101CF 11

Chapter : 11

When Lucia and Julian left the hall, Scarlett broke the frozen atmosphere.

“Come on, come on. Why’s everyone just standing there? Move along.”

As if time had been stopped, the still people began to move again.

“What on earth was that…?”

Lucas watched his younger sister walk away, his heart tangled.

When she first confessed that she liked Herwin, he had suffered the first shock. Then Herwin’s rejection gave him a second. But now, with everything dissolving into nothing, even the weight of those earlier shocks felt as if they’d vanished into thin air.

“Does that mean sis likes our brother…?”

Henry, too, seemed stunned, mumbling in a daze.

Now that I think of it, doesn’t this little guy really like Lucia?

“Henry likes sis, but he likes brother too…”

For a five-year-old, the sudden news was far too much to make sense of.

Lucas patted Henry’s shoulder.

“You’d better give up. You’ve got no chance.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re never going to catch up to Herwin. Maybe when you grow up, who knows. But right now…”

“…I don’t really get what you’re saying.”

Henry wrinkled his nose. Lucas thought about explaining, but then decided ignorance was bliss.

“Just give up early.”

“Hey, don’t push my head down! You’ll make me shorter!”

Henry wriggled to escape Lucas’s hand, but Lucas’s mischievous side was stirred.

“Let me gooo!”

“Brought you all this way and this is how you act, huh.”

Lucas teased Henry affectionately, though his eyes flicked sideways toward where Herwin and Lucia had disappeared.

“…They’ll sort it out themselves.”

He didn’t want to dwell on the two of them any longer.

“Miss! Your hair’s still wet!”

“You’ll catch a cold like this!”

Fresh out of the shower, Lucia burst out of the bathroom, her hair dripping, dampening her clothes — but she didn’t care.

Her eyes darted around.

“Ah! Don’t take that!”

“Pardon?”

A maid, about to pick up the clothes Lucia had taken off, froze in surprise.

Lucia hurried over and snatched them back.

“Found it!”

Rummaging through the hidden pocket in the dress, she pulled out something green.

“What is that, miss?”

“My number one treasure!”

“That leaf… is your treasure?”

Without answering the bewildered maid, Lucia hurried to her desk.

On the desk sat the music box she’d brought from the capital.

She opened it and turned it upside down.

Ribbons, beads, hairpins — things she’d considered most precious just an hour ago — clattered onto the floor and desk.

When the box was empty, she carefully placed the clover inside.

“Hehe, my treasure.”

“Sigh… miss, you’ll catch a cold.”

Only when the maids approached with towels did Lucia’s brief escapade come to an end.

“Herwin, how could you embarrass her by rejecting her outright like that?”

Scarlett approached her son, who was curled up under the blanket.

Really, so stubborn.

Children’s confessions under the age of ten were innocent and adorable — enough to make one smile.

Scarlett plopped down on the bed, gazing tenderly at the lump beneath the covers.

“Mom would be happy if it were Lucia. She’s kindhearted, open, even cute. Isn’t she wonderful? Don’t turn her down out of pride. You like her too, don’t you, Herwin?”

A little nudge was often all it took for children to speak their truth. Scarlett was sure he’d come out of the blanket soon.

But no matter how much time passed, Herwin gave no response.

“Herwin, are you listening to me?”

Silence again.

He always answered his parents, no matter how upset he was. Something was off.

“…Herwin?”

She touched the lump of the blanket. His body was trembling beneath.

Panicked, Scarlett yanked the blanket away.

“Don’t look at me, don’t look at me, don’t look at me…”

“Oh heavens! Herwin!”

Herwin, his crimson eyes unfocused, muttered the same words over and over, his face vacant.

Scarlett’s heart dropped. She pulled him tightly into her arms.

“Herwin, calm down. Mommy’s here. Hmm? Herwin…”

“…I don’t like Lucia. So don’t look at me…”

“Yes, yes, you don’t like Lucia. Just please…”

His breathing grew even more ragged.

When he shut his eyes, grinning children’s faces appeared vividly in his mind.

Cackle, cackle, cackle!

Their laughter echoed in his ears.

At first their voices were childish, but soon they deepened, multiplied, surrounding him.

“Haah… hahh…”

Even though he hadn’t faltered when facing the retainers’ children recently, it had never truly gone away.

