Chapter 105
Arista didn’t relax until the carriage had moved far enough from Agnes’s mansion and Becky was out of sight.
“Sigh… persistent, aren’t they?”
Arista chuckled and turned her head, but froze when she noticed Lucas staring at her with a dazed expression.
“…Are we… dating?”
Lucas muttered this quietly. At first, Arista didn’t understand, but her face immediately flushed, and she panicked.
“Ah, well… given the situation, I thought I’d have to lie! You’re not exactly someone who’d let go easily!”
As she tried to wave her hand dismissively, Arista suddenly realized she was still holding Lucas’s hand.
With a short squeal, she let go.
“Kyaa! S-sorry, Oppa! When did I even—”
The usually charismatic Arista, who often played mischievous pranks, suddenly became flustered and clumsy. Lucas, seeing this, couldn’t help but relax.
Laughing heartily, Arista pressed her lips tightly together.
“Hahaha! Yeah, you’re right. Thanks to you, I was able to smoothly pull away. Thanks.”
Lucas softened his gaze and gently patted Arista on the head. Arista’s cheeks, already flushed, grew even hotter.
“You really surprised me, though. Suddenly holding my chin and saying we’re dating… Yesterday, when you said you liked me, I was already shocked.”
Lucas laughed, recalling how he almost misunderstood her, but his laughter gradually softened.
The sunset light streaming through the window fell across Arista’s face, making it seem as if her cheeks were glowing even more.
Her hesitant, slightly trembling lips, her eyes appearing flushed in the evening light, and her shy expression—
It was a picture-perfect scene, and Lucas found himself staring, lost in thought.
He covered his mouth with one hand and quickly turned his head away.
Arista, confused by his sudden silence, looked at him.
“Oppa?”
She called to him, but Lucas couldn’t answer.
‘Damn it… what’s happening?’
The words he had jokingly thrown out earlier now boomeranged back, refusing to leave his mind.
If only Arista liked me—
The thought came suddenly, without reason. Until now, he had only ever seen her as a younger sister, but today, for the first time, he saw her as a woman.
Overwhelmed by the sudden change in his feelings, Lucas couldn’t speak another word until they arrived at the Duke Lydia’s mansion.
Not long after Arista left, Lucia was dragged into the parlor by Helwin.
Helwin held her tightly, like a clingy shadow, so she could barely move.
He had wanted to hold her the moment they met, but his friends kept interfering, making it difficult to even hold her hand.
“I came to ask you out on a date…” Helwin grumbled in disappointment.
Lucia turned around with an exaggeratedly surprised look.
“Really? So that’s why you dressed up so nicely?”
No wonder he looked better than usual—it was intentional.
Hearing the unexpected compliment, Helwin’s mouth twitched as he watched Lucia inspect his appearance with a pure expression. He felt like laughing foolishly.
“Uh… really, I look that good?”
“Yeah? Always, but today especially,” Lucia said nonchalantly, as if it were obvious. Helwin’s grin widened.
Even though he had heard this countless times, why did it feel like he could fly with joy?
Seeing Lucia’s cuteness, Helwin couldn’t resist holding her face in his hands.
When he playfully kissed her, Lucia’s eyelashes fluttered.
“What… was that for?”
“Because you’re too pretty.”
Lucia froze for a moment when she saw Helwin’s flushed face, but quickly covered her red face with her hands in embarrassment.
Helwin’s gaze, his entire face, was brimming with an unabashed love for her. She felt completely adored.
Lucia’s own feelings were no different. Her eyes shone with love for Helwin.
Seeing this, Helwin clenched his fists secretly, fearing that if he didn’t hold back, he might do something reckless.
Instead, he resolved it by hugging Lucia tightly and let out a contented sigh.
“Ha… I’m glad we’re together now.”
“Huh?”
“If we’d been together during academy… no, before that, daily life would’ve been impossible.”
At first, Lucia felt a little disappointed, but then she understood—he meant he liked her so much now that life would be impossible if they had been together earlier.
“Ah… I don’t want to go.”
Checking the time, Helwin pouted and snuggled closer.
“Already leaving? At least have dinner first.”
It was tempting, but after internal debate, he shook his head.
“No, they’d be uncomfortable.”
“We’re not hiding it or anything. Your parents would be happy, too, right?”
“Hmm… I’m not so sure.”
Even Lucas, who had been close, had been wary of him. He couldn’t expect the Count and Countess of Agnes to be fine with him.
