Chapter 65

I gave a bright smile and acted like the old me.

 

“Didn’t you stand for a long time? Are your legs okay?”

 

In the end, Evan and I returned to our usual places, and as always, we fell into the same familiar conversations. He bit his lips—already swollen and cracked—but I ignored it.

 

 

***

 

 

I was wandering inside a dream.

 

A hazy fog blurred my vision.

 

I walked aimlessly, not knowing where I should go or what direction I was supposed to head toward.

 

Just when all I could do was continue walking forward, the fog lifted and I saw a couple.

 

“Why? Isn’t it weird that you’re even asking that?”

 

“…What?”

 

The man looked down at the woman with a mocking expression, while she stared back at him as if completely dumbfounded.

 

“To be honest, I thought you would say it first. Your place and mine are very different now. We’re not like the kids who used to eat together in the orphanage anymore, you know? You should be the one letting me go. Since you wouldn’t say it, I have no choice but to bring it up.”

 

My brows twisted painfully. I hadn’t seen that face in a long time. I couldn’t understand why I had once dedicated myself to that man—why I had wasted away for him until I fell ill.

 

What kind of stray dog laughed while running past? Even hearing it now, it was nonsense. But he really thought that way.

 

Now, I can criticize him mercilessly.

 

But back then, I couldn’t.

 

Even though I knew his words were sophistry, the woman betrayed by the man she loved couldn’t say anything, trembling silently instead.

 

And his argument wasn’t something I could easily refute. We had once been lovers, but after a few years, we had drifted far apart.

 

We started from the same point.

 

But while he went from playing walk-on extras to becoming a famous actor whose name everyone recognized, I remained an ordinary office worker.

 

The gap had opened overnight.

 

He said the years we encouraged and comforted each other had become hindrances now.

 

He was someone I could no longer reach.

 

“How… does love change like that…?”

 

All I could utter was a cliché line straight from a tragic drama heroine.

 

“Hey, think about it. We weren’t in love—we were just comfortable being together. You mistook that comfort for love.”

 

He acknowledged the time we spent together, but those years meant nothing to him.

 

“I did so much for you…”

 

“Who asked you to? Do you know how suffocating it was whenever you meddled in every little thing?”

 

That was the final blow.

 

Things I did out of affection—I assumed they meant something to him.

 

But they hadn’t meant anything at all.

 

Even though I was horribly hurt, I couldn’t cut him off.

 

So I decided to simply watch from afar.

 

If that kept him comfortable…

 

If that kept me hurt a little less.

 

I let several people go like that.

 

It was around then that I fell deeply into otome games.

 

You could call it escapism, in a way.

 

I slowly opened my eyes on the bed.

 

“I’m not comparing that trash to Evan or anything…”

 

 

***

 

 

“Don’t drag me into whatever is going on between you two.”

 

Piote trudged beside me with an annoyed face. I flinched a little, but decided to boldly feign ignorance.

 

“Huh? You don’t understand a little sister wanting to spend a lovely day with her big brother?”

 

I sparkled my eyes at him.

 

The long-awaited dramatic encounter between the heroine and Evan was about to begin.

 

‘Only Evan’s choice is left now.’

 

The original story goes like this: The heroine’s grandmother becomes gravely ill, and the herbs in the small village no longer help. The prices skyrocket, so the heroine travels to the capital to find work.

 

Coincidentally, she arrives during the capital’s festival—a time when all sorts of incidents occur.

 

Her ordinary but cute looks catch the eyes of thugs with bad intentions. They harass her, Evan steps in and saves her, and in the process he gets injured, which she later tends to.

 

To make this event unfold smoothly, Evan needs to be healthy enough to beat the thugs easily.

 

Judging from how he spars with knights these days, he can definitely handle them.

 

‘There’s no way Evan would ever lose to a bunch of thugs.’

 

After silently following along, Piote suddenly spoke.

 

“But are you really going to do what you said earlier?”

 

“Of course. I didn’t spend all that time explaining for nothing. Got it? Later, match your words with mine so those two can tour the festival together.”

 

“Elena and Evan, huh…”

 

Piote’s expression twisted, and he muttered in a low voice,

 

“Well, they aren’t anything to each other anyway. It doesn’t matter.”

