<Episode 11>
As Lucia and Julian left the hall, Scarlet broke the frozen atmosphere.
"Alright, alright. What are you all doing just standing there? Move quickly."
As if time had stopped, the people who had been still began to move.
"What on earth is going on...?"
With a complicated heart, Lucas watched his younger sister walk away.
He had been shocked the first time she confessed to liking Herwin, and then shocked again when Herwin rejected her. But suddenly, everything ended so vaguely, and it felt like all the shock he had received had vanished into thin air.
"Does noona like our hyung...?"
Henry, also quite shocked, mumbled blankly.
'Come to think of it, this little guy really likes Lucia, doesn't he?'
"Henry likes noona, and hyung too..."
The five-year-old couldn't easily understand the sudden influx of information.
Lucas patted Henry's shoulder.
"You should give up. You have no chance."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm saying you'll never catch up to Herwin. Maybe when you're older, but right now..."
"...I don't really understand what you're saying."
Henry frowned. Lucas hesitated, wondering how to explain, but then thought it was better if he didn't know.
"Just give up early."
"Hey, don't push my head! I'll get shorter!"
As Henry struggled to avoid Lucas's hand, Lucas's playful side emerged.
"Uwaaa! Let go!"
"I brought you all the way here, and this is what you do."
Lucas adored Henry, but he also glanced sideways at the place where Herwin and Lucia had disappeared.
"...They'll figure it out themselves."
He didn't want to think deeply about their affairs anymore.
* * *
"Young lady! Your hair isn't dry yet!"
"You'll catch a cold!"
Lucia, having finished her shower, rushed out of the bathroom without properly drying herself.
Her clothes became damp because of her wet hair, but Lucia didn't care and looked around.
"Ah! Don't take that!"
"Yes?"
A maid, who was about to collect Lucia's discarded clothes, stopped in surprise.
Lucia quickly approached her and snatched the clothes she was holding.
"Found it!"
Searching the pocket hidden in the dress, she pulled out something green.
"Young lady, what is that?"
"My number one treasure!"
"You mean that leaf is your treasure?"
Without answering the bewildered question, Lucia headed to the desk located on one side of the room.
On the desk was a Music Box brought from the Kingdom.
Lucia opened the Music Box and turned it upside down.
Ribbons, beads, hairpins, and other items that had been most precious just an hour ago were instantly thrown onto the floor and desk.
Once the box was completely empty, Lucia carefully placed the Four-leaf Clover in her hand inside.
"Hehe, my treasure."
"Oh dear, young lady. I told you, you'll catch a cold."
Lucia's short escapade ended only after the maids approached with towels.
* * *
"Herwin, how can you reject someone so bluntly?"
Scarlet approached Herwin, who was huddled under the covers on the bed.
'Really, he can't be honest.'
The confessions of children who weren't even ten years old were innocent and cute, making her smile involuntarily.
Scarlet sat heavily on the bed, looking at the bulging blanket with affectionate eyes.
"Mom would approve of Lucia. She's kind-hearted, carefree, and even cute, so isn't she really good? Don't reject her while being proud. Herwin, you like Lucia too, don't you?"
Children tend to easily reveal their true feelings with a little prodding.
Scarlet thought Herwin would come out from under the blanket soon.
However, even as time passed, Herwin showed no reaction.
"Herwin, are you listening to me?"
She asked again, but there was no response.
Even if he was upset, he was a child who always answered his parents, so something was wrong.
"...Herwin?"
When she touched the round blanket, she could feel a trembling body beyond it.
Scarlet hurriedly pulled back the blanket.
"Don't look, don't look, don't look..."
"Goodness! Herwin!"
Herwin was out of his mind, repeating the same words. There was no focus in his red eyes.
At a glance, his appearance was abnormal, and Scarlet was terrified.
She quickly pulled Herwin into her arms.
"Herwin, calm down. Mom is here. Huh? Herwin...!"
"...I don't like Lucia. So don't look..."
"Yes, yes, you don't like Lucia. So please..."
Herwin's breathing became even rougher.
When he closed his eyes tightly, the faces of the children smiling slyly in the distance became even more vivid.
Giggle giggle giggle!
Their laughter seemed to ring in his ears.
The voices, which had been childish at first, gradually became deeper, and the number of voices began to increase.
"Hah, hah, hah..."
He thought he had gotten much better because he didn't waver as much as before even when he met the Gods' children, but that wasn't the case.
The trauma had not disappeared completely, it had only not revealed itself yet.
"...! Doctor! Get a doctor quickly...!"
Herwin opened his eyes briefly. He saw Scarlet shouting in a desperate voice.
'I like Herwin the most!'
When he closed his eyes again, the scene of Lucia confessing came to mind.
Thump! Thump! Thump...!
