Is the Friend of a Friend a Stranger? - Chapter 46.2

“When did you come? You should have woken me up.”

“It hasn’t been long. And you look a little tired.”

“Is that so?”

She could see that he was pressing down firmly on his temples, as if he was really tired. Sylvia knew that he got migraines easily when he was more sensitive, so she went to the desk nearby to find medicine and handed it to him, along with a glass of water.

“How much have you been sleeping lately?”

“I’ve been sleeping well. Don’t worry.”

“It didn’t come with insomnia, did it?”

“No.”

“You’re always lying. I don’t believe that.”

Sylvia soon squatted down near the sofa. Heston gently stroked her hair with a faint smile after setting aside the medicine and water she had given him.

“But you believe me.”

“It means that there’s no need to lie about useless things. What’s good about friends? They worry about you as much as they want.”

Even as she said that, she threw her head back and avoided his hand. Heston withdrew his hand with a bitter smile. Sylvia, who was moving away so as not to be caught up in the awkward atmosphere, couldn’t see his expression.

“I don’t want you or I to worry about anything at all. That kind of thing is too painful.”

“How can you not worry about anything in life? That’s just saying you don’t trust the other person. Are you like this to the Princess too? You didn’t tell her what you were thinking, but you fought because of me last time, didn’t you?”

“No.”

Heston got up and went to the desk, telling an absurd lie. She could hear him putting down the glass. Sylvia also walked there, thinking that it would be better to sit with a desk between them, like a person under investigation, in case Princess Catherine burst in again.

“What do you mean, no? You just had to talk to the Princess first. A husband and wife shouldn’t hide things from each other.”

“We’re not husband and wife.”

“She’s your fiancée, it’s the same.”

“It’s completely different.”

It was the first time she had seen Heston denying something unconditionally like a child.

Sylvia believed that Heston, who was endlessly stubborn, would of course follow the rules that a husband had to follow even towards his fiancée, so she felt that it was a little unlike him to resolutely say that a fiancée and a wife were completely different.

Even if everyone in this world ignored the institution of marriage and spent two years living with one person and three years living with another person, it seemed that Heston would somehow find a priest, make a sacred oath in a temple, and live with only one person for the rest of his life.

Was Heston like the many men who didn’t want to be tied down to a woman and felt obligated rather than happy at a wedding?

Her nose furrowed as she thought for the first time that he was unhappy with it.

“You will regret it then.”

“I already…”

She tried to imagine Heston living in a drunken state after losing Princess Catherine. Heston opened his mouth as if he was bursting with emotions that were hard to suppress, but then shut up. Sylvia opened her eyes wide, wondering if he was going to say something like, ‘I already regret it.’

“I think it’s already too late. Sit down.”

Heston looked like he had a headache. Considering the original momentum from which those words popped up, it seemed far from being too late, but Sylvia decided not to nitpick. She couldn’t be as disgusting as her father. She couldn’t hope for Heston’s engagement to be in ruins and wait eagerly for that to happen. She really had no desire to go that low.

Sylvia focused on looking at the documents Heston was giving her.

It contained everything, showing how much this affair involved the prince, or anyone around him, like a branch that stretched out. Sylvia flipped the pages one after the other before suddenly sighing.

“What is it?”

Heston immediately asked, wondering if Sylvia had discovered some mistake he had made. But that wasn’t what Sylvia was worried about. She was worried about Heston, in an investigation where the target of the attack was too clearly narrowed.

“Do you really have to do this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Lewis. Your twin brother.”

Heston looked like he was asking, ‘What about him?’ Sylvia put down the paperwork roughly in frustration.

“Lewis will definitely think that you betrayed him.”

“That’s impossible. I didn’t make up a crime that didn’t exist.”

“Don’t you remember that letter? When you told him that you were getting engaged to the Princess, he told you to go and die. If he was like that at the news of your engagement… He will surely hate you terribly if he finds out you even prepared this kind of thing.”

Heston laughed. As if he didn’t know what was important about it.

“Of course, Wis… There’s no way he will appreciate all of this.”

Sylvia watched as Heston’s long fingers retrieved the papers he had handed to her.

“But whatever I do, I can’t change anything for him. Wis has to prove himself or deal with the consequences of his actions.”

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