So he had to let Dorothea go somehow. So he took out the letters that had been put aside and made an appointment at any time.
He also readily accepted the request for a date with the young ladies.
âMaybe if I meet a lot of women, I might be able to fall in love again, right?â
Dorothea isnât the only woman.
Maybe a woman who can heal his wounds and understand him will come along and fill the hole that Dorothea has left in his life.
But even after meeting a few people, his emptiness only increased.
âI feel sorry for the young ladies I met, but whenever I see other women, I think of Dorothea and compare them.â
All the criteria were Dorothea, so no matter who he met, he couldnât find anyone who met that criteria.
The more he met other women, the more he confirmed his feelings for Dorothea.
Still, he didnât stop meeting the nobles.
It didnât matter if the right person never came along. He can forget the sadness and jealousy that digs into him only when he meets anyone and talks about something worthless.
When he was alone at home, distractions tormented him, and he felt the urge to run to see Dorothea.
âJust like before the return, I was tempted to kill Theon Fried, and I had to kill my beating heart for fear of making the same mistake again.â
The bright side of actively meeting people was nothing more than a mask to hide his darkness.
âis that a good thing? In the eyes of the princess, I seem to be doing well.â
Ethan sighed in front of Dorothea.
Knowing his heart or not, Dorothea smiled awkwardly in front of him.
âI meanâŠIt seems that you are living well, and maybe youâre finding your own way now, so Iâm worried that saying this will be a bad thing for you, but I think Iâll have to do it once, or Iâll regret it if I donâtâŠâ
Dorotheaâs words were longer than usual.
In Ethanâs eyes, Dorothea, who was gibberish and rolled her eyes, which somehow made her look even cuter.
âShe was as adorable as ever.â
Ethan smiled and nodded, not knowing what Dorothea meant by
âI am ready to accept any hurt you give me.â
âI spent my whole life looking at you even though I knew I would get hurt.â
A foolish man could handle everything just by looking at Dorotheaâs face.
Even if she puts a knife to his heart, heâll be happy to laugh.
Ethan smiled quietly as he waited for her next words.
Dorothea clenched a small fist and brought out the desire that had been boiling deep in her chest.
âI think I want to be loved by you.â
Finally, Dorothea closed her eyes and spilled the water.
âAs Theon and Clara said, I have to be honest with myself at least once so I wonât have any regrets. I canât keep these feelings to myself.â
At Dorotheaâs confession, Ethan looked at her with wide-open eyes, frozen on the spot.
When Ethan didnât answer, Dorothea asked.
âAm I still worthy of your love?â
Dorothea raised her head, which had been bowed because she wasnât confident, and made eye contact with Ethan.
And the water that she spilled impulsively came to him as a huge tidal wave.
Soon, her blue eyes became a hot flame and burned his heart. Those eyes cut off Ethanâs last patience.
âItâs all up to you.â
He swallowed Dorotheaâs breath. Dorothea was startled and trembled for a moment, but he craved her red lips as if biting a sweet fruit.
âAm I still worthy of your love? What a foolish question to askâŠâ
He carved deep into her with the tip of his sweet tongue, as if to remind her clearly.
âI have loved you, I will love you, I will love you, even if you donât want me to.â
If she wanted to, he could tell her he loved her so many times until his breath was gone.
He pushed his body heat into her, hotter than she could handle.
Dorothea was sweaty with moisture from Ethanâs hot body.
TL: ecstasy is an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement.
âIâm sure Iâve kissed him before, too, but I was so surprised that I didnât even think about it.â
âWas it so warm and sweet to share body temperature?â
The overwhelming sense of happiness that she realized only later fell into a single drop of salty tears.
A kiss with him was too provocative, and even a light hug was hard to understand, so she couldnât get out of it.
TL: provocative in this sentence means arousing sexual desire or interest, especially on purpose.
Dorothea became addicted to it and buried herself deep in Ethan.
She wanted to be loved for a long time but didnât know how to be loved, and now she is slowly learning how to be loved.
And now she seemed to know that to be loved well, she had to know how to love well.
The nobility of the club, which hosted the music performance, confirmed the extension time.
It was because Dorothea and Ethan didnât return even after the music performance time started.
But people had no complaints about the delay.
Rather, they seemed not interested in the music performance because they were talking about the spirit of light that Dorothea showed.
