HIFH | Chapter 55

Episode 55

Lu was seated on the sofa across from the fitting room, sipping his tea.

Trying on wedding dresses took quite a bit of time, so he had brought along a book he had been reading to pass the time without getting bored.

He naturally opened the book, but for some reason, he couldn’t focus on its contents.

Why?

Lu lowered his long eyelashes, sinking into thought for a moment.

‘It must be because of Sharan.’

The only person who could unsettle his mind was Sharan.

No—more precisely, the only person he allowed to do so was Sharan.

‘She’s been acting strange lately.’

Randomly deciding to investigate Themis’s death, searching through suspicious ships, keeping someone named Adrian as a friend, going out at night more frequently—those sorts of things.

Of course, after their recent conversation, he had learned about the “Guardian’s secret orders,” so there was no reason to find her behavior strange anymore.

‘But I don’t feel at ease.’

Lu murmured to himself, rubbing his forehead. Something still felt off, as if something were stuck in place.

However—

‘This isn’t the time to dwell on that.’

His immediate priority was completing his mission—finding the relic.

Muttering to himself, Lu pushed away the unease clouding his thoughts.

Then, he closed the book entirely, leaned back into the sofa, and tilted his head back.

‘Catacle.’

He recalled the letter from his adoptive father, the High Priest.

[Catacle is targeting you.
Don’t embarrass my name by falling to mere lowlifes like them.]

It had taken him some time to even figure out what Catacle was, as the letter hadn’t bothered to explain.

Eventually, he learned that Catacle was a secret organization protecting the empire from the shadows—and that they were after him.

‘Why?’

He wanted to know the reason.

As an agent whose job was inevitably tied to death, he had always been prepared to face his own. But dying without even knowing why? That was too unfair.

At the very least, he wanted to understand the reason for his death.

So, he had worked tirelessly to gather information. But no matter how much effort he put in, he had come up empty-handed.

‘And then… I got caught up in that accident with Sharan.’

Even thinking about it still hurt.

Sharan worried because she believed he had gotten injured because of her. But Lu also believed that she had been caught up in the incident because of him.

So, he felt guilty toward her. Guilty—and grateful.

‘Though, considering that, I might have teased her a bit too much.’

But how could he help it when her reactions were so endearing?

Lu recalled the moment Sharan had scrunched her face in frustration while feeding him.

‘Cute.’

Even in hindsight, she was adorable. A chuckle escaped him as he turned his head.

‘From now on, I need to focus on investigating…’

He murmured to himself.

‘The whereabouts of the relic and Catacle.’

The first issue seemed almost like a dead end.

Despite meeting countless nobles and trying to extract information from them, he had failed. None of them knew anything.

‘Even the nobles of the Imperial faction don’t know…’

A possibility he had once dismissed began surfacing in his mind again.

‘Could it be that even the Imperial family doesn’t know where the relic is?’

Lu pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, lowering his gaze.

‘To be certain, I might have to infiltrate the Imperial Palace.’

The relic and Catacle—

To obtain information on both, that seemed to be the most efficient approach. Of course, it also carried immense risk.

Muttering to himself, he decided he would have to request reinforcements.

Then, a memory of something Sharan had said resurfaced.

— You said you hate me, but you also like me.

— Is that how you’re supposed to feel about a friend?

He didn’t know. Was that truly the kind of emotion one should feel toward a friend?

Having never had a friend before, he had no way of knowing what was “normal” in a friendship.

But one thing was certain—Sharan had always been difficult for him to understand.

Unlike him, she shone like the sun. He felt both jealous of that radiance and drawn to it.

Even if getting too close meant being burned, he wanted to be near her at least once.

Could feelings like these really be called “friendship”?

Could he still define their relationship as simply being “friends”?

Wouldn’t it be more accurate to call it something else—

Lu suddenly shook his head forcefully, cutting off his thoughts.

No. She was his friend. She had to be. He couldn’t afford to have any feelings beyond that.

Right now, he needed to focus on his mission.

Brushing his bangs back, Lu steeled his resolve.

Just then—

“The bride is coming out!”

The assistant’s voice snapped him back to reality.

He quickly straightened his posture, sitting up on the sofa.

“Once you’ve both discussed and decided, please let me know.”

The assistant left the fitting room, and at the same time—shhht—

The curtain that had separated the sofa from the fitting area was drawn open.

And there stood Sharan.

Her pristine white dress gleamed softly, as if it had absorbed the moonlight.

The off-shoulder design revealed her smooth shoulders and delicate collarbones.

The sheer lace sleeves barely draped over her shoulders, flowing down to her waist before cascading into the skirt.

The voluminous skirt spread out beautifully, with embroidered floral patterns gradually fading as they dispersed toward the hem.

“…How is it?”

Sharan asked hesitantly.

But Lu couldn’t answer.

Had she always been this beautiful?

He had always known she was pretty, but had she been this breathtaking?

To him, Sharan had always been like a sword, forged and honed within the battlefield.

But now, in this moment, wrapped in a white dress, she looked like a single pure white flower in full bloom.

“Lu?”

Lu slowly rose to his feet.

But his steps toward her were quick.

It wasn’t a conscious decision—instinctively, he moved closer.

And then, he embraced her.

With her body nestled against his chest, he shut his eyes tightly.

If he kept looking at her, he felt like his heart would burst. That was why he hugged her.

Yet now that she was in his arms, his heart felt even closer to exploding.

“Huh? I asked how it looks, and you just hug me?”

Sharan peeked over his shoulder, speaking with a slight pout.

Lu tightened his embrace.

“Honestly…”

Murmuring into her shoulder, he whispered—

“I want to marry you.”

If I thought of that as a proposal, I’d be getting ahead of myself, right?

I swallowed nervously and gently pushed against Lu’s chest.

“So, this is the one?”

Instead of answering, Lu simply looked down at me.

His expression was unreadable.

Tilting my head in confusion, I pressed again.

“Hey, answer me. We’re choosing this one, right?”

“…Yes.”

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“This is the one.”

Then, he rested his forehead against my shoulder again.

“This is the one… it has to be.”

I wondered why he was acting like this, but I didn’t push him away this time.

A hug between friends like this should be fine, right?

Probably.