Chapter 154: The Loss of Interest
The Lopetrefer mansion, oblivious to its master’s heart, was still dazzlingly polished.
Sue and Melaine had visited, prepared to be turned away, but the Lopetrefer servants welcomed them warmly.
Enzhe was leaning against the headboard of her bed, her eyes blankly gazing out the window. Her face was haggard, as if she had fallen ill.
Melaine and Sue, approaching her hesitantly, didn’t say a word, just observed her mood.
A swamp of silence.
The sun had completely disappeared behind the walls when a chilling laughter finally erupted from Enzhe’s stomach.
“Khehe… Hufufufu…! Ehehehehe!”
Melaine winced, her brows furrowed, at the sound, like nails scraping against metal.
Ah, she was scared.
She wanted to leave the mansion right now.
Please, hit Sue instead of her. No, Sue was pitiful too. Should she just run away?
Enzhe suddenly raised her head and looked at Melaine, her black eyes gleaming. Melaine froze. The laughter gradually faded, and Enzhe, wiping away her tears, said,
“Melaine, this wasn’t the time to be making fun of you.”
“Lady… Enzhe…”
The laughter had completely vanished from Enzhe’s face. As if her “laughter” and “joy” had died.
“It’s not fun.”
“…What?”
“Loving someone… It’s not fun at all. None of this is fun.”
A delusion of victory?
They couldn’t bring themselves to ask her anything more, leaving the mansion as darkness settled over the glass-colored room.
“How is she?”
Melaine asked Sue quietly as they walked through the garden.
“We have to… keep an eye on her for a while longer.”
That was all Sue could say. She wasn’t an Enzhe emotion reader or an emotion suppressor.
She could only pray. That she would be spared, today, tomorrow, and every day.
***
Enzhe returned to the academy the next day. It would have been nice if everything had blown over, as if nothing had happened, like with Melaine, but it seemed like that wasn’t the case.
Enzhe seemed fine on the surface. She had just stopped smiling, but she attended classes as usual and pretended to be kind when other students spoke to her.
Some even offered her words of encouragement. Sue was worried that she might drag those students to the basement, but it didn’t happen.
Instead, Enzhe would just lower her head and force a smile, looking pitiful. And then, the anger of the students around her would naturally be directed at Shina Fritz. Even the students who had been “targeted” by Enzhe pitied her beautiful, forlorn appearance.
That was the “usual Enzhe.” Even heartbroken, she still had the cunning to manipulate the situation to her advantage.
But there was one thing that had changed.
She had developed a verbal tic.
“It’s not fun.”
She would say it at the end of every sentence, whether she was in class, eating, drinking tea, or reading.
She lamented the loss of joy in everything she did.
Sue spent a lot of time thinking about Enzhe, who had lost her joy.
Had she given up? Or was she so overwhelmed by anger that she had become numb?
Or should she hire a clown?
One thing was certain: Enzhe wasn’t the type to just let things end here. Sue, who had never experienced true joy in her life, couldn’t come up with a solution and just let time pass.
And then, one day, as the spring evaluation approached, Sue encountered Enzhe’s lost “joy” in an empty lot in the bustling shopping district.
“Fritz…”
She was on her way back to the townhouse with Nine after buying a cake for the workshop. Fritz was sitting on a large rock in the empty lot, his gaze fixed on a colony of ants crawling on the ground.
“Nine, wait here for a moment.”
Sue’s legs moved instinctively.
Nothing would change even if she intervened.
But she wanted to talk to him.
“Master Fritz.”
Sue called out his name cautiously. Fritz, who hadn’t sensed her presence, looked up, his eyes widening as if he had seen someone he hadn’t expected.
“Sue Byron Chiqmefriar.”
Sue felt a bead of sweat trickle down her back. She felt intimidated, now that she was facing him. What was she going to say? Ah, right, she should greet him first.
“Blessings of the… Empire.”
“Are you here because of Enzhe?”
Fritz asked, standing up.
“No, I was just on my way back to the mansion and happened to see you… You haven’t been coming to the academy lately. So I was worried…”
“Ah… I see.”
Fritz just nodded, not questioning her rambling excuse.
“I was kicked out of the house. I thought you were here to persuade me.”
He chuckled awkwardly.
“Where are you sleeping?”
“I’m staying at an inn I know.”
“I see…”
Sue’s gaze slowly fell to the ground.
In the novel, he had reconciled with his father after his passionate love for Halo was recognized.
Sue felt a pang of guilt towards Fritz, even though it wasn’t her fault. Halo’s absence meant that he couldn’t grow.
He was supposed to be the one who would have everything and even ascend to the throne. But here he was, observing ants in an empty lot.
“Master Fritz, Lady Enzhe is attending the academy as usual.”
“Really? That’s good.”
He smiled. She couldn’t sense any lie in his words.
“Many students at the academy are blaming you, Master Fritz.”
Sue mustered her courage and told him the truth.
“It’s understandable. It happened after Melaine Vava’s broken engagement. And I broke my promise to Enzhe… It’s my fault.”
“Are you not coming back to the academy, Master Fritz?”
Fritz shook his head.
“I have to. There’s the spring evaluation, the Athletics Festival, and the student council has probably piled up with work. I’m sure Woo is struggling right now.”
Sue was a little baffled by his tone, as if he had given up on something. Why was he the one who seemed the most dejected when he was the one who had broken up with her?
It was all because of his ambiguous feelings for Enzhe. He couldn’t love her, but at the same time, he didn’t want to hurt her.
‘If only Enzhe hadn’t taken Fritz to the forest that day… No.’
If only Enzhe hadn’t killed Cedric.
“Sue Byron.”
“Yes?”
Sue, startled, looked up. His handsome face, framed by his black hair, which was swaying in the spring breeze, came into view.
A faint smile appeared on his blank face.
“You’re from Lady Enzhe’s allied family, right?”
“…I am from the Lopetrefer family’s allied family, but why do you ask?”
“Then don’t abandon Enzhe.”
Fritz, with his characteristically selfish, childish words, patted her shoulder and left the empty lot.
Sue, left alone, swatted at the falling leaves. She clenched her fists, unable to hold back her frustration.
“…Don’t push your responsibilities onto me.”
***
“Wow, this looks really expensive, Marie. Can I have this all to myself?”
“There’s only you and Jean here, is it a problem if we share?”
Sue, holding a large strawberry cake, glared at the high priest in the workshop. The high priest, ignoring her words, was focused on cutting the cake.
“Jean, this is special food for ribbons. Give it to Rem.”
“Special food? …Isn’t this really expensive?”
Jean took the box Sue handed him. The label of the most famous ribbon food manufacturer in the capital was plastered on it.
Sue couldn’t hide her pride.
“It’s five times more expensive than the cake that guy is cutting. It’s a thank you for the pain reliever you gave me last time.”
“Really? Then thank you, I’ll take it.”
“Jean! Marie! I’m done cutting the cake, so come eat it!”
The three of them sat down and enjoyed the cake together. Sue told Jean about Enzhe and Fritz’s broken engagement and what had happened.
“So the Grand Dukes are getting divorced this time? Hmm, I hope Lady Enzhe hasn’t fallen for some strange religion.”
Jean emphasized “strange religion,” but the high priest, oblivious, just kept shoving cake into his mouth.
“Lady Enzhe isn’t like that. But…”
“But?”
“That’s what makes it even scarier. We don’t know what she’ll do.”
“Haha, to think heartbreak could be this scary.”
“It’s not heartbreak that’s scary, it’s power.”
“You’re right, Sue.”
Jean didn’t deny it.
“If you need any help, come see me. I’ll help you.”