# 162
162. Epilogue (2)
I thought I misheard for a moment. But soon I calmly chewed over what Ethan had said. Did he mean becoming close like family? That must be it, right? If so, that would be something to be grateful for.
"Are you crazy?"
But Vincent reacted before I did. I blankly stared at Vincent. Wait, what's wrong with becoming close? Having a noble friend—how great is that! However, I soon realized my thinking was wrong through Ethan's answer.
"No, I'm serious. Paula, how about becoming family with me?"
When Ethan asked again, I hesitantly asked back.
"You mean becoming close like family, right?"
"No. I mean becoming real family."
Ethan smiled broadly. I smiled along out of habit and chewed over his words again.
"Real family?"
"Yes. Real family."
"You and me?"
"Yes, Paula and me."
"Me into the Christopher family?"
"Yes. You into our family."
Ethan kindly responded to my repeating questions. I slowly put his answers into my head. Then my thoughts became complicatedly tangled. The corners of my eyes that had curved round gradually returned to normal. I was becoming a comical face with only the corners of my mouth raised, but that wasn't important right now.
I raised my index finger and pointed alternately between me and Ethan. You and me? Then Ethan nodded greatly and, like me, raised his finger and pointed alternately between himself and me.
"Then I'm the older brother, and Paula is the younger sibling."
"I'm sorry, but have you perhaps gone mad?"
I ended up showing the exact same reaction as Vincent. Because it was that absurd of a thing to say. Asking me to become family—that means telling me to be adopted into the Christopher household. Is he telling me to become a noble now? What nonsensical talk. And to think that Ethan, of all people, would bring up such a thing—I couldn't have imagined it.
No, such a proposal itself was something I couldn't have even imagined.
Maybe he's joking? No such sign appeared on Ethan's face. When I looked at Vincent with a dumb expression, he was staring at Ethan with his eyes slightly narrowed. It seemed very much like he was trying to uncover some hidden motive, but there appeared to be no results.
"Why are you doing this. What's your intention."
"I'm saying I'll help you. Don't tell me you had the foolish thought that everything would work out as long as your hearts are in the right place?"
"……."
At the rather sharp point, Vincent closed his mouth. It wasn't that Vincent thought that way, but because it was a realistic statement that he couldn't refute. The difference in our status was the biggest obstacle, but besides that, there were many problems. For example, my appearance.
I didn't want to think depressing thoughts, but inevitably a sense of inadequacy crept in. But separate from these problems, there was no reason for Ethan to go this far, stepping forward so proactively.
"Ethan, you don't have to go this far."
"Does Paula dislike becoming family with me?"
"That's not what I mean, I can't make things difficult for you too."
"Paula, do you remember we made a bet?"
He suddenly changed the subject. I was about to stop him but instead expressed my confusion. A bet? Not understanding what he meant, I looked bewildered, and Ethan smiled as if he expected that.
"We bet on whether Vincent would miss you or not, remember?"
Ah, I opened my mouth slightly. Vincent sent a look asking when such a bet was made. When, you ask? That time. When I met Ethan again, it was a bet I was forced into. After that, so many things happened that I had forgotten about it.
"We agreed to grant the wish of whoever wins that bet."
I had heard something like that too.
"I remember but... why suddenly?"
"Since Paula won the bet, I'll grant your wish."
My eyes went wide. It was strange that he suddenly brought up the bet, but what did he mean I won? Vincent, who had been listening to our conversation, simply crossed his arms and watched.
"You need my help. I'll grant that wish."
"What..."
"What you want is to be with Vincent. If you become a member of our family, your status will rise, and then even if you're in a romantic relationship with Count Bellunita, people won't find it strange. The Bellunita family and the Christopher family have a long history together, so there's nothing particularly odd about it. The procedures might be a bit complicated, but if we think about it, a method will come up. I'm actually a very capable person, you know."
