Chapter 24
Among the group of friends, Arista in particular looked uneasy, glancing nervously at Lucia.
She leaned close to Herwin and whispered so only he could hear:
“…Is this because of me?”
Before Herwin had gone to see Lucia, Arista had asked him to speak well of her, and that now weighed on her mind.
Because of Arista…
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t entirely unrelated.
But he couldn’t say she was the cause, either.
“It’s not like that, so don’t worry,” he said.
His voice was so gentle it felt like the opposite of the tone he’d used when he and Lucia argued.
Lucia must have noticed it too; she flinched and buried her face deeper in her arms.
“Everyone, take your seats,” the professor said, entering at just the right moment.
While the others were still watching Lucia, they reluctantly returned to their places.
From the front row, Ethan and Christine kept glancing back, worried about her.
“Back there—the one with her head down—who is that?”
The professor pointed to Lucia, who slowly raised her head. Her eyes were even more swollen now.
Even though she tried to hide her face behind her hair like a ghost, Herwin could see her clearly.
His chest tightened.
“Haah…”
Lucia clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white at the sound of his heavy sigh.
Sniffle, sniffle…
The sound of a nose being wiped echoed through the dusty storage room.
This was the place where Bianca and Lucia shared secrets.
Lucia poured out the story of her fight with Herwin.
Bianca, shocked that such a thing had happened, covered her mouth.
“What if… what if Herwin starts to hate me now?”
The feelings she had barely calmed rose up again.
The image of Herwin’s cold eyes replayed vividly in her mind—eyes filled with open disdain.
Lucia knew she’d been wrong.
The words she’d hurled at him were unreasonable even to her own ears.
Arista wasn’t mean-spirited, nor was she some sly girl flirting with every boy.
Yet Lucia had belittled her anyway.
Maybe part of her even wanted Arista to be that kind of person.
I’m the worst.
Truly, the worst kind of person.
Blinded by jealousy, she’d said things she never should have.
She had always hated people who judged others carelessly—yet here she was, no different.
What must Herwin think of her now?
The thought burned Lucia inside.
She felt guilt and regret toward Arista, yet a stubborn part of her still resented her, and that self-loathing hurt even more.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t control it.
She only wanted to wash away the dirty feelings staining her heart.
“Herwin really disappointed me,” Bianca said sharply. “You’ve confessed to him over sixty times and he still hasn’t accepted. I thought he was at least a decent guy, but how could he treat you like that?”
“Is some girl he’s only known three months more important than his childhood friend?
You don’t normally say things like that, so he should have listened carefully to you.”
Lucia stayed silent.
“I thought he had good taste, but wow, was I wrong.
How can he think highly of Lady Lydia?
What do men even like about her—her looks, her status, her personality?
I just don’t get it.”
Lucia looked up at Bianca, a slight frown forming.
“Sure, she was born into the famous Lydia ducal family, so she has status. But her looks? You can find plenty of pretty faces anywhere. And her personality isn’t that great either.
Around boys she acts all easygoing and kind, but when it’s just girls she barely joins the conversation.
Does she think she’s above us or something?”
Once Bianca started, her complaints only grew.
These were no longer words meant to comfort Lucia, but long-harbored resentments toward Arista.
Something feels wrong…
The more Lucia listened, the more she instinctively felt Bianca was crossing a line.
She couldn’t quite grasp the situation—and maybe she shouldn’t.
“Lucia, are you just going to stay quiet like this?”
Bianca’s eyes flashed as she worked herself up.
Lucia hunched her shoulders.
“What… do you mean?”
“Are you going to let Herwin be stolen by Lady Lydia?”
“…But there’s nothing I can do.”
She didn’t want to lose Herwin to Arista, but she had no idea how to push the girl away.
“There is a way.
Make Herwin realize Lady Lydia isn’t who he thinks she is.”
“…How?”
Arista was obviously a wonderful person—how could she possibly drag her down, let alone prove anything?
Seeing Lucia’s confusion, Bianca gave a sly smile.
“Listen, here’s what you do…”
Though they were alone in the storage room, Bianca leaned in to whisper in her ear.
Lucia’s eyes went wide with shock.
“Bianca, that’s—!”
“Shh. If we keep quiet, no one will know.
You just have to reveal, in front of everyone, that Arista has a habit of stealing.”
“But that’s not true! I can’t.”
Lucia shook her head, pale.
Even if Herwin might be disappointed in Arista, she couldn’t stomach such a cruel lie.
At her refusal, Bianca’s face hardened coldly.