“What if they’re shocked? We’ve only been dating a day.”
“Oh, right…”
Helwin’s familiar touch made it feel like they’d been together for months.
“I’ll come again formally later. I’ve already told my mother that we’re getting married. She’ll contact your father soon, so she’ll probably come down to the capital shortly.”
“Coming to the capital? That’s… unnecessary.”
Lucia had told her parents about marrying Helwin, but this was different. He was busy handling affairs in the north and shouldn’t have time to come just for her.
“Of course she should come. It’s for our wedding. And my father secretly wants us to marry too.”
Lucia, shocked, recalled what Scarlet once said:
“The words I said earlier were sincere. Helwin may lack in some ways, but we wanted you to join our family. Not just me, but he felt the same.”
Realizing how much the Feneus family loved her made her embarrassed.
“Shall we have a proper date tomorrow?”
At that moment, Helwin, still pouting, asked her out. Lucia happily agreed but paused, remembering something.
“I have plans tomorrow…”
“Plans? What plans?”
Helwin blinked in surprise, and Lucia hesitated.
“I… promised to meet Bern for a bit…”
Bern had sent her a letter that morning. After the orc incident yesterday, they hadn’t properly talked, so she set a brief meeting for tomorrow to wrap things up.
Helwin understood but looked displeased.
“…What time?”
“One o’clock at Taylor Café.”
Though his eyes were stern, Helwin forced a smile. He didn’t want to sulk over this.
“I’ll go with you.”
“You too?”
“Why not?”
Lucia hesitated, and Helwin grew anxious. Even if they weren’t serious, the fact that Bern would be her first kiss partner made him uneasy.
Fortunately, she spoke:
“Well… that should be fine. Let’s go together tomorrow.”
Helwin’s gloomy expression instantly brightened.
“Really? No backing out?”
He seemed to wag his tail in excitement.
“When we finish with the Marquis tomorrow, let’s have the date we couldn’t have today. Deal?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“I’ll plan a perfect date course, so you just… oh, right.”
Helwin suddenly remembered something and let go of her.
Lucia was briefly puzzled but gasped at the gift box before her.
“Ah! What’s this?”
Helwin smiled faintly.
“Open it.”
Inside was a pair of aquamarine earrings, the exact style she liked. Her eyes widened in delight.
“So pretty…”
Helwin clenched his fists secretly, pleased at her joy.
“Do you like them?”
“Yes! I love them! When did you buy these?”
Helwin carefully removed her previous topaz earrings and replaced them with the aquamarine ones, then paused.
“I bought them just before heading to the north.”
“Oh… before going north?”
That coincided with when she last confessed to him. Realizing the earrings were bought secretly for her, her eyes glimmered with tears.
“You bought these for me?”
Lucas nodded.
“I bought them for you. I wanted to give them when I took you home… but we parted ways that day…”
“Ah…”
Lucia sighed. Their abrupt separation had interrupted her confession. She had thought they were for Arista, but they were really hers.
‘I’m so happy.’
Her heart was full. She looked in the mirror at the aquamarine earrings and blushed.
“Thank you, Helwin. This is the best gift of my life.”
“I’m glad you like them.”
Helwin hugged her tightly.
“I love you, Lucia.”
“I love you too, Helwin.”
The words, magical and endless, made them smile as they held each other.
Lucia chattered happily:
“I’ll wear these every day from now on.”
She removed her previous earrings. Helwin, watching, chuckled.
“I can buy you as many as you want, so don’t be shy. By the way… these aren’t ones I’ve seen before. When did you get them?”
“Oh, those…”
Lucia suddenly realized something and began sweating.
“Uh… Bern gave them to me.”
Helwin’s face instantly turned cold.
The earrings, matching her taste, had been worn unconsciously.
Seeing her reaction, Helwin narrowed his eyes, took the earrings, and stared at them like an enemy. Clenching his fist, the earrings shattered into pieces.
“Oops… they broke.”
Broken? Even with his strength, jewelry doesn’t break so easily—
Lucia stared, shocked. Helwin merely smiled faintly.
“I’ll get you something prettier.”
“Okay…”
Helwin jumped up, shaking the shards into the trash. He looked like a pouting child, and Lucia couldn’t help laughing.
‘Honestly… such a child.’
It was clear he broke them out of jealousy. But since his jealousy was so cute, Lucia decided to let it slide.
