Chapter 42

The atmosphere was unusual even without seeing it with eyes.

Sometimes Luciano got a straight face while playing with me.

But he had never been this angry.

What made him so emotional was….

‘When I gave you muffins.’

It meant the situation inside was the worst.

I don’t know if I should go in and stop him or if I should avoid it as it is.

“I told you to leave right now!”

A loud cry was heard while I was trembling for a while in front of the door.

I reflexively took a step back.

I had a hunch that I shouldn’t listen to it like this.

‘First, let’s avoid it anywhere!’

The moment I tried to move my body like that, the door swung open and I was frozen.

It was Luciano who opened the door.

With a stiff expression on his face, he flinched at the sight of me.

Luciano quickly straightened his expression, which had shown bewilderment for a moment.

He became expressionless again then turned his head and spoke inward.

“I’m opening the door by myself. Are you not going to go out?”

I turned my gaze following Luciano and became stiff.

My heart began to beat like crazy.

There was a guest inside.

In a shocking kneeling position in front of a chair that Luciano was supposed to have been sitting on.

I didn’t check his face because he was bowing his head, but I could tell who his opponent was just by looking at his physique.

He was the big man who gave me a pile of presents earlier.

The moment I recognized him, a cold sweat ran down my back.

A bag full of gifts was lying on the table.

The man was on his knees.

The situation was obvious.

He was apologizing to Luciano.

It was Luciano who the man was supposed to apologize for!

‘If the opponent was Luciano, you should’ve told me!’

I was mad at the man for no reason.

I couldn’t hide my ominous feeling as I recalled the conversation earlier.

“I’m….”

“Stop! I don’t want to hear anything.”

The big man tried to say something, but Luciano cut it coldly.

The man found me belatedly and shuddered.

He looked at me and shut his mouth again pretending not to know me.

So I didn’t say hello to the man either.

“What are you doing? If you’re here, come in.”

Luciano spoke to me in a nonchalant tone.

He acted as if the guest was invisible.

“There’s a guest, so I, I’ll be somewhere else.”

It stammered like a broken machine.

I spoke informally to Luciano so much that it was hard to switch to honorifics in front of others.

Luciano snorted as I slowly backed away.

“Where are you going?”

No, I think I would better go.

The atmosphere was weird.

“It’s okay. Finish the conversation. I’ll wait somewhere else.”

“Don’t go.”

Luciano was just nonchalant.

As I stood stunned, he spoke to the guest.

“I think the conversation is over. How long are you going to be here?”

The man’s neck, which had already been unable to raise his head properly, bent further down at Luciano’s order.

I couldn’t control my facial expression without realizing it.

I was once treated like that by Luciano.

The man got up with a resigned face.

“Then, I’ll be going home today.”

The man bowed deeply toward Luciano.

It was when the man tried to walk towards this side with a weak step.

“Hey.”

The man rejoiced at Luciano’s voice and lifted his head.

“Yes!”

He seemed happy just to have called.

And the moment I saw that bright face, I belatedly noticed the man’s identity.

To be precise, I couldn’t help but recognize it when he was placed alongside Luciano.

The two had different personalities and atmospheres, so I couldn’t recognize them at a glance.

However, when I saw them together, their faces looked strangely similar.

When I saw this person, Luciano suddenly came to mind.

Harrison Orlando.

Luciano’s cousin and sub-male lead in the original story.

‘No, wait. Is it time for Harrison to appear?’

No.

It’s a few years from now, but why is it so fast….

–I don’t know what you did wrong, but do it quickly if you’re going to apologize.

My eyes closed tightly.

‘It’s because of me.’

Harrison should have been more hesitant to apologize because of his personality, but he came early after taking my advice.

I accidentally pushed this encounter forward for years.

And that was never going to be a good thing.

“Take the useless things you brought with you and get out.”

Luciano pointed to the table with a cold expression.

It was a paper bag with apology gifts.

Harrison, who was excited by the hope that he would say something to him, lost his energy again when he was told to take the gifts.

It looked as if the drooping ears and tail were visible.

“No. That is just…”

“I don’t need it. I don’t even want to take the trouble of taking out the trash.”

Luciano’s attitude was apathetic itself.

