<Episode 22>
"What on earth is going on? Tell me quickly."
"It's just… it's really nothing much……."
Lucia hesitated to speak, but eventually confessed her unstable state.
Over the past two weeks, the unease that started as a sense of incongruity had gradually grown, eventually turning into jealousy. It was distinctly different from the emotions she had felt until now.
When Arista and Herwin talked, she kept suspecting that there was some hidden meaning in their conversation, even if they weren't saying anything special. She found it hard to see them together, and eventually, just seeing Arista was enough to make her miserable.
She had never experienced such emotions before, and Lucia was finding it difficult to cope with everything in her current state.
"Arista is Herwin's savior… I know I shouldn't be like this, but… I don't want to see her."
Bianca hugged Lucia tightly, who was groaning inwardly and suffering.
She seemed to understand Lucia's feelings, and her face hardened.
"It's okay. It's natural. Don't feel too guilty."
"Is this really natural? Am I too mean……?"
"Oh, come on, how can you be mean? Look at you now. You're agonizing over hating just one person. You're too kind by nature. When people live, they can dislike or hate other people."
"But, Arista hasn't done anything wrong to me… rather, she takes good care of me."
She knew how good Arista was and how well she had treated her, so she was very distressed by her current feelings of hating her.
"Still, isn't there a reason why you dislike Princess Lydia? For example……."
That Herwin is interested in the princess.
Lucia's face hardened at Bianca's words. Her guess was correct.
She hated and disliked Arista only because Herwin was interested in her.
"You said before that you thought you'd be okay with Herwin liking someone else……."
Bianca sighed, recalling the conversation they had had a few weeks ago.
Lucia now realized how naive she had been.
The reality was clearly different.
It's not something you can calmly watch when someone you have a crush on likes someone else.
"Bianca, what should I do now?"
Even if her head told her that Arista had done nothing wrong, her heart rejected her, so she couldn't continue to live as usual.
"What do you mean, what should you do? You should do what your heart tells you."
"If I follow my heart… are you saying I should distance myself from Arista?"
"If that's what makes you feel better. But this isn't just about you and Princess Lydia, Herwin is in the middle. It's not a problem that can be solved simply by you avoiding the princess."
"That's true……."
Lucia's shoulders slumped again, and Bianca quickly added.
"Just do what your heart tells you. If you want to distance yourself from the princess, do so, and if you want to stay close, do that. But, just remember one thing."
Lucia's eyes met Bianca's brown eyes.
"You care too much about what other people think. It's good to take care of others, but take care of your own heart first. Otherwise, you may not even have the strength to look back at yourself later."
As she said, Lucia's personality of taking care of others first was both a strength and a weakness.
Lucia quietly pondered Bianca's advice.
* * *
After talking with Bianca, Lucia decided to distance herself from Arista.
Bianca told her to get angry, but she couldn't bring herself to do that, so she decided to distance herself as the best option.
However, she couldn't avoid Arista every time.
She made various excuses to avoid situations where she was alone with her, but she couldn't leave when she was with her friends or with Herwin.
Still, Arista, who had always approached her without hesitation, began to treat Lucia awkwardly one day, perhaps sensing that she had been avoiding her for the past few days.
It was obvious that she was watching her and trying to restore their relationship as before, but Lucia had no choice but to ignore her feelings.
No matter how much she hated Arista, Lucia's heart was not happy about pushing her away.
It was only because Herwin might like her that she was pushing her away, so it was natural.
Lucia couldn't keep Arista close, even though she thought she was being petty and cowardly.
Eventually, her friends slowly began to notice Lucia's strange behavior, which had been repeated for the past few days.
No matter how hard she tried not to show it, Lucia was not good at lying and her emotions were clearly revealed on her face.
Today, as usual, Arista approached while she was talking with her friends.
As soon as Lucia saw her, she became noticeably anxious and got up from her seat with Bianca.
"Hey, guys, I'm sorry, but I'm going to the bathroom for a while."
"……Okay, go ahead."
Before Arista could reach them, Lucia left with Bianca as if she was being chased by someone.
Herwin, Christine, and the other friends who were left behind watched Lucia leave through the door.
After a moment of silence, Brian turned to Arista and asked.
"Did you do something wrong to Lucia?"
Arista shook her head with a stiff face.
"I wish I knew. I want to know why Lucia is doing this to me."
"Didn't you upset her? Lucia isn't the type of person to hate someone easily."
"Aside from upsetting her, I haven't had many conversations with Lucia. I've only had simple greetings and trivial conversations……."
"Lucia's behavior has definitely been strange for the past few days."
"Bianca seems to know something… Christine, have you heard anything?"
Christine shook her head at Ethan's question.
No one here knew what Lucia was thinking.
It was frustrating because they didn't know why she was doing this, even if they knew the reason.
Arista, who was the most frustrated with the current situation, sighed and asked Herwin.
"Herwin, do you know anything?"
"I don't know either."
"What's the point of having you as a childhood friend if you don't even know that! Go find out right now!"