My jaw dropped. Words that always felt playful came differently this time.
"How about it, isn't it a pretty good wish? Even if you break up, it wouldn't be bad."
"Who said anything about breaking up."
Vincent interjected. He had a very dissatisfied expression at his friend already pouring cold water on things. Ethan smiled and spouted ominous words about how no one knows what the future holds.
"But..."
I was tempted for just a very brief moment. But thinking about it again, this was too big a thing to grant as a mere bet's wish. Ethan spoke lightly, but the process would never be light. This kind of thing was uncomfortable. It didn't feel realistic.
"You think about it too. If things stay like this, there's no way to overcome the status difference. You already know that well."
"……."
Vincent didn't say anything in response. At first his face seemed to think this was crazy talk, but soon I could see the thought that this might actually be fine rising up. I was horrified. Goodness, what was he thinking!
I reached my arm between them and flailed both hands.
"Wait, this is still ridiculous!"
"Why. I said I'd help."
Seeing Vincent change his attitude as easily as flipping his palm was absurd.
"Why did you suddenly change your mind? No. I refuse."
"This is an opportunity that won't come again. Think carefully."
Ethan coaxed gently, but I spoke firmly.
"Even thinking again, this isn't it. You can forget about the bet, I refuse."
At my answer, the two were speechless for a moment. Seeing the two lost in their own thoughts, I tensed up for a different reason. Worried they might make another strange declaration.
Then Ethan turned his gaze to Vincent.
"Could you step out for a moment? I have something to say in private."
"Say it while I'm here."
"Already interfering? I heard you get tired of things quickly."
Ethan casually spat out a remark that struck a nerve. Vincent scowled deeply and looked at me. At his gaze that seemed to ask 'Do you think so too?', I was about to say no but paused. Thinking of him who visited every day, I only smiled awkwardly.
With a very dissatisfied face, Vincent reluctantly stood up. Making it obvious he didn't want to leave, he forced his heavy steps toward the door.
After Vincent closed the door and left, Ethan gazed at me seriously.
"Paula. I was going to tell you when the opportunity arose, but actually, through this incident, I thought I should keep you by my side."
"Me?"
"Yes, regardless of the circumstances, thanks to you, I was able to prevent Vincent from being killed by James. Because of that, you suffered a serious injury. If it weren't for you, I might have lived my entire life in regret. I wanted to properly repay you who prevented that."
"But this is too much for a repayment."
What he offered as repayment was too enormous. This was a different kind of answer from what I had been worrying about, something I couldn't have even dared to imagine. Just words of gratitude would have been enough.
"I'm not saying this lightly either. It was brief, but I thought about it sufficiently and made a decision to propose this, so please think about it seriously."
"Ethan. This is still unreasonable."
"Are you afraid of becoming family with a count who survived by devouring his own flesh and blood? Afraid that I might devour you too?"
"You know that's not it."
I frowned. I didn't want to hear such words even as a joke. It was also something that absolutely couldn't be taken lightly. And this was a different problem from that. As I was about to express my refusal again, Ethan noticed and continued speaking first.
"Then I suppose you could think of it this way. Don't you think you know too much about our affairs?"
At those words, the movement of my head shaking side to side stopped abruptly. My eyes went wide. The smile disappeared from Ethan's face as he looked at me like that. His unsmiling face revealed no emotion whatsoever.
"Both the matter with James and the matter with Lucas—you know about all of it, don't you? Did you think I would just let you go?"
"That's..."
The tension that had loosened tightened taut in an instant. A problem I had set aside in one corner of my mind and not considered important seemed to stab at me sharply. I gulped down a dry swallow. Suddenly I felt sweat forming in my palms.
The answer to his question was 'no.'
"It was unexpected that you and Vincent would end up in such a relationship, but even if that hadn't happened, I intended to keep you by my side."
"......Surveillance, then."
"If that's how you want to think of it."
