Terio Alte stared blankly into the silence. As if he had heard something impossible.
Seeing that expression, Goyo realized belatedly that this was the first time she had pushed Terio away.
Their relationship had always been that way. It was Terio who reached out to be friends, Terio who confessed to become lovers, and Terio who poured out resentment when his feelings changed.
Goyo had always been swept away by Terio’s words, following him as he wished. Body, heart, and even soul.
A lonely heart without love around is so fragile. It is easily influenced by and sympathizes with the emotions of others.
As a result, Goyo gained a friend and lost a friend. Gained a lover and lost a lover. Gained happiness and lost happiness.
The tender heart, trampled by the footsteps of a passing giant, was left barren without a single blade of grass, and now all it could do was wish for the end to come quickly.
Only then did Goyo utter the words of rejection. After already giving up on her life, she was finally able to reject the only person who said he cared for her. It was a devastating yet welcome conclusion.
Goyo thought Terio would leave the drawing room immediately. There was only one thing a proud knight would do after hearing the words to end the relationship.
“……Is it because of the Marquis?”
“What?”
However, Terio’s face only looked dark, not hurt or prideful. Instead of storming out of the drawing room, he brought up something Goyo hadn’t expected.
“Sorry, but I saw the proposal letter from Bethelgius earlier. It wasn’t intentional, it was by chance. Did the Marquis tell you to distance yourself from Alte? Did he threaten you? What did that guy say to you yesterday that made you act like this all of a sudden? Tell me, please!”
“This has nothing to do with the Marquis. It’s my decision. And what does that have to do with Sir Alte?”
“Please, Goyo. You can’t seriously be considering marrying the Marquis, are you?”
Terio gripped the teacup in front of him tightly. Goyo frowned as she saw a crack forming on the handle. She no longer felt the need to manage her expression in front of Terio.
“Get a grip, Goyo. I don’t know what the Marquis said, but he doesn’t love you. Are you really going to marry someone who doesn’t love you?”
“……I need to go, please leave.”
“Have you already forgotten what your mother said? There’s no way you can be happy in an arranged marriage!”
Terio’s words held her from getting up. Her brown eyes turned cold.
“That’s not your dream, Goyo Rubiette!”
“How do you know that?”
Goyo asked back. Her insides felt parched as if her vulnerability had been exposed, and she forgot to maintain her formal speech to keep a distance.
Her voice began to tremble.
“I never told you that.”
“Goyo, wait a minute……”
“How do you know that!”
Terio’s eyes widened as he hadn’t expected her to shout despite making a slip of the tongue.
As Goyo pressed him for an answer, Terio hesitated for a moment before he finally spoke.
“Do you remember the winter when we were sixteen? The day I brought grape wine, pretending it was grape juice to tease you.”
“What about that day?”
“Back then, you said you fell asleep right away after drinking, but actually, you didn’t fall asleep immediately.”
One winter when they were both sixteen, seeing Goyo looking more depressed than usual, Terio decided to lift the mood by playing a prank.
He secretly brought grape wine from the wine cellar, poured it into a glass instead of grape juice, and waited for Goyo to realize it wasn’t grape juice.
Contrary to Terio’s expectations, Goyo, feeling suffocated, drank the entire glass in one go. It was her first time drinking alcohol, and it was strong. The rising heat overwhelmed her, and she staggered.
Terio, startled, was about to call for the adults when Goyo grabbed his coat.
“Terio, you’re not going anywhere, right?”
With a flushed face, unaware that she had drunk wine, Goyo looked at Terio with an anxious expression.
Unable to leave, Terio Alte had to sit back down beside Goyo. And from then on.
“You told me everything. That it was around the time of your mother’s death anniversary, and other stories, even what your dreams were.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t. When you came to, you had no memory of it, so I thought it best not to tell you I knew. Because you were in so much pain while talking about it, Goyo.”
A whirlwind of emotions surged within Goyo. It was anger, betrayal, resentment, and shame. Things she had never told anyone.
From the wound of being abandoned by her mother to the utterly humble wish. The fact that it had come out of her own mouth made Goyo feel betrayed by herself.
Everything seemed wrong. Not just letting Terio go, but falling in love with him, becoming his friend, even meeting and talking to Terio Alte felt like a mistake.
‘Maybe being born was a mistake too.’
Even when she thought she had hit rock bottom, there was a deeper place. Goyo asked desolately.
“Did you pity me?”
“No, not at all! I thought you’d hate knowing I knew… I’m sorry, it was wrong to judge. But when I heard, I didn’t pity you. I didn’t think you were pitiful or laughable.
Actually, that’s when I started to like you. I never saw it that way…”
What?
“What are you talking about? You fell in love after hearing that?”
“I wanted to protect you. I wanted to make your dreams come true. So…”
Terio trailed off. She didn’t need him to say why.
Wanting to make her dreams come true, did he mean her wish for a happy family?
