𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟖
Mabel’s heart skipped a beat.
Perhaps noticing her momentary unease, Amane continued speaking.
“Why are you here? Why aren’t you in his castle?”
“Well, um…”
“Does it have something to do with you crying?”
Mabel quickly lowered her face in a panic.
She had thought she could go unnoticed, but it seemed that Amane had seen through her.
She thought that trying to deceive him would only lead to being exposed again, so Mabel took a short breath, lifted her head, and forced a smile.
“I was asked to cancel our engagement.”
“Why?!”
“Because…I said something insensitive.”
“Something insensitive?”
“I told him to find someone else he liked if I were to disappear. Although…I actually didn’t want that.”
Mabel had been thinking about the words the secretary-general had told her.
She wanted Eugene to be happy.
I wanted him to keep smiling all the time, even if I am not by his side. I desperately convinced myself.
Because I love him, I really want Eugene to be happy, even if that means leaving him.
I believed that thinking so was true love and kindness.
―But actually, I want to be the only one he loves…
she didn’t want him to find someone else to love even if she isn’t around anymore.
“I don’t want Eugene-san to smile at or be kind to anyone else. I can’t bring myself to like such a thought.”
Mabel, who had fallen in love for the first time, didn’t know about possessiveness.
She had believed that love was sparkling and beautiful. But in reality, she realized that it could also create such ugly feelings.
It brought confusion and guilt to Mabel.
“It’s terrible, isn’t it? That I can’t wish for the happiness of the person I love…”
She understood that the happiness of the person she loved was of the most importance.
But the current her couldn’t even possess such gentle feelings.
She felt selfish and self-centered.
“T-That’s why Eugene was mad at me, right?”
The sediment that Mabel had been holding inside her heart was now being released along with her tears.
Amane, who had been silently observing until Mabel finished speaking, let out a sigh of exasperation and stared at Mabel with a piercing gaze.
“What’s wrong? Is that all?”
“W-What do you mean?”
“I thought you had grown tired of that man.”
Saying that, Amane gently placed his index finger on Mabel’s forehead.
With a strong push, Mabel was forced to look up. Her tears receded in surprise, and she blinked her large eyes.
“It’s not a bad thing. Everyone feels that way.”
“…They do?”
“Wishing to be the only one someone loves. What’s wrong with that? At least I won’t allow any other man to fall for you.”
Before she realized it, it was already evening.
The setting sun sinking into the horizon illuminated the sea and the harbor vividly. With the light behind him, Amane showed his usual smile, revealing his white teeth. His silver hair was dyed orange, and his eyes of the same color gazed slowly.
“You are beautiful.”
“Huh?”
“When we first met, I thought you were just an ordinary girl. Your sister was still more charming.”
Mabel chuckled at his words, acknowledging that it was indeed true.
Then Amane suddenly smiled gently and looked at Mabel as if he were seeing something dazzling.
“But your heart is more beautiful than anyone else’s―It seems I was the one who couldn’t see it.”
Saying that, Amane took Mabel’s hand.
As he tightly held her hand, Mabel looked up at Amane in surprise.
“Mabel, won’t you come with me?”
“Eh!”
“You lack greed. When you want something, you cry like a child, thinking that it’s a selfish wish. But I can grant you as many of those wishes as you want.”
Amane spoke with a slightly hoarse voice, smiling at Mabel as if praying.
“Choose me, Mabel. Please, won’t you come with me?”
Amane’s expression was serious, and Mabel hesitated for a moment with her words.
But she quickly shook her head.
“Thank you. But I still want to be by Eugene-san’s side.”
Amane’s words touched Mabel’s ears gently.
But she knew that none of those words meant anything if they weren’t from Eugene…
“Even if we can only be together for a short time, even if you come to love someone else, I, I…”
Mabel swallowed the rest of her words, and Amane let out a short “I see.”
Mable looked down and couldn’t see Amane’s face anymore.
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