But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't rule out the purpose of surveillance. Whether I wanted to or not, I knew the secrets they hid, and I was one of the people who knew about what happened in Ethan's family. Even if I pretended not to have seen what I saw, pretended not to have heard what I heard, and swore not to reveal anything that happened here, they wouldn't believe me, would they?
"Since we're at it, a relationship where we can see each other often would be good, but having you work as a servant somehow feels unsettling, so becoming family wouldn't be bad either."
"……."
"If Paula insists on refusing my proposal, I'll have to think of another method, though."
I won't kill you or anything. Because by now, Paula has become quite an important person to me. But my thought of keeping you where I can see you remains unchanged. Ethan relaxed his stiff expression and listed terrifying words while smiling good-naturedly.
Right, he was always this kind of person. Someone whose calculations were certain. After reuniting, seeing only how he treated me well, I must have let my guard down without realizing. I tried to be aware of what kind of person he was in between, but sometimes he came in this unexpectedly.
Seeing him smile at me while issuing a warning, my lips wouldn't part anymore. My whole body stiffened hard. Cold sweat seemed to trickle down my spine.
"Don't think too badly of it. It's an opportunity for you, isn't it?"
"It's too heavy an opportunity for me."
"Why are you being like this. Between us."
What do you mean 'between us'?
"We're a cooperative relationship where we help each other."
He pointed alternately between himself and me again. Leaving me bewildered by his sudden remark, Ethan stood up. As if he was done talking, he headed for the door. When he opened the door, I caught a glimpse of Vincent standing with his body leaning against the wall. As he immediately looked at Ethan and moved his lips, Ethan waved his hand, telling him to go away.
"Ethan."
I called out to Ethan urgently. Ethan stopped on his way out and looked back at me.
"That bet you proposed back then, I said he wouldn't miss me."
Vincent blinked at me. Ethan waited for my next words as if telling me to continue.
"You bet that he would miss me. So you won the bet."
Vincent had been looking for me for a long time. He remembered me. Since Ethan won the bet as a result, the one who had to grant a wish was me.
But at my words, Ethan smiled broadly.
"Paula, you must have forgotten."
He slightly turned his body and leaned his hand against the doorframe.
"We changed the bet conditions at the end."
Ah.
"Then think about it carefully."
Saying it like that, I couldn't help but think about it.
My head throbbed. Ethan's words circulated rapidly in my mind. To think a day would come when I'd worry about something like this in my life. Others might say it's something to be grateful for, but to me, this also felt like heading down a path of hardship. When everything suddenly feels too much, it's inevitable to feel anxious.
I had confessed my feelings to Vincent, but that didn't mean I wanted him to help me live in luxury, or that I wanted us to be revealed publicly. I was fine with meeting quietly in secret. Vincent, seemingly having no intention of changing his mind, told me to think about it and left the room.
From racking my brains, sleep wouldn't come at night. After tossing and turning for a while, I fell into a light sleep, but then I heard a strange sound. Something like a bumping noise...? I sat up groggily and turned on the lamp. Just as I thought I saw something black in the softly brightening room, a dark object lunged at me.
Before I could even gasp in surprise, my mouth was covered. When I widened my eyes and raised my head, I saw the person covering my mouth.
"Be quiet."
The person who warned fiercely looked around, then soon lowered his gaze to me. And made the same wide-eyed face as mine.
It was Johnny, whom I was seeing for the first time since the day I was shot. Why was he here? I froze in surprise at Johnny's sudden appearance, and he also seemed surprised, as if he hadn't expected me to be here.
"You..."
Johnny seemed flustered but quickly regained his composure and said
"Stay quiet. Understand?"
I nodded vigorously. Only then did Johnny slowly remove his hand covering my mouth. Thinking I wouldn't make a sound, he soon pulled his body back. Only then could I properly see Johnny's appearance. But in the time I hadn't seen him, his face had become haggard and his attire was a mess.