Chapter 05
Xavier’s studies abroad had been accompanied by all sorts of rumors.
Some said he had caused an incident so serious that he could no longer deal with the consequences and had fled the country.
Others claimed that the Bransen family was laying the groundwork for moving its base of operations overseas.
There were even rumors that Xavier had gone abroad because he was preparing to take over the family business.
Things like that.
Empty rumors with no real substance.
But among all the people who desperately wanted to know what had become of him, Dolores was one of the few who had desperately tried to forget.
…Her relationship with Xavier had become such a complete mess that she no longer even knew what to call it.
Yet, as always, Xavier had managed to catch her off guard and make her fail.
With a single meeting of their eyes, she had no choice but to admit that she had thought about Xavier more than anyone else.
She had been like that ever since childhood.
“I can’t say nothing has changed… but seeing you two makes me glad I came back.”
With each elegant step Xavier took as he walked toward them, casually swinging the bouquet of flowers, an old pain began in the area just above Dolores’s knee.
Claudia could barely contain her excitement as she fired questions at him one after another.
“How did you know? Did you know beforehand? Did you come back because of me?”
“It was a coincidence. I just got back, but there was no one at home. So I went looking for everyone, wondering where they had gone, and found a flyer announcing your retirement performance. I came straight here without even unpacking my luggage. How could I not come?”
“Ah! That’s right. I heard Luca and Madam Angelique were going somewhere today. Your mother and father were supposed to have an appointment with the guild members in Coulomb, too, weren’t they? But isn’t Damien at home?”
“Why do you know more about where my family is than I do?”
“I invited them to come today, but they all declined, saying they were busy.”
“It’s only natural. Even their son gets treated like an afterthought.”
Claudia giggled and threw her arms around Xavier just as she had with Dolores.
“I thought I was leaving like this and would never see you again for the rest of my life.”
“Were you planning to abandon your homeland completely?”
“Who knows what the future holds?”
“You’re making me feel sentimental.”
“You disappeared for almost two years and barely contacted us. What are you talking about? How was Triavol?”
“First of all, there’s an outrageous amount of makeup on your face. Glitter. It’s all over me.”
Xavier said it in the manner of a gentleman, then effortlessly lifted Claudia by the waist and set her back down.
He did it as naturally as a movement from a dance.
If only he hadn’t immediately brushed off his clothes and complained.
“These are expensive clothes. Are you going to pay for them?”
“I hope you die.”
Claudia turned toward Dolores and pointed at Xavier with her thumb, putting on an exaggeratedly stern expression.
Watching the two of them, Dolores gave a faint shake of her head and stood up.
She carefully readjusted her grip on the handle of her cane.
“I have somewhere to be today, so I’ll be going now.”
Claudia’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between Dolores and Xavier.
Only then did she realize that something was wrong between them.
“What is this? Did you two have a fight or something?”
“It’s nothing like that.”
Dolores answered briefly and tried to leave.
But Xavier’s hand smoothly wrapped around her shoulder, and he forcibly pulled her back toward the sofa.
“It’s a shame, Rolly.”
“Don’t.”
“You didn’t miss me?”
“It’s been a long time, and you’ve already started picking a fight with me. I see you haven’t matured.”
With his chin raised and his long eyelashes lowered, Xavier’s green eyes swept up and down the woman standing with a cane.
Then, oddly enough, he extended the hand holding the bouquet toward Claudia.
His gaze remained fixed on Dolores.
It didn’t look particularly sincere, but since he was giving her flowers, Claudia reached out to take them.
The moment she did, the bouquet darted away in the opposite direction.
“Thank—”
Xavier teasingly pulled the bouquet back, plucked several sprigs of baby’s breath from among the roses, and casually tossed them toward Claudia.
“Those are yours.”
He handed the remaining bouquet to Dolores.
“The roses suit her better. A peace offering.”
A red rose with fresh, vivid petals stopped diagonally within Dolores’s line of sight.
Once, she had wished for flowers from him.
Back when she used to imagine seeing his name among countless bouquets, even this flower would have held meaning.
“I’ll pass. I have too much luggage.”
Dolores declined neatly.
