<Episode 9>
Creak-
The door opened, and someone came in.
Standing in the doorway were a girl and a boy who looked to be Lucas's age or slightly older.
They had been chatting and laughing, but they stopped abruptly when they saw the four children in the room, startled.
"We, we're sorry! Young Master. We didn't know anyone was here...!"
"Please forgive us!"
It was an understandable mistake, but the two of them turned visibly pale and trembled.
"So, if I hadn't been here, you were planning to use this place as you pleased?"
A chilling voice, one they had never heard before, echoed.
Herwin, who had been smiling just moments ago, hardened his expression as if it were a lie.
"Hey, why are you getting so angry? It could have been a mistake."
Lucas, sensing something was off, nudged Herwin.
"That's right, just don't do it again. Hyung, Nuna, you can go now."
Henry agreed with Lucas and sent the trembling pair away.
They quickly left, afraid that Lucas and Henry might change their minds.
Lucas watched the closed door and glared at Herwin, who looked displeased with the situation.
"Hey, what's wrong with you all of a sudden? There's no need to be so sensitive."
"........."
"Hyung doesn't like those Hyung and Nuna. Whenever he sees them, his eyebrows change like this."
Henry, answering for Herwin, scrunched up his own eyebrows exaggeratedly, imitating Herwin.
"Did something happen with those people?"
"...No, nothing."
Herwin barely managed to stammer out a reply to the cautious question. Then, he returned to his usual self and started playing with Lucas and Henry.
The quiet space was instantly filled with laughter.
Hahahahaha-
Among the laughing children, only Lucia didn't smile, watching the others play together.
For a while, she couldn't take her eyes off Herwin.
* * *
"Nuna! Nuna! Look at this!"
"It's a clover."
"They say you can make a ring out of this! I'll make a ring and give it to Nuna!"
"I'm looking forward to it."
Lucia smiled brightly, and Henry immediately perked up, focusing on making a ring with his small hands.
They were currently on a small hill behind the Duke's castle.
Having heard the story of the four-leaf clover that brings good luck, the four of them were desperately searching for it.
"Wow, it's really hard to find."
"Yeah, there are so many clovers, but I can't see a single four-leaf one."
"That's why it's called luck, right? Luck doesn't come to just anyone."
"Is that so? I'm going to find it no matter what."
Lucas's eyes blazed with passion.
Tug-
Just then, someone tugged on her sleeve. She looked to her side and saw Henry standing there, fidgeting.
"What's wrong?"
"Henry, wants to pee..."
"Huh?"
"Nuna, can you go with Henry to pee?"
Lucia's eyes trembled like aspen leaves.
"O, Oppa."
"Yeah?"
Lucia eventually sent an SOS to Lucas.
"Henry wants to go to the bathroom."
"...But why are you telling me that?"
"He wants me to go with him..."
"Is that so? Then I have no choice."
Lucas got up and approached Henry.
Henry didn't like Lucas, who teased him all the time.
Henry stuck close to Lucia and glared at Lucas, who snorted. Then, he picked up the small child.
"Uwaaa! Let me down!"
"If you want to go to the bathroom, you should ask me or your Hyung. Why are you asking Lucia?"
"I don't like Hyung! Go away!"
"I can't help it even if you don't like it. Now, let's go over there..."
"Uwaaaang! I want to go over there!"
Henry, seemingly hating it that much, burst into tears. As Henry's crying grew louder, Herwin turned his head.
"Hyung, should I go?"
"No, it's okay. Henry, stop crying... Eek!"
Lucas, who was patting Henry, screamed.
"Aaa! What are you doing peeing here!"
With a slight smell, Lucas's clothes, which were holding Henry, began to get wet.
Henry, who had been crying, had made a mistake because he was relaxed.
Henry cried even more, whether he was upset or ashamed.
"Oppa, I'm sorry, I should have just gone with you..."
"No, it's okay. I didn't know you'd take revenge like this..."
Lucas let out a hollow laugh and patted Henry's back.
"I'm going to go into the castle and change clothes with Henry. You guys stay here."
"Are you sure you're okay going alone? Together..."
"I said I'm okay. This is nothing."
Lucas waved his hand as Herwin tried to approach. Lucas eventually patted Henry and headed towards the Duke's castle.
Henry called out to Lucia and Herwin, but his voice only faded away.
Lucia and Herwin were left alone. They felt somewhat uncomfortable when they were alone, so they awkwardly looked elsewhere.
"Shall we hurry up and find a four-leaf clover?"
"Huh? Uh, let's do that."
At Lucia's suggestion, the two began searching for a four-leaf clover again.
"Um, Herwin."
In the awkward silence, Lucia, who had been silently examining the clovers, called out to Herwin.
"Yeah?"
"There's something I want to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Yesterday, some Hyung and Nuna came into the room by mistake, right?"
Herwin paused.
"Why were you so angry then?"
"...Why are you curious about that?"
"Um, because you don't seem like the type to get angry for no reason?"
Herwin raised his head, which had been lowered.
"...You've only known me for a week."
"But, we lived together for about a year and a half before."
"That was already two years ago, though? To be honest, I don't remember much from then. Do you remember everything that happened between us back then?"
"I don't remember everything either, but... I still know you're not that kind of person."
Herwin's face contorted. He couldn't understand what Lucia was saying.
What made her think he wasn't that kind of person?
He would be grateful if she saw him in a good light, but that didn't mean he would reveal secrets he wanted to hide.
An unforgettable memory flashed through his mind.
