050. Summer Lake (4)

“…”

Lucia silently watched Owen as he enthusiastically talked about the strawberry business.

It seemed almost severe.

Once he realized his feelings, there was no hesitation, and he was now very straightforward.

The problem was, she didn’t dislike it.

She liked how he whispered words of love and openly showed his affection.

It made her feel cherished and treasured.

Owen had shown her what it meant to be valued and loved by someone.

“Have some pudding.”

Lucia, who had been quietly watching him, handed him a dish of pudding.

Owen accepted it and began eating it quietly with a spoon.

The fruity, sweet pudding didn’t seem to suit his taste, as his spoon moved mechanically.

‘He doesn’t seem to like sweet things.’

Upon reflection, Lucia realized that Owen didn’t prefer sweet foods.

He only ate sweet desserts out of courtesy, and he often had savory dishes prepared without sweetness.

In contrast, he enjoyed bitter teas, sour foods, and sometimes even spicy or heavily seasoned dishes.

‘I’ll have to remember that.’

Lucia made a mental note and sipped her strawberry lemonade.

The two of them slowly ate the remaining food one by one.

When they had finished all but a few dishes, they stood up.

Unlike how they had come by rowboat, they walked back this time.

The servants would take care of the blanket, picnic basket, and leftover food, so they left everything as it was.

“Owen.”

Fortunately, there was a well-maintained walking path around the lake, so they had no trouble walking.

As they strolled along the gravel path, Lucia spoke up.

“Why were you so stern with Louis earlier?”

Owen’s gaze turned to her, curious about her question.

Her red eyes were filled with genuine curiosity.

To her, it seemed strange.

“Because he was rude to you.”

Lucia probably found it hard to understand.

She would think that Owen didn’t know much about her family situation.

But he knew the contents of *The Flower of the Empire*.

Louis didn’t just bully Lucia; he contributed to her eventual death.

‘…It’s not just Louis’s fault.’

Of course, it was Owen who directly drove her to her death.

‘…Not me, but Owen.’

Owen shook his head, correcting his thoughts.

He had been getting confused lately.

It was as if he had really become Owen, trapped in his body.

Sometimes he thought he was Owen from the beginning.

“Louis is young and immature.”

Luckily, Lucia didn’t seem to notice Owen’s internal struggle and responded naturally.

Owen guided the conversation, leading her to continue.

“He certainly seems that way.”

“He’s still very young. He’s not even an adult yet. He’s 19.”

Thanks to that, Lucia started talking about various things again.

Owen listened to her stories intently but couldn’t shake off his thoughts about his current state.

He couldn’t help it.

The panoramic visions that had started appearing since the hunting competition were becoming more frequent.

-Please open the door. Please open the door, Mother…

The sound echoed in his ears.

It was a vision he had seen before.

This must be another of Owen’s memories.

-Please…

When had he remembered this?

It seemed to have come to mind when he saw the door in that memory.

-I’ve done wrong. I won’t do it again. I’ll listen to everything Mother and Father say.

The room was cold and narrow, an attic.

Owen’s parents had harshly punished him whenever he went against their will.

They didn’t hesitate to beat him, and if that wasn’t enough, they locked him up and left him unfed for a whole day.

Faced with violence and neglect, the child had few choices.

“Owen.”

A voice from reality broke through.

Lucia’s voice brought him back to the present.

Owen’s blurry focus returned.

“You don’t look well, are you alright?”

Lucia’s worried face came into view.

Owen smiled naturally at her.

“I just remembered something I needed to think about.”

“Is that so?”

Lucia looked puzzled but nodded. As she turned her head back forward, Owen reached out and took her hand.

Lucia interlaced her fingers with his.

“Yes.”

He felt bad about keeping secrets from Lucia, but he had no choice.

He couldn’t tell her the truth—that the Owen she longed for wasn’t here.

So he had to solve this issue by himself.

The problem was that he had no idea how to do that.

‘What is the reason behind this?’

Furthermore, he still didn’t know why this phenomenon was happening.

It scared him sometimes.

He feared that he might completely get swept up in Owen’s memories and end up truly believing he was Owen.

Fortunately, his original memories were just as vivid as Owen’s, so it didn’t happen often. But with time, who knew what might happen?

Even now, he almost unconsciously thought that way.

“Ah.”

Lost in thought, Owen continued to respond to Lucia’s conversation as they walked towards the mansion’s front gate.

Then Lucia saw someone she had hoped to avoid.

“The Duke of Verdun has visited.”

It was the Duke of Edelte, her father.

“Yes, Lucia invited me, so I came.”

“I see. That worked out well. There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

And Lucia’s expectations were spot on.

The Duke of Edelte immediately brought up the topic of engagement without hesitation.

“Lucia told me recently that she’s in a relationship. So, when are you thinking of getting engaged?”

