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Chapter 007
Too Many Burdens to Confess
Even to another man, her face looked like it was overflowing with lingering feelings.
“I think I vaguely heard that she was broken off with… Could it be him?”
Brandon, quick to notice, recognized the identity of the man in front of him.
“Saying it was just a coincidence that he happened to see her face…”
It was a laughably absurd excuse.
After all, this place was a residential area, even if it was part of a bustling district.
It wasn’t the kind of place someone would visit without being a resident.
He must have found out from the start that Dorothy lived here and came looking for her.
“Well, this is awkward.”
Brandon had followed Dorothy to the market because of Rose.
Once Rose opened her heart to someone, she became extremely attached.
She even fussed over Dorothy going to the market, insisting on accompanying her.
Her face had been flushed red as she commanded, and Brandon found it ridiculous.
“Well, looking back, maybe she did have foresight.”
Brandon sighed inwardly.
He couldn’t just leave Dorothy alone with a man who had come back after Brandon himself had broken off the engagement.
Dorothy seemed physically and mentally weak.
She looked naive enough to fall for lies or schemes.
How much would such a girl’s heart be shaken in front of her former fiancé?
“I have no choice.”
Dorothy’s help was necessary to take his sister away.
At present, the only person Rose had truly opened her heart to was Dorothy.
So Brandon decided to roughly manage the situation in Dorothy’s place.
“If that girl gets dragged around by her fiancé, it’ll be troublesome later.”
Although the situation was already a bit of a hassle, it couldn’t be helped.
But an unexpected thing happened.
“Is something wrong?”
Breaking Brandon’s expectations, Dorothy approached Charles first.
Her eyes, as she stood before him, looked calmer than he had anticipated.
“Wait a moment.”
Brandon’s eyes widened at the unexpected turn.
“Do you need my help? If meeting him is uncomfortable, I could help.”
“I haven’t done anything embarrassing or wrong in front of Charles.”
Dorothy shrugged her shoulders.
“If anyone should feel awkward, it should be Charles, not me.”
“Are you serious?”
“Excuse me? I’m very serious.”
Seeing her speak so plainly, Brandon chuckled and handed her something.
“A… cane?”
Dorothy blinked, startled, looking at Brandon.
“Yes, a cane.”
“Shall I hold it for you?”
“No, I thought you might need it, Dorothy.”
“…Huh?”
Dorothy looked blank.
“Your legs don’t seem to be weak.”
“Right, I’m not carrying it because of weak legs either.”
“…Then why do you carry a cane?”
“Who knows?”
Leaving the bewildered Dorothy behind, Brandon just smiled brightly.
Dorothy received the cane, though she clearly gave up on understanding it.
“…Thank you.”
“Haha, no problem.”
Grinning, Brandon even demonstrated how to swing the cane himself.
“Now, try it! If you judge the situation to be dangerous, swing lightly from bottom to top! Pretend you’re hitting a ball.”
“A ball? What ball?”
“Any ball, anywhere. I’ll take responsibility.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you for the advice.”
With a polite nod, Dorothy headed toward Charles.
Even after sending her, Brandon still had no intention of leaving Dorothy alone with Charles.
If things went badly, he would intervene.
Meanwhile, Charles seemed increasingly irritated after the brief conversation with Brandon.
“Ahem!”
He even cleared his throat.
It seemed he was displeased with a stranger beside Dorothy.
“Hmm!”
He was showing his displeasure as much as he could.
Was he asking her to move aside?
But Brandon didn’t care in the slightest.
“Yes, yes, hi. Nice to meet you.”
He even cheekily waved at Charles.
Charles snorted, clearly exasperated, and started talking to Dorothy.
“Hi, Dorothy! As I said earlier, I happened to see your face by chance. Really just a coincidence.”
“Hi.”
“How have you been?”
“Good.”
“…You say good?”
“Yep.”
Charles, momentarily stunned, cleared his throat and added,
“Of course I’ve been fine too. Look at this—my face is in the Salebrum Weekly.”
Charles pulled a stack of newspapers from his coat and showed her.
“My face is in it every week. Even for nothing special, everyone around here must know me.”
“Yep, looks good.”
“Right?”
“But did you come here just to show me this?”
“…Huh?”
“You promised we wouldn’t see each other again after getting the money, remember?”
Charles feigned indignation.
“Even so… how could you take that money? We’ve known each other for so long.”
“Didn’t you agree to it too?”
“What?”
“I heard from my mother. Charles, she said everything with you is over too.”
Listening quietly, Dorothy pointed out,
“Wasn’t it your idea to suggest never getting involved with me again?”
Charles stammered, flustered by Dorothy’s calm tone.
It was a side of her he had never seen before.
Brandon, too, was surprised and widened his eyes.
“And you asked about taking the money after knowing each other for so long?”
Dorothy spoke calmly.
“Even though we knew each other for so long, you were the one seeing other women.”
She wasn’t angry; she was genuinely curious.
Unlike Charles, she held no emotions in her words.
“So she has this side too.”
Brandon chuckled.
She wasn’t just naive.
Clearly, Rose’s worry had been unnecessary.
“Did you even like me?”
Charles asked then.
“Now that I think about it, yes. Taking the money so quickly, living well without me… I wonder if you ever really liked me in the first place.”
For Dorothy, honesty was her greatest weapon.
“Yes, I did.”
Enough to leave the other person stunned.
“I loved you the most in the world. After my mother passed, no one else compared. Didn’t you know?”
“You… loved me?”
Charles’ face turned red at her confession.
He clutched his chest, unsure how to react.
“So now you have no lingering feelings.”
But Dorothy wasn’t done.
“No lingering feelings, huh…?”
The man who had seemed in heaven moments ago now looked like he had fallen straight into hell.
“Yes, I loved you enough that nothing is left.”
“….”
“I didn’t get engaged to you carelessly. I got engaged because I really liked you.”
Charles awkwardly smiled.
“Wait… that sounds like you don’t like me now.”
“It’s exactly how it sounds. I don’t like you anymore.”
Charles’ eyes widened.
“You said you loved me the most, and now you don’t? So you only liked me that much?”
Hearing that she no longer liked him seemed to wound his pride, and he shouted,
“Is it okay to say such cruel things to someone you just met after so long? Then go back!”
“Yes.”
Dorothy turned away without hesitation at his command to leave.
“Wait! Wait!”
Charles reached out in panic.
She stopped walking.
“You’re really leaving because I said to leave?”
“You told me to go.”
Dorothy sighed shortly and said to him,
“From now on, don’t test me. If you want to say something, say it clearly, Charles.”
“….”
“Though I guess we won’t see each other again.”
Brandon, observing the situation, couldn’t hold back his laughter and snickered.
“Wow, she’s amazing.”
Not only decisive, but strong too.
She even knew how to wisely get revenge on someone trying to put her down.
What a delight.
Brandon’s blue eyes sparkled.
“I’ll be going now. I hope you’ve been well. Just as well as I’ve been.”
Finishing her words, Dorothy turned away, showing no lingering feelings.
“…She liked me?”
Charles could only dumbly watch her leaving back.
Staring blankly, he accidentally made eye contact with Brandon.
“Puhaha!”
Brandon couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore and burst out laughing.
“…Hey.”
Charles muttered, tears welling up.
