For Your Failed Unrequited Love

A massive horse galloped through the darkness. The tip of her nose tingled as the wind brushed against her face.

Lucy tightened her grip on Felix’s waist as it was her first time riding a horse this fast.

About twenty minutes after leaving the Duchy. The horse’s quick pace allowed the two to arrive at the temple faster than expected.

Lucy’s gaze was drawn to the huge temple in front of her. It looked beautiful in pictures, but in person, it was indescribably magnificent and reverent.

But now was not the time to marvel at the enigmatic appearance. Felix yanked the reins and came to a halt as the horse crossed the square and entered the front yard of the temple. He got off the horse and helped Lucy down.

Felix’s expression as he lowered himself to the ground was unusual. Lucy was concerned as she noticed his tense expression.

I hope Adrian-sunbae is safe.

A short while ago, she was going about her usual routine in the library, watching over the return table or mopping the floor.

The floor was already polished and gleaming. Nevertheless, Lucy continued to wipe. Otherwise, she didn’t think she’d be able to stop the constant flurry of thoughts in her head. She felt terrible about turning down the Duke’s invitation. Felix told her not to worry, but she couldn’t stop worrying as she remembered the Duke of Berg’s frightening face.

The Duke will scold him harshly regardless of his age. Perhaps I should have been more polite in my rejection.

Lucy became even more concerned when Felix did not return to the Academy until late in the evening.

She ran into Adrian as she was about to leave the library. She dashed to him like a traveler who discovered an oasis.

“Adrian-sunbae!”

“Lucy,”

“Has Felix-sunbae gone back to the dormitory?”

“No… “

Adrian frowned and blurred the rest of his words in response to Lucy’s question.

“I’m worried about Felix-sunbae. He’s not going to get in trouble because of me, is he? The Duke invited me today, but Felix canceled it on his own and went instead.”

Adrian, who had always comforted others with his soothing words, listened to her and sighed deeply.

His reaction made Lucy feel uneasy.

“…I’ll go home and look into it.”

Adrian then abruptly turned away. Lucy followed closely. Adrian inquired, noticing she had followed him to the stable.

“You want to come, too?”

“Yes, I’m coming, too! Let’s go!”

Lucy was the first to enter the stable and urged Adrian.

She was concerned that Felix would speak nonsense in front of the Duke in vain. Words to defend themselves, for instance.

If that was the case, she was willing to stand up and claim that Felix had nothing to do with her and that she had followed him on her own. She didn’t want Felix and the Duke getting into a fight because of her.

“Sunbae, hurry up!”

Adrian had a troubled expression on his face as he looked at Lucy.

“You’d better not go,”

“…I’ll just wait outside the house! I just want to see Felix’s face!”

Lucy lied as she begged.

Adrian felt compelled to say yes when she didn’t move at all in front of the horse. While old Fred snored and slept, they rode out of the academy.

Contrary to Lucy’s ominous predictions, the house was peaceful and quiet when they arrived. Subtle lights shone through each window, as she had seen before.

Did I worry for no reason?

She was relieved that nothing bad had happened. Adrian spoke in a low voice as he turned to face Lucy, perhaps feeling at ease given the atmosphere of the home.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal, given how quiet it is.”

Adrian, who was observing the hallway, suddenly became serious.

“What’s the matter?”

“Hush,”

He pressed his finger to his lips and motioned for Lucy to be quiet. Then he quietly beckoned her to follow him.

Lucy didn’t notice her until she got to the bottom of the stairs. This floor was filled with a sinister voice.

Adrian guided Lucy to the open area beneath the stairs. They crept into the darkness and began to listen in.

Lucy recognized the cold tone of the voice. The Duke’s tone of voice. He was speaking to someone in a low, cool tone.

The sound of footsteps thumping down the hall continued. She noticed several armed men heading upstairs.

“Let’s get out of here, Lucy.”

Adrian said quietly.

“But…”

With terrified eyes, Lucy peered up. The men’s rough footsteps were thumping the stairs.

