MFCPCR Chapter 1.4 - The Man in the Terrace

 Translator: Silvia

Editor: Alan

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“Hello, Count Hilt and young lady Hilt.”

“Oh, it’s been a while. How’s your father?”

“He went to the holy ground so he couldn’t attend today, but I came here in his stead.”

“I see. Your father must feel reassured.”

Alaina didn’t know him very well, but his father seemed to know the amiable young man.

Loras Ismal, a young knight of the Ismal family, was famous for having a rich and prosperous land, as well as being one of the people that Count Hilt liked very much. He was friendly and knew how to develop his own talent without depending on his family.

There was nothing to criticize in the young man, with his honest and hard-working impression, natural constitution, and pure character. Besides, he was the first to personally greet them, so Count Hilt naturally saw him in a good light.

When the Count’s small talk was over, Alaina politely greeted him. The Count smiled delightedly.

He also knew about the recent change of heart that Alaina was going through. Although he didn’t intervene with his daughter’s personal affairs, he was still concerned as a kind father.

His daughter hadn’t been out for a while, so he wondered how much people had talked on and on about her.

At times like this, when a young, agreeable man like Loras came first and was paying attention to Alaina, he couldn’t help but have good feelings for him.

His daughter didn’t seem to be interested, but it would serve as a diversion anyway, so the serpent-like Bielvardo would be neatly forgotten.

Therefore, the Count laughed happily and left Alaina to Loras.

“Young people need to gather with other young people. Since there is such a bright youth here, this father can leave for a moment, right?”

“Pardon?”

“Sir Loras, can I leave Alaina to your care for a while?”

“Yes, I’ll do my best so you don’t feel worried.”

Alaina held back a sigh and smiled.

Although her hate of love seemed to get worse day by day, it didn’t mean that she would abandon all social activities. She couldn’t show her disdain for such activities too obviously.

When her father disappeared to where the other family heads gathered, Loras greeted her again.

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

“I’m more honored.”

The two had a conversation about the weather, the mood of the banquet, the splendor of the royal palace, and other topics that weren’t of much interest.

Thanks to that, it seemed that they were quite friendly from a distance. Of course, Alaina was wishing to herself that Demian would come.

It was then, while they were walking and talking about various things.

Under the shadow of a beautifully shaped garden tree, a familiar man and woman stood. Standing by the fountain was Idrian and Riley.

Her steps came to a standstill. Alaina’s feet stopped as if nailed to the ground. Even after two months, that day’s anger soared in an instant. No, it was even worse than that day.

She couldn’t hear the sound because it was too far, but she could see Idrian was smiling widely and talking to Riley. Riley was also nodding her head, shyly avoiding his gaze.

Idrian grabbed her wrists and splashed water on them. Riley twisted her lips with a troubled look. There seemed to be a faint sound of laughter.

“That….”

A voice was heard next to her, she came to her senses. Shame came upon her. How pathetic was it to stare at them from far away - what would Sir Loras think?

Was he thinking how pitiful she was, how pathetic of her?

Nevertheless, Alaina couldn’t stop her gaze. The two people who were splashing water at each other and joking around were lovers, it was clear to anyone’s eyes.

That ******* was the one who pushed his lips in front of her even though he said he was engaged to another woman. So if she was in her right mind, she should consider herself lucky that she didn’t have a deeper relationship with that man.

She had to laugh at him and see how well he did after doing all of that. Or, perhaps she should go to the fountain to wash her eyes since she had seen a pair of unlucky cockroaches.

But Alaina just vaguely recalled the memory of that day.

ㅡ….Although you may think it’s an excuse, I will only ever love you!

ㅡNo matter what, my heart will always beat for you.

If it was a damn disease, perhaps that human was a severe patient. ‘I will only ever love you’, ‘no matter what, my heart will always beat for you,’ what kind of sh*t was that? It would be like Coco, Demian’s horse, becoming a unicorn with a burning mane.

It was then that Idrian’s face was facing this way. He had a puzzled look on his face. Sensing the change, Riley followed his gaze.

Yeah, what kind of face would you make at me?

Alaina now openly shot a glare at the two people in earnest with crossed arms. She felt that Loras, who was standing next to her, was getting restless.

Her green eyes were shooting out lasers. Perhaps, a fitting description would be an insecticide beam being directed at the pair of cockroaches.

Then Riley looked straight at her and linked her and Idrian’s arm. However, it was Riley’s naive and innocent look that angered her more than their intimacy.

Riley cautiously looked up at her with her chin lowered and her eyes slightly raised, as if she were too fragile to handle Alaina.

Alaina twisted her lips. But she quickly shot a gentle smile. She didn’t want to show her grieving self in front of them.

