<Episode 24>
Among her friends, Arista especially seemed restless, watching Lucia carefully.
Arista whispered softly to Herwin, so only he could hear.
"...Is it because of me, perhaps?"
Before Herwin went to Lucia, Arista had asked him to speak well of her, and that bothered her.
'Because of Arista...'
Strictly speaking, it couldn't be said that she wasn't involved. But, it couldn't be said that it was because of her either.
"It's not that, so don't worry about it."
His tone was quite gentle, especially compared to how he spoke when he had argued with Lucia.
Lucia seemed to notice it too, as she flinched and buried her head further between her arms.
"Alright, everyone, take your seats."
Just as everyone was watching Lucia, the professor came in at a good time. The friends had no choice but to go to their respective seats.
Ethan and Christine, who were sitting in the front row, kept glancing back, watching Lucia carefully.
"Who is that person lying face down in the back?"
When the professor pointed out Lucia, who was lying on her desk, Lucia slowly rose from her seat. Her eyes were already more swollen than before.
Even though she was trying to hide her face with her hair like a ghost, Herwin, who was next to her, could see her face all too well.
His chest felt heavy.
"Haa..."
Hearing the deep sigh, Lucia clenched her fists so tightly that they turned white.
* * *
Sniff, sniff.
The sound of someone sniffing echoed in the dusty storage room.
This was the place where Bianca and Lucia shared their secret stories.
Lucia confided in Bianca about her fight with Herwin.
Bianca never imagined such a thing could happen, so she covered her mouth, which had opened on its own.
"What if Herwin... starts to hate me now?"
The emotions she had barely calmed down welled up again. Herwin, who had treated her coldly for the first time, was vividly replaying in her mind.
The look in his eyes as he looked down at her was clearly contempt.
Lucia knew her own faults. They were just words that she couldn't understand even though she had said them herself.
In reality, Arista wasn't that mean, nor was she a fox who flirted with men.
Nevertheless, the reason she belittled her was perhaps because she wanted her to be that kind of person.
'Ah, this is the worst.'
She was truly the worst kind of person.
Blinded by jealousy, she couldn't distinguish between what she should and shouldn't say.
All this time, she had hated and even loathed those who arbitrarily judged others, yet she was no different from them.
What must Herwin have thought when he saw that side of her? Lucia's insides burned black.
The guilt and apology towards Arista. Yet, she was tormented by her own ugly heart that hated her.
She didn't want to be like this, but she couldn't control her heart at all. She just wanted to wash away the heart stained with dirty emotions.
"Herwin is so disappointing. I thought he was tough to get since he hasn't accepted your confessions even after you've confessed over 60 times... but how could he do that to you? He should listen to you even more since you're not usually the type to say those things."
Bianca cursed on Lucia's behalf.
"Does that mean his childhood friend is less important than a girl he's only known for three months? I thought he had a good eye for people, but he's completely wrong. How can he think well of Lydia? No, in the first place, what do men like about the princess? Appearance? Status? Personality? I really can't understand it."
Lucia, who had been silently listening to Bianca, raised her head. A faint wrinkle was etched on Lucia's brow.
"Status, well, she was born into the famous Lydia family, so I guess that's understandable, but appearance? Hmph, there are plenty of people like that everywhere. And her personality doesn't seem that great either. She only pretends to be easygoing in front of the guys, acting like she's broad-minded unlike other girls, but when she's with the girls, she doesn't even join the conversation properly. What is she, saying she's on a different level from us?"
The complaints that had been unleashed once started to grow. They were no longer words of comfort to Lucia. They were the complaints that Bianca had accumulated against Arista.
'Something's wrong...'
The more she listened, the more Lucia instinctively felt that Bianca was wrong.
She couldn't easily judge how the situation was turning out. No, she felt like she shouldn't judge.
"Lucia, are you just going to stand by like this?"
Bianca, who had been pouring out her feelings to her heart's content, was now excited and her eyes were flashing. Lucia shrank her shoulders without realizing it.
"What...?"
"Are you going to let Herwin be taken away by Lydia like this?"
"...But, there's nothing I can do."
She didn't want to lose Herwin to Arista like this, but she didn't have a good way to get her away from Herwin's side.
"Why isn't there? You just have to make Herwin realize that Lydia is not a good person."
"...How?"
Arista was a wonderful and cool person in everyone's eyes, so how could she possibly belittle her? Moreover, Lucia didn't know how to prove that fact.
Seeing Lucia looking bewildered, Bianca smiled slyly.
"Listen, if you do this..."
Even though it was a storage room with only the two of them, Bianca whispered into Lucia's ear.
Lucia, who had been listening for a while, widened her eyes in shock.
"Bianca, that's...!"
"Shh, no one will know if we're quiet. You just have to reveal in front of people that Arista has a stealing habit."
"But, that's not true. I can't do it."
Lucia shook her head with a pale face. If she did as Bianca said, Herwin would be disappointed in her, but she didn't like such a despicable method.
Bianca's face hardened coldly at Lucia's refusal.
"Lucia, are you going to just keep looking at Herwin's back forever like this?"
Her dark brown eyes, which held no emotion, felt chilling.
As Lucia froze in fear, Bianca smiled kindly as if she had never done that. Then, she pulled Lucia's shoulder, which was a little away, and patted her.
