Chapter 1. I was abandoned by my family
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***
It was a sunny and clear day with moderate sunshine. Despite the cloudless weather, Leticia was feeling chilled by the wind blowing past her.
“Why did you do that?”
She clenched her fist and looked straight at Keena. Her question contained many meanings.
Why enter her room so brazenly? Why did she take the book, then give it back to her? Also, what made her honestly tell Leticia that she’d done it.
Leticia bit down on her lip hard, because she could feel it trembling.
Keena answered as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“I told you, I’m curious about your ability.”
“Is that really all?”
Come to think of it, Keena had always helped her and never harmed her. Nevertheless, there were many awkward aspects to their interactions. So the more they met, the more uncomfortable she felt.
When Leticia asked suspiciously with a sharp look, Keena smiled obliquely.
“I’m not interested in your luck.”
Leticia’s body hardened up like a temple statue when Keena blatantly stated her ability. Keena, on the other hand, was relaxed from start to finish.
“I’m interested in what you would call misfortune.”
“What does that mean?”
A corner of her heart was chilled by her words.
Come to think of it, Keena always asked if her ability was to make others unhappy. She always approached her with an eager look, rather than with reluctance or avoiding her completely.
“If you’re calling for luck, can’t you bring misfortune?”
At those words, Leticia shed her gracious smile. Despite the fact that she’d already said it several times, Keena still seemed to believe that she had the ability to make people unhappy. No, to be more exact, she wanted her to be able to do so.
For some reason, she felt a mix of emotions that she’d experienced from the beginning. Leticia felt pathetic for thinking that she might be a good person.
“Tell me exactly what you want from me.”
Leticia asked in a tired voice, but she did not expect an answer. Contrary to her expectations, Keena answered her question quite easily.
“That you don’t go back to your family.”
“What?”
“That’s all.”
Leticia was speechless from how candid Keena was being for the first time.
It had been a long time since Leticia had stopped thinking about returning to her family. She didn’t understand what Keena meant by telling her not to go back.
Soon after, Leticia’s face paled at the words that followed.
“If you go back, it won’t end with just a book being torn up.”
It was a threat.
A clear warning to listen to her, because she could enter the Achilles mansion anytime she wanted.
Her mind went blank and her heart shriveled inside her chest. However, this was not an emotion that glowed with fear or horror.
“I guess you’re not scared of anything.”
“There’s nothing to lose.”
Leticia smiled coldly as she looked up at her shamelessly smiling face.
“What are you going to do if I decide to stop doing whatever it is you want?”
Leticia was a person who tried to swallow her words, even if she was feeling frustrated. However, the story changed when the people she cared about were brought into it.
“Even threats should be subtle.”
Leticia said this while keeping her eyes on Keena.
While her ability was to call luck to others, Keena didn’t seem to know exactly how her ability worked. If she knew, she wouldn’t have said nonsense about whether she could call misfortune.
“You know how to speak so cruelly.”
“If you realize, then be more careful.”
“As long as you don’t go back to your family.”
“It won’t happen, so I hope we don’t see each other after today.”
Leticia turned her head and frowned, she was tired from all of the times they kept facing off with each other. As she began to leave to search for Elle, she looked back when she felt a touch on her wrist.
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why are you going?”
“….”
She didn’t understand what the heck she was doing.
With eyes that were questioning about why she needed to go, Leticia thought for a moment about what to say.
“Do you know what I hate the most?”
She continued to talk because it was not a question that needed an answer.
“Someone who doesn’t admit their faults until the end.”
“….”
“I don’t want to be around someone like that.”
Keena gave her a bitter look at the tone of criticism that anyone could understand.
“If I asked you kindly, would you have agreed?”
Leticia no longer laughed at her shameless attitude, still acting like it was not her fault. She just wanted to get back to Elle as soon as possible.
“I forgot you don’t like people who don’t know how to self-reflect.”
As soon as Leticia noticed the hand holding onto her began to lose strength, she pushed it away without hesitation and then turned around.
Keena seemed to be in shock, but it was no longer a problem for Leticia to care about.
***
The preparations for the party had begun at the Achilles mansion, and it was easier than expected. All thanks to the active help from Count Aster and his wife. Count Aster watched Leticia, who was grateful but kept apologizing, and said.
“Of course I would help, he’s my future son-in-law.”
“Yes, that’s right… Huh?”
Thinking she’d heard incorrectly, Leticia looked up at him in shock.
However, the Count only looked at her as if there was no problem with what he said. Soon enough, he smiled with a strained smile.
“Would it be too much to call the Duke my son-in-law?”
“No, that’s not it. What do you mean by son-in-law?”
She remembered not long ago that Elle and Ian began to call her sister-in-law. Even before the shock disappeared, Count Aster began to call Enoch his son-in-law and Leticia’s face turned red.
“Don’t you want to get married?”
“I think talks of marriage are too early…”
She was happy just imagining it, as she fanned herself to calm her heated face. She was grateful that Enoch was currently away because he was busy today.
It was clear that if he was next to her, she would have run away to avoid enduring the shame.
“Oh, my. What do you mean? We all know you like each other.”
