Chapter 157: A Parting of Endurance
Sue, forced to attend Vercia’s birthday party, felt a heavy weight on her shoulders.
Vercia and Enzhe? What are they planning?
…No, it couldn’t be. That’s impossible. It can’t be.
What could they possibly be planning? What is Vercia thinking, and what is Enzhe thinking?
Enzhe had said that Vercia would “entertain” her. Could someone like Vercia really entertain Enzhe?
The more she thought about it, the more questions she had.
During break time, Sue went to the bathroom and ran into Vercia, who was just finishing washing her hands.
“Oh my, Lady Byron.”
Vercia greeted her with a flawless smile.
“I want to get along with you, Lady Byron. We’re both Skias.”
She said those textbook words, her eyes observing Sue’s reaction. Sue’s downcast red eyes were trembling slightly.
Ah, how annoying.
Vercia took Sue’s hand. Sue tried to pull away from the warmth of her touch, but Vercia held on tight.
“Lady Byron, I would be delighted if you could come to my birthday party.”
It’s even more annoying when someone acts all apologetic after doing something like this, isn’t it?
“…Then, I’ll be going.”
Sue, left alone, rubbed her tingling hand and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
So this was the gloomy, sullen face that Evan had described.
Since when had she started making this face?
Had it always been like this?
Sue rubbed her tired face with her dry hands.
“…Let’s go. I have to go.”
She couldn’t avoid Vercia, even if she was plotting something. She couldn’t run away from Enzhe, even if she had a scheme.
Maybe this would be the end of it all.
If it ended, it would be good.
If Enzhe regained her joy and Vercia forgave her.
***
The day of Giona Vercia’s birthday.
The Vercia viscount mansion, located on the western outskirts of the capital, was bustling with people for the first time in a while. The party was being held in the mansion’s garden, not the ballroom, and all the guests were students from the academy.
Tables laden with food were lined up in the garden, and the decorations were simple, as if to encourage the guests to enjoy the spring as it was.
Azette, dressed in a yellow dress, savored the spring scents filling the garden and looked around. She spotted the face she had been looking for and called out his name, her heart fluttering,
“Master Woo!”
Acrea was leaning against a tree, hidden among the trees, like someone playing hide-and-seek.
“Lady Azette, blessings of the Empire.”
Azette blushed at his polite greeting. The white uniform and red cape suited him perfectly.
‘I invited Acrea too. Good luck.’
Vercia had encouraged her. Azette was grateful for her friend, who always supported her, even though she was passive when it came to love.
“Giona is a dear friend of mine. I didn’t know you knew her, Master Woo.”
“Well, yes.”
He had said that, but Acrea had another reason for accepting the invitation. He had been ordered by Reeves to keep an eye on Enzhe.
The usual Enzhe wouldn’t have attended a birthday party for someone like Giona Vercia. He had to observe how she had changed, if she had changed at all, since the heartbreak, and report it to Reeves.
That was all.
But there was something that bothered him. Acrea had arrived at the Vercia mansion early to avoid attention, and he had been watching the guests arrive one by one.
All the guests were students from the academy, so he knew their identities. But there was a strange sense of dissonance when he saw them all together.
‘They’re… disparate. Or maybe…’
“…Ah.”
Acrea suddenly stopped breathing. Azette, who had been chattering next to him like a songbird, also sensed something was wrong and followed his gaze.
Sue Byron and Melaine Vava were entering the garden. Raines Noel, in his knight uniform, was following them.
Azette, delighted to see another familiar face, said,
“Lady Byron was invited too. That pink dress suits her well, doesn’t it? …Master Woo?”
“…Ah, I’m sorry, what were we talking about?”
Acrea, snapping out of his daze, refocused on Azette.
But Azette just stared at him for a moment, then smiled gently and excused herself.
‘Come to think of it, Lady Byron liked Master Woo too, didn’t she? …But does she really like him? Or…’
Acrea watched Azette’s retreating figure, her light purple hair swaying, then looked away.
Azette Delondariwood.
The daughter of a former royal family, a girl he had once been indebted to.
‘She has feelings for me.’
He had lived his life discerning the emotions directed at him, so he could tell immediately that her feelings for him were “love.” She wouldn’t have asked him to be her debutante partner if she didn’t have feelings for him.
But there was someone whose emotions he couldn’t discern.
The girl who looked good in a pink dress with minimal frills.
He closed his eyes slowly, inhaling the green scent of the trees.
‘Right, I’m just here on orders. That’s all.’
***
Sue couldn’t raise her head. The uninvited guest was still unwelcome. Melaine, annoyed, said in a grumpy voice,
“Sue, why can’t you raise your head?”
“What? Me?”
“Yes, your head is practically buried in the ground. Raise your head. You’re a guest here.”
Sue, convinced by Melaine, slowly raised her head, ignoring her pounding heart. Blurry figures came into view. And then, the countless dishes on the tables, the beautiful flowers decorating the garden…
The scenery was surprisingly ordinary.
Sue’s legs wobbled as her tension eased, and Noel, noticing it, immediately steadied her.
“Ugh, seriously, I’m going to be somewhere with less people. This place is uncomfortable, and the escort knight is uncomfortable too.”
Melaine glared at Noel. Noel was attending the party as both a guest and an escort knight for Melaine and Sue. Melaine had vehemently refused, but it was Yuna’s order.
“I was supposed to go to Dande today, and now this…”
She was in a bad mood because she had to break her promise to the children in the village.
Melaine disappeared somewhere in the garden, and Sue was left alone with Noel.
“Byron, are you okay?”
Sue, somewhat calmed by his worried voice, chuckled.
He was asking if she was okay again.
“Noel, I’m fine. I was just being sensitive. And besides, you’re not the one to ask that.”
But she was glad that Noel was with her. He was someone she could rely on, no matter what.
Sue deliberately avoided Enzhe and Vercia. It was fortunate that the birthday party was being held in the large garden, not the ballroom.
She could feel subtle, oppressive gazes on her, but she dismissed them as her imagination.
Paranoia, delusions of persecution, fear… She had realized recently that those emotions had been controlling her.
She had always been a positive person.
She was chatting with Noel in a corner of the garden when Azette approached them, calling out, “Lady Byron!”
“Have you had enough to eat?”
For some unknown reason, Azette was one of the few people who was kind to Sue. Sue’s heart always melted at her sunny smile.
But she couldn’t forget that pure kindness, or pure goodwill, could sometimes be poison.
“Let’s go say hello to Giona! She wants to see you too, Lady Byron!”
“Ah, wait…”
Sue tried to pull her arm away, but it was impossible to overcome Azette’s grip, the runner-up in the spear-throwing competition.
“Wait a moment, Lady Delondariwood.”
Noel finally stepped in front of Azette.
“Huh? Why?”
Her innocent eyes, filled with genuine confusion, darted between Sue and Noel.
Noel knew that Sue was uncomfortable around Vercia. It was her own fault, of course, but Noel, being Sue Byron’s friend, took her side.
“I’m sorry, Lady Delondariwood, but Byron…”
Noel was about to make up an excuse when Sue cut him off,
“Yes, Lady Azette, let’s go see Lady Vercia.”
Because she didn’t have the right to avoid Vercia. If Vercia wanted to see her, she had to see her.
‘It’s just a meeting.’
Sue smiled awkwardly, clenching and unclenching her tingling hand.
Don’t reject people’s kindness.
Was she going to be consumed by paranoia again?
When she was powerless?