3. Love Letter (14)
I was so shocked that I was rendered speechless. Not only was the sender of the first love letter of my life a woman, but she was even confessing to me. I had no idea what to do in this unprecedented situation. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't fathom why she harbored such feelings for me. I would have rather understood if she said it was just a prank, but her expression looked dead serious.
"Ah, I see..."
My tangled thoughts declared surrender, unable to process any more. As a result, my mind went as blank as a sheet of white paper, incapable of any thought. I was simply panicking.
Her eyes sparkled as she awaited my response. I felt cold sweat running down my spine. Uncomfortable. Burdensome. I want to run away. A myriad of emotions flashed through me in that split second. She was standing way too close. It felt like my palms were sweating too.
I smiled and subtly tried to shake her hand off, but she seemed oblivious to my feelings, only smiling shyly back at me. I took a step back, trying to pull my hand away, but she gripped it tighter and took a step closer. When I stepped back again with an awkward smile, she stepped forward again. It didn't seem like she was going to let go anytime soon.
I shot a glance at the man she had brought along. It was a silent plea for him to intervene, but he simply stood there with a peculiar expression. He seemed to be debating whether to keep watching the situation unfold or step in to stop it. If nothing else, I knew one thing for sure: he was not on my side.
Just then, a saving hand appeared from behind me. Vincent, who had been watching us, placed a hand on my shoulder and faced the woman. She looked up, startled, as if she had only just noticed Vincent's presence. Seeing her so visibly flustered, it seemed Vincent hadn't even been on her radar.
"It has been a while, Miss Delling."
"Y-Yes, it has been a while, Sir Bellunista."
Surprisingly, Vincent acknowledged her. The woman returned the greeting rather flusteredly. I tilted my head and mouthed to Vincent, asking how they knew each other. Vincent seemed to sense my gaze and briefly met my eyes, but offered no explanation.
"But what brings Sir Bellunista here?"
The woman looked at Vincent with a gaze that seemed to ask, *Why are you here?* In response, Vincent grasped my shoulders and pulled me backward. I stumbled right into his embrace. However, my hand was still firmly held by her. Ultimately, I ended up facing her while practically cradled in Vincent's arms, with one arm outstretched.
"She is my fiancée."
"P-Pardon? Fiancée?"
"Yes. My fiancée."
Was it my imagination? It felt like there was a subtle emphasis in Vincent's voice. The woman looked back and forth between me and Vincent upon hearing those words. Her head turned so frantically that she seemed utterly shocked. Since our engagement ceremony hadn't taken place that long ago, it seemed the news hadn't spread far yet.
It wasn't as if Vincent had said anything incorrect, but being introduced like this felt oddly embarrassing. I let out an awkward smile. She simply murmured "Uh, uh," repeatedly with a dumbfounded expression, unable to string a proper sentence together.
"Therefore, I'm afraid those feelings will be quite inconvenient."
"Pardon?"
"And I'd appreciate it if you let go of her hand now."
Vincent nodded toward her hand, which was still gripping mine. At that, the woman looked at me and Vincent again, then suddenly gripped my hand even tighter. She glared at Vincent with her lips pressed tight; she looked like a fierce beast refusing to let its prey be stolen by a natural enemy.
Vincent reached out and grabbed my wrist. Since he couldn't exactly grab hers, he must have opted for mine instead. Watching this unfold, the woman only applied more force to her grip. In the blink of an eye, a tug-of-war began between the hand pulling me away and the hand refusing to let go. The one panicking in the middle of it all was me.
Wait, what are they doing...?
"Pfft!"
Suddenly, a burst of laughter erupted. I immediately glared at the man the woman had brought. I put all my *This is no time to laugh!* energy into that glare, but the man wasn't the one laughing.
The man, who had been watching the situation with a completely straight face, shook his head as if he had read my mind. It was as if he were saying, *It wasn't me.*
Then who?
As if answering my question, the man jerked his chin toward something behind me. I turned around with a puzzled look. Now that I looked, someone was standing behind me. They had their back turned, so I couldn't see their face, but the silhouette was familiar. Their slightly hunched frame was trembling with suppressed laughter, making it obvious who the source of the laughter was. They seemed to be wiping away tears from laughing so hard.
"Ah, this is hilarious."
The person, who had even offered a quiet critique, turned around upon sensing my gaze. I stared at him in utter disbelief. When did he even get here? The laughing man was indeed Ethan.
What the hell. Did he secretly follow me here just to watch this unfold? It was so absurd that a hollow laugh escaped me. Ethan caught my eye and let out a small cough, composing his expression. Then, he casually stepped in between us. The intense stares of the woman and Vincent, who had been glaring at each other, naturally shifted to Ethan.
Ethan faced the woman directly and spoke politely.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Florence's older brother, Ethan Christopher."
"A-Ah, yes! Hello!"
The woman quickly let go of my hand and bowed her head toward Ethan. My hand had finally regained its freedom. Vincent must have seen this as his chance, as he grabbed my wrist and stepped back. I looked at him in disbelief because it looked like we were fleeing from the woman, but Vincent looked dead serious.
"I am Edria Delling."
A smooth name flowed from the woman's lips. It was only then that I realized I didn't even know her name. Come to think of it, I had no idea who she was or what family she belonged to. To have received a confession from someone like that made this situation feel utterly ridiculous.