Claudia subtly furrowed her brow.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t buy those for me?”
“I did.”
“Then?”
“I changed my mind. Giving a bouquet to a woman who has a fiancé would be rude. This is exactly when a gentleman’s consideration should shine, isn’t it?”
“Are you serious? You don’t have ulterior motives, do you? You do, don’t you? You’re totally doing this for ulterior motives.”
Xavier gave a low laugh and shook his head.
“To be completely honest, you don’t have a long enough career to call this a retirement. So it would be excessive for you to accept these roses from Xavier.”
“So you’re saying it’s ulterior motives because Dolores can have them and I can’t.”
“Who knows.”
Xavier’s shameless smile dissolved the tension.
And suddenly, an unpleasant emotion Dolores had buried deep inside her surfaced again.
Dolores really had decided to leave.
She was about to readjust her grip on the cane when someone beat her to it.
A voice calling Claudia came from outside.
“Wait! Hold on!”
After asking them to wait a moment, Claudia hurried outside with light, almost skipping steps.
Soon, the sound of people laughing and talking began to filter in from beyond the door.
The only people left in the waiting room were Dolores and Xavier, sitting awkwardly across from one another.
“I’ll go, too.”
“Clody told you to wait.”
“It’s enough that we’ve exchanged greetings.”
Without looking at Xavier, Dolores tightened her grip on the cane.
Concentrating on not limping as much as possible, she walked past him.
But almost at that exact moment, Xavier twisted his upper body and caught her cane, gripping it as though snatching it away.
“Didn’t you miss me?”
A sharp ache stabbed the inside of Dolores’s knee.
She twisted the cane, trying to pull it free, but Xavier didn’t budge.
He sat there as solid as a rock, looking up at her.
“Rolly.”
“Can’t you hear me telling you not to call me that?”
He set the flowers down and stood while still holding onto her cane.
The faint scent of his perfume reached the tip of her nose—musk and lime.
“Then how about Mademoiselle Étoile?”
Dolores spun around like lightning and shoved his shoulder without mercy.
Her face flushed with faint humiliation.
The cane struck Xavier’s elbow and clattered across the floor with a cold metallic sound.
Xavier did not retreat.
Instead, he stepped closer.
The distance between the tips of their noses narrowed.
Dolores did not look away.
Just meeting his eyes made her stomach churn.
Her heart pounded unpleasantly.
Xavier asked playfully,
“Why are you so prickly? Our adorable Rolly.”
“Do you really have to ask? Stop provoking people so much.”
“The kindness you show Clody.”
He tilted his head ever so slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting into a lazy smile.
“Give me half of that. I think I could behave myself pretty well.”
Dolores’s jaw tightened.
She clenched her teeth and spoke coldly.
“I’m sorry, Xavier, but if making you feel good makes me feel bad, then I’m not interested. Let go of my cane.”
Xavier stared intently into her eyes before obediently releasing it.
The sensation of his fingers slowly unfolding and pulling away after having held the cane so firmly lingered like an electric current running up her spine.
“Ah… I’ve finally come back after all this time, and no one is happy to see me.”
“There are more than enough people who would be happy to hear you’ve returned. Even your empty remarks aren’t very entertaining.”
“Triavol killed my sense of humor.”
“Did it only kill your humor? What a shame.”
A laugh escaped from Xavier’s throat.
“What are you doing tonight?”
The question was so casual.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”
Dolores’s gaze sharpened instantly.
“I have no reason to have dinner with you.”
“Do you really have to put it so bluntly? I’m just asking you to have dinner with me.”
He stepped closer.
The distance between them vanished in an instant, and his tilted face almost completely filled Dolores’s field of vision.
He was close enough that she could feel his breath.
“You’re already thinking about how to avoid me.”
The boy she had once looked up to with admiration had become a young man whose thoughts she could no longer read at all.
Dolores’s fingertips trembled slightly.
She curled them into fists.
And finally, unable to endure it any longer, she snapped,
“You’re the one who disappeared without a word. So why are you acting like this now?”
She had tried not to let it show.
But that question, at least, was something she might have desperately wanted to hear the answer to.
Xavier, however, did not answer.
