Chapter 23
“Herwin, I have something to ask you….”
“Mm? What is it?”
“Do you… like Arista?”
Herwin, who usually had an answer for everything, actually froze and stepped back. His startled reaction only made Lucia more uneasy.
“Really… do you like Arista?”
“I… like Arista…?”
Herwin looked genuinely confused, unable to hide the flicker in his eyes as he mulled over Lucia’s words.
“I….”
He frowned, then the tips of his ears flushed red. A sudden realization lifted his eyebrows, and a faint, excited light settled over his face.
It was an expression Lucia had never seen on him before—yet it was painfully familiar.
It was the very look she saw in her own reflection whenever she thought of Herwin: a face she could never quite hide, full of quickened heartbeat and barely contained delight.
The sight of it crushed her.
She thought she had nowhere left to retreat, but now she felt shoved off a cliff with no bottom in sight.
Her heart dropped and seemed to stop. With her mind blank, she asked in a hollow voice,
“…So you really do like Arista.”
Herwin neither confirmed nor denied it, and that silence felt like the strongest yes of all.
Lucia’s lips trembled.
“Why? What’s so great about Arista? Is it because… she saved you?”
“…Lucia?”
Something in her tone alarmed him. He looked at her and involuntarily shivered.
Lucia’s expression hovered somewhere between a smile and a sob. Her mouth curved upward as if forcing a smile, but her eyes were unmistakably crying.
“What’s so good about Arista? Hm? Answer me….”
“Lucia, what’s wrong? Your face looks strange.”
“Answer me. What do you like about her?”
Even when Herwin tried to cut in, her question stayed the same.
Normally she would have instantly sensed his concern, but jealousy had narrowed her world.
All she could see was Herwin avoiding her eyes.
“Don’t like Arista.”
“…What?”
“I said, don’t like her. I know she saved you and all, but Arista isn’t as good a person as you think.”
Memories of Bianca’s past words flooded Lucia’s mind.
Lucia, look carefully. She doesn’t even care about those guys, but she keeps flashing that sly smile, touching them under the excuse of joking around. I know her type—she’s just managing a bunch of guys like trophies.
Friend? Please. There’s no such thing as friendship between a man and a woman. You like Herwin too, right?
I saw through her right away. She may laugh sweetly in front of everyone, but I bet she talks trash behind their backs. And she’s an expert at reeling men in.
At first Bianca’s words had seemed absurd, but now they echoed like truth, as if Arista really were playing with everyone’s hearts.
Unable to contain herself, Lucia began to repeat Bianca’s accusations—desperately trying to pull Herwin’s attention away from Arista.
But the more she spoke, the darker Herwin’s face grew.
Confusion hardened into a deep frown, and finally he pressed his lips into a thin line.
“…So Arista isn’t as good a person as you—”
“Lucia.”
Her eerie half-smile froze. His voice was cold enough to cut.
Sensing something terribly wrong, Lucia slowly raised her head—and her eyes widened.
“Why… are you looking at me like that?”
There was a trace of contempt in Herwin’s eyes, like someone swatting away a bothersome gnat.
“Do you even know what you’re saying?”
The pressure in his voice made her step back.
“You’re insulting Arista just because I like her?”
“I—I never insulted her, I just wanted you to know the truth—”
“Truth? You think those words are truth?”
His brow furrowed even deeper.
“You’re blinded by jealousy and trying to tear her down.”
Thud.
Her heart, which she thought had gone numb, dropped again.
“What’s wrong with you? This isn’t you. You hate gossip, hate people who say things behind someone’s back. Look at yourself right now.”
His eyes were full of pity. Lucia had no defense.
Horrifyingly, she was acting just like the people she despised.
“I… I….”
“No matter how much you like me, you have no right to control how I feel.”
Lucia bit her lower lip hard.
“I’m disappointed in you, Lucia.”
The merciless words pierced her ears.
She could only stare, stunned. His face—once warm toward her—was now as cold and distant as it was to strangers.
She knew instantly: he was disappointed, and he was building an invisible wall she could never cross.
All her efforts over the years crumbled in a single moment.
Maybe she no longer even deserved to stand at his side.
The realization sank into her skin and bones—beyond anything the word despair could describe.
A silent tear slid down her cheek.
Herwin walked past her without a flicker of emotion.
“Think carefully about what you’ve done.”
He didn’t comfort her. He simply left.
Lucia could only watch, unable to reach for him.
“Damn it…!”
Herwin clenched his teeth and cursed as he strode toward the classroom, his chest tight as if something heavy were stuck inside.
When Lucia had asked if he liked Arista, he finally recognized the truth himself: he did have special feelings for her.
Before that, she was just another close friend like Christine.
But everything changed after they faced the ogre in the mountains.
When he was injured, unable to move, he thought he was dead.
If he had been able to wield aura, maybe he could have fought back—but he couldn’t.
Then Arista appeared.
Herwin!
Her voice had thundered through the forest as purple aura poured from her sword like a waterfall, slicing the pouring rain—and the ogre—clean in two.
After that, everything was a blur.
He only remembered her figure cutting the monster apart.
From that moment, admiration blossomed into something more.
He was deeply impressed not only by her saving him but by the sheer power of her aura.
When they spoke again in the infirmary, he thanked her and they agreed to spar once he healed.
For the first time in ages, he felt both competitive excitement and a warm thrill.
Was this what it meant to like someone? He wasn’t sure, but it was undeniably special.
Arista isn’t as good a person as you think.
Lucia’s words echoed.
Everything she’d said afterward was nothing but shocking and wrong.
Herwin knew better than anyone how much Lucia despised speaking ill of others.
Yet she had hurled those baseless claims simply because he liked Arista.
And none of it was true.
It amazed him that she could even see Arista that way.
He kept seeing her face when he called her out—pale as paper, eyes shaking.
She knew she was wrong.
When she cried, his anger mixed with pity.
“Haah….”
He raked a hand through his hair, not knowing how to feel about her anymore, and walked into the classroom.
“Herwin, why are you alone?”
“Where’s Lucia?”
Friends looked up, surprised that he had returned without her.
“Didn’t you find her?” Bianca stood from her seat and came closer.
Already in a foul mood, Herwin’s eyes narrowed as he spotted her.
…She’s been hanging around Bianca a lot lately.
Lucia had started to change around the time she grew close to Bianca. Was Bianca’s influence behind this?
As he stared, Bianca’s earlobes flushed almost imperceptibly.
“W-what is it?”
“…Nothing.”
He had no proof, only suspicion. Bianca had always felt different from Christine—subtly off-putting.
Now he thought he should watch her more carefully.
“Herwin, did you and Lucia talk? Did she say anything about me?”
Arista approached, her violet eyes meeting his.
“I don’t know.”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”
She pressed for details, but Herwin stayed silent.
Clatter—the back door opened and Lucia walked in.
Friends greeted her brightly.
“Lucia, are you—”
Ethan tried to break the tension with a cheerful question, but he stopped at the sight of her face.
Her eyes were swollen and red—clearly she had been crying.
The group fell into uneasy silence.
Herwin hid his own turmoil.
“…Lucia,” Arista called gently, but Lucia ignored her and sat down—right beside Herwin.
He glanced toward her. She lowered her head, hair falling forward to hide her face, then rested her arms on the desk and lay down.
The air grew heavy.
Everyone sensed it immediately:
Herwin and Lucia had fought.
Usually, when friends clashed, Lucia herself would smooth things over.
But now she had quarreled with Herwin—the very thought was alarming.
