Chapter 19

With the smell of the fragrant coffee wafting in the air, Cassia held out a cup of prepared coffee to Michael.

“Ta-da! Try it. This is Cassia-style coffee.”

“Thank you.”

They sat together at a table by the window, Cassia held a cup of hot tea, and Michael had a cup of cold coffee. 

The scenery of the countryside with waving ricefields seen through the window looked mesmerizing.

They looked at the scenery without saying a word for a while, and drank tea and coffee each of them was holding.

“It’s a good gallery.”

“Right? I got a little more regulars saying the coffee is delicious, but it’s quiet and peaceful…”

Cassia blurted out and looked around the gallery. Breaking the flowing silence for a moment, he opened his mouth.

“At this place, you…”

He didn’t finish his speech, but Cassia knew what he was trying to say. 

The sadness of losing Diana, if the pain had gone away. 

Did her pain die down? 

Is she still sad now?

“It’s just… well, yes.”

She looked back at her heart, thinking of Diana.

“I would say I miss her.”

Those words seemed perfectly fit her heart.

Even if she’s not madly sad or dying from Diana’s absence, she still misses and will keep missing her.

Not every day, but sometimes when she looks at the blue sky, she wonders if her friend is doing well somewhere. 

Her mind would travel back in time when she spent her time with Diana or the delicious food they ate together. The memories of those days would greet her mind.

Like that, she used to have bitter thoughts, wishing Diana would be with her here…

Just as emptiness creeps into the broken heart of a person, the mind goes to places where he and his lover had been together in the past, and that’s what happened to Cassia as well.

It wasn’t the pain, but the emptiness that darkened her heart each time.

As if everything disappeared and only she was left behind.

She could feel Michael looking at her contemplative expression, and she turned her head.

“Why?”

“Just because.”

He drank coffee with a bitter smile.

“I think you may have saved Diana the most.”

“…Diana was the kind of person that everyone could not help but cherish.”

Cassia answered him. There was a soft smile on her lips when she remembered her friend.

“Not just me, but she was loved by a lot of people wherever she went.”

She was a person who seemed to have been born with bright sunlight. 

A person who became the main character wherever she went and caught people’s eyes.

Yes, Diana was like that.

She had always established herself as a light to people wherever she went. 

The social circle always brightened up with her beauty, and the Duke declared his territory and the benevolent Duchess.

A warm mother to Ken and Nick. 

A reliable wife to the Duke.

“…There was definitely no time when she wasn’t loved wherever she went.”

Michael answered her.

“Even in my family, Diana was such a lovely child. She was like a light.”

“If I think about it, I think everyone in the Count of Allison was like that.” 

Somehow, the people of the Allison family had a typical aristocratic feeling. Whether it descended from the blood, not only were they people with outstanding appearances, but they had a very kind, noble character to themselves.

The Countess was also well known in social circles, and people loved her.

Everyone loved the Count’s family members, including Diana, so much.

“You too… you were such a brilliant person when you were young, Michael.”

Cassia looked at him and said, and he turned to her.

“…Was I?”

“Of course. I’m telling you now, but you were so popular among young girls. So…

As she was going to talk more, she felt like she shivered for nothing, so she stopped talking.

“Anyway… you were. Like Diana, you were as splendid when you were young.”

Michael looked at Cassia. 

He slowly opened his mouth.

“So did you.”

“Yes?”

“You’ve always been as shiny as Diana.”

Cassia looked at him. Again, it was an unfamiliar gaze, the gaze she had seen in the villa.

“It’s still the same today.”

His gaze was straight towards her.

“When I was young, I wanted to get to know you. For some reason, you always avoided me.”

“…I didn’t avoid you.”

“Really? Have I misunderstood?”

In fact, it was right to avoid him. 

Because when she was young, she liked him a lot for a while. 

Because it seemed like her heart shouldn’t be caught. 

Because she thought she wasn’t a good fit for someone like him. 

She got along well with Diana, who looked like him, but strangely, she felt that way in front of him. 

A feeling that no one should ever be able to find out about this feeling.

It was then…

Embarrassed, she took a sip of tea. 

A long silence passed. 

She could feel Michael smiling as he looked at her like that.

Suddenly he opened his mouth.

“Cassia, there is one thing you should know.”

Cassia looked at him. He opened his mouth, becoming more serious.

“What is clear is that everyone who cared for her is now looking ahead in their own way.”

“But it feels like you haven’t gotten out of her yet. So, I mean…”

A cautious voice followed. 

“It’s not good to be too tied up. Do you know what I mean?” 