The days when he, younger than Henry is now, was ridiculed and mocked by the children of the Gods.
No matter how much time passed, he could never forget it. Herwin's face hardened as he recalled the unpleasant memory.
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"...I'm not someone who would go around telling people."
"I said I don't want to talk about it! Why should I tell you something like that in the first place?"
Herwin's tone became sharp as his irritation grew.
"Because... I'm your friend..."
"Friend? We might have been close when we were younger, but not anymore. I don't think we're close enough to share our innermost thoughts."
Herwin glared at Lucia with cold eyes. It was a clear rejection and wariness.
Lucia suddenly felt sad.
'You used to listen to everything I said.'
It was so long ago that she couldn't be sure, but she instinctively felt that way.
The current Herwin and the Herwin of the past were so different.
That made her feel sad and angry, and Lucia pouted.
"Where are you going?"
Lucia, who had suddenly stood up, didn't say anything and went deeper into the forest.
"Hey! You can't go too deep inside!"
"Why do you care! I'll do whatever I want!"
Herwin was dumbfounded by Lucia's outburst, which he was hearing for the first time.
After a moment of bewilderment, Herwin's expression also turned sulky.
"Fine, do whatever you want!"
Lucia, who had entered the forest, shouted loudly.
"Herwin is a dummy!"
"What? A dummy? If I'm a dummy, then you're an idiot!"
"Ah! Okay, I'm an idiot, so don't follow me!"
"Hmph, who said I was going to follow you!"
After taking a few deep breaths, she looked at where Lucia had been, but she had already disappeared into the forest.
"Why is she the one getting angry?"
It was ridiculous that she was the one getting angry when she was the one who had provoked him first.
Herwin grumbled about Lucia, saying that he had misjudged her all along.
After complaining for a few minutes, Herwin glanced at the forest where Lucia had gone.
'You must never go into the forest alone. There are no Monsters, but it's dangerous because there are wild animals. So, you must not go into the forest alone without an adult.'
He remembered what Hyle had said before.
"She wouldn't go too deep if she wasn't an idiot."
He had warned her, so she probably wouldn't go too far inside.
Herwin thought so and began to tear at the clovers irritably.
"........."
After taking his anger out on the innocent clovers for a long time, Herwin stopped abruptly and slightly raised his head.
His gaze was directed towards the forest where Lucia had gone.
"...Seriously, she's making me worry."
He couldn't stand being so concerned about Lucia.
He felt that if he had responded more gently, she wouldn't have gotten angry or gone into the forest.
He usually wouldn't care about what others did, but he couldn't just ignore Lucia.
"Is it because we used to be together...?"
He wondered if old memories that he couldn't remember were holding him back.
His heart ached at the thought of her face, which had always shown a bright smile, being distorted and covered in tears.
"Aaa, really!"
Overwhelmed by an unknown emotion, he grabbed and tore at any grass in a fit of anger.
Herwin, who was about to throw away the pulled-out grass, stopped abruptly when he saw a large leaf stuck between his fingers.
"...Huh? It's a four-leaf clover."
Among the clovers that had been torn, there was, by sheer coincidence, a four-leaf clover.
The four-leaf clover, which was larger than the other clovers, was intact without any tears.
"Wow! It's really a four-leaf clover!"
Herwin jumped up from his seat, excited by the fact that he had found a four-leaf clover.
But as the emotions welled up, he felt the quiet surroundings and looked around.
If Lucia had been there, she would have been as happy as if it were her own accomplishment.
The corners of Herwin's lips gradually turned downwards.
The excited mood instantly sank. Herwin, with a complicated heart, looked at the four-leaf clover and carefully clenched his fist so that the clover wouldn't be damaged.
"I have no choice. I have to go find her."
Surely, if he gave her this clover, Lucia's mood would improve.
It was a little, just a little, regrettable to give away the four-leaf clover he had finally found, but if it could improve her mood, he wouldn't mind giving away as many as it took.
'Wow, are you giving this to me?'
He imagined Lucia's face lighting up when he gave her the four-leaf clover.
"Really, I wonder if Lucia knows how I feel."
Even though he was grumbling, his face was brighter than before.
Herwin, excited at the thought of getting along with Lucia again, hummed to himself without realizing it and entered the forest where Lucia had gone.
* * *
"Dummy, mutt, sea squirt, squid...!"
Lucia, who had entered the forest, spat out all the bad words she could think of.
She stomped her feet with all her might, breathing heavily.
Thump thump-!
"Herwin is a dummy idiot."
If he didn't want to talk about it, he could have just said so, but was there really a need to get so angry?
Sniff, sob.
She had been trying to hold it in, but tears and snot had already begun to appear.
She didn't want to cry because she felt like she would be losing to Herwin if she shed tears over something like this.
Lucia hurriedly wiped away the tears that were welling up with her sleeve. Nevertheless, the innocent tears didn't understand their owner's heart and began to fall without a care.
"Sniff, Herwin is a dummy..."
She was more upset by the fact that he didn't accept her as a friend than by the fact that he had gotten angry.
She wondered if the reason he had been spending more time with Lucas was because he didn't think of her as a friend, and her heart ached.
"I don't, I don't need a friend like Herwin either!"
She decided to hate Herwin, and even though she spoke her decision out loud, her pent-up feelings didn't seem to be relieved.
The more she thought about him, the more sadness washed over her.
"Sob, sniffle, sniffling..."
She had only been shedding tears, but she eventually burst into tears.
Waaaaah-
The small cry echoed like a meow in the forest.