"First of all, the top priority is to get Herwin to lose interest in Arista. Once you achieve that, Herwin will definitely give up on Arista and look at you again."
"...But."
"You've already confessed over 60 times. Shouldn't he accept your confession in consideration of your sincerity? And if Lydia's true colors are revealed, Herwin will definitely feel sorry for you, right?"
For a moment, she was unknowingly tempted.
"Today, he believed Lydia instead of you, so if he knows that it's a lie, he'll definitely apologize to you. He'll say, 'Ah, I misjudged people. Please forgive me? Lucia?'"
It was such a sweet temptation that she wanted to fall for it right away. However, Lucia felt more and more uncomfortable with the part that was touching Bianca, as if bugs were crawling on it.
"So, just believe in me and you just have to put it into action. I'll help you."
Lucia, who couldn't answer anything at first, eventually nodded slowly.
* * *
A quiet classroom, it was time for individual lessons, so the classroom was empty.
Lucia swallowed hard and stepped into the quiet classroom.
"Put this in Arista's bag..."
Lucia was holding a wallet in her hand. It was Lucia's own wallet.
But she was holding her wallet and standing in Arista's seat, not her own.
Lucia bit her lower lip tightly and clenched her wallet tightly.
'Put your wallet in Arista's seat or bag. And then make a fuss about your wallet being gone and find your missing wallet in Arista's seat.'
It was a plan that Bianca had come up with to separate Arista from Herwin.
It had already been a week since she said this. She had been postponing Bianca's words to carry it out the very next day, and eventually a week had passed.
In other words, it had been a week since she had argued with Herwin.
Lucia had never had a proper conversation with Herwin in the week since that incident.
Both Lucia and Herwin didn't bother to talk to each other to resolve their relationship, so the awkwardness continued until now.
It was the first time that Lucia and Herwin had grown so far apart, so Lucia didn't know what to do.
She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't have the courage because she felt like he would say, 'Don't tell me you're not even reflecting on your mistakes and you're talking to me?'
Besides, she was now plotting to tarnish Arista's reputation, let alone reflecting on her mistakes.
Lucia's head throbbed.
One ego arguing that this shouldn't be done and another ego telling her to make Herwin hers even if it meant doing this were constantly fighting in her head.
Lucia hesitated for 10 minutes, unable to do anything, and eventually closed her eyes tightly and put her wallet in Arista's bag.
Then, she hurried out of the classroom, afraid that someone would see her.
"Okay. This is it..."
She had decided to make things difficult for Arista, so she shouldn't regret it, but Lucia's face was terribly distorted and looked very distressed.
Lucia's pace, which had been quickening down the hallway, gradually slowed down and eventually stopped.
She stood in the empty hallway for a long time.
Then, she started walking again.
* * *
Hmm~ Huhuheum~ Heum~
Christine turned her head at the humming coming from next to her.
"Bianca, did something good happen?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes, you've been smiling and humming since a while ago."
"Ah... did I?"
"What happened that makes you so happy?"
"Um... it's a secret."
Bianca, who had been pondering for a while, smiled playfully and brought her index finger to her lips.
Even when Christine asked again out of curiosity, Bianca kept saying it was a secret and avoided answering.
"By the way, Lucia is late. I wonder if something happened to her?"
Lucia, who said she was going to the bathroom, hadn't come back even after 20 minutes. As time went on, Christine became worried about her.
"Lucia is not a child, so nothing will happen. She must have gone somewhere in the middle besides the bathroom."
"Do you think so?"
Despite Bianca's answer, Christine kept glancing at the place where Lucia had disappeared, as if she was worried about her.
Bianca, regardless of whether Christine was looking for Lucia or not, was humming again and watching Herwin, who was diligently swinging his sword.
The corners of her mouth formed an arc.
"Excuse me, Bianca."
A dark shadow fell over Bianca's head. Bianca frowned as soon as she heard the familiar voice.
"Um, can I talk to you for a moment?"
A male student who seemed to be in the same grade blushed and waited for Bianca to answer.
He couldn't be said to have an outstanding appearance compared to the friends he hung out with, but he was an attractive and handsome man.
Anyone could tell that he was about to confess to Bianca. Christine, who was next to her, covered her mouth with her hand and exclaimed in admiration.
However, Bianca didn't like it at all and didn't hide her displeasure.
She was about to shout at him to go away, but she realized that not only Christine but also several people were watching her, and she glared at the male student in front of her.
"Haa... let's talk somewhere else."
Despite her reluctance, the male student's face brightened.
After Bianca and the male student disappeared, Christine widened her eyes and shone her light blue eyes like glass beads.
"...Christine, what are you doing?"
"Lucia!"
Lucia had arrived. She could see Christine's excited expression.
"Why are you so excited? Is there something good going on?"
"Lucia, did you see it just now? It looks like a guy is about to confess to Bianca!"
"What? Really?"
Lucia's face brightened as much as Christine's. The two girls were excited as if they were the ones receiving the confession.
"Oh my gosh, a confession. Bianca is amazing."
"Come to think of it, Bianca is quite popular, isn't she? She got confessed to by some guy last time too."
"That's right, come to think of it, she seems to get confessed to a lot."
"I wonder if she'll accept it this time. He seemed like a nice person."
While Christine and Lucia were spreading their imaginations among themselves, Bianca happened to return.
The two immediately grabbed Bianca as if they had been waiting for her.
