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Chapter 83
“Actually, a few days ago, Herwin came to our house.”
“Herwin?”
A few days ago… was he talking about the day he suddenly ran out?
“Yeah. He came saying he wanted to see Lucia, but…”
Lukas trailed off, his lips moving silently. Arista asked again.
“But?”
“Sigh… But I kicked him out.”
Arista’s eyes widened. Lukas continued with an uncomfortable expression.
“Because of that, I ended up fighting with Lucia once, and my parents scolded me too. They said no matter what, I shouldn’t just throw a guest out like that.”
“Uh… well…”
Arista had no idea how she was supposed to react. Seeing her hesitate, Lukas let out a faint laugh.
“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I figured you’d react like that.”
“No, I was just really surprised… As far as I know, you and Herwin were practically as close as real brothers. Weren’t you?”
Lukas nodded with a complicated expression.
“Then why did you go that far?”
“…You’re friends with both of them. I’m sure you already know the gist of it.”
After hesitating for a moment, Lukas muttered something under his breath and looked at Arista. She flinched under the intensity of his stare.
“Honestly, the whole reason Lucia ended up getting engaged is because of Herwin.”
“What?”
“No, to be precise… Lucia gave up on Herwin because their feelings weren’t mutual.”
Hearing that, Arista recalled a conversation she’d once had with Herwin.
‘Back then, didn’t he say Lucia went on a matchmaking meeting right after he rejected her confession?’
“At first, I thought they liked each other. I assumed it was the incident from their academy days that kept them from approaching one another.”
Arista could understand Lukas’s thoughts. Before hearing the truth from Herwin, she had thought the same.
“But I was wrong. Lucia confessed to him over and over again, and that jerk refused her every time.”
Lukas’s shoulders trembled, and Arista heard the grinding of teeth. Realizing Lukas was furious, she swallowed nervously.
“But… that’s between the two of them. You kicked Herwin out just because he didn’t accept Lucia?”
Lukas lifted his head and looked straight at Arista.
“You’re right. It is their business. It is ridiculous for me to interfere. But what kind of older brother could just stand by and watch his sister get hurt?”
His fists tightened as he spoke. It would be hard to claim he kicked Herwin out purely from rational judgment—but it wasn’t entirely due to anger either.
‘I hope I get to marry someone I truly love.’
He remembered Lucia’s resigned face as she spoke of her own happiness.
At the time, he couldn’t bring himself to curse Herwin in front of her, so he had left the room pretending nothing was wrong.
But Lukas simply couldn’t forgive him.
He hated seeing his precious sister—someone anyone would be proud to have—resign herself, as if she were being sold off, all because of one guy.
Even though Lucia had gone to their parents on her own and said she wanted to get engaged, Lukas still blamed his parents for cornering her until she felt she had no choice.
And, of course, he wanted to erase Herwin—the cause of all of this—from Lucia’s life entirely.
But all he could do was quietly support Lucia from behind.
At first, he even disliked Bern, Lucia’s fiancé, simply because he was part of the situation.
But as time passed, he came to realize Bern genuinely cared for and cherished Lucia. That brought him some relief—at least she met someone respectable.
Lucia, who had slowly endured her heartbreak and was finally beginning to find happiness… was confronted once again by Herwin.
And now, the guy had the nerve to claim he liked Lucia.
“If we weren’t close, my fist would’ve already flown.”
The anger surged again as Lukas thought of Herwin.
Seeing his emotions flare up repeatedly, Arista finally spoke.
“So… the reason you kept sighing today, was it all because Herwin pissed you off?”
Lukas froze. His eyes darted around, unable to meet hers.
“That’s not it, but…”
“From where I’m standing, it seems like you’re still hung up on Herwin.”
Lukas opened his mouth to deny it—but nothing came out.
“You said Lucia and your parents scolded you for kicking him out, right?”
“…He waited for Lucia outside for almost half a day after I kicked him out.”
“For that long?”
“Yeah. He didn’t even wait inside the carriage… anyway, he got sick. Lucia said he came down with a terrible cold…”
Arista let out a sigh. Lukas awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, guilt flickering in his expression.
He hated Herwin so much, yet a part of him still cared.
“It’s surprising, though. I’ve hardly ever seen Herwin sick.”
Other than the time he was injured fighting the ogre with her, she had never seen him ill.
Back in the academy, during a particularly harsh winter, when half the students suffered from a terrible fever, he had been perfectly fine.
He was the type whose health was his entire identity. To think he caught a cold after being outside for half a day sounded absurd. Then Arista suddenly remembered something.
“Was the day he came over a Friday two weeks ago?”
“How did you know?”
“Thought so. Then he definitely would’ve gotten sick.”
“…What do you know?”
Suddenly excited, Lukas grabbed her shoulders. Arista stepped back, startled by how close his pale-blue eyes were.