“Lucia, are you going to keep trailing after Herwin forever like this?”
Her brown eyes looked almost chillingly empty.
Lucia froze, frightened, until Bianca suddenly softened, smiling kindly as she pulled Lucia closer and patted her shoulder.
“First we need Herwin to lose interest in Arista.
Once that happens, he’ll definitely look back to you.”
“…But…”
“You’ve confessed over sixty times.
He should accept your feelings by now, right?
And when Lady Lydia’s true face is exposed, Herwin will surely feel sorry.
He’ll come to you and say, ‘I misjudged someone. Please forgive me, Lucia.’”
The temptation was dangerously sweet.
But the part of her that touched Bianca’s plan felt like insects crawling over her skin.
“So just trust me and follow through. I’ll help you.”
At first Lucia couldn’t answer.
But slowly, she nodded.
The classroom was quiet during individual study time.
Lucia swallowed hard as she stepped inside.
“I just… put this in Arista’s bag…”
In her hand was her own wallet.
Yet she stood not at her own desk, but by Arista’s, gripping the wallet tightly.
Put your wallet in Arista’s desk or bag, Bianca had told her.
Then raise a fuss that it’s missing, and ‘find’ it in her things.
A plan to drive a wedge between Arista and Herwin.
Bianca had proposed it a week ago—meant to be carried out the very next day.
But Lucia had delayed again and again, and now an entire week had passed.
That also meant it had been a week since her fight with Herwin.
In all that time, they hadn’t really spoken.
Neither of them had tried to break the awkward silence.
Lucia had never felt so distant from him and didn’t know how to fix it.
She wanted to talk to him, but the thought of him saying, “You haven’t even reflected and now you’re talking to me?” made her lose courage.
And here she was, plotting to ruin Arista’s reputation instead of repenting.
Her head throbbed.
One side of her mind insisted she stop, while another urged her to claim Herwin by any means.
After ten minutes of indecision, Lucia squeezed her eyes shut and slipped the wallet into Arista’s bag.
Then she hurried toward the door, afraid of being caught.
“It’s done… it’s done…”
But even as she tried to reassure herself, her face twisted in anguish.
Her pace slowed in the hallway until she finally stopped altogether.
She stood there for a long time, alone.
Then, at last, she started walking again.
Hmm~ hmm-hmm~ hmm~
A soft humming drifted over, and Christine turned her head.
“Bianca, something good happen?”
“Hmm? Me?”
“Yes, you’ve been smiling and humming for a while now.”
“Oh… have I?”
“What’s going on?”
“Mm… secret.”
After thinking a moment, Bianca gave a mischievous grin and pressed a finger to her lips.
Even when Christine asked again, Bianca only said it was a secret.
“Anyway, Lucia is late. You think something happened?”
Lucia had said she was going to the restroom, but twenty minutes had passed.
Christine was starting to worry.
“She’s not a kid. She probably stopped somewhere else on the way.”
“You think so?”
Despite Bianca’s reassurance, Christine kept glancing toward the direction where Lucia had gone.
Next to her, Bianca resumed her cheerful humming, watching Herwin practice with his sword.
A satisfied smile curved her lips.
“Um, Miss Bianca?”
A tall shadow fell across Bianca.
She frowned the instant she heard the familiar voice.
“Uh, could we… talk for a moment?”
A boy from their year stood there, face slightly flushed as he waited for her answer.
He wasn’t extraordinarily handsome, but he had a pleasant, attractive look.
It was obvious to anyone he wanted to confess to her.
Christine covered her mouth in surprise.
But Bianca looked thoroughly annoyed.
She nearly told him to go away, but noticing Christine and a few others watching, she merely glared.
“…Fine. Let’s talk somewhere else.”
Even with her reluctant tone, the boy’s face lit up.
As Bianca left with him, Christine’s pale blue eyes gleamed like glass marbles.
“…Christine, what are you doing?”
“Lucia!”
Lucia had finally returned, noticing Christine’s excitement.
“Why are you so thrilled? Something good happen?”
“Lucia, did you see just now? A boy just went to confess to Bianca!”
“What? Really?”
Lucia’s face brightened as much as Christine’s.
The two girls looked as excited as if the confession were meant for them.
“Wow, a confession. Bianca’s amazing.”
“Come to think of it, she does get a lot of attention. Remember that other boy who confessed before?”
“Yeah, now that you mention it, she really does.”
“I wonder if she’ll accept this time. He looked like a decent guy.”
As Christine and Lucia chatted excitedly, Bianca returned—and the two of them immediately grabbed her, eager for details.
