episode_0018

-Clatter

Looking at Owen, who was eating the dinner that had been prepared, I thought.

‘Aren’t there too many women around him?’

Owen, who always has the opposite sex flocking around him.

Among them, Mirnan…… I can understand.

It’s because they knew each other even before meeting me in the first place.

It’s natural that the relationship they built would be much deeper.

However-

‘Cali unnie is different.’

Cali, who came to find me saying sorry and offering to teach me swordsmanship.

At that time, it seemed like her genuine sincerity, without lies.

So I gladly studied under her.

But-

‘Unnie, where are you looking?’

“Uh… uh? It’s nothing!”

As I frequently witnessed the scene of her staring blankly at Owen, my thoughts changed.

Is she really… coming to teach swordsmanship? That thought started to grow stronger.

And the moment that thought became a certainty.

I asked Cali a blatant question.

‘What do you think about Owen?’

‘…I think he is an evil and sly fellow.’

A lie.

‘By any chance, do you like Owen?’

‘Wh-what do you mean by that! Absolutely not!’

That’s also a lie.

Why does she lie instead of speaking honestly?

Such thoughts occurred to me, but it was a bit complex.

If she told the truth, I felt like I’d feel bad about that.

If she lied, a headache would come, and I’d feel bad.

However, regarding why I would feel bad if she told the truth, I’m not sure.

-Whoosh -Whoosh

I decided to shake off the random thoughts and focus on this moment.

Because every moment is too precious to spend thinking about other people.

-Slide

I turned my head and stared intently at Owen.

Perhaps having noticed my gaze, Owen also looked at me and opened his mouth.

“Edith-yang. Did you like today’s shopping?”

“Of course. It’s my first time doing something like this.”

“Then that’s a relief. Haha.”

The banter I share with Owen every mealtime.

It’s also the time I like the most in my daily routine.

Laughing and chatting while making aimless jokes or having conversations. Such enjoyable conversations took place.

Small conversations or serious conversations.

All of that was enjoyable because it was banter done with ‘Owen’.

“Ah-”

As I was talking, a thought came to mind, so I lightly threw out a question.

“How is it today? Is it delicious?”

The deer meat I bought while shopping.

Having served meals to Owen every day for 3 years, my cooking skills have now become outstanding.

If I just have the ingredients roughly prepared, I can now make various dishes with guaranteed taste.

Although he always says it’s delicious and shows the same reaction… I still asked.

Owen smiled for a moment and then-

“It’s delicious today too. It seems like your skills improve every day?”

He gave the same compliment.

“……Heh.”

I thought that if the time we spent together grew longer, my shyness would disappear a little, but-

Why is it that just one word of such praise makes my chest tickle, and I can’t look him directly in the face?

It was a feeling that was still difficult to understand.

‘It was good.’

New scenery.

New experiences.

Shopping with Owen was an experience worth leaving deep in my memories.

No, rather, every experience I had with him was like that.

Actually, I don’t know from what moment I started thinking like this.

To calm my slightly ticklish heart, I brought up a different topic.

“Now that I think about it, Mirnan unnie doesn’t come by much.”

“Ah, Mirnan-ssi?”

Upon hearing the name Mirnan, Owen’s expression brightened.

He keeps showing that kind of reaction since sometime.

I don’t know why, but every time I saw that reaction, one corner of my chest would ache.

Perhaps not knowing my feelings, Owen opened his mouth with a regretful look.

“Recently, she said she wanted to properly study medicine, so she left for another place.”

-Clink

While talking about her, Owen caressed his necklace.

Looking at that, I could tell.

‘Mirnan unnie gave it to him.’

Starting from the day Mirnan was no longer seen, Owen always wore that necklace.

When I asked about it, he always hedged, so I didn’t know, but… seeing that reaction, I understand now.

Unpleasant feelings rose up, but I composed my expression and said curtly.

“I hope she learns well there.”

“I agree. By the way, I’m curious how Mirnan-ssi is doing these days. It seems she forgot to send a letter even though she said she would. Haha.”

“…….”

There are several letters I’ve kept hidden.

Letters stamped with a red seal.

They were letters Mirnan sent to Owen.

Perhaps not knowing that fact, Owen seemed to think that Mirnan hadn’t sent any letters.

“……Let’s just eat.”

