༺ Eyes of a Dragon and the Human Heart (57) ༻
Sunlight radiated through the window, forming hexagonal shapes.
The intensive care unit, where numerous students were hospitalized, was bustling despite the quietness. While the foot traffic itself wasn’t significant, the footsteps betrayed their anxiety.
The repeated indication of someone’s presence, brisk footsteps on the marble floor, continued. Until that moment, neither Cien nor Young Lady Lupesia had not exchanged any words.
The Imperial Princess wore an awkward smile, while Young Lady Lupesia simply stared back at her, wearing a blank expression. It was a different atmosphere from their previous encounter.
At that time, Young Lady Lupesia was trembling and, with a confident and alluring attitude, the Imperial Princess persuaded her.
However, that dynamic was shattered within a few days.
Now, the princess was the wrongdoer chased by everyone, and Young Lady Lupesia was treating her unkindly.
Of course, it wasn’t overtly disdainful.
Young Lady Lupesia still maintained courtesy, and her expression was somewhat composed, but it was all just a mask of pretense.
No matter how much Cien had fallen from grace as an enemy of the academy, she was still part of the Imperial Family.
There was no mere noble from the empire who dared not lift their head proudly to confront such a person.
If there was one unfortunate fact, it was that false kindness had no effect on Cien.
Every nuance of Young Lady Lupesia’s sincerity was captured by those dazzling light gray eyes.
The cold enmity tore through her chest.The sense of disappointment that was felt inside that gaze left Cien somewhat perplexed..
She wanted to ask why.
However, before the Imperial Princess had the chance to vocalize such inner thoughts, Young Lady Lupesia opened her mouth first.
“…For what reason have you come?”
Hearing those words made Cien snap to her senses.
Well, now was not the time to nitpick about this and that.
Cien had a reason to seek out Young Lady Lupesia. It was to atone for the sin she had committed.
Cien had committed many sins against Ian.
Not only had she ostracized him and subjected him to bullying, but at that very moment, Ian’s beloved younger sister’s trading company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and there were many other things needing to be rectified.
One of them was directly related to Young Lady Lupesia— the Disciplinary Committee.
Cien had taken the opportunity to forcibly persuade Young Lady Lupesia, thinking that she could secretly expel Ian Percus.
She never imagined that the joy of that time would come back to her in the form of miserable despair.
She had to somehow prevent it.
Cien had already committed unforgivable sins against Ian. If Ian were to wake up, she couldn’t even think what to say in his presence.
What would he do if he were to hear the news of his younger sister’s trading company collapse?
To Cien, he was the only one— the only person who treated her with sincerity. What should she do if the man who had been treating her like that now cast a gaze of bitter resentment upon her?
She didn’t want to imagine it. Just the mere thought of it already made her tremble.
No matter what, it had to be stopped.
In order to do that, first, she had to meet Young Lady Lupesia.
While she had yet to find a way to revive the trading company run by Ian’s younger sister, at the very least, she had to reap the seeds sheonce sowed.
Young Lady Lupesia had already formed a deep-rooted antagonistic relationship with Ian.
Before, she couldn’t even act properly due to her fear of Ian. However, no one knew what was on Lupesia’s mind recently, as she displayed a sudden sense of stability.
So, even if Cien had to lower herself to plead somewhat humbly or resort to threats, she was considering bending Young Lady Lupesia’s opinions.
It was such a shameless act.
She knew it was and even if bad rumors spread about her in high society because of this, Cien had nothing to say.
But Cien’s desperation went beyond such rumors, as Ian was the only ‘real’ one to her.
She didn’t want to torment him. She wanted to be acknowledged by him and she wanted to feel the sincerity he could offer once again.
For Cien, who had the ‘Dragon’s Eyes’ and had to see all the lows of human nature, he was like clear water in a murky stream. He was the spring she found at the end of her thirst, like a lifeline falling from a collapsing sky.
Cien gulped, swallowing dry saliva.
In reality, she was quite fearful and cried so easily. Even at this moment, she wanted to wipe away the faint moisture that had welled up in her eyes, but she managed to hold back.
With determination, she spoke with a resolute voice.
