Is the Friend of a Friend a Stranger? - Chapter 1.2

Her head felt like it was going to crack, so she couldn’t even lean it backwards. It was the first time she had drank so much that she couldn’t remember anything, so all the aftereffects she was feeling were strange.

She clearly remembered picking up a bunch of drinks and hiding somewhere no one else went to.

Did the man accidentally walk past Sylvia’s hiding place?

If he did, he would not have walked past her, who was Heston’s friend, and pretend not to know her, as he had a benevolent personality. They weren’t close, but he often talked to her like that. In an extremely natural manner. And when he did, Sylvia also exchanged a few words with him, although awkwardly.

Sylvia liked the unique atmosphere he had. The gentle and languid summer-like atmosphere, which was consistent with his last name, Sommers. Sylvia must have clung to him first, probably because she was drunk, and it was the day her unrequited love had gotten engaged. She probably wasn’t able to get over the loneliness and kissed him.

‘No matter how drunk I was, I really went crazy.’

Sylvia thought, huddled up with her face against her knees. With that benevolent side, Sommers probably couldn’t push her off as she clung to him. He also knew that she loved Heston, so maybe he held her in sympathy.

‘You have a mole here.’

She suddenly remembered him whispering that while holding her close. He swept over Sylvia’s disheveled hair and touched her earlobe. She remembered the large hands that touched her naked back, and his firm body.

Sylvia blushed at the memory and pulled her knees closer to her. Rosaline, who had done her job, approached her, worrying about her strange attitude.

“Are you feeling unwell, Sylvie? You seem to be in pain. Your face is also red.”

The nickname Rosaline called seemed to overlap subtly with Owen’s voice from last night. Sylvia scratched her ear and looked up.

“It’s a little hot.”

“What do you mean hot, it’s morning. Get up quickly. I’ll give you medicine after you wash up, so you can go to the bathroom first.”

“The bathroom?”

Sylvia asked back, blankly. She only thought about running outside and leaving the castle as soon as the carriage was ready. But Rosaline scolded her sternly with a firm, ladylike expression, uncharacteristic of someone who had just woken up.

“So, you’re going to go home smelling like alcohol? What if you run into your father? With your father’s personality, he would keep you locked up in a room this very same day. And in three months, you would be sold to a wizard you never met before.”

It was a terrible assessment to make of a friend’s father. But it wasn’t wrong. No matter how well Sylvia did, enough to even receive a medal from the emperor, for her father, as long as she was just a supporter, her value as a woman who would marry a ‘real’ wizard and produce a child was more important.

She trembled, imagining the harsh future Rosaline had spoken of. What if her father finds out that she and Owen had sex?

In society these days, sex before marriage between a man and a woman who harbored feelings for each other was only a slight deviation from social norms, but her father definitely did not think like that. For her father, it would only taint the noble wizard blood flowing in Sylvia’s veins, and furthermore, it would have been a disgrace to the family’s reputation.

‘There’s really no end to the shame I have to endure because of you.’

She clearly pictured her father’s expression of contempt.

“So, get up now!”

Rosaline noticed Sylvia’s depressed expression and grabbed her arm, forcing her to get up.

As soon as Sylvia put her feet on the ground, her back hurt and her body quickly stiffened. Rosaline looked back at Sylvia, who couldn’t even walk properly, asking what was wrong. Sylvia thanked Rosaline for having an unaware nature and forced herself to smile.

“I crumpled up in a strange place and slept yesterday. My whole body hurts.”

“Really? Where did you sleep? You didn’t sleep like a log inside the closet like you did last time, did you?”

“Well. Something like that.”

“You’re unbelievable. Why do you keep crawling into such strange places when you drink? Even if it was a chance to drink after a long time, it was too much.”

Sylvia smiled silently at Rosaline’s criticism.

Almost everyone knew of Sylvia’s unrequited love, so even though she disappeared last night with a drink, no one looked for her. But Rosaline and Heston, the target of her unrequited love, did not notice her feelings no matter what.

Sylvia guessed that seeing that both siblings were like that, perhaps there was a sense of insensitivity in their bloodline.

That’s right. Insensitivity.

If not, how could they not know?

It was ten years. During that time, Sylvia found out what habits Heston had and what he was thinking.

He did not become close with others easily, but when he did, he was kinder than anyone else, and his kindness was like a very low and long-lasting warmth that was hard to notice.

Ten years was a long enough time to find out a side of him that others didn’t know about. But in the meantime, Heston didn’t even notice the feelings she had for him. Even though the only emotion she had when she saw him was affection.

‘He said I was the most precious person.’

Sylvia bit her lips tightly, enduring the overwhelming emotions. However, Heston’s appearance, which she kept buried deep, dug into her weak heart and came to mind.

‘I trust you. Even if I don’t want to trust you, I have no choice but to do so, so this can be called a curse. But I’m better off. To have you.”

He smiled softly as she said that.

That was a scene she wanted to keep in her mind for a long time. On extremely tiring days, Sylvia fell asleep while using her memory of him as a constellation.

A kind attitude that was seen only by her. His unique smile, only raising one corner of his mouth. His endless devotion and loyalty, which she mistakenly thought only she could have.

‘I’m engaged to Her Highness.’

Until Heston made that confession.