121. Even Coincidences Ultimately Seem Like Fate (18)
The swelling lasted for two whole days. Ethan lay in bed for two days, battling his swollen face.
I clicked my tongue and advised him not to resort to fistfights next time. However, Ethan retorted that Paula was the one who instigated it, leaving me with no choice but to shut my mouth.
After lunchtime, Robert and the nanny came to Ethan's room. They said they were worried because Ethan, who had recently been having meals with them about once a day, hadn't shown his face. Seeing Ethan's swollen face, the nanny was startled and asked what had happened, and I awkwardly smiled and brushed it off, saying something had come up. Robert stared intently at Ethan's face before asking with concern, "Does it hurt?"
In the evening, I met Vincent. To be precise, I spotted him from a distance standing in front of Ethan's door. It was our first time seeing each other in two days. He was holding the doorknob, but for some reason, he turned around instead of entering the room.
As I walked toward Ethan's room, I felt puzzled. Vincent, walking from the opposite direction, spotted me, stopped in his tracks, and stepped back.
Moreover, he retreated as much as I approached, putting distance between us. His behavior was strange.
"What's wrong?"
"Don't come closer."
Excuse me, I was just walking on my way? Ignoring my baffled reaction, he even raised his hand to stop me from coming. I observed his strange behavior for a moment before taking large strides toward him again. Vincent, rarely showing panic, backed away and eventually tried to turn around. But I reached his side before he could and realized why he was acting that way.
Vincent's cheeks were dyed red. I wasn't sure if it was because of bruising or a fever, but they were swollen up, making them look as cute as Robert's cheeks.
"Pfft."
As soon as I saw his face, a laugh escaped me. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, but hearing the burst of laughter that eventually spilled out, Vincent glared at me.
"Don't laugh."
"I'm so—rry, pfft."
But I simply couldn't hold back my laughter. So that was why he hadn't come for two days—it must have been because of his face. Well, Ethan had suffered with a swollen face too, so Vincent, who had fought him, couldn't possibly have been unscathed.
I covered my face with both hands and giggled. Vincent shot me a resentful glance, but I couldn't help it and burst out laughing.
A little while later, Ethan came out of his room after hearing my laughter, and it goes without saying that he also burst out laughing upon seeing Vincent's face.
Even after that day, Vincent frequently visited the mansion in the forest. Every time, he would barge into Ethan's room. Ethan, who had been annoyed at first, soon grew accustomed to it and started reacting nonchalantly. Of course, that didn't mean he stopped complaining.
"Why do you keep coming when you have nothing to say?"
"I'm bored."
Such exchanges also became familiar.
In truth, there wasn't a major change in their relationship. Just because they had a fistfight didn't mean they could immediately open their hearts and laugh cheerfully like before. They pretended to be fine on the outside, but tension still flowed between them.
Nevertheless, Vincent came to see Ethan, and Ethan didn't entirely hate Vincent's visits. Seeing them occasionally exchange dry jokes, I could feel that their relationship had eased just a little bit.
As such quiet daily life flowed by, it was an early morning when the sun had just begun to rise. Ethan left the mansion. It was a sudden parting.
From dawn, I frantically helped him prepare to leave. The servants carried his luggage to the carriage.
"It's a shame you're leaving so suddenly."
Handing the last bag to the servant, I expressed my regret. Ethan, putting on his jacket, smiled slightly. As if saying he felt the same way.
I approached him and smoothed out the wrinkles on his jacket. His face, now with the swelling gone and the bruises almost disappeared, was no different from when we reunited. Perhaps because of that, I felt even more regretful.
"I only intended to stay for a short while, but somehow time has passed."
"You'll come again, right?"
"Of course. You'll have to attend to me then, too."
But when he came to this mansion again, I wouldn't be here. I smiled and gave a vague answer. Ethan looked out the window without saying much. The red light rising in the sky densely dyed his face.
"Paula."
"Yes."
"Last time we made this bet, you asked me what I wanted to know."
I lifted my head. Ethan was still looking out the window.
"Hope."
Hope?
"I wanted to see the hope that this moment isn't a mistake."
I opened and closed my lips. I wanted to ask why he wanted to know such a thing, but seeing his hardened side profile, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut. His eyes were directed at the crimson-dyed sky, but his gaze didn't seem to be reaching it.
I knew Ethan had worries he kept to himself. And I also knew he didn't want to talk about them. If so, I didn't want to pry.
But if I were to guess a little.
"It's because of Lord Lucas."
Because that was the reason Vincent and Ethan grew apart. He probably wanted confirmation that the decision to give Lucas's eyes to Vincent wasn't a mistake.
I lowered my head and needlessly fumbled with the collar of his jacket. I could feel Ethan looking at me.
"I was told not to tell you this, but on the day you and the Master argued. When I finished talking with you and went outside, the Master was standing in front of the room. It seemed like he was waiting for me."
