Chapter 3

Hazel simply blinked her eyes while dangling from the door. Her hand still clung tightly to the doorknob, stretched far forward. Her feet, which had only moved half the distance her upper body had, dragged against the floor and left marks behind.

“My apologies, how rude of me.”

Before she even had time to answer that it was fine, a polite apology fell from above her head. It was a young man’s voice. Deep, even, and calm even in a sudden situation.

And strangely familiar. Hazel slowly raised her head. The man, who had patiently been waiting for her to straighten herself, tilted his brows slightly.

“That’s a familiar face.”

It was a familiar face to her too. Her lips hesitated as they called out the familiar name.

“……Hello, Kyle.”

Kyle Strauss, her first love.

Hazel awkwardly straightened her bent waist. Kyle spoke to her with easy composure.

“It’s been a while. Did you come to see Alice?”

“……”

The first thing she thought was that he was really still the same. Even the way he suddenly appeared in an unexpected situation and spoke to her naturally. Hazel’s reply came a beat late.

“Yeah, I was invited. What about you?”

“I was on my way back after seeing the Earl. Alice went out to buy you a present. She’s probably rushing back in a panic by now.”

His tone was casual, and so was the content of the conversation. The sort of words old friends who met again after a long time might naturally exchange.

But the conversation did not go any further than that.

“……”

Hazel’s lips moved. Her throat felt tightly blocked. She had to say something, but her mind had gone blank and no thoughts came to her.

Unexpected accidents made people into fools like this. Then again, it had to be unexpected to be called an accident. If one could prepare for it, would that still be an accident? It would be a plan.

She rather wished Kyle would ask her anything at all. Then at least she could break this awkward silence by answering.

But Kyle did not speak again. As if waiting for her to lead the conversation, he simply stood there and watched her. His gaze swept over her, its intent unreadable.

“……”

Hazel only chewed lightly at her lip.

Kyle felt endlessly unfamiliar.

He seemed a little taller than in her memory, and with the flesh gone from his face, shadows lay beneath his sharpened jawline. In those sea-green eyes, shining more piercingly than in the photograph shown by the newspaper, there was a glint she could not read at all.

That gaze was probably the reason Hazel found Kyle difficult now. In the murky emptiness contained in the eyes of the boy whose feelings had once been so plainly visible, whether he liked something, found it bothersome, or enjoyed it. The outward appearance was similar, but it was impossible to tell what he desired, what he despised, what he preferred, what he rejected.

It would not be right to say she had missed him. They were not close enough to have that sort of conversation. Asking how he had been was also strange. She had already heard all about his recent life through the newspapers. A meaningless promise to meet sometime next time would only burden him for no reason. And she had no desire to look like someone making a pass.

Such an ordinary greeting. Mere polite words one would normally say at ease. Yet somehow her mouth felt glued shut and would not open.

Hazel lowered her head. On his dark navy tie was the logo of a luxury brand even she, a girl from the countryside, recognized. If “doing well” meant making a lot of money, then he was clearly doing very well.

Then that was enough. After much thought, Hazel decided what to say.

It was just as she raised her head, repeating to herself, It’s good to see you again.

“Hazel……”

“Sir.”

Almost at the same time, Kyle called Hazel, and a man who seemed to be his secretary called Kyle. From the direction the voice came, a man in a neatly tailored suit from head to toe, wearing glasses, was looking at Kyle.

“It is time for you to go to Viscount Dietrich. Shall I have the car brought around immediately?”

“Do that.”

Kyle remained unhurried from beginning to end. Her first love was a businessman with a personal secretary who rode around in a chauffeur-driven automobile.

The moment she realized that reality, Hazel changed what she had been about to say. Thankfully, instead of saying she was glad to see him, words that suited better came to mind.

“You’ve succeeded, Kyle.”

“Not yet.”

What Hazel meant by ‘succeeded’ was attaining a certain level of material wealth. But to Kyle, ‘success’ meant taking revenge on his stepmother and reclaiming what was rightfully his.

Hazel recognized that difference.

“I meant that you’ve come one step closer to your goal. Congratulations. And I’m cheering for you.”

“Thank you.”

