Side Story 3 (Part 1)

“The fact that we never got to see that mine.”

Inside the broken carriage, Olivie, nestled in his arms, tilted her head back with a smile. At her lovely appearance, he kissed her forehead.  

“That’s right.”  

Despite the burning enthusiasm, perhaps due to being dragged around by Olivie’s hand, Emily’s illness worsened after that day.  

Seeing Emily, flushed with fever and barely able to breathe, he cried so much.

‘I’m sorry, Emily. Boohoo, what should I do?’

It was an embarrassing sight, with tears and a runny nose, and honestly, it’s a memory he feels sorry for over and over again.  

To think he would remember it so fondly like this.  

‘How embarrassing.’  

Feeling unnecessarily shy, Olivie cleared her throat and leaned slightly against his chest to avoid his gaze.  

“So, was it then that you fell for me?”

Except for the tearful, runny-nosed sight that day, when she was thirteen…  

Well, honestly, she was quite pretty.  

Although her coming-of-age ceremony was still a few years away, at that time, she was really struggling to appear as noble as possible. She was pushing herself to look more ladylike than any other ladies.  

Perhaps because of those efforts, during that period, Olivie found herself beautiful every time she looked in the mirror. Her lush, curly red hair, the slightly upturned high nose, and her eyes as big as Emily’s were honestly pretty.  

‘Not like a fairy—but certainly lovable.’  

Admittedly.

Recalling her younger self, Olivie nodded.  

Yes, with that appearance, it was understandable to fall for her.  

However,  

“No.”  

Robin, who was playing with her curly red hair, tightened his arms around her waist, pulling her closer into his embrace.  

“I told you.”  

“……”  

“I fell for you the first time I saw you.”  

The tender words whispered like a spring breeze made her chest feel ticklish.  

She felt as if the tips of her ears had turned slightly red.  

It was fortunate that the carriage was a bit dark.  

If it were bright…  

Imagining the situation she didn’t want to think about, she glared at him even more intently.  

“You’re lying.”  

“No, I’m not.”  

At Robin’s voice, which sounded as if he felt wronged, Olivie turned her body to face him.  

“You really fell for me when I was eight?”

“Yeah.”  

“When I was eight, and you were twelve?”  

“Yeah.”  

Huh.  

“That’s really unbelievable.”  

As she glared at him, he met her gaze and shrugged his shoulders.  

“Why do you think that’s unbelievable?”  

“……”  

“What should I do to make you believe me?”  

Robin, who eventually laughed softly, tilted his head slightly.  

It was a completely different expression from when he usually teased her. In response, she relaxed the tension in her eyes that had been glaring at him.  

Robin, placing his hand on her softened expression, gently caressed Olivie’s cheek.  

“Was I such an untrustworthy person?”  

“……”  

“I fell for you at first sight because you were so cute.”  

With a slight tilt of his chin, he gave her a light kiss on her lower lip, causing Olivie to close her eyes for a moment before opening them. She quickly pulled away from Robin’s face in front of her and waved her hands.  

“Oh, really.”  

That sly expression. She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, finding it absurd. Moreover, her chest still felt ticklish.  

‘Yes.’  

Honestly, she didn’t believe it.

She wasn’t naive enough to believe the sweet nothings men often said.

‘Still.’  

Still, it was true that just hearing it made her feel good.

Wasn’t it like saying she was the first love of a man admired by many ladies?

Of course, she didn’t believe it, but honestly, it made her feel so proud that her shoulders felt like they were soaring into the sky.

Her nose also seemed to rise along with it.

“I was so worried that my young heart would be stolen because you were so cute and pretty.”  

“……Oh dear.”  

At Robin’s sly words, Olivie glanced at him and shook her head.  

“If only you couldn’t speak.”

It was a natural thought that came to mind.

But…  

“But.”  

If that were the case, she became even more curious.

“Why didn’t you confess?”  

“……”  

He claimed to have liked her since they were young, so why did he just watch her get engaged?

Even if he had just shown his face, the most handsome in the capital, there wouldn’t have been just one or two ladies who would have grabbed his outstretched hand.  

‘I wouldn’t have been an exception either.’  

But.  

Why on earth didn’t he confess to me? 

Olivie looked at him intently, puzzled.  

“Why didn’t you?”

“……”  

Facing Olivie’s questioning gaze, Robin’s eyes deepened as he burst into a light laugh.  

