119. Even Coincidences Are Ultimately Fate (16)
Alicia uncorked the bottle and poured wine into Joelli's glass. The bright red wine sloshing inside the glass looked quite appetizing. Joelli beamed as she savored the wine's aroma.
Next, Alicia placed a glass in front of Ethan and poured him wine with a soft smile. Ethan, rarely one to do so, gave a slight smile in return before averting his gaze.
Finally, Alicia's movements were slow as she filled Vincent's glass. She kept stealing glances, trying to catch his eye, and whenever their gazes met, she offered a shy smile.
Having poured wine for the three of them, Alicia returned to her seat and filled her own glass. She then handed the bottle to me; I took it in a fluster and felt awkward, as I had no intention of drinking.
As I hesitated, unsure of what to do, Ethan took the wine bottle right out of my hand. Huh?
"You don't have to drink."
Ethan smiled warmly and set the bottle down on the table. Joelli, who had been taking a sip to savor the wine, widened her eyes in surprise.
"Can you not drink alcohol by any chance?"
Flustered by her question, I shook my head. It wasn't that I couldn't drink, though I couldn't exactly say I was good at it either.
"No. It's not that I can't."
"She's not a good drinker. Don't force her."
"Oh my, really? There's only alcohol here, what should we do? That must be inconvenient."
"It's fine. I came to watch her eat soup."
What kind of nonsense was this now? As I stared at him in bewilderment, Ethan lifted the lid of the soup bowl. Steam rose gently from the freshly made soup.
Ethan picked up his spoon and leisurely ate the soup, as if putting on a show for me.
"It's delicious."
"Yes..."
This felt like an incredibly awkward situation. The words he spoke were strange, but his attitude was even stranger. Even I could tell this wasn't simply a display of friendship.
Joelli's startled eyes gradually narrowed, shifting back and forth between Ethan and me. Alicia was poking me in the ribs rather painfully. Struggling to keep my body from tilting sideways with every poke, I discreetly swatted her hand away.
"I heard the rumors, but you two must be really close. How did you get so close?"
"It just happened."
"I heard she used to work for the Christopher family."
Vincent cut in before Ethan could answer. Joelli's eyes grew wide. 'Wow, really?' Her unspoken question was so mortifying that I felt utterly wretched. It felt like the lie I had spouted just to get through the moment had come full circle to stab me in the back.
It went without saying that Alicia's gaze had turned murderous. I could already imagine her interrogating me about what that was all about once we returned to our room.
I couldn't stay in this seat a moment longer. I abruptly stood up.
"I will go fetch some water."
Filling the empty pitcher with water, I tried to calm my racing heart. At the same time, a sudden wave of fatigue washed over me. Pressing a hand to my throbbing forehead, I slipped out of the kitchen.
Climbing the stairs, I racked my brain for an excuse to escape that room. However, someone was standing outside the reception room. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed—it was Vincent.
"Why did you come out?"
When I asked in puzzlement, Vincent shot me a glance. I stopped in front of him and stared blankly up at him.
"Are you sick somewhere?"
"Who? Ah, you mean Lord Ethan."
"I mean you. Your complexion looked terrible just a moment ago."
Vincent scrutinized my face. If he meant a moment ago, it was probably because of Alicia. I couldn't hide my discomfort at the unwelcome topic.
I needlessly rubbed my cheek.
"No, I'm fine."
"Then did something happen to put you in a bad mood?"
I smiled bitterly and shook my head—not to say that nothing had happened, but to tell him not to worry about it. Vincent stared at me intently for a moment before suddenly saying something bizarre.
"Want me to make you feel better?"
"Pardon?"
"Let's try what you said."
Before I could even ask, 'About what?', Vincent uncrossed his arms and turned around. He then shoved the reception room door open and strode inside. Driven by a sense of foreboding, I followed him in, only to see Vincent marching straight toward Ethan.
"Ethan."
Ethan, who had been taking a sip of wine, looked up at Vincent with a puzzled expression. In the meantime, Vincent reached the sofa, grabbed Ethan by the collar with one hand, and slowly raised the other. Realizing what he was about to do, I reached out to stop him, but the fist slamming into Ethan's face was faster.
Ugh.
It happened in a flash. By the time I registered the situation, Ethan was already rolling back onto the sofa. Clutching his struck cheek with his hand, Ethan stared up at Vincent with a bewildered expression. He didn't seem to comprehend what had just happened to him.
"Y-you, what are you doing?"
"Because it seemed like you wanted to reconcile."
"What?"
"I punched you once as a way of accommodating that, why?"
What on earth did reconciliation have to do with throwing punches! Ethan's face contorted slowly, making me wonder if I was the only one who thought this was absurd. He started letting out hollow, disbelieving chuckles, like a man who had just experienced the most preposterous thing in the world.
"So are you saying we should settle this with our fists right now?"
"Yes."
Vincent egged on the fight with a nonchalant attitude. Ethan, who had been chuckling like a madman, suddenly sprang to his feet and threw a punch. Taken by surprise, Vincent crashed to the ground helplessly.
Ethan cracked his neck from side to side and looked down at the fallen Vincent.
"You said this is how we should do it if we want to reconcile."
"......"
"Does it feel bad getting hit? Then hit me back."
With those words as the catalyst, total chaos erupted. Vincent scrambled to his feet and threw another punch at Ethan, and Ethan, after stumbling briefly, immediately counterattacked. Grabbing each other by the collars, they happily exchanged blows and turned the room into an absolute pandemonium.
