<Episode 6>
“How about it? My friend is…”
“I have no intention of that.”
Antonio, who thought Herwin would naturally accept, was greatly shocked by his indifferent refusal.
“A-Are you rejecting me right now? Do you know who I am? I’m Antonio of the Travin County family!”
“Apologize.”
As Antonio got excited and huffed, Herwin cut him off.
“What?”
“Apologize. You killed the ants.”
Lucia, who had been sitting powerlessly watching the dead ants, turned her head and stared blankly at Herwin.
“You’re telling me to apologize for some measly ants?”
“Yes, because Lucia is sad that the ants died.”
Antonio scoffed and looked at Lucia. He couldn’t believe he was being told to apologize because of one insignificant little girl.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and apologize…”
As Herwin urged him to apologize, Lucia tugged at his sleeve.
“Let’s just go.”
Her gloomy look was gone, and Lucia was back to her usual self.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m a little sad, but it’s okay because Herwin got angry for me.”
“…Okay, I understand.”
Herwin helped Lucia up, and they left the spot together.
“Heyyy!”
Seeing the two people ignoring him and slowly walking away, Antonio shouted with all his might. When they turned around, he pointed at Herwin, fuming.
“I’m not done talking to you yet! Where do you think you’re going!”
“What is it? Are you going to apologize now?”
“Who said anything about apologizing!”
“Then why did you call me? I told you I’m not going to be friends with you.”
As things didn’t go his way, Antonio’s anger reached its peak. After his face turned red for a moment, he suddenly sneered.
“Being one of The Four Duke Families and just following a girl around.”
Herwin, who was about to ignore Antonio and leave, stopped abruptly.
“Am I wrong? You’re just following that girl around like a servant. Oh, are you a girl, perhaps?”
Herwin’s eyes flashed fiercely. Seeing his murderous red eyes, Antonio stepped back, and his companions whispered to him.
“Antonio, the Peneus Family only has sons.”
“Ahem, r-right? I was just confused for a moment because he looks like a girl.”
Antonio, embarrassed by the wrong information, cleared his throat and regained his composure.
Herwin’s glare was still ominous.
“Ahem, if that’s not the case, do you perhaps like that girl?”
Thump.
Herwin’s heart sank heavily. It was just a wild guess, but Herwin was greatly flustered and his face turned red. Antonio, who had accidentally caught his weakness, grinned.
“I knew it, I thought something was strange. So that’s what it was.”
Antonio let out a mocking laugh.
“Duke Peneus likes that girl!”
“They’re in that kind of relationship!”
In tune with Antonio, his companions began to tease the two of them in earnest.
Thump, thump, thump.
Just like when he was teased for being a girl in his childhood, Herwin’s heart pounded unpleasantly.
Herwin hated being teased more than anything. What happened in the north when he was young remained a trauma even after time had passed.
Herwin clenched his fists and shouted.
“Shut up! Who likes who! Lucia and I, we’re not like that!”
The children, who had been shouting in unison, closed their mouths at the resounding voice.
After a moment of silence, they grinned.
“Why are you getting angry? Is it because it’s true?”
“No, it’s not!”
“Oh, it must be true then?”
The more he reacted, the louder the commotion became, and it showed no signs of diminishing. The constant teasing stimulated Herwin’s trauma.
He was out of breath, and he began to feel nauseous.
Just as Herwin, who had barely mustered the courage, was about to open his mouth again, Lucia, who had been standing still, spoke first.
“Then do you guys like each other too?”
Lucia pointed to the three people, including Antonio.
“You guys are always sticking together like us, so are you in a relationship?”
The three children were flustered and couldn’t speak, and Lucia grinned at the sight.
“I knew it.”
The initiative instantly shifted to Lucia. Herwin closed his mouth, seeing the atmosphere change 180 degrees from before.
The pounding of his heart gradually subsided.
People who had been showing interest, wondering what was going on, began to gather at this timing, and Antonio and his companions panicked and looked around.
Then, one of his companions screamed.
“N-No, I’m not like that!”
“Me neither, n-no!”
As one person after another ran away, Antonio was left alone.
Antonio, who had lost both his wings and was fidgeting, heard the voices of people whispering about him and burst into tears.
Lucia crossed her arms triumphantly.
Embarrassed, he soon burst into tears and ran away.
“Ahahaha! Herwin, look at that.”
Herwin stared intently at Lucia, who was giggling.
His calmed heart began to beat a little faster. Unlike before, when he was only scared and afraid, this time his heart fluttered with comfort and excitement.
Herwin’s earlobes were already red.
Of course, no one knew about his change. Not even Herwin himself.
* * *
Herwin and Lucia, who had returned to Agnes Estate, headed to the playroom as usual.
Unlike Lucia, who was humming, Herwin followed her with a somewhat dark expression.
He was bothered by what had happened in the park just now. To be exact, he was curious about Lucia’s reaction.
He was too flustered at the time to say that he didn’t like Lucia, but it wasn’t true.
He didn’t ‘like’ Lucia as a woman, as those children said, but he did ‘like’ her as a friend.
He was worried that she might have been hurt by his words.
“Herwin! Let’s play with this today!”
Lucia held out a toy to Herwin. Herwin didn’t take it and remained still before opening his mouth.
“Lucia.”
“Yeah?”
“Hey, were you upset with me just now?”