“Okay. We walked around quite a bit today, after all.”

Unlike before, silence hung in the air.

That way, for 30 minutes-

-Tap

The quiet mealtime ended.

I got up first to clear the plates and utensils, but Owen didn’t get up and remained seated.

Does he have something to say?

Curious, I waited for Owen to speak.

“Do you have something to say?”

These days, it seems like he keeps trying to say something.

Whenever I asked, he would often evade the answer by saying, ‘It’s nothing.’

That must mean he can’t easily say it.

Now I even wanted to find out by prying.

“…….Edith-yang.”

Owen, who had been smiling as usual, opened his mouth cautiously.

“I have some good news.”

“What is it?”

A small sense of anticipation settled in.

The phrase ‘good news’ has a positive meaning.

Good news that Owen will tell me.

My heart started beating faster little by little.

I don’t think the sudden shopping was just a whim.

There must have been some change in his state of mind.

And that must be a positive story.

-Tap

I put down the utensils I was holding and stared intently at Owen.

…But I had a feeling that something was strange.

An expression no different from usual.

Even though he was always smiling, I could now distinguish it to some extent.

His mouth corners were subtly lowered, or the corners of his eyes were raised.

It became possible to grasp the intensity of his emotions through those subtle changes.

And now.

“…….”

Although he was saying it was good news, there was a small sadness harbored in his expression.

What is he trying to say that he’s hesitating like that?

With my heart growing increasingly frustrated, I urged him.

“What is it. What in the world is going on?”

“…Edith-yang.”

-Slide

Owen mumbled his words and placed a sheet of paper on the table.

Out of curiosity, I quickly snatched it.

A piece of paper densely filled with writing.

The largest writing was-

“…Academy Application?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

A question arose.

Wondering why he suddenly brought something like this out.

As I stared intently, he sighed deeply, uncharacteristically, and continued speaking.

“You had a lot of trouble while staying here, didn’t you?”

No.

It wasn’t difficult at all.

I could say it was physically difficult, but… mentally, I was very fulfilled.

Because the goodwill and kindness he showed filled my empty heart.

Owen looked at me for a moment and then smiled.

“You’ll be alright now.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Bitter smile.

Unease began to rise up gradually.

The academy application suddenly taken out, and the question about whether I had a hard time.

One thought flashed through my mind.

“Edith-yang.”

“…….Yeah.”

“Go to the academy.”

-CRASH!

The plate I was holding fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

But I couldn’t pay even the slightest attention to such a trivial thing.

Go to the academy, he says.

…Why?

I wanted to argue right away, asking what he meant by that, but my mouth wouldn’t open.

Owen’s gloomy expression was building a language barrier.

“If it’s Edith-yang, you’ll be able to enroll in the academy easily, and-”

-Churn

I couldn’t hear the rest of his words.

At those sudden words, my heart rate gradually sped up, and my stomach began to churn.

What in the world is he saying?

In this state, I couldn’t understand it at all.

“More learning than what you can learn here-”

My mind became cluttered from the sudden drop.

It was a truly enjoyable day, and I thought it would continue until the end.

Why in the world?

“…….”

Could it be that he’s come to dislike me?

Could it be that he’s tired of me, who only gets annoyed even when spoken to kindly?

“……Ah.”

Only now did the meaning of the shopping I did with Owen begin to make sense.

“This… was the last time?”

It was because this was the last time we were meeting, that he let me spend a day different from the usual.

“…….”

At those words, Owen didn’t deny it and maintained silence.

If it wasn’t, he would have slyly refuted it.

Annoyance surged up.

“So that’s why you went shopping, and said the dinner I made was so delicious…? To end it like this, so nonchalantly? Hah…!”

Why did I like him so foolishly?

Why did I think the relationship would progress further?

After pouring out all my emotions. My churning stomach settled down, and my rapidly beating heart returned to its original speed.

My expression changed, becoming cold, like when I first met Owen.

“I’m not going.”

“Huh?”

“I said I’m not going to the academy.”

***

Ignoring Owen, who was trying to say something, Edith returned to her room and crouched in a corner.

Once alone, she simply collapsed.

-Sob

Edith roughly wiped away the tears gathered around her eyes and muttered.

“I will absolutely…… not leave.”

Edith, who raised her head while making a firm resolve.

Around her eyes, sticky emotions swirled.