Editor Group: Liber Reverie
At the words, Aria’s face hardened. No way. Aria gave a desperate look to her mother, who was the only one there on her side. But on purpose, her mother didn’t make eye contact with Aria. The elegantly smiling face served only to bless the noble future of Mielle from the beginning of time. She didn’t seem to care about Aria’s desperate look.
Isis continued her words, “It’s a little early, but we can’t help it because they love so much.”
At Isis’s words, Mielle laughed with a happy face. Aria’s heart fell down.
‘Why?’ Aria could predict what Isis was going to say without having to listen to what she was about to say. Aria’s gaze suddenly turned to Oscar, who stood next to Mielle. Oscar fixed his eyes on his sister without making any facial expressions.
‘… really, you’ve turned away.’
Aria tried to find it over and over again, but she had been constantly searching for other reasons for their sudden loss of contact because of her lingering attachment. She was assuming that it was because of Princess Isis.
‘But… that’s really what Oscar wanted.’
If not, he would not be able to accept it, nodding through. Now she really needed to throw away the card of Oscar. What would she do if she held on to someone who had never looked at her in the past or even now? Nevertheless, she kept looking at Oscar’s expression because he was the best card to hurt Mielle.
“When Lady Mielle becomes an adult, we are going to hold an engagement ceremony right away. I’m going to give her the ring of promise that is passed down to our family from generation to generation.”
Oscar moved at Isis’s hand gesture. He took a small ring out of his arms. It was a diamond ring in the shape of a rose. It was also owned by the wife of the Duke of Frederick for generations. Mielle reached out her hand with a shy, red face. It was time for the duchess of the future to receive the ring.
Aria couldn’t bear to see it, so she got up from her seat. No one paid attention to a wicked woman’s departure. No, except for one. Oscar’s gaze followed Aria, who was climbing up the stairs. After he had arrived here, he had put her in his eyes.
And when Mielle noticed this, she spoke to Oscar, who had stopped moving, “What a pretty ring. I never dreamed I’d be wearing a promise ring.”
Oscar’s hand, which had stopped, moved again. It was to put the ring of promise on Mielle’s finger. There was nothing he could do about a future that was already set.
* * *
“Miss Aria!”
It was in the garden on the second floor that Aria moved her steps in defiance of Annie calling her name from behind, a garden created by the countess with lofty tastes. And it was also a place where Oscar and Aria had memories of.
‘Why did I come here…? What on earth did he come here for?’
Well, it was time for her to let Oscar go perfectly. He would no longer return to Aria. He even announced his engagement to everyone. Oscar showed no interest in her, though she would be willing to be a foreign object if he showed her a wobbly look.
Annie barely gasped for breath and said to Aria, who was entering the garden. “Miss… why don’t you go back to your room?” She blurted her words with concern because she was one of the few who knew Aria had exchanged letters with Oscar.
Instead of going back, however, Aria sat on a chair in the garden. “I’m sorry… can you get me some tea?”
“Yes, miss.”
It wasn’t her job to do that now, but Annie left the garden to prepare the tea without saying anything. Aria, who was alone, buried her face in her palms and hid her distorted face. She thought it would be terribly horrible for her face that she had decorated to show Oscar well.
It was time to let him go perfectly. No, maybe that time had come a long time ago. It had been the right time when he had asked to cut off their contact. She had been in agony again because she had had regrets.
‘There are a lot of other things, but only for Oscar…’
Now, there were many other cards besides Oscar. Of course, he was the best card to inflict the crushing pain on Mielle, but there was nothing more foolish than to keep chasing a card that she could not get.
For a while, she cleared her mind by drinking the tea Annie had brought her. No one was looking for Aria for a long time even after Annie left as well.
Aria rose from her seat as she stared at the scarlet sunset window. There was a loud noise through the stairs on the first floor, whether there were many people who had not yet returned, though it was late.
After looking at it for a long time, she moved to the third floor where her room was. Her steps were as heavy as a stone, but every effort was made to quench the lingering mind. Then as she passed the last stairway and passed the hallway leading to her room, she could see something detached in front of her room.
‘… What is that?’
She noticed that it was a small box when she got close and checked. It was even packed as if it were a gift. ‘Why is there a present in front of my room when it is Mielle’s birthday?’ Aria picked up the box and tore the package. It was hers, as it was in front of her room.
‘This…!’
Aria’s eyes opened wide when she saw the content. It was a rose-shaped brooch made of red diamonds; it was a very similar design to the brooch that Aria had previously given to Oscar.
The color and the shape of the diamond were different, so she would not know when she set them apart, but if she put them side by side, she would definitely feel like they were matched.
‘Why on earth and who did send this?’
The answer was fixed. It was obvious that Oscar had sent it. ‘But why on earth would he do this?’ He hadn’t even had eye contact with her. No one else would know about the brooch, so there was no way anyone else would have sent it. ‘Why did he send such a brooch?’
Aria tumbled over the bed, agonizingly. The brooch in her hand sparkled in the glow of the sunset. She didn’t know what he meant, but it was clear that he still had regret for her. Otherwise, he would not have sent her a brooch that needed to be crafted with such care.
‘Yes, it makes no sense to stop ties so suddenly.’
It was clear that there had been a reason. The laughter that leaked out filled the empty room. Oscar and Mielle announced their engagement, but she felt as if she were flying.
However, as time went by, her excited feelings came back gradually. ‘Why did he just leave the gift behind, not looking at my face, not even a letter?’ It was better to reply to the letter than to leave the gift behind. ‘Doesn’t he know how nervous I was?’ He had made her so anxious, but he had only given her a gift like this.
She just wanted to let him go today, who was the most useful card to use to cut off Mielle’s head, but all of a sudden, he gave a gift.
‘What the hell am I supposed to do? Are you trying to put your head in so that I can use it?’
Then she had to use it. Aria, holding the brooch in her hand, hurried downstairs. It was to check the face of Oscar, who had possibly sent it.
Still, the first floor was noisy with the party celebrating Mielle’s birthday. Everyone seemed to be talking about Mielle and Oscar’s future when Aria heard the words ‘engagement’ or ‘adult’ from time to time.
‘Foolishly, he secretly sent a gift to another woman on his fiance’s birthday.’
As expected, the woman he had in mind was herself. Otherwise, that Oscar would not have sent a gift to another woman for his fiance’s birthday.
Aria, standing at the foot of the stairs leading down to the first floor, looked for the trail of Oscar. Luckily, Oscar was sitting near the stairs. He was with Princess Isis, staring at the front with a stiff face that didn’t go well with the birthday party.
So Aria stopped trying to approach straight to Oscar and watched them for a while. No word was heard, but the princess was constantly talking to Oscar. As the conversation continued, Oscar’s expression grew harder.
‘What are they talking about?’
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