Cassia looked at him quietly. 

It was a strange feeling. 

It felt like she was caught somewhere, and it felt like she was stabbed at the right point. 

Michael looked at her gently and said, “Tell me if you want now.”

“I can still erase your memories.”

***

7 years ago.

It must have been one day, not long, after the news of her marriage to the Duke had been reported to Count Allison. 

Late at night Michael came to see her.

“Cassia, don’t do it.”

As she stepped out to the sound of a knock on the door, Cassia could see Michael standing in front of her house with a desperate expression on his face. 

Michael was also struggling with the loss of his younger sister, whom he loved the most. 

His eyes were drowned in despair.

“If you do that marriage, your life may be ruined.”

“…Come in. Michael.”

Cassia brought Michael into the house first.

She could understand why he came to her like this and opposed marriage without telling.

After Diana’s death, the Duke’s marriage would have turned all relationships into a mess. 

Even if it was a marriage to protect children, it was a big shock to Count Allison, who did not know the decision was made under what circumstances.

Maybe that’s why she wasn’t surprised by Michael, who showed a different side than usual.

What’s more surprising than that was the words he said to her after stepping into the house.

“I can use magic.”

“What did you say?”

Cassia opened her eyes in surprise at his words. 

He spoke to her after he looked around once.

“It has been around for quite some time. But I didn’t tell them about it until now, and I didn’t even use it because I thought it would be shocking if I told them.”

A story about the Allison family that she had heard one day flashed through her ears.

It was said that among the distant ancestors of the Allison family, there was an ancestor who married a wizard.

Marriages between humans and wizards are very rare, even then and now.

Since then, few descendants of the Allison family have been gifted with magical powers on rare occasions.

It was a once-in-a-hundred-year case, but Diana didn’t have magical powers, and Michael was also quiet, so Cassia thought they were both born normally.

“I can use the magic of memory, Cassia.”

Michael knew Diana and Cassia well.

He found out that the rumours that she coveted the Duchess’s seat and loved her friend’s husband were false.

Cassia didn’t tell the truth about Diana’s death to him, but he was already aware that something was going on in her marriage to the Duke.

It was to protect the things Diana loved. 

Michael continued.

“I’ll erase your memory of Diana.”

“…”

“It sounds cruel, but my sister who is already dead is just-”

“Forget her and live for yourself. Please don’t sacrifice yourself for my sister.” 

“…”

“Please let me do it. Please…”

Michael’s voice was choked up. 

He was in complete despair.

He looked at her like he was looking at a fading candle.

But to her, he looked like embers about to be extinguished. 

He looked like he was about to collapse.

“If you marry the duke, how can I live because I’ll keep feeling sorry for you?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry you gave your life just for my sister. How in the world can I-”

Cassia looked at him, smiled and hugged him slowly.

“I’m fine, Michael.”

“Don’t do it. Don’t do it, Cassia…”

“Please…”

“You know what kind of relation Diana and I had. You know what she means to me… Michael, this is something I really want to do. I’m doing this because I am willing to devote my life to my friend.”

“So, don’t tell me to quit, Michael. Just turn a blind eye to me like the Count couple. That way, my choice can have a meaning.”

Michael’s body began to tremble as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff.

Cassia held Michael and did not pull herself from hugging his large body.

She didn’t exactly look at his face. 

She knew it was polite not to see the sorrow he poured out. 

She just hugged him as he was shaking.

His sadness reached her.

Diana’s death must be very difficult for him. 

It must be difficult to accept. 

He was Diana’s family, so he must be sadder than her. 

She rubbed his back gently.

“I’m sad, too… when Diana left.”

“…”

“Let’s overcome it in our own way. And I just want to overcome my sadness like this.”

“… I’m saying that I feel sad about you…” 

The answer that came back was of an unexpected kind.

Cassia’s eyes grew bigger.

She slowly took her face off his shoulder and looked at him. 

“…How do I overcome this sadness?”

At that moment, Cassia realized. 

His wet eyes were not directed at Diana, but at her. 

“It’s sad enough to see her die like that. But when I see you trying to replace her, I just want to die.”

Cassia stared at him blankly.

This time he pulled her into a hug.

As if to comfort himself one last time…

As if he was really…

“Take care.”

“…”

“And if you can leave that place someday… Let’s see each other again.”

She felt like her heart was pounding. 

Lost what to say, she was in a complete daze.

That day, Michael cried only for Cassia. 

He shed tears at the weight of her choice.

It was the only night. 

And he was the only one. 

She will never forget that day.