Chapter 41

“Wake up, Florence.”

“Gasp….”

I woke with a start. My arm slid off the sofa armrest. I had sworn not to fall asleep, but I must have dozed off unknowingly. My body felt hot. It was as if the scorching air of midsummer in my memories still filled my lungs.

“Hey, are you oka—”

“Don’t touch me, Keith.”

It was a familiar voice. More shocking than waking from sleep suddenly.

A dream….

“Florence.”

I slowly lifted my head. My head felt heavy. A gentle voice… but the owner of this voice had always spoken the coldest truths to me since childhood. It was a voice that woke me to reality.

I felt like I was still dreaming. Not returning to reality, but back to the last time I spoke to him under that sweltering, unpleasant humidity and burning sunlight.

“……Enoch.”

Enoch looked almost the same as in my memories.

His cold blue eyes, furrowed brows with irritation, thick dark eyebrows, and lips pressed stubbornly together beneath his straight nose. As if he was biting the inside of his mouth. He always looked at me disapprovingly. Always telling me to give up. Yet he dared to say he liked me.

I let out a powerless breath.

I never once believed Enoch’s confession. From childhood, he pitied me. He would get angry, asking why I had to be treated so unfairly when I did nothing wrong. He even spoke ill of my father, his benefactor, and said he had confronted him. None of it felt grateful.

Receiving charity from someone who possessed everything I wanted – someone I envied to the point of madness.

The more he sided with me, the more I hid my most miserable parts. He pitied me just knowing I was unloved. If he ever learned the harsh words my family sometimes spat at me, he would truly see me as pitiful. That was worse.

Because everyone hated me, did you like me out of pity? That confession brought no joy. You only ever gave me cold words, yet claimed to love me.

I never believed him, and even now, I do not.

But why….

The moment I saw his face after five years, tears fell down my cheeks without my knowing.

I promised never to cry in front of you.

The five months of nights, curled up in fear of being dragged to death.

Seeing Enoch’s eyes unchanged as they looked down at me made me both happy and sorrowful. Shame at my state was overwhelmed by grief.

“Uh, ugh, ah….”

“Florence.”

Just that one word – my name in his voice – broke everything I’d been holding back.

“…Uuuuugh, ugh….”

I gripped the sofa armrest as if to tear it apart. If I didn’t…

“I told you, Florence.”

“Hic, sob, huh.”

“Next time we meet, you’ll have to reach out first.”

His voice was dry. He still frowned arrogantly, lifting his chin. His gaze held none of the young emotions it once did. I bit my lip. Unless I yielded first, he would never help me. He was a man who meant what he said.

Keith shifted uncomfortably, glancing between us. I glared at Enoch with sharpened eyes.

Enoch showed no mercy. No matter how wrecked or miserable I looked, he just crossed his arms and looked down at me.

After he said he would never speak to me again, he really never did.

He never approached me.

And I did the same.

But…

I raised my arm. Releasing my grip on the armrest, I opened my arms towards him. Even as I did, tears fell endlessly as if they weren’t mine. Though I opened my arms, my lips refused to part. Sobbing, lips sealed, I felt Enoch’s gaze on me for a long time.

“……So stubborn.”

“……”

Enoch sighed deeply. Then he bent his large body and pulled me into an embrace. His thick strong arms wrapped around my shoulders, his large palm pressed the back of my head. My forehead touched his shoulder. I inhaled deeply. The heat of summer filled my lungs.

“Why did I ever come to love someone as troublesome as you.”

“…Uuugh, sob, huuu….”

“Even seeing your crying face once is this difficult.”

My eyes burned.

“Of course I knew right away.”

Enoch spoke as if it wasn’t even a question. Keith crossed his arms and said,

“Your faces were identical though? You two didn’t even speak back then.”

“If people can’t tell apart those with the same face, then no one would ever recognise twins.”

“Hey.”

“It was someone else. Anyone could see that.”

“Then how did you know….”

Enoch had a way of making people want to argue even when he was right. Not just me, who hated him since childhood, but even Keith, his cousin, felt the same. Enoch only glanced at trembling Keith once.

“How did you know?”

I asked the same question as Keith. Enoch turned from Keith to me.

His blue eyes slowly scanned me. It didn’t feel unpleasant. I knew he had a habit of staring intently at people.

Standing before his gaze always felt burdensome. Was it because I thought he’d find out why my family hated me? Or because I believed he looked down on me…?

Whenever his eyes fell on me, I would repeat in my mind how perfect I was. That there was no reason to cower, that I was clean, unashamed, and should hold my head high.

Because I was always so tense, my words came out harshly. I challenged him, provoked him, and we fought often.

But now, it didn’t matter.

Unlike the past, I was a complete mess. Though I could bathe daily, I couldn’t wash my hair often so it was oily and tangled. My clothes, though clean, were old and worn. My face was tear-streaked and exhausted, my eyes sunken with fatigue….

And thanks to Keith, even if my wounds healed well, my left index finger still didn’t bend properly, and my shoulder bore bumpy burn scars. Only Keith knew about my missing molar.

In the past, I would never have stood before anyone like this. Especially not before Enoch, whom I never wanted to lose to, my object of jealousy.

The anxiety that almost drove me mad had lessened after crying so much. At least I could speak without trembling.

“I’ve seen you since you were nine years old, Florence.”

Enoch frowned as always. I absentmindedly thought his thick eyebrows were pretty. There were more lines around his eyes now. He must still frown often.

“How could I not recognise you.”

Words filled my throat, too many to escape all at once. Then Keith snorted and said,

“Your family didn’t know.”

“Did they really not know.”

Enoch finally tore his gaze from me.

“The Marquis Seymour and his children are smart. Even if they didn’t say it, they knew.”

“Whose side are you on?”

Keith’s cold voice stiffened the air. Enoch sighed low.

“I only said they were smart.”

“That’s a compliment.”

“I stated a fact.”

“Even if they were the kindest people in the world, they were still dogs to her. Watch your mouth, Enoch Haines.”

“……”

Enoch fell silent. He looked back at me, and I frowned, unsure what expression to make. Enoch spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know your mouth is honest.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know… it just means you’re used to it.”

Meaning I didn’t need to be bothered by it anymore.

Keith elbowed Enoch’s side hard. Though Enoch didn’t flinch, his frown deepened. Feeling my meaning hadn’t been conveyed, I added softly:

“You’re the Seymour family’s benefactor, after all.”

“You really are broad-minded.”

Keith sneered immediately. He seemed deeply displeased today. Nearly dying in his sleep last night would explain it. Because my body was taken over by Jang Hyunji. I felt sorry and met his gaze. Keith turned his head sharply.

“Anyway, look over there.”

Keith pointed with his finger. At the tip perched a phoenix with folded wings, resting calmly.