"……."
"He asked how you were doing. He must have been worried."
It was the second time I had a deep conversation with Vincent since we talked about Robert. Thinking about it now, Vincent must have been searching for his own way to mend his relationship with Ethan. That's why he asked for the opinion of a servant like me, and even put into practice that absurd suggestion to have a fistfight. Thanks to that, they both suffered for days with swollen faces, though.
The events from reuniting with Ethan up until recently crossed my mind. I didn't know I would meet him again like this here. I was surprised, glad, and also bewildered. On the other hand, I also lamented how he had changed. And I was very sad to learn that what happened with Lucas had left a scar on everyone.
Perhaps it was because I might never see him again. Ethan said he stayed longer than expected, but the time I spent with him felt short.
"The Master must have also wanted to reconcile with you and get along well again. That's why he did something like a fistfight. He's always been clumsy at expressing himself. Being mindful of the other person's feelings means he doesn't want to hurt them, doesn't it?"
"……."
"So please don't worry too much. The Master must have known why you made such a choice and how great a resolution it was. Because you're a precious friend."
I brushed off the wrinkles on his shoulders and stepped back.
"All done."
I smiled brightly to lighten the stiff atmosphere, but Ethan didn't smile. I felt awkward, thinking I'd only made the mood worse, when Ethan, who was fiddling with his collar, suddenly spoke.
"I felt the same way back then."
He then lowered his hand and faced me. Before I knew it, the red sunlight was shining entirely on both of us. Ethan's face was swallowed by the dazzling sunlight. I raised a hand to shield my eyes from the light.
"I didn't know what I should do."
The heavy voice was unlike him.
"When I was suffocating from guilt, wanting to run away, but despairing because all I could do was force myself to smile, I met you by Vincent's side. And by talking with you, I was able to feel a little relieved."
I knew what time Ethan was referring to. He was talking about five years ago, when I first met him.
"And even now, I feel the same way."
"……."
"That I'm relieved."
As Ethan took a step toward me, his figure became clear again. Unlike his stiff voice, he was smiling gently. He raised a hand, grabbed one of my shoulders, and patted it softly.
"Please stay by Vincent's side, just like back then."
His comforting touch was gentle.
But it was so strange. Ethan was smiling, and bright rays of light were shining brilliantly over his entire body, so why did he look so fragile, like he might crumble in my eyes? Why was I so anxious?
At that moment, a knock was heard. Knock, knock.
"We are ready."
Ethan answered the servant outside the door and turned around. You don't have to come out. As I watched his back walking toward the door saying that, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
"Something has happened. Right?"
I asked urgently. I thought that Ethan's visit here wasn't simply because he was worried about his estranged relationship with Vincent over Lucas, and that maybe something urgent had happened that required him to leave so suddenly in the early morning.
Ethan's steps came to a halt. He turned his head slightly toward me as if hesitating, but in the end, he didn't look back at me. Anxiety thumped heavily in my chest. His silence felt long. Unable to bear it, I approached him and turned him around to face me.
"Sir Ethan!"
The red sunlight filling the room illuminated his face once more. His face, fully revealed as it embraced the rays of light, was dark and sunken. The brown eyes facing me shook anxiously.
No, that wasn't all.
Fear. Ethan was afraid.
Why? Why? What is making you so afraid? What are you hiding? What has happened right now? Countless questions arose, but the reason I couldn't spit them out was because his face still seemed to be telling me not to ask anything.
I recalled Ethan, who had done nothing but stay in bed since coming to this mansion. I felt like I finally understood why he had overlapped with the Vincent of the past. That something had happened to Ethan.
Ethan soon relaxed his expression. He looked nonchalant, as if he hadn't been anxious just a moment ago, but I couldn't erase my worried feelings. Gently removing my hand that was gripping his arm, Ethan smiled playfully, as he always did.
"Just stay by Vincent's side. That's enough."
Because he was leaving the mansion so suddenly, the number of people seeing Ethan off was small, unlike when he arrived. Joely, Robert, and a few servants were all.
Robert, holding tightly onto the nanny's hand, rubbed his eyes as if he hadn't fully woken up yet and exchanged greetings with Ethan, while Joely didn't hide her regret.
After giving them a light bow, Ethan boarded the waiting carriage. Naturally, Vincent couldn't come.
Watching the carriage grow distant, I chewed on the tension I had felt just a moment ago. It must have been my imagination. If something were truly wrong, Ethan wouldn't have just holed up in his room doing nothing under the pretext of recuperating. He would have taken immediate action and devised countermeasures. Or maybe he came to tell Vincent something.
Could it possibly be something related to Vincent? Staring at the rear of the carriage, which had now become a dot, I felt a shivering chill for some unknown reason. I rubbed my forearm and quickly shook my head. It couldn't be. With that, I brushed away the baseless thoughts.