Hazel, who had started to step inside, hurriedly turned back around. She had almost forgotten. There was something she absolutely had to say.

“Kyle!”

The man turned around. With some distance between them, meeting his eyes was much easier. Hazel showed him an easy smile.

“You and Alice suit each other well. If you invite me to the wedding, I’ll definitely come!”

The words she had practiced to herself the whole way on the train came out far too easily. Though she had never imagined she would be saying them to Kyle rather than to Alice.

Kyle looked like he had heard something he had not expected. Since it felt like the atmosphere, which had only just begun to loosen, had become awkward again for no reason, Hazel timidly added one more sentence.

“But it’s okay even if you don’t invite me.”

Kyle’s mouth twisted. Before hearing his answer, Hazel slipped completely behind the door.

She thought that, all things considered, it had been a reunion wrapped up rather well in its own way.

* * *

Alice firmly shook her head.

“With that rude jerk? Me? I wouldn’t want that even if you brought me a whole sack of it!”

“Al, you don’t have to deny it that fiercely……”

“Absolutely, absolutely no way that would ever happen. Don’t even think such a thing. It’s bad luck. Make sure you tell Mister and Sally too. No, it’d be better if I write a letter myself.”

Hazel could not hold back and burst out laughing.

“Alice, I get it now, you and Kyle are nothing, so please calm down.”

Despite Hazel saying she understood, Alice’s insistence continued for over twenty more minutes. 

“Hel, you know my type is the exact opposite of yours. I want someone absurdly tall. Seven feet is fine. I like younger men too. You said you don’t like younger men, poor Oliver….”

Only after Hazel got Alice to sit on a bench by saying her legs hurt did Alice’s passionate speech finally end.

Hazel fanned Alice’s bright red face with her hand. Alice tilted her parasol to block the sunlight.

“Hel, it’s already hot even though it’s spring. It really is Bukata. How on earth does Colin live in that hot land?”

“Don’t even ask. He was horrified by the weather on the southern continent. He said spring there wasn’t spring at all. He was practically screaming, asking how this could possibly be April.”

“Do you hear from him often?”

“About two letters a month.”

The long war of conquest had barely come to an end only three years ago. No one could have known that the Kingdom of Castina, which had stubbornly held out, would collapse because of an internal rebellion.

Colin spent half the year in Holdland, and the other half wherever the country ordered him to go. Hazel thought Sally was pitiful, but Sally herself only shook her head, saying she was too busy raising the baby to even have time to think about her husband.

She talked like that, but Hazel knew that in truth Sally missed and worried about him more than anyone. A gloomy light touched Hazel’s eyes.

“Colin Bennett, honestly, he’s so irresponsible. When he comes back this time, I’m going to tell him to leave the military. Father agrees too.”

“Will Brother Colin accept that? He thinks of himself as the head of the family.”

“All the more reason he should stay and protect the home. He has a son now too. There are plenty of ways to earn money. As for me, I’ve already decided to start teaching in Sainsbury this fall.”

When Alice heard Hazel’s words, she let out a sigh heavy enough to make the ground sink.

“Hazel, I don’t like your decision. Are you going to live in Sainsbury your whole life?”

“I can’t leave Father and Sally behind. It’ll be the same even if Colin comes back.”

“Even if I die?”

“What are you talking about? You’re going to live to a hundred.”

Alice had adapted perfectly to Bukata. Although she did not seem to get along with the noble young ladies born and raised in Bukata, she solved the problem simply by not meeting them.

Instead, Alice clung to Hazel.

“There’s also the option of persuading Colin so you can all come to Bukata together.”

“Father will definitely insist on staying in Sainsbury no matter what. As if Brother would really come up here leaving Father behind.”

To Hazel, family was everything. Their circumstances were poor, but she loved that little house, the warm laughter, and her mother’s frame that was polished so often it never had a chance to gather dust.

Anyone living under that little roof, not just Hazel, would probably feel the same. The eastern sunlight that woke them every morning, the scent of coffee mingled with familiar greetings and the accustomed little whimpers heard from Sally’s arms, the rustle of grass beyond the window, and if one listened a little more carefully, even the song of the stream.

She stretched herself long.