<Episode 8>
“What’s your name, noona?”
“Lucia Agnes.”
“I’m Henry Peneus! Noona, marry me!”
“What?”
“Henry!”
“Eek! Hyung!”
Before Lucia could feel embarrassed, Herwin hurriedly pulled Henry away.
Henry, held by Herwin, struggled, demanding to be let go.
At that moment, Lucia and Herwin’s eyes met.
His face, somehow missed, felt both familiar and strange, creating a peculiar feeling. As Herwin hesitantly parted his lips, Lucia spoke first.
“Herwin, it’s been a while.”
“Oh? Oh, yeah… it’s been a while.”
“Herwin! You’ve grown so much! And I’m not short either!”
Lucas, who was next to Lucia, suddenly poked his face out. Herwin’s eyes widened for a moment before he chuckled.
“It’s been a while, hyung.”
“Oh, you remember me?”
“Of course, I remember you. I was in the Kingdom for over a year.”
“Really? Lucia doesn’t seem to remember much. I thought you wouldn’t remember well either, since you’re the same age as Lucia.”
He greeted me so happily, I thought he remembered everything unlike me. Was that not the case?
When Herwin turned his gaze to Lucia, she scratched her cheek awkwardly.
“Ugh! Let go!”
Henry finally broke free from Herwin and stuck to Lucia like a cicada.
“Henry-?”
Herwin spoke gently, yet with a hint of fear, causing Henry to tremble. The red eyes within his beautifully curved eyes were sharp.
“What kind of behavior is this towards a guest?”
“Ugh, th, that’s…….”
No matter how stubborn he was, he couldn’t ignore his hyung’s words. As Henry was scared of Herwin, Lucia, who had been watching the situation, embraced Henry’s back.
“I’m okay. Henry, do you want to play with me?”
“……Yes! Noona!”
“Then, I’ll play with you in a fun way, so how about holding my hand instead of this?”
It was difficult to balance with Henry clinging to her like that. As Lucia smiled and held out her hand, Henry’s eyes sparkled.
“Okay! Okay!”
Herwin was very displeased with the situation where Henry was smiling brightly and constantly clinging to Lucia.
Herwin, who had been glaring at Henry, subtly turned his gaze away when he met Lucia’s eyes.
The reunion of the two, who had been inseparable childhood friends in the past, was not as smooth as others had thought.
A scene filled with a strange and subtle discomfort. But within it, there was clearly anticipation and excitement for each other.
* * *
“Wow, your castle is really big. This is my first time seeing a place like this.”
“I know, is it because they rule the North? It’s huge, almost like the Imperial Palace!”
Lucia and Lucas toured the Duke’s castle, guided by Herwin and Henry.
Herwin walked ahead, guiding them through the castle, while Henry followed closely beside Lucia, never letting go of her hand.
“Noona, noona. A scary witch used to live here. So there are ghosts and stuff.”
“Really? It does feel a bit eerie.”
As Lucia shivered unnecessarily, Henry’s eyes changed.
“Are you scared? Don’t worry! Henry will protect noona!”
“The little rascal hasn’t changed at all. He never thought of leaving Lucia’s side even back then.”
“If I become your husband, I’ll give you anything, noona!”
“You little rascal! Who said anything about getting married? I have no intention of giving my sister to you, so dream on.”
“Ugh, don’t interfere!”
Lucas chuckled and pressed down on Henry’s head.
Henry seriously swung his arms and tried to attack Lucas, but there was no way a 5-year-old could beat a 10-year-old boy.
Lucia, finally free from Henry, slowly approached Herwin.
Herwin pursed his lips as Lucia approached.
Unlike Lucas and Henry, who were playing around in front, the two of them couldn’t utter a single light word.
Lucia felt very uncomfortable with the current situation. Wondering if she was the only one feeling uncomfortable, she raised her head, which had been lowered.
Just then-
Herwin’s eyes met hers.
Both of them startled and trembled, then quickly turned their heads away.
After a moment of their hearts pounding, Lucia wondered what she was doing and turned her head back again.
“Um…….”
“Yeah?”
Herwin replied awkwardly, feeling the same way as Lucia.
“Um, how have you been……?”
“Oh? Oh, well, yeah…….”
The conversation couldn’t continue and stopped abruptly. As silence fell again, Herwin spoke first this time.
“Have you been doing well too?”
“Me? Well… I recently hired a new piano teacher and I’m learning the piano. How about you?”
“Um… just, I’m taking various classes and liberal arts from a tutor as usual. And I’m practicing swordsmanship.”
“Swordsmanship? Is it your dream to become a knight?”
“Rather than a knight, I want to become a great swordsman like my dad.”
Herwin’s face, which had been slightly stiff, relaxed.
“Well, I heard that Duke Peneus is a very famous swordsman. He’s definitely a Sword, Sword… what was it…….”
“Sword Master. The idol of all swordsmen. If only my dad was here, he could defeat any enemy! Not only that, but Sword Masters can freely control aura! My dad’s aura is……!”
Herwin, who had suddenly become excited, poured out stories about Hyle. Then, he stopped abruptly, seeing Lucia's round, blue eyes.
“Ah, I, I’m sorry… I got a little excited…….”