“Um… Young Lady Lupesia, I would like to talk to you about the Disciplinary Committee…”
“I have withdrawn it.”
With just a single sentence, Young Lady Lupesia’s brief remark was enough to shut Cien’s mouth despite all her prepared determination.
For a moment, the Imperial Princess couldn’t understand the words and wore a blank expression.
However, Young Lady Lupesia continued speaking without even properly facing her.
“I became somewhat foolish… Honestly, I wasn’t very noble. I realized that after talking with Emma.”
Lies. The reason was not meaningful enough to cancel it.
Young Lady Lupesia lived a life without lies. As a high-ranked noble, she looked down on commoners for over 20 years.
Yet, because of that one reason—befriending a commoner—she had decided to put aside her pride and withhold a disciplinary committee in just a few days?
Moreover, this was a crucial opportunity to establish ties with the Imperial Family…
In other words, it meant that she was still hiding some truth from Cien.
Cien’s pupils were vertically slit.
Shame, excitement, and a sense of guilt and confusion enveloped her.
However, her emotions alone weren’t enough for her to deduce anything. They were just simply discussing Ian at this moment, but feeling such emotions already made Cien slightly uncomfortable.
‘What the hell is someone like you even saying?’
‘Have you done what I did—making efforts to rectify the situation while enduring all sorts of curses and blame? But why are you hesitating so much, acting so snobbishly as if you’re at a loss while claiming to forgive Ian?’
‘You should kneel and beg instead.’
‘Like me, even if you can’t be forgiven, at least slam your head to the ground and cry desperately.’
The words threatened to burst out of her throat. For a moment, Cien was on the verge of expressing her anger towards her.
“…Your Imperial Highness.”
The Imperial Princess tightly closed her mouth at Young Lady Lupesia’s words and sighed.
Embarrassment filled Cien’s gaze.
The one who should have reprimanded her was Cien, but instead, Young Lady Lupesia’s gaze looked like someone who was looking at a naive younger sister.
Young Lady Lupesia opened her mouth again after a short while.
“Of course, Sir Ian could be slightly irritating. One could criticize his methods. However, he is the Hero of the academy… And he didn’t do it without reason, right? He saved many people as well…”
‘Sir Ian’? When did she start addressing him with such a respectful title?
Cien was the first to use that title. From the moment in the tunnel, from the moment she knew that truth, she had decided to forever respect and revere him.
‘But how could you use it so casually and offer advice to me so easily?’
However, even that anger was quick to fade.
“…Therefore, please stop tormenting Sir Ian. The one who is in a higher position should also be more benevolent, right?”
It was because that sincere advice was deeply embedded in Cien’s heart.
No, it wasn’t supposed to be this way..
Cien came here to convey a request to withdraw the disciplinary opinion of the Disciplinary Committee. However, Young Lady Lupesia misunderstood its purpose.
Instead, she seemed to think that Cien had come precisely to ensure the convening of the Disciplinary Committee.
Why? If one were to think about it, the answer was obvious.
It was because everyone thought so.
More precisely, everyone wanted to think so.
Cien had to be a nasty bitch to the end.
In order to protect her pride, she had to be stubborn, continue to ignore the truth, and still harbor hatred and resentment towards Ian.
She had a lot of arguments to refute that.
Countless sentences flooded her mind. If she could just pick one, just one, Young Lady Lupesia might not have acted more respectfully.
But even if she said that, what would change?
And upon further thought, it was all her own fault.
Even this was nothing compared to the pain Ian had to endure. So, she had to endure it too.
This pitiful conclusion weighed heavily on the Imperial Princess’s heart.
Cien’s trembling lips soon formed a faint smile. With a pitiful and poignant voice, she smiled and replied.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Young Lady Lupesia.”
It didn’t matter if no one understood.
After all, Cien had one person who was the ‘real’ one and understood her.
Just by thinking about that man, Cien could swallow her humiliation and agony over and over again.
Today, of all days, she longed to see the man whose eyes remained closed.
It was a day when she really wanted to hear the last words he said in the tunnel.
Therefore, the girl slowly moved her steps toward the temple.
As if she was enchanted.
As if the only solace she sought was there.