‘Oh my goodness.’

Lucia sighed at her father’s bluntness, diving straight into the main topic without any preamble.

It wasn’t just Lucia who reacted this way.

The butler and the servants accompanying the Duke of Edelte also showed expressions of concern and dismay.

“Did you ask Lucia?”

Contrary to their worried reactions, Owen remained calm.

His voice was not just calm but sharp as he asked back.

“Of course, I did.”

“That’s a relief. Because if you didn’t respect her wishes, even if you were to become my father-in-law, I might have reconsidered.”

Owen’s smile tilted crookedly.

His slanted smile was quite chilling.

It was clearly a warning.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. So, what did Lucia say?”

As the Duke of Edelte looked flustered, Owen continued his questioning.

Lucia watched the scene with somewhat surprised eyes.

It was the first time she had seen her father so taken aback, and the first time she had seen anyone push him this far.

“She said it’s too soon.”

Fortunately, the Duke of Edelte did not lie.

Owen decided to consider this the Duke’s only redeeming quality.

“Then why are you asking me about it?”

The exchange was like a battle of nerves.

In the end, the Duke of Edelte remained silent.

He seemed to remember his previous conversation with Owen and couldn’t bring himself to say anything more.

After some time passed, he exhaled a long breath and asked.

“Do you have any intentions?”

“If you still don’t believe me, I don’t see why I need to give you an answer.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just that there seems to be no reason to delay the engagement, so I asked.”

“In any relationship, mutual consent and agreement are essential. Moreover, as Lucia’s father, shouldn’t you respect her wishes?”

Despite Owen’s answer, the Duke of Edelte furrowed his brow as if he didn’t understand.

However, he didn’t say anything more and nodded his head.

“I understand the Duke of Verdun’s intentions. Since you seem to care for my daughter, I’ll assume that you have intentions of engagement and marriage, even if it takes time.”

Owen didn’t respond to the Duke of Edelte’s words. He simply turned to Lucia and met her gaze.

When their eyes met suddenly, Lucia turned her head.

As his gaze fell on her, Lucia smiled and nodded lightly.

It was a sign of agreement.

Owen, understanding immediately, smiled back before finally responding to the Duke of Edelte.

“Let’s do that.”

With a brief exchange of farewells, the Duke and Owen turned their backs on each other.

Before leaving, the Duke told Lucia to come to his study.

Lucia had a good idea of what he would talk about, so she followed Owen without a second thought.

She planned to see him off.

There was still time to go to her father’s study after saying goodbye to Owen.

It would likely just be some scolding about today’s events anyway.

“Owen, see you next week.”

She said as he was getting into his carriage, and Owen smiled back at her.

“Yes, see you then.”

“Alright.”

Lucia watched the black carriage until it completely disappeared from view before turning around.

As she stepped into the Edelte mansion, she saw Louis standing awkwardly on the first floor.

“You.”

His brown eyes were filled with dissatisfaction and resentment, suggesting that things hadn’t gone his way.

Honestly, she wanted to ignore him and walk past, but she felt good today thanks to Owen, so she decided to indulge him.

“Do I need to call the etiquette tutor again?”

“What nonsense are you talking about now?”

“Calling an older noble ‘you’ is something only common rabble do.”

“Common rabble? Did you just say everything you wanted to say?”

As Louis, who was also hot-tempered, started to seethe, Lucia waved her hand dismissively, looking annoyed.

“So, what did you want to say? Go ahead.”

When she asked, Louis clamped his mouth shut.

Then he glared at her with a spiteful look that she had seen earlier at the lake.

“You blew my cover, all because of you.”

“Cover for what?”

Lucia furrowed her brow at his out-of-context comment.

Louis, seething with anger, replied.

“What you said at the lake.”

“Oh, you mean about you meeting the baron’s daughter?”

“…! Why are you saying that so loudly?”

Her half-brother jumped and yelled.

Lucia shook her head at her naive younger brother and responded lightly.

“You said you were already caught. Why are you so scared? Isn’t that what you meant when you said Father found out?”

“…Yes.”

His voice was quite somber.

No wonder.

Unlike Lucia, Louis had received a semblance of ‘family love’ from their parents, but that was only in comparison to Lucia.

Their treatment of him was still harsh by normal standards.

They pressured him to be a cold and ruthless heir, even though he was just a child.

Louis probably resented Lucia because she seemed to live freely without such burdens.

“They told you to break up with her, didn’t they?”

“Yes…”

Since it was what she had expected, Lucia felt no particular emotion.

Well, she felt a bit disappointed.

She had wanted to see the Duke and Duchess of Edelte’s reactions if their precious son married a daughter from a lowly baron’s family.

“So, why are you telling me this?”

That was that.

Why was Louis, who wasn’t close to her and even hated her, telling her this?