 

“What? You don’t know that!”

 

I grumbled.

 

“…Do you dislike it that much?”

 

His question shut my mouth.

 

“That kid—Evan. I obviously don’t like him. But you’re different. Sometimes I really can’t tell whether you like Evan or not.”

 

“…I do like him.”

 

Piote’s eyebrows shot up.

 

“But you don’t love him? That’s why you’re trying to set him up with someone else? And Elena, of all people? Don’t. Evan’s not into girls like Elena.”

 

“How would you know?”

 

“Then what makes you so sure they’ll end up together? And Elena—bringing her here was weird too. How did you even find a girl from a village at the border?”

 

“I—I told you I bought the information.”

 

“And that ‘information’ just so happened to lead you to a girl your age? Yeah?”

 

He sighed softly.

 

“Well, it’s an old story now. All I can say is… just follow your heart.”

 

The hardest thing to do.

 

“Piote… what exactly do you think love is?”

 

“What?”

 

He looked at me like I was asking the strangest question.

 

“Right? You don’t know either. Love comes in different shapes. Some people want to make the one they love happy with their own hands. Others just want to stay beside them and watch over them. Some people are satisfied just being near that person. That’s me. …I did things out of love, and he said it was suffocating.”

 

“Who said that?”

 

“What?”

 

“Who said something like that? I’ll kill him.”

 

I burst out laughing.

 

He was being dead serious.

 

But that person isn’t in this world.

 

“As far as I know, you’ve never dated anyone. It couldn’t have been Evan… so who was it…?”

 

I avoided his suspicious gaze.

 

After a moment, he continued, “Whatever decision you make, I’ll support you. It’s the fault of the person who didn’t manage to charm you sooner, right?”

 

His words tangled up my thoughts even more.

 

I kicked a small pebble rolling on the ground.

 

At that moment, I felt a burning stare from far away. I lifted my head.

 

He was standing there.

 

“Who gave you permission.”

 

His savage murmur when I offered the annulment papers, his voice pleading for a chance, and his sincere voice telling me not to be afraid seemed to echo faintly in my ears.

 

But just as clearly, I heard the voices of those who had left me before.

 

‘A second life isn’t always a blessing…’

 

The older you get, the greater the fear becomes.

 

Dreaming of a bright future becomes harder.

 

You give up things because you’re scared.

 

You settle for less because of reality.

 

‘If—after today—Evan’s feelings don’t change…’

 

What should I decide?

 

Dark clouds smudged across my face.

 

I shook my head to scatter the gloom.

 

Then, as the fiancée and Elena’s friend, I put on a bright smile and ran to them.

 

“You guys are early!”

 

Evan must have considered the possibility I wouldn’t come; the moment he saw me, his relief was obvious.

 

Elena glanced at me and bowed politely.

 

I approached them as though I’d forgotten everything from before.

 

The cheerful mood contrasted sharply with the ticking countdown ringing faintly in my ears—like a bomb ready to go off at any second.

 

“Let’s all have fun today. Especially you, Evan! It’s been a while since you enjoyed a festival.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Anywhere you want to go?”

 

Since I brought up nothing from before and kept up a bright tone, Evan followed my lead, smiling.

 

“It’s been a long time, so I’m not sure. Where do you usually go?”

 

“I wander around the stalls and buy gifts for my family. And sometimes for you.”

 

“This time, I want to buy you a gift.”

 

“A gift for me?”

 

Evan’s eyes grew faint and sorrowful.

 

“You do so much for me… and when I think about it, I haven’t done anything for you.”

 

His soft whisper—I should pull myself together now—made me look away.

 

It felt like he was trying to corner me with sincerity.

 

“…”

 

After freezing for a moment, I smiled and said I’d look forward to it.

 

Then I smoothly changed the subject by turning to Elena.

 

“Elena, you’ve always been studying at the Academy, so you’ve never properly enjoyed the capital’s festival, right?”

 

“I’ve been busy studying.”

 

A very studious thing to say.

 

She looked like she wasn’t quite sure why she was here at all.

 

She kept glancing at me—no surprise, since she was one of the few who knew I had asked Evan for a breakup.