I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love - Chapter 25
For a moment, the tension rose so sharply that my shoulders stiffened.
Thud. Thud. The sound of footsteps moving across the wooden floor was as heavy and rough as the beating of my own heart.
Like someone who had become the seeker in a game of hide-and-seek, I squeezed my eyes shut and endured for several seconds. No, much longer than that.
If I’ve waited this long, he should be finished changing.
“Huu.”
Letting out a long breath, I stood up.
Holding the clothes I would change into and a towel, I stepped out the door, and immediately met Gerard’s eyes.
“What. You weren’t washing up?”
“My house only has one bathroom.”
“……”
Gerard’s face looked unusually blank. Even as I walked past him, he stayed frozen for a moment, unable to move his gaze.
His reaction was similar to the first time he came to my house, and a faint smile formed on my lips before I knew it.
“This is the whole house?”
“Don’t talk like some young master. It’s annoying.”
“It’s just so nice. All I have to do is turn my head to find you, Louize.”
I finished my bath faster than usual. Because of the dangerous element outside the door, all my peace of mind had disappeared.
‘No matter how soft I’ve gotten, bringing him into my house was too dangerous. He’s washed and I even gave him clothes, so I should tell him to leave now.’
As I hurriedly changed, I accidentally put my indoor dress on backwards and had to fix it. Even after that, I checked several times to make sure it wasn’t see-through.
“You had a lover?”
The question came the moment I opened the door. My plan to ask him to leave was stolen before I could even try.
Wondering what he meant, I looked over and saw Gerard leaning back against the sofa, lightly tugging at the hem of his clothes.
“…A former lover. He left those behind.”
“It’s not easy to find someone with a build similar to mine.”
“He liked wearing oversized clothes.”
“Must have been a noble, then.”
The clothes were far too expensive for a commoner to wear. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, so I nodded vaguely.
I opened the curtains and looked outside. Rain was pouring down as if a hole had opened in the sky.
It wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.
“Um, Lord Castion.”
“Yes, Miss Louize.”
“If you’re alright with a hired carriage, I’ll call one for you. It’s nearby, so I can go and come back quickly.”
“Where are you telling me to leave at this hour.”
“You should go home. To your manor.”
“I can’t. I got kicked out.”
Gerard said it as he sank deeper into the sofa.
“What? No, how did that happen!”
For someone who had just said something shocking, his tone was flat. Each time he moved, the cheap leather sofa made a scraping sound.
“My mother tried to sell me off to the Kingdom of Sovana, so I refused.”
Marcella.
I knew better than anyone how much she treated Gerard like a tool for the sake of her ambitions.
“…You received a marriage proposal.”
But as he said, “sold off” was probably the more accurate expression.
Would Marcella’s ambition ever be satisfied. Did she feel no guilt at all for the wealth and power she seized in exchange for her own son.
“…Is it really okay to tell me something this important?”
“What wouldn’t be okay about it?”
His languid gaze, tinged with fatigue, drifted toward me. Compared to how startled I was, he looked calm, as if it wasn’t a particularly serious matter to him.