His heart, which had been pounding as if it would burst, and his breath, which felt like it would stop at any moment, slowly began to stabilize.
Thinking of Lucia's smiling face made him feel a little better, but Herwin was once again seized with fear.
'I don't like Lucia...'
Since it was Lucia's confession that had caused this, everything would return to normal if he rejected her.
Herwin repeated to himself that he didn't like her in order to protect himself from the storm of emotions.
'I don't like Lucia, I don't like Lucia...'
Through his blurred vision, he saw servants and a doctor running towards him.
'Herwin...!'
When he rescued Lucia from the stray dogs in the back mountain, the face of Lucia, who was sobbing and hugging him, came to mind.
But even before he could recognize it, Herwin's consciousness gradually faded away.
* * *
"It seems he has suffered a great mental shock."
The doctor opened his mouth after finishing the diagnosis.
"It's not because he was bitten by a dog?"
"Yes, he is very healthy except for a few minor bruises."
"Then what on earth shocked him..."
"Well... I wasn't in the hall at the time, so I don't know the details, but I heard that Lady Agnes confessed to the young master."
"Yes, she confessed. But why that confession?"
"Since Lady Agnes confessed in a place where everyone could see, naturally many people's attention was focused on the young master. The young master is quite sensitive to external stimuli compared to his peers. So it must have been difficult for him to endure people's gazes."
"Are you saying that our Herwin avoids places with many people?"
"It's a little different from that. It's not that he has a problem with many people, but he dislikes having a lot of attention focused on him simultaneously."
She never thought her son would have such a problem.
He had never shown these symptoms before, so she thought there was no problem until now...
"Ah, perhaps...!"
Scarlet, who had remembered something, suddenly raised her head.
"Do you have any idea what it could be?"
"Herwin had a conflict with the Gods' children in the past. Since then, whenever someone says 'pretty' or 'like a girl,' he has acted more sensitively than usual."
"Then it may be related to what happened then."
Thinking carefully about who was in the hall, it seemed that the children who had a conflict with Herwin were also there.
"First, limit access to the room until tomorrow so that the young master can rest well. It would be best not to let anyone in except for the Duke and Duchess and the assigned maid."
"Yes, I will do so."
After the doctor left, Scarlet carefully stroked her sleeping son's face.
She couldn't leave Herwin's side until he woke up again.
* * *
"I'm sorry, young lady. There is an order not to let anyone in, so it seems you will have to meet the young master next time."
"Can't I go in either? I'm hyung's younger brother..."
"I'm sorry, young master Henry. If you have anything you want to say, please tell me. I will be sure to convey it to young master Herwin."
After the commotion yesterday, Lucia, Lucas, and Henry went to see Herwin.
But they couldn't see him today either, following yesterday.
Yesterday, Herwin must have been very tired, but it was strange that they couldn't see him even today, a day later.
Henry teared up when even he was rejected.
"Is he sick somewhere?"
"...I heard that his physical strength is very low, so he needs to rest until today."
Lucas glanced at the tightly closed door and sighed deeply.
"If they say that much, there's nothing we can do. Kids, let's come again tomorrow."
"Ugh, I want to see hyung..."
As Henry was about to cry, Lucas picked him up. Henry didn't refuse him this time and obediently hugged him.
Patting Henry's small back, Lucas, who was walking ahead, felt a void next to him and turned around.
"Lucia, what are you doing not coming?"
"I'll be here."
"What?"
Lucia didn't move from in front of Herwin's door, like a stone statue.
Her actions surprised not only Lucas but also the maid who was blocking the entrance.
"Young lady, it's no use doing this. He'll be better tomorrow, so it's better to just come tomorrow..."
"Yeah, I know. But I'll be here anyway."
Despite the persuasion, she was firm. Lucia clutched the Music Box tightly and sat down against the wall across from the door.
As the maid fidgeted, Lucas approached.
"You'll be bored if you're here alone?"
"It's okay, I'm not bored."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Lucas seemed to be thinking about something for a moment, then sat down next to Lucia.
"If you're here, I have to be here too. Henry, you're okay with that too, right?"
Henry nodded and turned his gaze towards Lucia.
"Yeah. I'll go to noona."
In the end, the three children sat side by side, guarding Herwin's room.
"Don't worry about us and go back to what you were doing. Weren't you taking care of Herwin?"
The maid hesitated for a moment, then opened the door.
"Then, I'll go in now. If you need anything, please call me anytime."
As the maid entered Herwin's room, the hallway became quiet.
The heavy silence was so awkward that Lucas glanced sideways.
Henry fiddled with the Music Box that Lucia had brought and opened the lid. A beautiful Music Box sound played, and the Four-leaf Clover, which was the only thing inside, caught his eye.