"Leave them be."
I tried to stop them, fearing the situation would get more serious, but Joelli held me back.
"But..."
"It's fine. It's about time this happened."
Joelli, who I thought would be the most shocked, was surprisingly calm. She held her wine glass out to me and asked me to pour some water. As I filled her glass with water, I wondered if I should still try to stop them.
"You said you wanted to reconcile earlier, right? Fine, let's properly give and take and reconcile for real this time! Come at me, you bastard!"
"I guess you reconcile with words? Hit me properly first, then talk."
"What? You scrawny bastard!"
"Look who's talking, with your cotton fists."
"Hey! What do you mean cotton fists!"
Their bickering was no different from little children, leaving me completely speechless. I forgot about my earlier foot-stomping worry over whether I should stop them and let out a short sigh. Good heavens, they were so childish.
And on top of that...
"You self-centered bastard!"
"You jerk who enjoys making people uncomfortable!"
"When did I do that? When!"
"How about you take a good look at yourself for once?"
As they went back and forth, criticizing each other over what they hated about one another, it turned into an absolute mess of trading blows and insults. It wasn't a competition over who hated whom more, but at this rate, they'd soon claim to hate the very fact that the other was breathing. When their theme of 'I hate this about you' devolved into dragging up their childhood, I stopped sighing and just stared at the two of them in pity.
"Do you think you're the only one having a hard time! I'm having a hard time too! I'm uncomfortable too! Do you think I showed up in front of you because I wanted to!"
"Then don't show up! I never told you to do that!"
"I still have to show up if we're going to reconcile, what else can I do! Otherwise, you'll never look at me again! Because of Lucas, you'd cut me out of your life too!"
Vincent hesitated for a moment at Ethan's yell. Ethan didn't let the opportunity slip by. With his eyes rolled back in rage, he grabbed Vincent by the back of the head. Wait, isn't that too cheap a move? I was so engrossed that I almost jeered out loud, but before I could, Ethan swept Vincent's legs, causing the off-balanced man to trip and fall.
Vincent crashed into the armrest of the sofa and collapsed. Alicia rushed over to him, asking if he was alright, and helped him up.
Seething, Ethan grabbed Vincent by the collar and hauled him up. Vincent grabbed the hand that was holding his collar and glared at him.
"You think I don't know you? A cowardly bastard like you would never reach out first unless I came to you like this. You think about all sorts of things in your head, but on the outside, you act like nothing's wrong and don't even show it! You hate me, you resent me, but you also think Lucas died because of you! You're feeling guilty!"
"......"
"I told you it wasn't your fault. I told you it was what Lucas wanted!"
Ethan's roaring voice echoed loudly through the reception room. I drew in a sharp breath. With a face contorted as if he were about to cry, Ethan panted heavily.
"Do you think... do you think I'm not sorry? I feel guilty and walk on eggshells around you too. My family committed a terrible wrong against you, and we dragged you into this when you had nothing to do with it. The sinner isn't you, it's me. Do you have any idea how much resolve it takes every time I go to see you?"
"......"
"Every time, I'm scared and terrified. Time has passed, but that hasn't changed. I'm afraid you'll blame me, and I feel like I could die of guilt. Even so, we can't keep living like this. I don't want to lose my friend. I'm trying to make things right between us, but do you really have to act like this?"
The skin under Ethan's eyes flushed a deep red.
"Can't you just pretend you don't know and get along? The guy who died isn't going to come back to life just because you and I are fighting like this. I'm also, I also..."
Unable to finish his sentence, Ethan turned his head away. He seemed to be trying to compose himself. I kept my eyes on Ethan. He met my gaze as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand, reddened from punching. The moment his brown eyes grew cloudy, he turned on his heel and left the room.
"Lord Ethan."
I headed toward Ethan, who was standing huddled behind the corner. Ethan flinched, then slightly raised his head.
His brown hair was messily disheveled. The collar of the shirt he was wearing was stretched out, and the buttons had all been torn off. Anyone could tell he had been in a messy fistfight.
His face was an even more spectacular sight. One eye was bruised and swollen shut, and his cheek was flushed and puffy. His lip was burst, crusted over with dried blood.
He looked at me and smiled. It was comical because his swollen eyelids couldn't fold properly.
"I showed you an unsightly side of myself."
"Honestly, it was a bit much when you got mad at me for mentioning that you wet the bed as a kid."
"......"
"Are you alright?"
Standing in front of him, I carefully examined his face. It looked like it would hurt quite a bit. I gently pressed the towel I had brought against his red cheek. Since it was soaked in cold water, it would help cool the heat.
Ethan scrunched up his face.
"Paula, it hurts."
"There are ears listening. Please call me Ann."
"I don't want to."
I was starting to think that mouth of his was the real problem. I pressed the towel firmly against his swollen lips. Ethan whined that it hurt, but I pretended not to hear and pressed even harder.
Then, my eyes fell on his split lip. I stuffed the towel into his hand and rushed to my room to fetch two medicine bottles. It was proving quite useful today of all days.
"You don't need to go as far as treating it with this. I'm fine."
"I'm not fine."
First, I applied disinfectant to my fingertips and dabbed it onto his torn lip. He flinched, his lips twitching.
"Do it gently."
"This wouldn't have happened if you just talked it out instead of fighting."
"He hit me first, you know?"
Ethan muttered sulkily.
"...Even my father rarely ever hit me."
He sounded exactly like a young master who had been treasured and sheltered his whole life.