Attended by both Ethan and Dorothea, who are the No. 1 targets of interest in society, the music wasnât important to this event.
However, Nereus took out his frustration on the servant by asking them to find Dorothea and Ethan.
âWe are already 30 minutes late because of the two of them!â
The servants hurried to find Dorothea and Ethan.
He would normally be hanging out with other nobles gathered in the hall, but now he bit his lips in the preparation area behind the music performance stage.
âDorothea Milanaire, you really know how to deal with spiritsâŠ!â
He clenched his fists as he ducked behind the stage curtain.
âBeing humiliated in front of other nobles, I couldnât even go out into the hall.â
âDid you even want to prove that you are weaker than me, Nereus?â
Dorotheaâs words shattered his pride.
She had beaten him in swordplay and in tests of knowledge before, and she made it clear that she was superior in every way.
Her spirit, which he thought was a trick, was real even when looked at up close.
In this place where there was neither Carnan nor Raymond, only Dorothea manifested her powers, so there was no doubt.
Moreover, it was an overwhelming power that Nereus could not fight.
It is a well-known common knowledge that the Hark royal family has a stronger bond with the spirits than Milanaire.
But why is Dorotheaâs power stronger than theirs? It didnât make sense to Nereus.
âThen why did you hide it until now? You had such a strong power!â
He felt a fever and his head spin at the thought of how ridiculous Dorothea must have thought of him all this time.
âI canât believe youâre playing with people like this.â
âBesides, even that bastard.â
Nereus remembered Ethan, who disappeared with Dorothea.
He has recently turned the social world upside down with his face as a weapon, and it seems that his nose has been raised by people chirping.
It was just a few days ago that Monica, who had been talking about the engagement with him, broke off the engagement.
Although others may not have seen it, Ethan smirked and laughed when he saw Nereus being pushed by Dorothea with the power of a spirit.
A prince of a country canât be treated like that by a bastard who couldnât even appear in episteme.
âAn arrogant bastard I didnât like him from the beginning.â
âWill he come to his senses if he takes one more punch?â
He was hit hard at the Episteme graduation ceremony, but he still didnât know his place.
Nereus thought he had to trample that arrogant bastard once.
Just then, a violin came into his eyes.
The violin case was engraved with Ethanâs name in elegant handwriting.
Nereusâ eyes narrowed for a moment as he read Ethanâs name.
He had heard rumors of Ethanâs playing ability.
Some of those who heard him play were said to be so ecstatic that they would faint.
Even Countess Duncan, who is famous for her picky ears when it comes to music, was said to have praised Ethanâs skills.
They even said that a royal orchestra in a foreign country wanted to invite him to play.
But Nereus laughed at the rumor.
âHe is famous for his looks.â
âThere are so many musicians in Lampas, so how well would he do if he learned the violin alone in Seritian, a distant province?â
âItâs clear that people praise him just because of his face. It would be more accurate to say that heâs a good-looking guy, not a musician.â
Because of that, he was opposed to inviting Ethan to the music performance.
âYou listen to music with your ears, not with your eyes.â
He pitied the aristocrats in the music clubs who wanted to invite Ethan.
It was clear to him that they wanted to see his face, not listen to music.
Besides, if they invite Ethan to the music performance, more people will come to see him, so the music club was hoping for that too.
In the end, Nereus couldnât stop the clubâs nobles from inviting Ethan.
âBut the handsome Ethan Bronte now goes out and doesnât come back, even delaying the concert?â
The nobles were busy conversing among themselves, and the servants had gone to find Dorothea and Ethan.
Confirming that no one was watching him, Nereus carefully opened Ethanâs violin case.
Inside the case lay the violin, which was more carefully cared for than he had expected.
The smooth curve of the violin was so beautiful that he coveted it. In addition, the string was also wearing a silver-covered high-quality string.
âYou have a good eye.â
Itâs funny to show off with expensive equipment when you have nothing.
Ethanâs violin, better than expected, was enough to fuel his irritation.
Nereus took the small knife next to him and cut the E string.
Although it was metallic, the thinnest E string was easily broken with a single stroke of his knife.
After cutting one string, it wasnât difficult to cut the other string.
Nereus smiled as he looked at the broken violin.
âTry playing well without strings.â
Nereus took the spare string from the inside pocket of the case and closed the case in its original state.
He threw all the spare strings into the pond in the garden.