“Herwin was with me before he went to your house. Even then, he looked awful. Apparently, he hadn’t eaten for a week. Just drinking.”
Lukas looked dumbstruck. He clearly didn’t believe Herwin would drink himself sick.
Arista exhaled lightly and stared at him seriously.
“Do you really think he was lying?”
Lukas’s expression hardened instantly.
“Of course. When Lucia said she liked him, he didn’t care at all, but now he says he likes her? Ridiculous. He doesn’t want her, but doesn’t want anyone else to have her either.”
“But is Herwin really that kind of guy? You’ve known him longer than I have—you know his personality.”
Arista kept defending Herwin, and Lukas’s expression soured.
“What are you trying to say?”
“My point is: Herwin has his own circumstances. And when he said he liked Lucia… I don’t think it was a misunderstanding.”
“What?”
“Herwin didn’t know his own feelings until recently. He only realized them when he saw Lucia with someone else.”
Lukas froze, then looked bewildered.
After muttering to himself for a while, he suddenly realized something—and looked at Arista sharply.
“But how do you know Herwin likes Lucia?”
“Well… because Herwin told me himself.”
“He told you himself? Then… do you know why he didn’t realize it earlier?”
Arista stiffened.
She recalled how Herwin had mistaken his admiration for her as love—a story she could never tell anyone, especially Lukas.
Even as Lukas glared, demanding an answer, Arista could only open and close her mouth.
“T-that much, I don’t know. But if he went to Lucia right after meeting me, he probably confessed.”
“WHAT?!”
His shout echoed loudly, making Arista shrink back.
“It’s not that surprising. Didn’t you expect that when he went to look for her?”
“Well, yes, but… I thought he just wanted to shake Lucia’s feelings…”
“Shake them? He was terrified she’d reject him. He wasn’t doing anything lightly.”
Lukas remembered Herwin asking him—quite sincerely—to let him meet Lucia.
No matter how rational he thought he was being at the time, he had already been biased.
His lingering resentment clashed with growing guilt.
“S-still… I can’t forgive him yet…”
But contrary to his words, Lukas’s expression wouldn’t soften. He looked guilty.
Arista nodded.
“Sure. Hate him, be mad at him, roast him alive—do whatever you want. But, Lukas.”
Her voice suddenly lowered, making him look up.
“This is between the two of them. A third party shouldn’t interfere.”
Lukas couldn’t argue. Everything she said was right.
He had always doted on his sister since she was born. When it came to Lucia, he lost all sense of reason.
He knew he shouldn’t involve himself, but his emotions drove him anyway.
He suddenly felt embarrassed. Arista had been observing everything coldly and rationally, yet he—older than her—let his emotions cloud everything.
Looking at her serious violet eyes, Lukas murmured unconsciously:
“…Cool.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“N-nothing!”
He quickly turned away, awkwardly changing the subject. For some reason, he couldn’t look at her face.
Maybe because he felt immature in front of his younger sister’s friend?
Why is it suddenly so warm…?
He didn’t even notice his ears turning red.
“But if Lucia fought with you over it, then Herwin must’ve been really sick. Well, considering he was practically a wreck before leaving…”
Lukas snapped back to reality at her words.
Then he remembered something Lucia and their parents had said a few days ago—and his face turned pale.
“D-do you think he was really that sick? I thought Lucia and my parents were exaggerating…”
“What did Lucia say?”
“She said… nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“She just looked at me with total contempt.”
Arista imagined the expression Lucia must’ve worn.
If Lucia, who was usually kind and forgiving, reacted that way…
“Yeah, you messed up.”
“Haaah… What do I do? Should I go apologize to Herwin?”
“Well… Did Lucia say anything else? I mean, if he was sick—did she say he got better? Or that his cold was gone?”
“Hmm… Now that you mention it, she did seem a little strange when she came home.”
“How strange?”
“Her face was kind of red? And at first, she wouldn’t answer me at all, so I thought maybe Herwin gave her his cold.”
As Lukas recalled the scene, he looked puzzled.
But hearing that, Arista had a faint feeling something had progressed between the two.
She glanced at Lukas. Unlike earlier, when he seemed ready to die of misery, his expression had brightened a lot.
“Did that clear up your worries?”
“Huh?”
Lukas looked up sharply.
Arista wondered if she’d let him talk too much instead of listening.
But her worry was unfounded. Lukas grinned brightly, showing perfect teeth.
“Yeah! Thanks to you, everything’s clear now! Thanks, Arista! If it weren’t for you, I’d still feel awful.”
“I-it’s nothing… I’m glad I could help.”
Lukas smiled, saying he’d repay her later. Watching him lighten up, Arista smiled shyly too.
Her hands fidgeted behind her back. A fluttery warmth spread through her chest.
Her heart pounded like crazy.