The trauma hadn’t disappeared — it had only stayed hidden.

“…! Doctor! Fetch the doctor!”

Herwin barely opened his eyes. Scarlett’s desperate shouting filled his vision.

‘Herwin’s my favorite!’

As he shut them again, Lucia’s confession replayed.

Thud! Thud! Thud…!

His pounding heart and gasping breaths slowly began to ease.

Remembering Lucia’s smiling face steadied him a little. But then, fear seized him again.

I don’t like Lucia…

If he rejected her, maybe everything would go back to normal.

To shield himself from the storm inside, he repeated it over and over: I don’t like Lucia, I don’t…

Through blurred vision, he saw servants and a doctor rushing in.

Herwin…!

The memory of rescuing Lucia from the wild dogs on the hill, of her tearfully clinging to him, flashed before him.

But before he could process it, consciousness slipped away.

“I believe the young master has suffered severe psychological shock.”

The doctor spoke after his examination.

“Not because of the dog bite?”

“No. Aside from a small bruise, he’s in excellent physical health.”

“Then what could have shocked him so?”

“Well… we’ll know more when he wakes. But my guess is — the stares of others.”

“Stares?”

“Yes. I wasn’t in the hall, but I heard Lady Agnes confessed to him there.”

“Yes, she did. But how is that related?”

“Because she confessed in front of everyone, the young master must have felt all eyes on him. He is far more sensitive to such things than most children his age. Enduring that weight of attention must have been unbearable.”

“You mean Herwin can’t stand crowds?”

“Not quite. It’s not the presence of people — it’s the simultaneous, concentrated stares focused solely on him.”

Scarlett was stunned. She had never imagined her son had such a problem. He had never shown signs before.

“…Ah, could it be…!”

A thought struck her suddenly.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“There was an incident with the retainers’ children some years ago. Since then, whenever someone calls him ‘pretty’ or ‘girlish,’ he reacts far more sensitively than normal.”

“Then it may well be connected.”

Thinking back, she realized those children had indeed been present in the hall.

“For now, let the young master rest undisturbed until tomorrow. Restrict entry to his room — only the duke, you, and his personal maid should be allowed in.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

After the doctor left, Scarlett gently stroked her son’s sleeping face.

She could not bring herself to leave his side until he woke.

“I’m sorry, miss. No one is to be admitted. You’ll have to see the young master another time.”

“Even me? But I’m his little sister…”

“My apologies, Master Henry. If you have something to say, tell me, and I’ll pass it on to him.”

The day after the commotion, Lucia, Lucas, and Henry went to see Herwin.

But just like yesterday, they were denied.

Yesterday it had made sense — Herwin must’ve been exhausted. But even today? It was strange.

Denied as well, Henry’s eyes welled up.

“Is he sick?”

“…I heard he’s just very worn out and needs to rest today.”

Lucas glanced at the tightly shut door and sighed.

“If that’s how it is, nothing we can do. Let’s come back tomorrow.”

“But I wanna see brother…”

Henry whimpered. Lucas scooped him up, and this time the boy didn’t resist, leaning against him.

Patting Henry’s small back, Lucas noticed someone missing and turned.

“Lucia, why aren’t you coming?”

“I’m staying here.”

“What?”

Lucia stood rooted before Herwin’s door like a stone statue.

Even Lucas — and the maid barring the way — were startled by her obstinacy.

“Miss, it’s no use. He’ll be better tomorrow, so please just—”

“I know. But I’ll still stay here.”

She clutched her music box tightly and sat against the wall across from the door.

The maid fidgeted nervously, until Lucas came over.

“You’ll be bored here alone.”

“I won’t. I won’t be bored.”

“…Huh. Is that so?”

After a moment of thought, Lucas sat down beside her.

“If you’re staying, then I’ll stay too. Henry, you don’t mind, right?”

Henry nodded and looked toward Lucia.

“Yeah. I wanna sit with sis.”

And so, the three of them sat together outside Herwin’s door.

“Don’t mind us. Go on and keep looking after Herwin.”

Hesitating, the maid finally slipped inside the room.

The corridor grew quiet.

The heavy silence felt awkward, and Lucas sneaked a glance sideways.

Henry had opened Lucia’s music box, fiddling with it. A delicate tune drifted out, and inside sat a single four-leaf clover.