Chapter 433: Unrequited Love
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
âEnjoy.â The maid placed some wine on the table and gave the three people a strange glance. âIf you need a refill, just pull the rope near the door.â
âGot it. Youâre excused.â Otto waved his hand, and the maid bowed and left. When the door closed, the ruckus in the lobby was blocked out, and the room immediately fell silent.
Even now, his heart was still racing, and he stared intensely at Andrea, as if he was afraid she would suddenly disappear. âI thought this was a dream. Belinda and Oro both think youâre dead, and I never thought Iâd see you againâŠâ
Ottoâs loud outburst in the market caused Andrea to stare at him; since she responded to this name, this meant that she wasnât just a lookalike.
In fact, she couldnât be anyone else, since Andreaâs outstanding beauty and air of elegance were unparalleled among other girls.
However, she wasnât as excited to see him as he had expected, and instead, she frowned, walked up to him, and sternly ordered him to follow her as she exited the market.
âShe probably didnât want to cause a scene. Yes, thatâs right, the noble shouldnât draw attention to themselves when among commoners. I was being rude.â
He followed the two people into a private room in a pub and finally got a chance to take a closer look at Andrea. Even after five years, she still looked the same as he remembered. If this was a dream, he hoped that it would last a little longer.
âThis is your ex-lover?â The dark-haired girl whistled in awe.
âSince you insisted on coming, you should know when to keep your mouth shut,â Andrea said with a glare. âEven if you stay quiet, no one will think youâre mute.â
âI came to protect you,â said the other girl with a grin. âBesides, you dragged me here to buy Tilly a birthday present, so kicking me out now would be an improper behavior for a noblewoman.â
âThat depends on who the behavior is directed to.â Andrea scoffed. âI donât have to be proper towards you.â
âThis is âŠâ Otto didnât get a response from Andrea and felt a little awkward, so he turned to the equally stunning dark-haired girl. â⊠your friend?â
âAshes,â she said quickly before Andrea could respond. âWho are you, and why do you know her?â
âIâm Otto Luoxi, and I come from the Kingdom of Dawn.â He was slightly taken aback by her interrogating toneâthis Ashes girl spoke too bluntly and incisively to be an educated noblewoman, so why was Andrea in her company? âIâve known Andrea since we were children, along with my sister Belinda, Oro Tokat, and the eldest son of the King of Dawn, His Highness Appen. We were all extremely close.â
âSounds like a bunch of rich brats.â Ashes shrugged. âYou said she died?â
âThatâs becauseâŠâ
âThatâs enough.â Andrea interrupted. âBelinda and Oro are rightâthe lady of the Quinn Family whom you knew is dead.â
âBut youâre right here.â Otto shook his head. âWhat happened?â
Besides the royal family, the most powerful families in the City of Glow, the capital of the Kingdom of Dawn, were the Tokat, Quinn and Luoxi families, because their heads were the Kingâs trusted friends and held high positions. This tradition had been passed down since the founding of the Kingdom of Dawn and remained the same for Ottoâs generation.
Andrea was the eldest daughter of the Quinn family and was outstanding in her appearance and background, so she naturally had many suitors, including Otto and Oro.
However, no one expected that during a spring outing, Andreaâs carriage would go out of control and fall into a canyon, an accident that even startled the king. The three families combined their efforts to search for her, and ages later, they found her battered body at the foot of the mountains.
After hearing about this, Otto was depressed for a long time, because while Oro had already begun pursuing Andrea, he had not yet expressed his feelings to her. He never thought he would get the chance to do it, and he would never have expected to see her again in this foreign land.
After a long pause, Andrea sighed. âIt wasnât an accident.
âThe carriage accident five years ago was all planned by my family,â she whispered. âFather found out that I was a witch.â
Otto was startled. âA witch?â
âSeems like you did a pretty good job of hiding your powers,â Ashes said, covering her mouth, 'since you were even able to fool your childhood friends.â
Andrea ignored her. âYes. After father learned this, he immediately arranged for the accident to be stagedâI wasnât even in the carriage, and a driver and maid lost their lives for me. Then, I was sent away from the Kingdom of Dawn and settled secretly in Palisade City of the Kingdom of Graycastle.â She paused. âHe never actually asked for my opinion on the matter and didnât care what I thought because he was only focused on getting rid of me as quickly as possible.â
âSo thatâs what happenedâŠâ Otto fell silent. âThe beloved âFlower of Glowâ is actually a witch. If word of this gets out, itâll greatly damage the Quinn Family name.â However, the staged accident also protected Andrea from harmâas a member of the upper noble, he had heard many tragic stories about the sufferings of witches who fell into the hands of the church.
After some hesitation, he shared his thoughts with Andrea, but she interrupted him with a cold chuckle.
âProtect? As long as father didnât give me up, what could the church have done? Sent the Judgement Army straight into the inner city to arrest me?â She raised her voice. âHe was Prime Minister to the King of Dawn and controlled the outer cityâs surveillance teams, but he didnât do anything to help me. Nanaâs father was only a Baron, but for the sake of his daughter, he went straight to the Lordâs castle and demanded mercy from His Highness Roland, while my father simply banished me from my home. Do you call that protecting me?â
Otto was at a loss for words, and after a long and awkward silence, he finally said hesitantly, âAre⊠are you going back?â
âNever.â Andrea stood up. âI already said that the lady of the Quinn family died five years ago, which was exactly what father wanted.â
âOro still leaves flowers at your grave every year. He canât forget you.â
She walked up to the door and whispered, âHis love is one-sided, so heâll forget me one day.â
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As Otto watched the two people disappear from view, he lay helplessly on his chair.
He was beginning to hate his cowardice.
Even at that moment, he still only mentioned Oro instead of expressing his own feelings.
I canât forget you either.