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Chapter 11
As soon as Lucia and Julian left the hall, Scarlett broke the frozen atmosphere.
“Come now, come now. What are you all just standing around for? Move along.”
People, who had been still as if time had stopped, finally began to stir.
“What in the world just happened…?”
Lucas watched his sister walking away, his feelings tangled.
The first shock had been when she confessed to liking Herwin.
The second, when Herwin rejected her.
And then suddenly everything fizzled out without any real conclusion—so much so that all the shocks he had felt seemed to have been blown away into thin air.
“Big sis… likes my brother…?”
Henry, too, seemed stunned, muttering blankly.
‘Now that I think about it… this little brat really likes Lucia, doesn’t he?’
“Henry likes big sis, but I like brother too…”
The sudden new information was too much for a five-year-old to easily grasp.
Lucas patted Henry’s shoulder.
“You should give up. You don’t stand a chance.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, there’s no way you’ll ever catch up to Herwin. Maybe when you grow up, who knows—but for now…”
“…I don’t really get what you’re saying.”
Henry scrunched his nose. Lucas thought about how to explain better, then gave up. Maybe ignorance was bliss.
“Just give up early.”
“Hey! Don’t push my head down! I’ll get shorter!”
Henry squirmed as Lucas ruffled his hair, which only made Lucas want to tease him more.
“Let me gooo!”
“After dragging you all the way here, this is how you act?”
Lucas chuckled at Henry’s antics, but his gaze slipped sideways toward where Herwin and Lucia had disappeared.
“…They’ll work it out themselves.”
He didn’t want to dwell on it any longer.
“Miss! Your hair isn’t even dry yet!”
“You’ll catch a cold!”
Lucia burst out of the bathroom after her shower, water dripping, her hair still wet.
Her damp hair had soaked her clothes, but she didn’t care as she frantically looked around.
“Ah! Don’t take that!”
“Huh?”
One of the maids, about to collect the clothes Lucia had taken off, froze in surprise.
Lucia rushed over and snatched the garment from her hands.
“Found it!”
She dug into the hidden pocket of the dress and pulled out something green.
“Miss, what is that?”
“My number one treasure!”
“…That leaf is your treasure?”
Ignoring the maid’s confusion, Lucia hurried to the desk in her room.
On it sat a music box she had brought from the capital.
She opened the box and flipped it upside down.
Ribbons, beads, hairpins—the things that had been her most cherished possessions only an hour ago tumbled onto the desk and floor.
Once the box was empty, she carefully placed the clover inside.
“Heehee, it’s my treasure.”
“Goodness, miss, you’ll catch cold!”
Only when the maids approached with towels did her little escapade finally end.
“Herwin, how could you embarrass her by rejecting her outright like that?”
Scarlett approached Herwin, who was curled up under his blanket on the bed.
‘Really, he just can’t be honest, can he.’
Children not yet even ten years old confessing their feelings was innocent and endearing—it made her smile.
She sat down on the bed, gazing fondly at the lump under the covers.
“Mother would approve of Lucia, you know. She’s kind, unspoiled, and even cute. Don’t let your pride make you turn her down. Herwin, you like her too, don’t you?”
A little prodding was usually all it took for children to speak their hearts. Scarlett expected Herwin to come out any moment.
But even as time passed, he stayed silent.
“Herwin, are you listening to me?”
Again, no response.
No matter how upset he was, he always answered his parents—this was strange.
“…Herwin?”
When she placed her hand on the blanket, she felt his body trembling beneath it.
Scarlett hastily pulled back the covers.
“Don’t look at me, don’t look at me, don’t look at me…”
“Heavens! Herwin!”
He was muttering the same words blankly, his crimson eyes unfocused.
Scarlett’s heart clenched at the sight. She quickly pulled him into her arms.
“Herwin, calm down. Mother’s right here, hmm? Herwin…!”
“…I don’t like Lucia. So don’t look at me…”
“Yes, yes, you don’t like Lucia. So please…”
His breathing grew more ragged.
When he squeezed his eyes shut, the laughing faces of children appeared vividly in his mind.
Hahaha!
Their laughter rang in his ears.
At first, the voices were childish, but gradually they grew deeper, multiplied.
“Haah… huff… huff…”
He had thought he was better now, no longer shaken even when meeting the vassals’ children. But he was wrong.
The trauma hadn’t disappeared—it had merely been dormant.
“Doctor! Call the doctor, now!”
Herwin briefly opened his eyes, seeing Scarlett’s desperate cry.
‘I like Herwin best!’