She looked up at Sir Loras standing beside her, retracting her gaze from them.

“Sir Loras.”

“Yes.”

"I'm a little tired, so I'm thinking about going inside."

“I’ll escort you there.”

“No. It’s okay.”

He tried to say something more but stopped. It was because he could see Alaina’s eyes reddening. As long as he was sensible, he couldn’t insist and hold her back anymore.

Alaina turned around with an awkward smile. She wanted to flee into the building right away, but there were two pairs of eyes staring at her. She needed to appear like she was fine.

Did you think I’m going to be in a bad mood and run away? No! Never!

Alaina walked to the building with gentle steps. But as soon as she entered the shade, her tears fell. With her eyes open, she quickly brushed them with her fingertips, but the tears kept coming out.

God damn it. She couldn’t even control her own body anymore.

Alaina took a quick step inside before anyone could see her.

Inside the building, there were several terraces by the garden. There was no door, but the curtain with an insignia was draped around it, which functioned to somewhat give privacy from others. It was still possible to see if there were any people inside through the shadows slightly reflected under the curtain, however.

Alaina walked with a light step, covering her face with one hand at her sudden outburst of tears. After passing a few terraces, she finally found a shadowless space.

She went inside as quickly as possible. Her makeup would be ruined if she let her tears roll down. She couldn’t see her own face, as there was no mirror around. It would be troublesome if her tears flowed down her cheeks.

So as soon as Alaina went through the curtain insignia, she bent down to her waist. Her tears didn’t flow, but slightly formed under her eyes and fell to the floor.

Her dazzling blonde hair poured down in front of her face, but it didn’t matter. Since no one else saw it, there was no problem with such a weird position, which made blood rush to her head.

That was her mistake.

“What are you doing?”

A cold voice broke through the terrace. Alaina was so surprised that she collapsed. Her face was seen through the gap between her scattered hair. Her tears that hadn’t been cleared flow down and make two lines of tear tracks on her cheeks.

Meanwhile, the man who spoke out, Nicklaus, was extremely embarrassed. He himself knew that his personality was terrible. However, surely it wasn’t enough to make a person cry through a single word?

Besides, it was that woman who came in randomly. He was simply leaning against the railing and observing the people outside. What more, he didn’t think he said anything about itㅡ….

Wait, did he swear? Without him knowing?

Because of his increasingly strict personality, it wasn’t possible for him to say things unintentionally to the extent he wasn’t aware; perhaps he had to diagnose himself with a serious condition.

No, before he started worrying about his mental state, he had to deal with the woman who looked up at him in surprise and flat out started shedding her tears.

He pulled a handkerchief out of his breast pocket with a haggard face.

“Why don’t you…. wipe it?”

The woman touched her face with her hands in surprise. Then she stood up, slightly ripping her dress.

“I didn’t know anyone was here, that was rude of me.”

“You don’t need this? My hands are getting numb.”

Alaina picked up the handkerchief and thought to herself, ‘who is this person, and why is he so casually impolite?’ First of all, wiping away the tears was her main priority.

“Thank you.”

“Then get out of here.”

Alaina, who was trying to wipe her face, frowned while wondering if there was really a human like this.

Of course, she was in the wrong at first. But she didn’t open someone’s curtains and intrude on their business – at best, she just came into an occupied terrace.

However, he suddenly spoke informally and even gave her an order, when she obviously wasn’t feeling well.

Thanks to that, she did something she wouldn’t normally have done.

Alaina, who had dabbed her cheeks with his handkerchief, then blew her nose on purpose. As expected, the man’s face crinkled. He looked as if he was seeing something very filthy.

Alaina snorted and folded the handkerchief. She then pushed the handkerchief onto the man’s chest.

“I’ve used it well.”

She turned around and left the terrace without looking back. Nicklaus frowned and picked the handkerchief on his chest with his fingertips. It was a hotbed of filthiness.

“It’s so disgusting.”

Nicklaus threw his handkerchief out of the terrace without hesitation. It didn’t fall very far away, however.

He took off the upper part of his suit with his hands. Then he froze like a stone statue. There seemed to be lightning striking inside his head.

That woman, even after receiving his handkerchief, frowned. She wasn’t happy to receive what he handed over.

What it meant was very clear.

She was that woman.

The fated woman that he was looking for. A woman who will put a leash on him. The very person that he will truly fall in love with, or must fall into.

Nicklaus’ heart suddenly throbbed like crazy and he even staggered for a bit. Due to his dizziness, he had to hold on to the handrail to recover his breath. but he soon came to his senses.

This was not the time to do this.

He didn’t know her name, her age, or where she lived. If he missed her now, he had no idea when he would see her again. He had to find her.

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