Chapter 33
“I don’t care about other people’s stares. What matters most to me right now is what you’ve done.”
“What I’ve done? You’ve been grabbing me all of a sudden and spouting weird things. What the heck are you accusing me of?”
“What else! You created this whole situation! I saw it with my own eyes—you and the organizing committee kids were loitering around the garden!”
Bianca’s eyebrow twitched.
“You think I wouldn’t notice you hiding a crystal orb in the bushes instead of setting up fireworks?”
“And this whole mess just over something like that…”
“Something like that? Then why hasn’t the fireworks show started yet? You told everyone there would be one. Wasn’t it all a lie just to put Lucia in a difficult spot?”
Arista couldn’t hold back and yelled. Her voice spread through the crowd.
“Now that you mention it… the sky is awfully quiet.”
“Right. They said there’d be fireworks, but instead Lucia’s voice suddenly started playing.”
People who had kept quiet until now began whispering their doubts.
Seeing public opinion start to turn, Bianca bit her lip hard.
“Ha, and why are you blaming me because Lucia suddenly confessed to Herwin on her own? When did I ever tell her to confess in front of everyone? Stop accusing innocent people!”
“You dare say that…!”
“To be precise, it wasn’t even a public confession.”
Just as Arista was about to shout again, someone cut in.
When she turned, Herwin was already standing there, having entered alone.
The moment people saw him, they instinctively stepped back and parted, giving him a path.
Everyone watched him with eyes full of curiosity, but no one dared approach.
A faint red aura glowed around his arm.
“Herwin! Listen! Bianca tried to mess with you and Lucia—!”
“Herwin! You’re not going to believe her, are you?”
Bianca shook Arista’s weakening grip and hurried toward Herwin.
But Herwin only looked down at her with chilling eyes.
The pressure weighed down on her shoulders. Bianca swallowed nervously.
“Me, trying to cause trouble for you and Lucia? That’s ridiculous. I’m your friend, right?”
“…”
“Still, it must be awkward. Who knew Lucia liked you? To confess like that in front of everyone—I was shocked too. Honestly, she should’ve done it in private instead of—”
“You talk too much, Bianca Lawrence.”
“…What?”
At the sound of her full name leaving his lips, Bianca froze with her mouth still open.
“So you’ve been toying with Lucia all this time with that slippery tongue of yours?”
“Toying with her…?”
Bianca flinched and backed away.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? You were the one who suddenly suggested holding my birthday party in this mansion. You led me into the garden, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t suggest it! The committee had already booked the place—I only passed on the message! And you were the one who said you wanted someplace quiet—!”
“But there were plenty of other quiet places besides that garden. And conveniently enough, Lucia just happened to be waiting there. Almost like it was staged.”
“She probably went there for the same reason as you—to avoid the crowd!”
Herwin let out a cold laugh at Bianca’s desperate excuse.
“Lucia is the kind of girl who insists on attending class even when she’s sick. And you expect me to believe she’d just wander into a restricted area marked with a warning sign?”
It was true. Lucia was the last person who would break rules. She was almost frustratingly strict with herself.
As Bianca faltered, Herwin raised his left hand, revealing what he held.
“And this.”
He held up a crystal orb.
“I found this hidden beside the gazebo.”
His voice boomed, resonating throughout the hall just like when Lucia had confessed earlier.
The realization hit everyone—the voice they’d heard had come from this crystal orb.
“If what Arista said is true, then this whole mess can only be your doing.”
Though his tone was calm, his left hand trembled as he gripped the orb tightly.
Crack!
A fissure split the orb, then shattered completely in his palm.
The red aura flared from his hand as shards scattered, making people step back in fright.
“If you thought I’d just let this go, you were gravely mistaken.”
Bianca’s face drained of color under the killing intent pressing down on her.
Herwin’s cold, murderous gaze swept the hall.
“And this isn’t just about Bianca. I remember everyone who mocked me and Lucia.”
The crowd, who had been so noisy earlier, swallowed nervously.
“Prepare yourselves.”
A suffocating silence fell over the entire hall. Despite the number of people present, not a breath could be heard.
Finally, Herwin spoke again.
“Arista, Christine.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Go check on Lucia.”
His voice softened slightly.
“She’s probably crying right now.”
Arista blinked, then noticed blood dripping from between Herwin’s fingers, mingling with the aura.