“Why, you ask? Because you were too young back then. I held back.”  

He tapped her on the tip of her nose.  

“And if I had confessed back then, you wouldn’t have accepted it.”  

At the unexpected answer, Olivie raised her head.  

“……”  

She wasn’t sure exactly when he meant by “back then.”  

‘If he had confessed after that winter when I was ten…’  

Olivie would have rejected him, just as Robin said.  

Because back then, she needed to know her place.  

“That’s probably true.”

Olivie nodded.  

“So, after the debutante, I was preparing to bring you over after about a year.”

Robin, who drew out the end of his sentence, twisted one corner of his lips.  

Sensing an unusual signal of crisis, Olivie urgently lifted her head.  

“That…”  

“But I didn’t expect someone to snatch you away in the meantime.”  

“……Hmm.”  

Indeed.  

At his words, Olivie closed her mouth as if she were a child who had momentarily lost her words.  

“……”  

Robin slightly twisted one corner of his mouth at her lips, tightly shut like a clam, and placed his hand below her waist. He pulled her tightly into his embrace.  

“Right in front of my nose, too.”

Haha.  

Recalling the existence of Louis Caylen, which she had completely forgotten, Olivie awkwardly laughed and turned her head.  

“Hahaha.”  

Haha.  

Pretending not to notice his gaze.

* * *

The rumor that Olivie Elphano was engaged reached Robin, who was far away in the Berroa Empire, purely by chance.  

Partly because he was too busy with work to pay attention to such rumors, but primarily because the Berroa Empire didn’t consider the social news of a small country like the Kingdom of Plen to be significant gossip.  

Therefore, most of the news came through letters or occasionally through the retainers of the Tanner family who came from Plen.  

“Oh, have you heard that rumor?”  

This time, purely by coincidence, he happened to meet a merchant who had stopped by Plen just before coming to the Empire, and through him, he could hear even the rumors that had spread to the very bottom of Plen.  

Most of the content was nothing special, and he was just about to get up from his seat.  

“You know the Caylen family, right? It seems that their young master, Louis Caylen, has secured a very significant connection with Elphano.”  

“…….”  

At the mention of Caylen and Elphano, Robin turned his head.  

“Caylen?”  

“Yes, Caylen. Remember how there were rumors that the Caylen family was on the brink of ruin? The current head is a bit incompetent, you know.”  

The merchant laughed as if it was common knowledge, pushing aside the empty glass of moonshine.  

“Anyway! Somehow that incompetent man managed to secure his son as the match for the young lady Elphano. It seems the young lady Elphano agreed, so unless something unexpected happened, they must be engaged by now.”  

The merchant quickly downed a freshly filled glass of moonshine.  

However, unlike the merchant who seemed relieved, Robin, whose mind was tangled by his words, couldn’t say anything. It felt as if the merchant’s words were floating around his mind, unorganized.  

“Are you saying Olivie Elphano is engaged to Louis Caylen?”  

“Yes, yes, that’s right.”  

“Lady Olivie Elphano…”

“With Louis Caylen, yes, yes. Do you know them?”  

The merchant nodded, wiping his mouth with the back of his hairy hand.  

Yet, despite the merchant’s confirmation, Robin couldn’t say anything. He felt his head going numb.  

‘Why?’  

‘Why on earth would Olivie?’  

‘Be engaged to Louis Caylen?’  

No matter how much he tried to understand, it was difficult.  

But what was even harder to comprehend was why none of the retainers who had visited him had informed him of Olivie’s engagement.  

It was news that even Emily hadn’t heard.  

‘I told them to report any news about Elphano first and foremost.’  

It seemed no one had listened to him carefully.  

If he hadn’t met the merchant, he probably wouldn’t have known about Olivie’s engagement until the day he returned to the Kingdom.  

‘Damn it.’  

Robin clenched his fist.  

At that moment, the merchant, who had set down his glass, furrowed his brow.  

“Unbelievable, right? I felt the same way when I first heard it. Elphano and Caylen? What a crazy rumor! But then again.”  

As he spoke, he glanced around and leaned in slightly.  

“There’s a long backstory to it.”  

His subtle words and actions hinted at something much deeper behind it all.  

“…….”  

However, despite the merchant’s words, Robin simply stared at him silently, as if he had no intention of prying further.