Harrison took the present with a gloomy look on his face.

He came up with a weak step and bowed down again right in front of us.

“I’ll see you again next time.”

“Don’t come. And don’t give me stuff like that!”

Luciano spat out grudgingly at the end.

It was terrifying as it contained a feeling of contempt.

I felt my heart tighten even though it wasn’t meant for me.

The ominous foreboding was right.

‘As expected, it was an accident.’

The reason for Luciano’s anger was understandable.

There must be something to eat in there.

Harrison would have bought sweets as I advised.

Just because Luciano casually eats the foods I gave, that didn’t mean his sensitivity to food has diminished.

He still hasn’t eaten the food that others gave him.

In such a state, he brought something to eat as an apology gift.

The subject is supposed to be Harrison.

The atmosphere couldn’t be better.

At Luciano’s indifference, Harrison’s green eyes tinged with misery and his shoulders drooped.

He seemed a little taciturn to me as well, and then our eyes met.

My heart pounded at his melancholy eyes.

We happened to say hello together.

I’m so sorry that things got worse because of me.

Harrison walked past us while pretending not to know me.

Without realizing it, I kept looking at the back of a large dog that had been abandoned by its owner.

I couldn’t take my eyes off out of sorry.

“Aesvin.”

It wasn’t until I heard Luciano’s cold voice that I turned my head.

He also had a dissatisfied expression on his face.

Why would you pay attention to a useless person.

Luciano looked at me for a moment, then went back inside and sat on the sofa.

“Sit down.”

It looked unusual, so I sat gently opposite Luciano.

He was still lost in thought as if the displeasure left by Harrison remained.

I could only guess what was in Luciano’s mind.

“What’s going on?”

Pretending to be ignorant was all I could do.

Luciano looked at me instead of answering.

It was a pretty complicated look.

His closed lips didn’t know how to open it.

“You don’t want to talk?”

Luciano nodded his head and acknowledged his feelings.

And he apologized for not feeling comfortable.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It can happen.”

Was my answer unexpected?

Luciano gave a strange look and asked a question.

“Don’t you feel upset that I didn’t tell you?”

Of course, my attitude was a little different from usual.

Not too long ago, I stuck to his side when he wanted to be alone, leading to a conversation.

I used to pry to figure out the reasons when something had happened to Luciano.

He had no choice but to think the little girl would go down on her own.

But I felt like I shouldn’t like that today.

Because Luciano would never want to say it.

After reading the original story, I knew both of their stories.

The reason why Harrison is sorry.

The reason why Luciano hates him.

Harrison was the son of Luciano’s maternal uncle who tried to poison him as a child.

Luciano must have recalled the horrific memories of Harrison’s appearance.

“I’m not upset at all. If you want to talk, tell me then. If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to tell me until the end.”

Luciano’s expression on me became even more bizarre.

He seemed to be disappointed that I didn’t ask, and he also seemed to think it was a relief that he didn’t have to tell me.

It seemed more complicated inside than before.

The boy has a lot of thoughts.

“Luci.”

“Yeah.”

I called because I couldn’t see him working alone and heard a blunt reply.

As expected, he’s a boy who is not easily deceived.

“I didn’t say it was okay because I wasn’t interested in you.”

“Then why don’t you ask me more?”

You said you didn’t want to talk.

He didn’t seem to know that his words and actions were contradictory.

But what can I do?

‘Even if you pretend to be all grown up, you’re still a 12-year-old kid.’

“I don’t want to force myself to ask what you don’t like.”

I sounded as gentle as I could.

Luciano’s gaze fell softly.

“You used to ask.”

He always hits the nail on the head and makes me speechless.

“It was something worth asking for at that time. You don’t want to talk even if I ask you now.”

Undeniably Luciano pursed his lips.

And a strange conflict began forming in how he looked at me.

It seemed to be fighting between a mind that didn’t want to tell a story and a desire to open up to me.

“I’m always by your side. You’ll tell me when you’re ready, or you don’t have to tell me until the end.”

I was being considerate of you.

So don’t get it wrong as indifference.

I stared at Luciano with sincerity.

“Thank you.”

Luciano’s expression was more relaxed along with the small reply.