When he closed his eyes again, he saw Lucia’s confession.
Thump! Thump! Thump…!
His heart pounded wildly, his breath on the verge of breaking. Slowly, it began to steady.
Remembering Lucia’s smiling face eased the madness, just a little. Yet fear quickly swallowed him again.
‘I don’t like Lucia…’
If her confession had caused this, then rejecting her would set everything right.
To protect himself from the storm raging inside, he kept repeating to himself that he didn’t like her.
‘I don’t like Lucia, I don’t like Lucia…’
Through his blurry vision, he saw servants and the doctor rushing toward him.
‘Herwin…!’
And then he recalled Lucia’s tearful face when he had saved her from the wild dogs in the mountains.
But before he could grasp it, his consciousness slipped away.
“It seems the young master has suffered severe psychological shock,” the doctor said after his examination.
“It’s not from the dog bite?”
“No. Aside from a very minor bruise, he is perfectly healthy.”
“Then what on earth shocked him so?”
“Well… we won’t know until he wakes. But my guess is it was the weight of so many gazes upon him.”
“Gazes?”
“Yes. I wasn’t in the hall myself, but I heard Lady Agnes confessed to him.”
“She did. But why would that matter?”
“Because she confessed in front of everyone. Naturally, all eyes would have turned to him. The young master is unusually sensitive to outside stimuli. It must have been unbearable.”
“You’re saying Herwin dislikes being in crowded places?”
“Not exactly. The issue isn’t the number of people—it’s when countless eyes are all fixed on him at once.”
Scarlett hadn’t imagined her son might have such a problem.
He had never shown symptoms before, so she had thought he was fine…
“Ah—wait…!”
She suddenly remembered something.
“Do you suspect a cause?” the doctor asked.
“Herwin once had trouble with the vassals’ children. Ever since, he’s been particularly sensitive whenever anyone says things like ‘you’re pretty’ or ‘you look like a girl.’”
“Then it may well be connected to that incident.”
Thinking back, she realized those very children had been present in the hall.
“For now, restrict access to his room until tomorrow. Apart from the Duke and Duchess, and his assigned maid, no one should be let in.”
“Yes, I’ll see to it.”
After the doctor left, Scarlett gently stroked her sleeping son’s face.
She couldn’t bring herself to leave his side until he woke again.
“I’m sorry, miss. Orders are that no one may enter. You’ll have to meet him another time.”
“Even me? But I’m his little brother’s sister…”
“I’m afraid so, Master Henry. If you’d like, you can tell me your message, and I’ll deliver it faithfully.”
The day after the uproar, Lucia, Lucas, and Henry came to see Herwin.
But just like yesterday, they were not allowed in.
Yesterday, it made sense—Herwin must have been exhausted. But to still be barred today… something felt wrong.
Henry’s eyes welled up.
“Is he sick?”
“…His stamina is very low. I was told he must rest today.”
Lucas glanced at the tightly shut door and sighed.
“If they say so, there’s nothing we can do. Kids, let’s come back tomorrow.”
“But I miss brother…”
As Henry started to cry, Lucas picked him up. This time, Henry didn’t resist and clung to him.
Patting his small back, Lucas walked on, but noticed Lucia wasn’t following.
“Lucia, why aren’t you coming?”
“I’m staying here.”
“What?”
Lucia stood like a stone in front of Herwin’s door.
Her stubbornness startled even the maid who was blocking the way.
“Miss, it’s no use. He’ll be fine tomorrow. You should just—”
“I know. But I’ll stay.”
Despite the maid’s persuasion, Lucia was firm. She clutched the music box tightly and sat against the wall opposite the door.
The maid looked uneasy, but Lucas stepped forward.
“You’ll get bored sitting here alone.”
“It’s fine. I won’t be bored.”
“…Really?”
Lucas thought for a moment, then sat down beside her.
“If you’re here, then I’ll stay too. Henry, you okay with that?”
Henry nodded, turning toward where Lucia sat.
“Yeah. I wanna sit with big sis.”
And so, the three children sat side by side, guarding the door to Herwin’s room.
“Don’t mind us. Go on with your work—you were looking after Herwin, weren’t you?”
The maid hesitated, then finally opened the door.
“Very well. I’ll be inside, then. Call me if you need anything.”
Once she entered, the corridor grew quiet.
The heavy silence felt awkward, until Lucas sneaked a glance to the side.
Henry was fiddling with Lucia’s music box. When he opened it, the gentle tune played, and inside lay a single four-leaf clover.