"Miss Delling. Please forgive my rudeness. I couldn't just stand by because I was worried about my younger sister. As you may know, my sister recently went through a difficult ordeal."
"N-No, not at all. I completely understand. It wasn't easy for me to get permission to go out either."
The woman, completely swallowing Ethan's plausible excuse, waved her hands in surprise. I glared at Ethan coldly. *Liar. You came out here to watch the show. I know you're enjoying this.* He might be able to fool others, but he couldn't fool me. And apparently, he couldn't fool Vincent either, as I saw the latter visibly frown.
Completely ignoring my stiffening expression, Ethan—either completely oblivious or, more likely, pretending to be—casually draped an arm over my shoulder.
"Thank goodness it's nothing serious, Florence. Right?"
"......"
He really did know. He knew the sender of the love letter was a woman. And he knew this situation would arise. He knew everything and came to watch the spectacle. I clenched my hands tightly, trembling with anger. *Then you should have at least given me a heads-up!* If it were up to me, I would have grabbed Ethan by the collar and shaken him senseless, demanding to know if he found this amusing. I suppressed that urge with all my might and forcefully swatted his hand off my shoulder.
"You didn't have to come all this way."
"I can't just let my lovely younger sister go alone."
What is he even saying? He knew perfectly well that I wasn't going alone and that Vincent was coming with me. And while he didn't show himself openly, guards were stationed around us in case of an emergency. Ethan spun back around to face the woman, Edria.
"I've also read the letters you've sent so far. As her older brother, I can only be grateful that you like my sister this much."
"N-No. I-I received a lot of help."
"I'd love to hear what kind of help you received."
I gave his heel a hard kick with my foot for acting so uncharacteristically friendly. But Ethan didn't even flinch.
"However, seeing as my sister already has a fiancé..."
"N-No, no! That's not it!"
At Ethan's words, Edria frantically waved both hands. Then, she clasped her hands together and spoke with absolute seriousness.
"P-Please don't misunderstand. I just, it's not like that. I, I just wanted to be friends. If Miss Christopher is okay with it..."
She sneaked a hopeful glance at me. Ethan's gaze also landed on me. And I could feel Vincent's stare piercing into the back of my head without even checking.
The man Edria had brought was now watching us with his arms crossed. Standing at the center of everyone's attention, I was smiling, but inside, I desperately wanted to flee. Uncomfortable, burdensome, and awkward. Still, I had to give her an answer.
I put on the most apologetic expression I could muster.
"I'm sorry."
"I, I see."
The woman bowed her head in dismay. She tried to smile as if she were fine, but I caught the momentary pout on her face. Ethan leaned in and whispered in my ear.
"How could you reject her after seeing that face?"
"What else can I do? I have to make it clear."
"You might never make a friend at this rate."
"I'd rather you curse at me."
Infuriated by his grating words, I drove my elbow hard into Ethan's solar plexus. Ethan frowned slightly, rubbing his stomach and clicking his tongue. I glared at him. *What. Why.*
Ethan shook his head and spoke politely to Edria.
"My sister is very shy, so I apologize on her behalf."
"No! I-I'm fine. It can't be helped."
Edria mumbled awkwardly. However, she couldn't hide her disappointment as her shoulders slumped. I felt a pang of guilt, as if I had just kicked a devoted puppy. I rubbed my chest slightly. But her feelings were only a burden to me.
"I just, wanted to see your face. I haven't seen you properly since then, so I was really worried. I heard your health deteriorated so much recently that you couldn't even attend parties, and yet you went through such a dangerous ordeal... You even kicked the kidnapper and ran away then, didn't you? You even lied that you were confident in running to save me, but I couldn't do anything for you... Come to think of it, you also climbed a tree last time."
"Uwaaa—"
I hastily clamped my hand over Edria's mouth. She widened her eyes in shock at my sudden action.
Come to think of it, I really messed up. I had climbed a tree, beat up a kidnapper, and even sprinted right in front of her. And I'm supposed to be someone with a frail body! So this was the reason they tried so hard to stop me when I claimed I was confident in running. I felt a profound sense of doubt regarding my past actions.
Isabella had repeatedly warned me to be careful of my conduct. Perhaps she had a premonition that I would make a mistake like this.
My wandering thoughts snapped back to reality due to the burning gazes I felt from all directions. I secretly broke into a cold sweat. I didn't want to explicitly announce the mistake I had made. But once words leave the mouth, they cannot be taken back.
"Climbed a tree?"
As Ethan astutely caught on and voiced his doubt, my body flinched. He was one of the last people I wanted to know about my slip-up. If he found out I made a mistake, how much would he tease me?
The memory of the day I attended my first party was still vivid. That day, I was so nervous that I nearly tripped over my dress while trying to greet people. Ethan saw it and teased me relentlessly after we returned to the mansion—an awful memory. Moreover, whenever we attended parties afterward, he would always bring up that day, sparing no effort in offering advice to the point of being infuriating. I couldn't let him repeat that cycle.
I quickly pulled her aside.
"Miss Christopher?"
"Just a moment, over here."
I stepped as far away from them as possible. I completely ignored Ethan asking where I was going.