Arista scolded Herwin with a small voice.
"Haa, I don't want to get distant from Lucia like this. We just became friends! I wish she would at least tell me what I did wrong."
Arista made a tearful face.
Arista had wanted to be friends with Lucia since the first day of school.
However, it was difficult to become friends because they didn't have much contact other than being in the same class, and they didn't even have a chance to talk.
Recently, she had been getting closer little by little through Herwin, Ethan, and Brian. She thought that she would be able to become friends now that she had saved Herwin, but where did it go wrong?
"Herwin, do something about it. I really don't want to get distant from Lucia like this."
Arista put her hands together and asked Herwin. Herwin avoided Arista, who was getting closer, but chuckled at her pursed lips.
"Okay, I'll ask her."
"Yay! You have to! You have to ask, okay? And if I did something wrong, please let me know. I need to fix it."
"I know, so stop getting so close."
Arista's face was already close. Herwin created some distance, and Arista stepped back without complaint.
Clunk-
The sound of the door opening was heard.
Everyone turned their heads and saw Lucia and Bianca, who had already returned.
Bianca frowned slightly and whispered something to Lucia, and the more she did, the darker Lucia's face became.
"Lucia! You're back from the bathroom?"
Arista tried her best to greet her as brightly as possible in order to restore her relationship with Lucia.
However, Lucia distorted her face and left the classroom again.
Everyone was embarrassed because she looked like she was about to cry.
"Did I do something wrong again?"
Arista looked back at her friends, wondering what she had done wrong this time, but they just shook their heads.
"Herwin, what do you think?"
"……I'm going to go to Lucia."
Herwin got up from his seat with a serious expression and hurriedly followed Lucia. Arista awkwardly followed Herwin to the door.
Bianca glanced at Herwin as he passed by her, then glared at Arista, who was standing in front of the door.
"You sly fox."
It was a small voice, but it was loud enough for Arista, who was right next to her, to hear.
Arista frowned, wondering if she had misheard, and turned to the side.
Bianca, who had been glaring at Arista, let out a contemptuous laugh and then smiled and headed towards her friends.
No one noticed Bianca's change except for Arista because her attitude changed so quickly.
"……What?"
Arista frowned, feeling very bad.
Ever since she became friends with Lucia's group, Bianca had been wary of her for some reason and had been doing things to irritate her without anyone else knowing.
She almost got angry at Bianca's actions once, but she couldn't because she was one of the few people who were close to Lucia.
She couldn't let her relationship with Lucia become distant again because of Bianca.
Arista put her unpleasant feelings aside and entered the classroom.
* * *
Lucia hurriedly walked away from the classroom, trying to suppress the tears that were about to burst out.
Just now, Arista and Herwin looked like a loving couple to anyone who saw them. She didn't want to admit it, but the two of them were terribly well-matched.
Her heart was already pounding just from that, and she couldn't bear to see the two of them so close that it looked like they were about to kiss.
'That's definitely an act to make you look good. Look, she's laughing at you.'
She hoped Bianca's words were a lie, but Arista's expression as she smiled at her was close to ridicule.
'Herwin… do you really like Arista?'
She wanted to ask, but she couldn't bring herself to say it and it lingered around her throat.
If Herwin really liked her, if what she thought was right.
'What should I do…….'
"Lucia."
Lucia, who was covering her mouth and distorting her face, had no choice but to stop at the strong force that grabbed her from behind.
The person she didn't want to face right now was standing right in front of her.
"……Are you crying?"
Herwin was very embarrassed. He had followed her because her behavior had been strange for the past few days, but Lucia was crying.
To be exact, she was on the verge of crying. Her blue eyes were filled with tears, and it looked like she would burst into tears if he touched her.
Herwin was momentarily flustered, but then frowned.
"Who is it."
"Huh?"
"Who are you crying because of!"
Herwin was angry. And he was serious about it. It had been a long time since he had been this angry.
Thanks to that, the tears that were about to come out disappeared. Even though Lucia's tears had disappeared, Herwin's chest was rising and falling with anger.
"Tell me right now. What guy made you cry?"
"……Do you care that I'm crying?"
"Of course! Who wouldn't care when their only childhood friend is crying!"
It made her heart flutter that he was worried about her to the point of getting angry, but on the other hand, it hurt that he still seemed to see her only as a childhood friend.
Herwin ruffled his hair as if he was frustrated when Lucia distorted her face again.
Even though Lucia was innocent and kind, she wasn't the type to cry easily.
That's why he felt like he was going crazy because he didn't know why she was crying.
Herwin tried to suppress his boiling anger and grabbed Lucia's shoulders to match her eye level.
"It's okay, tell me quickly. What happened?"
Lucia moved her lips. She didn't know if she could tell him about the emotions she was currently experiencing.
"Lucia."
Herwin called Lucia once again.
Lucia barely met Herwin's eyes. His red eyes, which were staring at her intently, were quite serious.
That stimulated her heart and made her feel choked up again.