“Just now? Why would I be upset with you?”
“I said I didn’t, didn’t… like you.”
Lucia opened her mouth wide and spaced out for a moment. Her brow furrowed as if she was thinking about something.
“Ah! When that Antonio or whatever teased us about being in a relationship?”
“Yeah, were you upset?”
“No?”
Lucia shook her head so firmly. It was a relief that she wasn’t hurt, but why was her reaction bothering him?
“Why weren’t you upset?”
“Hmm… well, you like me, right?”
“Wh-What?”
“I like Herwin, and Herwin likes me too, right? Isn’t that right?”
After being flustered for a moment, Herwin was able to properly interpret Lucia’s words.
Her ‘like’ was ‘like’ as a friend. Not the ‘like’ he was thinking of.
“And, you really hate it when other people tease you.”
“How did you know…”
“Well, Herwin gets really angry when someone talks about Herwin, right? And it’s okay if you don’t like me. I like Herwin!”
Lucia smiled brightly, showing her teeth. She was already engrossed in the toy again.
Herwin stood blankly, watching the brown hair gradually moving away.
The tickling sensation he had felt in the park started again. And at the same time, he felt an inexplicable discomfort.
“That’s strange…”
“Herwin! I said let’s play together!”
“Yeah! I’m going!”
Herwin ignored his pounding heart and ran to Lucia.
* * *
Lucia hummed as she looked at the things she had put inside the Music Box. The Music Box with the beautiful sound was a gift she had received at the New Year's Party when she was five years old.
Herwin, who was sitting on the sofa watching Lucia, opened his mouth.
“Lucia, what on earth have you put in there?”
“It’s a secret from Herwin too!”
“Tch, it’s not like something bad will happen if you tell me.”
Lucia hugged the Music Box tightly, refusing to show it, and Herwin grumbled.
“Why are you so curious? It’s a treasure box. She must have things she cherishes.”
Lucas, who was reading a book next to them, said bluntly without taking his eyes off the book.
“Since she’s been into insects lately, there might be insect carcasses in there. When she was collecting leaves, there were only leaves in there.”
Shivers-
Imagining insects in the Music Box made goosebumps rise all over his body.
“It’s not insects. It’s my treasure.”
“See? Looking at her reaction, it must be insects.”
Lucia puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
Knock knock-
“Yes, come in.”
At Lucas’s words, the door opened and a maid bowed her head.
“The Count is calling for the young masters and the young lady.”
“Father is? All of us?”
The maid nodded. Suddenly calling for everyone. The three children looked at each other, wondering what was going on.
They followed the maid to a room, and before the door was fully open, they could hear Henry’s crying from inside.
“Henry!”
Herwin rushed inside, worried that something terrible had happened to Henry.
“Huh?”
“Oh! That person is…”
Soon, the children could see someone holding the sobbing Henry in their arms, looking flustered.
“This is troubling… Henry, do you really not remember me?”
The person holding Henry was none other than Hyle. Herwin opened his mouth, mesmerized, and approached him as if possessed by the familiar face he hadn’t seen in a year and a half.
“…Father?”
Hyle, who had been struggling to soothe Henry, belatedly discovered Herwin and smiled brightly.
“My goodness, my son. You’ve grown so much.”
“…You’re really my father, right?”
“Of course, who else would I be if not your real father. Shall we see how much our son has grown?”
Hyle, unchanged from before, smiled gently with his handsome features and lifted Herwin up.
“Wow, you’ve gotten a lot heavier! It looks like you’ve grown a lot taller too?”
“It’s Father… it’s really Father!”
Herwin, who had been wide-eyed with surprise, let out a joyful shout and hugged Hyle’s neck tightly.
“Hahaha, I’m glad Herwin remembers me. I was worried about what to do if you didn’t recognize me either, since Henry didn’t recognize me.”
“He was barely two years old when you left, so it can’t be helped. He can gradually get used to your face from now on.”
Scarlet was giving a genuine smile, not the powerless smile she had been giving all this time. After waiting for a long time, the whole family had finally gathered.
Lucas, recalling his vague memories, clapped his hands together.
“Ah, so you were Duke Peneus.”
“Duke Peneus is… Herwin’s father?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Do you perhaps not remember him?”
“Hmm, I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere… he looks just like Herwin.”
“Of course. He’s Herwin’s father.”
Lucia didn’t remember Hyle at all, even though they had lived together for a short time.
“Father! Are we going to be together now? Have you defeated all the Monsters?”
“Yes, I’ve come down after wiping out all the Monsters.”
“Wow! Hooray!”
“Hehe, now the whole family will go up to the north and live like before.”
“Pardon?”
Herwin, who had been smiling brightly, stopped smiling as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have. Scarlet tilted her head.
“Aren’t you happy? You’ve been singing about wanting to see your father so much.”
“It’s good to be with Father, but…”
Herwin trailed off and looked at the floor. At the doorway, the Agnes siblings were talking.
“Then, are we leaving here?”
“That’s right. We’re going back home, so of course.”
“……….”
He had mixed feelings. He was overjoyed to meet his real father and to finally be able to live with his whole family, but he couldn’t just smile.
“Huh? Is there something on my face?”
Lucia, who had made eye contact with Herwin, touched her face.
If they went to the north, he wouldn’t be able to see Lucia anymore. That fact brought a deep sense of loss to Herwin.