Someone who wanted to fulfill that wish changed his mind to her younger sister, kept silent cowardly until the day before the wedding, and then blamed Goyo for Melissy’s death after the wedding…?
Before and after the regression, his behavior never felt like he knew her secret.
If he had known, Terio Alte should have at least confessed when his feelings changed.
She didn’t know why he kept silent until the day before the wedding.
But whether it was because he was unsure of his feelings, burdened by breaking the family’s promise, or feeling guilty towards Goyo Rubiette, he should have spoken up.
At least before Goyo Rubiette could be elated, thinking her wish had come true.
Goyo accepted Terio Alte’s claim that he didn’t pity her. Because if there had been pity, he couldn’t have been so cruel.
Unable to bear it, Goyo raised her hand to slap the cowardly man.
The slap was incredibly soft compared to her anger.
“So that’s why you liked Melissy?”
“…Don’t be sarcastic, I just.”
“No, forget it, don’t make excuses. I’ll rephrase what I just said.”
Gritting her teeth, Goyo Rubiette firmly expressed her will. She herself didn’t know she could be so angry.
“Not just showing up privately, but for the rest of your life, don’t appear in front of me.”
“Goyo, please…! I know you’re angry, I understand! But now isn’t the time to be swayed by emotions! If you marry the Marquis, you’ll be unhappy!”
Unhappy? No, she was already unhappy enough. Marrying the Marquis and getting killed didn’t feel like unhappiness anymore.
“You sound like you want me to be unhappy. So, if not the Marquis, who should I marry? Who matches my status and age? Should I just grab anyone and beg them to love me?”
“Goyo! I want you to be happy. Not a marriage like that…”
“For your peace of mind, should I love anyone and beg for love? Do I have to do that for your satisfaction, Terio Alte!”
Terio’s face turned pale. Was it because he didn’t realize his words would sound that way, or because he didn’t expect Goyo to say so much?
What on earth did Terio Alte want from her?
It wasn’t as if he was short on friends with people around him, so why did he make her suffer so much?
Was it guilt over breaking off the engagement? Or was he afraid of saying harsh words to Melissy?
No, there was no need to try to understand.
The Marquis of Bethelgius proposed not only with a proposal letter but also with a suggested wedding date. A blink of an eye and it would be December, and after that day, she would no longer have to see Terio Alte.
Maybe occasionally they would run into each other, but even if that happened, after a year, Goyo would…
Goyo tried to slowly calm the anger that had turned her head white. She took a sip of the tea in front of her and set the cup down, then Terio spoke again.
“You don’t have to rush into marriage.”
“I’m of marriageable age now. As a Rubiette, I need to marry someone. Unless, would you marry me? Would you be satisfied if I married you, Terio, the one who so nobly vowed to make my dreams come true?”
“Goyo…”
Seeing his awkwardly twisted face, Goyo sighed.
“There’s nothing to think about, Terio. Even if I had a hundred lives, I would never marry you again. Go back.”
“Goyo, the Marquis…”
“The Marquis, the Marquis, don’t you ever get tired of it? Even if the Marquis is the worst scum in the world, he’s thousands of times better than you!”
Terio shook his head with a pained expression. Exhausted from the long argument, Goyo leaned her stiff back against the sofa and sighed.
A brief silence ensued.
As Goyo was about to tell him to go back one last time, Terio suddenly called her name. He had an expression that suggested he had made a decision.
“Marry me instead. I’ll talk to Melissy, as you said.”
“…What?”
“Marriage. Let’s reverse it.”
Did he want to joke in this situation? Dumbfounded, Goyo looked at his face, but he was serious.
She was no longer even angry. She was literally flabbergasted, and Goyo let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re really crazy…”
“Who gave you permission?”
An all-too-familiar voice cut her off.
It was a familiar situation. Before Goyo could react, Terio abruptly stood up.
“Did I need permission from my ‘ex’-fiancé too, even though I already got it from you?”
“Marquis of Bethelgius!”
The sofa next to Goyo sank deeply. Unlike Terio who had stood up, it was the Marquis of Bethelgius who sat on the sofa.
The Marquis, sitting beside Goyo, crossed his legs and folded his arms nonchalantly. His tilted face was leisurely smiling at Terio, but his eyes, laughing, displayed blatant contempt.
Why had he come after sending the proposal through someone? Confused, Goyo looked back and forth between the Marquis and Terio.
“Is there such an unreasonable law in the Empire, Goyo?”
“No, there isn’t such a… law?”
Goyo blinked, wondering if she had heard her own name correctly from the Marquis’ mouth.
“It seems there isn’t. I apologize for saying this twice, but you need to leave, Sir Alte. I have a lot to discuss with my fiancée.”
“How dare you appear out of nowhere and act so rudely! Marq…”
“Goodbye.”
Terio attempted to pound the table in protest, but with a single word from the Marquis, he had to leave quietly.
Teleport. He vanished as if he had never been there.
Looking at the spilled tea from Terio’s hit on the table, Goyo wondered for a moment if she was dreaming.