“Still…”
“You’re not getting married yet?”
The Countess, who was standing next to her husband, asked with sparkling eyes. Leticia bowed her head to hide her blushing face, as the Countess waited for her to answer.
She was avoiding making eye contact, so she didn’t notice Countess Aster’s gaze was on someone standing behind her.
“It’s not that I don’t want to marry him.”
Of course, she wanted to marry Enoch. To the point where she couldn’t imagine being married to anyone but him.
Enoch was the kindest person she’d ever met, and he understood and respected her for who she was. Leticia would definitely be happy to be married to him.
“His thoughts are important, too.”
“I want to get married.”
“If so, I’m glad…”
A sigh of relief escaped her, then Leticia stopped talking with a stunned look. Leticia was hoping she’d heard wrong, but Enoch was standing next to her and looking down at her.
“When did you get here?”
“Just now?”
“Oh, uh…”
As soon as she was about to ask if he’d heard, she snapped her mouth shut. It was clear that he heard her when he responded that he’d want to get married.
Leticia immediately looked at Count Aster and his wife. Her eyes were full of resentment as they didn’t tell her that Enoch had arrived.
Count Aster just smiled nicely.
“The party is soon, and the main protagonist has to know.”
It was something she couldn’t hide forever, but right now it was time for Enoch to check the list of nobles invited to the party.
She understood that, but Leticia was unbearably ashamed to think that Enoch had heard her say she wanted to get married.
“Count!”
“Hmm? I need to check the list of food that needs to be prepared for tomorrow’s party.”
“Let’s go together, honey.”
Count Aster, who was alternating looking between Leticia and Enoch, was wearing an awkward expressions. He coughed and quickly left, Countess Aster followed suit.
“….”
“….”
Silence descended when Enoch and her were left alone.
Unlike Leticia, who was uncomfortable and didn’t know what to do, Enoch was still looking at Leticia with a friendly smile. The gaze felt intense, so Leticia avoided it by playing with her fingers.
However, as she touched her hands together gently, she raised her head and looked up at Enoch.
The moment their gazes intertwined, Enoch asked as if he’d been waiting.
“What’s your favorite flower?”
Leticia, who closed her mouth at the unexpected question, felt relieved. Thanks to this, the conversation about marriage seemed to have passed safely.
“I like all flowers.”
“Really?”
“Why ask about flowers all of a sudden?”
Is he going to give me flowers?
When she felt excited about the idea, Leticia began to think about what her favorite flower could be. However, no matter how much she thought about it, any flower was good. Especially if it was given to her by Enoch.
When Leticia looked up at him with anticipation, Enoch smiled and said.
“I’m going to make a bouquet of the flowers I like best.”
“Oh, um…”
Leticia was thinking she shouldn’t have let go of the marriage conversation.
What did he mean by bouquet? She couldn’t believe he was going to make a bouquet of his favorite flowers for her.
At his unexpected remark, Leticia grasped Enoch’s hand without realizing it with a red-hot face.
“Isn’t marriage too early? I think the progress is too fast…”
The idea of marrying Enoch made her feel dizzy.
However, Enoch misinterpreted Leticia’s words and asked with a worried look.
“You don’t want to go fast?”
“No! It’s not that I hate it!”
Then with a look asking what the problem was, Leticia groaned shallowly and was held in Enoch’s arms. She was no longer confident in being able to face him anymore.
Still, she wanted to show her heart to him a little bit, so she whispered while holding onto Enoch’s sleeve tightly.
“Whatever I do with Enoch is good.”
Simply holding hands and hugging each other like this. It was good to even be together quietly.
“It’s just that I’m shy.”
It was awkward and unfamiliar because it was the first time she felt so loved. She was just so happy that she couldn’t stand it.
As soon as she desperately hoped that her heart would reach him, Enoch lowered his head. As she faced his gaze, she could see the corners of his mouth smoothly smile right in front of her.
Then she felt a light touch on her cheek, then the moist feeling fell away.
Leticia wrapped her hand around her cheek with a blank expression.
“What did you just do?”
“If you don’t know, it’s okay.”
Enoch smiled pleasantly and patted Leticia’s hair affectionately.
Leticia was touching her cheek blankly, when she belatedly realized that Enoch’s cheeks were slightly red. As soon as she noticed that he was stroking her hair to hide his embarrassment, Leticia’s lip slowly curled into a smile.
“Enoch, wait a minute.”
When she beckoned him to crouch down. Enoch calmly met her at eye level, and looked at Leticia curiously.
She lifted up on her tiptoes and lightly kissed Enoch on the cheek.
“….!”
Surprised, Enoch quickly stepped back and covered his face with the back of his hand. It was obvious that he was embarrassed, as if he had not expected this counterattack after he’d done it first.
“Ha, just now, what…”
Perhaps because of how surprised he was, Enoch stuttered his words differently than usual. Leticia looked at his figure with great satisfaction and smiled brightly.
“If you don’t know, it’s okay.”
She shrugged her shoulders playfully, but felt embarrassed on the inside.
Eventually, Leticia ran away, leaving Enoch staring at her blankly.