Though she wanted to tend to his hand, she couldn’t ignore the plea in his eyes.
“…Alright. Leave it to me.”
“Y-Yes, understood!”
Arista passed by Herwin with a grim face. Christine shot a glare at the frozen Bianca before hurrying after her.
“Sniff… hic… stupid, stupid Lucia…!”
Lucia had fled to an abandoned storage room where no one would find her. She cried quietly in the dark.
Her carefully done makeup was ruined by her tears.
She couldn’t stop crying.
At first she had been simply shocked. But before she could even process what was happening, one look from a certain person made her realize it had all been orchestrated.
Bianca.
She had been smiling at her—as if she had been waiting for this moment.
The realization that her dearest friend had planned everything was horrifying.
She hated herself even more for believing Bianca’s words of encouragement without a doubt.
The betrayal, she could almost endure.
What she couldn’t endure was that Herwin had been dragged into it and made to suffer because of her.
She had to go back and take responsibility. She couldn’t just hide here crying. But her body refused to move.
Lucia bit her lip and slapped her unresponsive legs.
“Move! Please, move! Why won’t you listen to me too?!”
Her cries echoed weakly in the empty space. Tears blurred her vision again, and she buried her face between her knees.
“Lucia!”
A familiar voice rang out. She looked up through her blurred sight to see two figures.
“Lucia, are you alright?”
“Why are you here all alone?”
“Christine… Arista…”
Lucia, who had always brought joy to others with her radiant smile, looked completely broken.
Seeing the despair etched across her face, both girls bit their lips.
Christine fought back tears and silently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Arista knelt before her and wiped the tear-streaked cheeks.
“It’s alright, Lucia. We’re here with you.”
Lucia’s breath caught. Looking at Arista made her remember how she had fallen for Bianca’s tricks, belittled Arista, and tried to make her look bad.
“I’m sorry…”
Fresh tears fell.
“I’m so sorry. I’m really sorry. I—”
Christine and Arista hugged her tightly.
“You don’t have anything to apologize for. So don’t.”
“Please don’t cry, Lucia…”
“Hic… uhhuhh…!”
Lucia clung to Arista’s neck and wailed.
Her cries were drowned out as fireworks suddenly exploded in the sky outside, lighting it up with dazzling colors.
Why was she crying?
Because her feelings had been mocked in front of everyone?
Because of Bianca’s betrayal?
Because of guilt toward Arista?
Or because of Herwin, who had been put in a difficult position because of her?
Even she didn’t know.
Herwin’s birthday party, which everyone had anticipated so eagerly, ended badly.
Though his cold threat silenced the ridicule aimed at Lucia, word of what happened spread throughout the entire school.
It became known that Bianca and the organizers had plotted everything, yet what people whispered about most was that Lucia had liked Herwin for a long time.
Whenever people saw her, they whispered among themselves. The gossip grew louder whenever she was near Herwin.
But Herwin acted as if nothing was wrong. On Monday after the party, he greeted everyone as usual, behaving no differently than before.
The other friends were the same. They never brought up that day, pretending it had never happened.
Lucia was grateful, but also uneasy. Could she really just go on as though nothing had happened? Doubt gnawed at her, robbing her of sleep.
Then one day, she happened to overhear some boys talking with Herwin.
“Is it true Lady Agnes has liked you since she was eight?”
“I heard she confessed quite a few times, too.”
“Honestly, after all that time, shouldn’t you accept her feelings already?”
“Yeah, she’d make a decent girlfriend. Think it over, Herwin.”
They were gossiping about the party. The talk shifted toward urging him to accept her, and Herwin finally frowned and spoke.
“That’s not what I want—that’s what you guys want.”
“Come on, she’s liked you for years. And confessed multiple times.”
“So you’re saying just because she’s liked me for a long time and confessed often, I owe it to her to accept? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Why are you getting mad?”
The boys flinched back at his glare.
“If I accepted her just because you pressured me, that would be the real insult. Dating someone without meaning it, just because others told me to? That’s deception.”
“That’s not what we meant—”
“Don’t throw around words you can’t take responsibility for. And Lucia isn’t someone you get to gossip about like that. Try mocking her in front of me again, and see what happens.”
Hearing those words, Lucia broke down crying again.
Not because he still didn’t return her feelings.
But because it was the opposite.
Herwin saw her more clearly than anyone else.
