It was unrelated to the original work. Erin trusted Aiden. Julia also trusted.
Both had a strong belief that they would not betray Erin or deceive her. However, if Julia’s heart was drawn to Aiden, it would be inevitable.
And because of that, she was undoubtedly suffering as well. Erin couldn’t help but feel jealous of Aiden and Julia’s relationship.
‘But I can’t blame them either.’ Erin realized most keenly in the past 10 years that she couldn’t help her own feelings.
That’s why Erin decided to finish this situation as quickly as possible.
Holding onto this situation any longer would only leave everyone hurt. Even if Julia really felt that way about Aiden, it was time to face it.
So, Erin decided to honestly express her feelings to Julia. She wanted to speak truthfully and honestly.
After saying everything, I felt relieved. After Erin finished speaking, Julia was looking at her intently.
Julia’s expression seemed complex and subtle, as if she understood what Erin had said.
‘Don’t misunderstand. I’m not blaming or suspecting Lady.’ Instead, she wanted to say sorry.
In this world, nobody else knew about the connection between Julia and Aiden as much as Erin did.
Yet, she still couldn’t support the two of them.
So, Erin smiled at Julia. ‘Aiden is really amazing, isn’t he? That’s why I like him. The more I know, the more my heart is drawn to him.
I’ve been really happy for the past 10 years.’ Julia remained silent.
‘Actually, I haven’t had the courage to ask Aiden about his feelings yet. Even this morning, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. But I can’t continue to avoid it. When I go back today, I plan to ask. No matter what answer I get… my feelings won’t change.’ Erin honestly confessed her feelings to Julia.
“I love my husband. I have decided to spend the rest of my life with him, growing old together, until one of us finishes this lifetime. I will never give up on Aiden, no matter what happens.”
“…….”
“I believe you will understand why I say this.” Erin spoke as calmly as possible.
The more Erin tried to explain, the darker Julia’s face became. Erin waited patiently, without pushing or prodding for Julia’s answer.
Julia bowed her head and fell into deep thought for a while. Then, after a moment, her lips slowly parted.
“Why are you doing this to me…?” Julia said with a pained expression.
Julia spoke with an unjust look on her face.
“Please, you two resolve your issues together.”
In a moment of distress that seemed to overwhelm Erin, Julia finally voiced the words she had been holding back, looking into Erin’s eyes.
“Why are both of you jealous of me…?”
“……?”
A question mark formed in Erin’s mind as she failed to understand Julia’s words.
As a result, Julia’s face gradually twisted, appearing as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
“I am not interested in the Duke.”
“…….”
“I’m not interested in your brother either… in that way.”
“……?”
The more Julia spoke, the more confused Erin became, feeling like there was something she didn’t understand.
What’s going on? Is there something I don’t know about?
Julia was talking about how she feels about Aiden.
“Why doesn’t she like me?”
No, not Aiden.
Erin was puzzled, Julia was sorrowful, and in an instant, the situation between the two of them became chaotic.
Julia pleaded with an earnest expression.
“So please, talk to the Duke. Tell him to stop being jealous.”
“……Lady?”
“I always bless and support your love. I hope both of you will be together for a long, long time, forever,” Julia said earnestly, clasping her hands together.
She met Erin’s eyes as if to prove her innocence.
Watching her, Erin couldn’t help but think that she was seriously misunderstanding something, to an extent that she couldn’t fathom.
Taking her time, Erin turned to look at Julia, who was already gazing at her intently.
“Will you listen to me now?” Julia asked, to which Erin slowly nodded.
Then, as if she had been waiting for this moment, Julia began to recount everything that had happened so far.
She expressed the injustice and frustration she had been feeling.
“I swear. I have absolutely no interest in the Duke. If I had to choose, of course, I would prefer you, sister!”
“…….”
“Ah…! But don’t get the wrong idea. Never!” Julia urgently waved her hands and shook her head frantically, startled by her own words, her eyes widening.
“I like her in the sense of respecting her, it’s never beyond friendship, like that.”
“…….”
By this point, Erin couldn’t help but understand what Julia was saying.
“Julia, dear. Do you… does Aiden…”
“You act jealous of me because I’m close to Sister.”
Julia answered without taking a breath.
“Aiden is jealous of Erin?”
Where does the arrow point to, exactly? In Erin’s mind, the relationship chart was redrawn.
“Every time we meet, you bring up Sister and subtly try to dig into things, you show your dislike towards me, without knowing why and how uncomfortable that was.”
Julia’s brow furrowed as she remembered that time.
“I realized it later. You kept bringing up Sister, subtly prying into things, remembering my time with Sister to a scary extent…”
As Julia continued speaking, Erin’s lips parted, surprised at how she spoke.
Listening, it naturally drew a picture of the situation Julia was describing. Along with Aiden’s behavior, she instinctively empathized with Julia’s position.
Julia, who had been fervently expressing her sense of injustice and frustration, let out a deep sigh.
“I explained that it wasn’t a misunderstanding, but she didn’t believe me at all.”
“But… why do you have that kind of misunderstanding?”
It was quite clear what the situation was, but one thing didn’t make sense to Erin.
In response to Erin’s question, Julia let out a sigh as if she was exasperated, with a bewildered expression on her face, and said, “Why wouldn’t I? For the same reason as Sister!”
“Ah, I see.”
It immediately made sense to her.
And at the same time, she felt extremely sorry for Julia.
“The reason why I felt jealous of Julia.”
It felt more convincing and certain than anything else.
Still, Erin did have her own reasons for feeling jealous of Julia.
In the original work, the two had loved each other.
When she had misunderstood that Aiden showed interest in Julia, she didn’t really think that he actually had feelings for Julia.
She had been cautious, thinking that it could possibly happen someday.
As someone who knew the original work, she felt she had to prepare for any possible future scenarios.
“But if it weren’t for that, wouldn’t I have refrained from doubting their relationship and feeling jealous?”
Erin no longer had an excuse based on the original story for the hypothesis she had come up with.
If she were to answer that question, she would have to admit that she was not sorry for Julia.
Even if she had known nothing, Erin would have been cautious and jealous of Julia. The mere existence of someone other than herself close to Aiden had troubled her.
“Oh…”
As soon as she learned about the inner workings, Erin couldn’t hide her embarrassment.
A meaningless jealousy had developed between Aiden and Erin, with Julia caught in the middle.
In the midst of all this, it was only Julia who had suffered.
“Julia, I’m sorry…”
Erin forced a strained smile.
“So please, make it clear to Duke that it’s all just a misunderstanding on my part. I’m really struggling here.”
The reason Aiden had shown interest in Julia was all because of Erin.
As Erin and Julia spent more time together, Aiden, feeling a sense of urgency, began to pay attention to Julia.
As a warning to Julia.
“I can’t believe Aiden’s interest in Julia has taken this direction.”
It was a reason she had never imagined.
“This is really a mess.”
While apologizing to Julia, Erin couldn’t completely hide the fact that the muscles in her face were about to collapse.
What to do about Aiden, who would sprint towards Erin without any prejudice?
It was difficult and awkward, she thought, as she tried to suppress the urge to burst into laughter.