“Oh, no, it’s okay. It seems like you really like the Duke?”
“Well… everyone does.”
“Me too! I like my dad the most in the world too!”
Herwin, who had been scratching his head awkwardly, met Lucia’s smiling eyes.
The awkwardness had gradually disappeared, and a sense of comfort began to settle in little by little.
“Waaaaah! Hyung!”
The sound of crying in the middle ruined everything.
Henry ran to Lucia, crying sadly, and hugged her. He seemed to have called for Herwin, but the person he was actually looking for was Lucia.
“No, noona! Noona, scold that bad hyung for me!”
Henry pointed to Lucas, who was behind him, with tears welling up in his eyes.
“Um… what did my oppa say?”
“He said I’m too young to marry noona! But I’m going to marry noona!”
“Did I say anything wrong? And I told you I’m not giving my sister to anyone else, right?”
Lucas teased Henry a lot and put his arm around Lucia’s shoulder.
Henry seemed to be provoked again and started shouting not to do that.
“Oppa, stop teasing him. He’s still young…….”
“Hahaha, sorry, sorry. It’s just that his reaction is so funny.”
“I hate hyung the most!”
“Hmph, what are you going to do about it if you hate me? I’m Lucia’s oppa.”
When Lucas put his face next to Lucia’s, it was immediately clear that they were siblings, as they looked quite alike.
Henry seemed to acknowledge that as well, and he pursed his lips, looking at their equally clear blue eyes.
“Ah, it’s almost dinner time. Shall we go to the dining hall soon?”
Herwin intervened to change the atmosphere.
“What time is it now?”
“6:30.”
“Huh? Is that all? But why am I so hungry?”
“Well, it’s because we’ve been touring the castle for three hours.”
Unlike the awkward Lucia, Herwin talked to Lucas without hesitation.
Lucia quietly watched the two of them gradually moving away.
“Noona, aren’t you coming?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I have to go.”
Lucia, snapping out of it at Henry’s call, grabbed his hand tightly and hurriedly followed the two of them.
* * *
Five days had already passed since they came to the Duke’s castle.
The Agnes siblings and the Peneus brothers had become as close as they were when they lived together in the Kingdom in the past, and they were able to spend time together without the awkwardness they felt at their first meeting.
However, one thing that was slightly different from the past was that Herwin no longer stayed by Lucia’s side all the time.
Whether it was because he didn’t remember all of his past memories, or because he found it easier to get along with Lucas, who was older than him, he often spent time with Lucas rather than Lucia.
That didn’t mean he was ostracizing Lucia.
They still got along well when they were together, and they often joked around, but it felt awkward to call them inseparable friends like before.
“Noona! Noona! Read this to me!”
While Lucia was blankly watching Herwin, who was talking to Lucas and smiling brightly, Henry called her.
“Okay, what should I read to you?”
“This! Noona comes out in this one?”
“Huh? I come out?”
“Yeah! Look here!”
Henry, who naturally sat on Lucia’s lap, opened the book and showed her a scene.
In it, there was a woman with brown hair and blue eyes, just like Lucia, smelling flowers in the middle of a forest.
‘Huh? I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before.’
Even though it was clearly the first time she had seen the picture and the fairy tale book, it felt strangely familiar at this moment. As if she had experienced it sometime before.
Lucia, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, gazed intently at the picture that resembled her.
Henry, who had been chattering away, felt puzzled when it became quiet behind him and raised his head. And without realizing it, he opened his mouth.
Her beautiful blue eyes were filled with melancholy, as if she was deep in thought about something.
Henry felt a tickling sensation in his chest.
‘Mom told me to put my mark on anything I like first.’
Henry thought that he would leave his mark before anyone else could take her.
Chu-
The space that had been noisy with chatter suddenly became quiet at that moment. Thanks to that, Henry’s kissing sound was heard loudly.
Not only Lucia, who had suddenly been kissed, but also Lucas and Herwin, who had been having a fun conversation among themselves, widened their eyes and looked at Henry.
“Noona is mine now.”
“……This also feels familiar somehow.”
Lucia looked down at Henry, stroking her cheek with a sullen expression.
“Th, that… little brat!”
Lucas’s face turned red and he hurriedly pulled Henry away from Lucia.
Lucia felt a subtle sense of déjà vu at this moment as well, as if she was experiencing it in a dream. As she did, she unknowingly turned her gaze to Herwin.
She felt that the person who should be pulling Henry away from her right now should be Herwin, not Lucas.
“I’m sorry that my brother is bothering you. I think he really likes you. He usually doesn’t act like this.”
“Oh? Oh, it’s okay. I guess it can happen.”
“I’ll give him a stern scolding. It won’t happen again.”
Herwin got up from his seat and began to stop Lucas and Henry, who were already arguing.
“……This isn’t it.”
A sense of loss that she couldn’t explain gradually washed over her.
Herwin’s actions of comforting his younger brother were perfectly natural, but for some reason, she felt upset about it.
Would it be strange to think that in this situation, it would be natural to get angry, rather than comforting him nicely?
Thump, thump, thump……!
Her quiet heart began to reveal its presence.
The increasingly loud throbbing brought with it a strange feeling along with unpleasantness. Lucia didn’t know how to define the emotions she was currently feeling.