“Let’s go out for the time being.”

Adrian led Lucy, who kept looking up, out.

“What exactly is going on?”

“I don’t know, either. I think we should hear it from Felix.”

Adrian led her to the house’s backyard.

“Look, that’s Felix’s room; the light just went on, and I can see people moving around.”

As he said this, she noticed people’s shadows swaying through the curtained window.

“I don’t think it’s possible to go up using the stairs.”

He abruptly rolled up his sleeves and placed his hands between the bricks. It was a sight she had seen before.

“…are you climbing the wall?”

“This is the only way”

“Do you both enjoy climbing walls?”

Adrian tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand the question, and then strode up to the window in an instant. As he approached the window, he looked inside and gently knocked; the window soon opened, and Adrian vanished beyond it.

Lucy curled up in the darkness, waiting for Adrian to reappear.

The window opened once more shortly after. Lucy looked up.

A man with bright golden hair fluttering in the moonlight looked down. Unsurprisingly, he stepped on the window sill and gently jumped down.

“Lucy!”

He looked around as soon as he landed and quietly called her name. When Lucy crawled out of the shadows, he ran up to her and hugged her.

“Felix-sunbae!”

Felix cradled Lucy in his arms before releasing her. Without giving himself a chance to feel good about it, he spoke quickly.

“I have to go to the temple right now.”

“Is he going to take your place?”

Lucy inquired, but he held her hand with a face that said he didn’t have time to waste and began running to the horse’s side.

“I’ll explain everything as I go.”

* * *

Felix said he needed to find important documents, so Adrian pretended to be him and was locked up in his room because he needed to find the papers without his father’s knowledge.

Lucy couldn’t hear the entire explanation because it’s difficult to hear the words clearly while riding a galloping horse.

After a brief identification, they entered the temple.

“I need to look for something in the Berg’s vault.”

The white-bearded old priest looked Felix in the eyes and replied,

“We must see the Berg seal, which was carved by the high priest himself.”

Felix nodded to indicate that he was prepared, and the elderly man led the way without saying a word.

He reappeared after a while, carrying a box filled with piles of papers. Felix seemed perplexed by the larger amount than he had anticipated.

“It will take a long time to review and sort out.”

He murmured as he looked down at the papers.

“Can you lend me another vault?”

He inquired of the elderly man.

Felix left the temple with Lucy after safely storing the documents in another vault.

“What do you intend to do now?”

“I’m going to take Adrian out of the house. I hope my father didn’t notice that I’m gone.”

He mumbled nervously while grinning as if his comments were amusing.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that,”

* * *

Running down the path they had taken before, they returned to the duchy. In front of the mansion, Felix said to Lucy.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, so stay here. I’ll go in there and get Adrian.”

He got off the horse and handed the reins to Lucy.

But then the mansion’s main door unexpectedly opened. Then, from within, a shadow appeared.

Surprisingly, the shadow’s owner called out their names as if he recognized Felix and Lucy standing in the dark.

“Felix, Lucy,”

“… Adrian?” Felix asked, surprised, as he heard his brother’s voice. Adrian quickly opened the door for them.

“Please come in.”

Felix and Lucy approached him after exchanging puzzled looks at his calm voice.

“Adrian… Is everything okay?” Felix inquired, wary of his surroundings.

Adrian smiled at the sight, a strange smile that is faint and somewhat bitter, but on the other hand, he appears truly happy.

“Felix, come in with confidence; no one in this house will dare to disobey you.”

“What do you mean?” Felix inquired.

Adrian, still smiling, hugged Felix as he approached. Adrian, who had been patting him on the back, let him go once more. Then he added,

“I mean, you’re the head of the family.”

The remark made Felix frown. He looked as if he didn’t understand what Adrian was saying.

Then, in a slightly shaky voice, his twin brothers took a deep breath and confessed the situation.

“Father has collapsed, and the doctor says he may not be able to wake up.”