname.

“Well, uhm… you know.”

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

“I, uh, broke up with Bern…….”

Christine’s puffy eyes widened. It was the same with Ethan and Brian. Lucia smiled awkwardly.

“Heh, heh, you broke up?”

Christine paled as she realized her mistake. Before she could apologize, Lucia spoke up.

“It’s a bit complicated. We didn’t break up badly, we broke up by mutual consent.”

“When did you break up? Weren’t you partners at the hunt just yesterday?”

“Yes, we were, and we got along great…….”

Ethan and Brian asked, unable to contain their curiosity, wondering if it was a shock that the two had broken up after being so close only a day earlier.

“This is going to be a long story, is it okay?”

“Of course it’s fine. In fact, I think I’d feel stuck if you didn’t tell us.”

“What the hell is it, is it, oh, is it something we’re not supposed to hear?”

“No, not really. Um…….”

Lucia rolled her eyes, trying to figure out how to explain this. 

Just then, her eyes met Arista’s. She had been told by Herwin yesterday that she was aware of her situation.

Arista nodded as if to say it was okay.

Encouraged by this, Lucia spoke up.

“So here’s what happened…….”

As the story unfolded, surprise blossomed on her friends’ faces.

* * *

Ugh!

Herwin coughed and looked at his dust-free clothes.

Wearing a suit instead of his usual casual clothes or uniform, Herwin rubbed his sweaty palms on the hem of his shirt.

He hadn’t been able to sleep since yesterday when he finally confirmed Lucia’s feelings. 

He’d spent the night, and when morning came, he’d used all of his servants to pick out the best clothes for himself, fix his hair, and douse himself in Lucia’s favorite musky perfume.

Then he grabbed a pair of aquamarine earrings he hadn’t given her months earlier because the timing wasn’t right, and stopped by the florist to buy a bouquet to match Lucia’s.

Everything was ready.

“Master, we have arrived.”

The carriage came to a stop just in time. Herwin got out of the carriage at once and looked at Agnes’ mansion.

He and Lucia had been childhood friends for over a decade, and the Agneses were almost like family, but the thought of meeting them as his lover’s family made his heart flutter like crazy.

Herwin took a deep breath and tried to calm his trembling heart.

As he took a step toward the mansion, he saw Aaron.

“Mr. Phoenaeus, have you come to see the lady?”

“Well, yes. Is Lucia inside now?”

“Yes, she is, and her friends have just arrived and are talking to her. Please come this way.”

Contrary to his nervousness, he didn’t run into Agneses.

As they walked down the familiar hallway with Aaron’s guidance, Herwin asked cautiously.

“Are there no other family members?”

“Yes, except for the lady, they’re all out of town on business.”

Huh.

A sigh escaped him that he didn’t know if it was relief or disappointment. Aaron smiled slightly. They finally reached the drawing room.

Herwin opened the door, and Aaron spoke.

“I heard from the lady yesterday. My heartfelt congratulations. You two look well together.”

Herwin flinched at the unexpected hospitality, then smiled genuinely.

“Thank you.”

After thanking Aaron, Herwin entered the drawing room. 

“Lucia-“

Calling out to Lucia in a honeyed voice, Herwin turned to face the faces of his friends staring at him. 

Aaron had given him a heads up earlier, so it wasn’t a surprise, but-

“……What are those looks?”

A distinctly different voice came out from the mouth that said Lucia’s name.

The look in their friends’ eyes was impure as if they were looking at a villain.

“I heard the monsters come when I say so.”

“Look at that shameless face.”

“Lucia, do you really think you’re going to marry Herwin? Think again. The world is a big place and there are plenty of good men out there.”

All the prying eyes that had been on Herwin soon converged on Lucia, telling her to break up with him.

He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was sure of this.

“What are you people talking about to Lucia now?!”

He realized they were trying to break up their relationship.

Herwin hurried over to Lucia and pulled her into a tight embrace. He returned the four pairs of eyes that glared at him.

The room grew suddenly noisy. Lucia stared at the four-way fight in Herwin’s arms.

But for a moment, she laughed out loud.

It was the perfect day in her dreams.