Chapter 2 (Part 4)

“Then we’ll be going.”

“Oh, take care.”

Modene didn’t lose her smile. She never smiled this much when Brienne came alone. It felt strange. Cardin took her hand. He looked at her and asked gently.

“Is there anything else you need to buy?”

For a moment, she couldn’t speak. It really felt like they were a married couple, sharing affectionate daily life. As she stared blankly, he smiled and met her eyes.

“Why?”

She quickly lowered her head.

“It’s nothing.”

At that moment, Cardin looked intently at something. Curious, she followed his gaze as he pointed.

“Shall we have that before we go?”

Cardin was pointing at a place that sold fried sardines with salt and beer. Because this village was far from the sea, they brought sardines salted, and their moderate salinity and good taste made them popular. 

It was the only place in the village that was crowded, and sometimes people from other villages came too. Then Cardin turned to her.

“I miss the taste of cold beer.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Though he didn’t say he remembered, whenever Cardin spoke like that, she felt guilty.

“If you don’t want to, we don’t have to go. If you don’t like alcohol…”

“No, I like it.”

Cardin paused and looked at her. She quickly continued.

“I just never had anyone to drink with before.”

It was the truth, with no lies. Even when she attended Stern Academy, she couldn’t go to bars because she had no one to go with, and she didn’t want to drink alone here either. 

People in this village generally found it strange to drink alone, and rumors would easily spread about something bad happening. 

On the other hand, Cardin liked drinking with others. So she was curious. What would it be like to go to such a place with Cardin? Cardin smiled broadly and held her hand even tighter.

“I’ll drink with you from now on.”

His words felt strange. As if he would always be by her side. She couldn’t bring herself to ask more and followed Cardin. 

His pace was quite fast. He didn’t let go of her hand either. 

As they entered the restaurant, it was already noisy, as if the whole village had gathered. She saw a few familiar faces. They looked at her with surprised expressions.

“Brienne!”

Some even called her name, acknowledging her presence. She only knew them by face and had never conversed with them. She gave a simple greeting with an awkward smile and sat nearby. The owner approached. He looked at Cardin curiously and then turned to Brienne.

“Who is he?”

“He’s my husband.”

Her voice trembled slightly.

‘I never thought I’d say these words myself.’

Since Cardin had been saying it next to her, she seemed to have gotten used to it. Cardin gently lifted the corners of his mouth.

“I’m Cardin.”

The owner’s eyes widened, and he nodded.

“Nice to meet you. I didn’t know Brienne had a husband.”

“I’ve been working elsewhere for a long time, so maybe Brienne forgot for a moment.”

The owner chuckled pleasantly. Still smiling, he asked.

“Two beers, right?”

“Yes.”

The lively chatter and boisterous laughter echoed. It was undoubtedly noisy, yet it didn’t bother her. Even though it was lunchtime, her heart felt as if it were nighttime. 

This was the first time she felt this way since she first saw Cardin at Stern Academy. Cardin poured her some water and asked.

“Is this your first time here?”

“Yes. I never thought of coming alone.”

He handed her the water glass and drank some himself. His slightly angled jaw looked particularly sharp. Then Cardin smiled and put down his glass.

“Why?”

She belatedly shook her head.

“It’s nothing.”

She felt Cardin’s gaze. It was quite persistent. This time, she looked at him curiously. Cardin narrowed his eyes and rested his cheek on one hand.

“Do you know you’ve been looking at my face intently since earlier?”

I must have been obvious.

“Sorry.”

A soft laugh echoed in her ear. His amused eyes were on her.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I felt like I was being rude.”

“It wasn’t rude at all.”

“……”

“You can keep looking.”

Cardin’s gaze gently touched her face. His softly lifted lips were particularly handsome. But she didn’t keep looking and picked up her glass. 

Even though Cardin said it was okay to keep looking, he might have just said it out of politeness. He was naturally kind. As she drank a sip of water and put the glass down, he spoke.

“Why didn’t I know you sooner?”

Startled, she looked at him, and Cardin fixed his gaze on her as he continued.

“You’re quite an interesting person.”

“Me?”

Cardin replied with a smile.

“Yes.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

At the Academy, everyone thought of her as quiet and unremarkable. No one ever thought she was interesting.

“What’s interesting about me?”

She was genuinely curious. Cardin calmly looked at her eyes, nose, and lips before meeting her gaze again.

“Everything about you is interesting.”

He smiled slightly, as if he found everything about her pleasing. She fiddled with the water glass. Although the fan above was spinning quickly, it was hot. Eventually, she took out the handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her forehead. She could still feel Cardin’s gaze. She tried hard not to mind and only looked at the water glass. Every time she spent time with Cardin, she felt herself falling for him. If he kept being kind and smiling like this….

‘What if it’s hard to leave when the time comes?’

If it became too hard and she couldn’t leave him…. However, when she thought about what would happen next, her heart turned cold. When Cardin’s memory returned, the way he looked at her would change completely. 

Her father had worked at Cardin’s bank and committed bond fraud, nearly causing Cardin’s bank to go bankrupt. Around that time, she heard that Cardin officially inherited the bank. That day, Stern Academy was in a festive mood, but the next day, when what her father had done was revealed, the atmosphere sank like a funeral. She could never forget Cardin’s face that morning. Contempt, hatred, and cold disregard. If all those memories came back, Cardin wouldn’t look at her kindly. 

The sweat droplets on her forehead had already cooled. At that moment, the owner came with a silver tray. He placed the beer glasses and fried salted sardines on the table. Next to the sardines were thin slices of lemon with salt. Cardin thanked him and sprinkled lemon juice around. Then he picked up his beer glass. Seeing her curious look, he spoke gently.

“Let’s toast to our future happiness.”

She forced a smile, knowing it couldn’t be a happy one. And like he did, she raised her beer glass. Cardin lightly clinked his glass against hers and drank his beer. She tried to drink it too, following his lead. It tasted bitter. She quickly put the glass down, and Cardin laughed.

“Why did you put it down so quickly?”

“It doesn’t taste good. How can you drink this?”

“You get used to it. By the way, you’re quite honest.”

Her expression subtly hardened.

“You think I’m honest?”

Cardin chuckled and added as if to emphasize.

“I like honest people.”

He continued to smile while drinking his beer. He said he liked honest people. The lies she had told Cardin so far came to mind. She feared the distant future. The future where he would regain his memory. She looked at Cardin’s right arm. It was still bandaged. Judging by how he moved, it didn’t seem like his arm was in pain. 

After hesitating for a moment, she spoke.

“Cardin.”

He stopped eating the sardine fry and looked at her. She fiddled with her beer glass before speaking.

“If you feel like your memory is coming back, please tell me right away.”

Cardin looked at her calmly without speaking. There was an unreadable, mysterious glint in his eyes.

‘What is it? What is Cardin thinking?’

Feeling uneasy, she stared at him, and he broke the tension with a smile.

“Why? Are you planning to kick me out?”

Startled, her eyes widened. Cardin smiled gently and picked up his beer glass. He looked at her as he drank his beer and then slowly put the glass down.

“You told me to leave before I regain my memory.”

“What I meant was….”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do as you say.”

Cardin looked at her intently. His lightly smiling lips were intriguing.

‘Does he know something?’

But it didn’t seem like his memory had returned. Otherwise, he wouldn’t look at her like this. Feeling anxious, she picked up her beer glass. It tasted bitter, but right now, she craved that bitterness.