Side Story 3) Goodbye, My First Love
"It's out of business, but is it closed?"
"Yes? Oh..."
Ingrid looked at the man with a slightly blank face.
"The restaurant is closed, but the bar seems to be open."
The man's question made Ingrid come to her senses.
"Oh, yes, that's right. Please sit down."
The man ordered whiskey right away. It was the kind of whiskey that you would find in the upper-class clubhouses of Nowak.
Perhaps a nobleman. Ingrid poured a drink and handed it to him.
"If you need anything more, please let me know."
The man nodded.
The bartender suddenly fell ill, so Ingrid had to serve as well as clean the glasses.
There were also a lot of books that needed to be sorted out today. Even so, her eyes kept flowing to the man who looked like an aristocrat, not to the open book.
He was a handsome man with brown hair and olive eyes. He looked roughly 6 feet tall, and his smooth skin was ruddy and complex. What caught Ingrid's attention more than anything else was the eyes under his long eyelashes, which looked strangely lonely for a man.
The look in his eyes was enough to make Ingrid's heart tremble as she turned forty.
'Oh, even if I were ten years younger...'
Ingrid thought strangely and laughed inwardly.
"Excuse me, may I ask you one question?"
Ingrid raised her head slightly at the sudden question.
"Miss Bern... No, how is Duchess Meyer doing?"
Ingrid almost dropped the glass she was holding. The man smiled softly as if trying to reassure her.
"I have come to know roughly. About Emilia Bern and Duke Meyer, who worked here, about their relationship."
"Oh..."
Ingrid didn't know what to say.
Not many people know the truth yet. They had just gotten married, and the newlywed home, Sitmer, was completely isolated from the outside world.
"I was once a friend of Miss Bern. I have no intention of doing anything harmful or harming her, who is already married. I never came here with bad intentions. Originally, I was going to meet her in person... Duke Meyer prevented her from doing so. I don't understand why she can't meet me like that."
Did the Duke prevent the Duchess from meeting you?
Ingrid hid her embarrassment and said,
"Yes... That's right."
Suddenly, something Mitch said as a joke came to mind.
'Can I tell you a fun fact? There was one more man who was about to leave for the New World with my sister, besides Duke Meyer."
"...Really?"
"Yes, Nathan Malvin, the eldest son of the Count of Grossen, also wanted to leave with my sister. I think he meant just 'let's leave,' and when I think about it, I think it meant to escape love."
'Escape of love'!
It was a story that could only come out of a book. However, in the face of Emilia, which is extremely unreal, it was something that could have happened.
"I don't really like aristocrats, but Nathan Malvin was different. I read a letter he wrote to my sister. In some cases, you can tell a person's personality just by looking at the text, right? In my opinion, Nathan Malvin was a pretty good guy. He's good enough to leave my sister in charge."
Mitch's face was full of regret as he said that. If he were an aristocrat, he was a chiId who would be a ginger, so Ingrid wondered how good he would have been to say such a thing.
Reflecting on her memories of that time, Ingrid looked carefully at the man in front of her.
Isn't that man Nathan Malvin?
"Is it true that she is pregnant?"
"Yes?"
Ingrid asked again, stupidly.
"Duke Meyer did. His own child is growing in Emilia's belly. Of course, regardless of that, he said that he had already planned to marry her for a long time and politely asked her to go back."
"Oh..."
"When will a child be born?"
"Uh... That's.."
Ingrid was at a loss. In her mind, her imagination kept unfolding.
Emilia Bern, a beautiful commoner lady, and Nathan Malvin, who tried to make a love escape to the New World with her.
Isn't there still jealousy and wounds about that in the Duke's heart?
Of course, Ingrid was on the Duke's side. He was a person who gave too much to someone like her, who had nothing to do with him, just because she hid his woman well.
Ingrid stared straight at the man in front of her, scattering her complicated thoughts.
"I think she'll probably give birth within this month. They both really want their babies to be born healthy and well."
The man nodded silently. The look in his eyes, staring into the air, looked so lonely that she felt a bit sad.
"Rumor has it that the Duke and his wife will appear in the social circle soon. Is that correct?"
Ingrid was momentarily taken aback.
"Oh, no. I don't think so."
The man looked at Ingrid curiously.
"The two will soon leave for the New World. I think they will live for about five years and then come back. Of course, the baby will be born soon."
His olive-colored eyes darkened with a single shock.
"The New World?"
"...Yes."
The man's expression darkened and faded into the abyss. Ingrid felt like her heart was getting heavier.
The man was completely speechless after that. Ingrid was overwhelmed by the eerie feeling, and she slipped back without realizing it. She picked up a dishcloth and pretended to wipe her glass diligently, but all her attention was on the man.
"..."
The man stood up without warning when the long hands of the clock had turned half a turn.
"It must have been a difficult question to answer, but thank you for taking it."
He put the price of the drink on the bar and took the gloves he had taken off. Ingrid greeted him and escorted him to the door.
It was raining outside. Just as Ingrid was about to say that she would bring an umbrella, an attendant from the carriage on the other side appeared with an umbrella as if he had been waiting for him.
The man who was about to open the door suddenly stopped.
"Emilia..."
The afterword did not continue. She could feel all kinds of complicated feelings from the man who hesitated while holding the open door. Ingrid couldn't do this or that, but only rubbed the empty back of her neck.
"No, I don't."
The man opened the door wide. For a brief moment, it seemed that the resignation and regret swirling in his heart were clearly visible.
"Then..."
The man bowed lightly and walked slowly under the umbrella hung by his attendant.
Ingrid couldn't say anything. Her heart was beating strangely.
On the street where he had disappeared, only cold raindrops were dripping.
Nathan walked. He bit the attendant who offered to put an umbrella on him and walked as far as he could.
Why the hell did he come here?
He tried so hard not to look for her, but he really gritted his teeth and endured it...
In the end, it turned around and turned to her again.
He's already late. It was a relationship that could not be reached or touched, or even a relationship that was ridiculously called a relationship.
But love.
Love sickness...
Her father was furious, and people laughed.
Nathan couldn't believe himself, because he had that ridiculous illness and couldn't recover easily. He had completely abandoned food and drink, he was lethargic all day, and the whole world seemed to be a gloomy gray
For Nathan, dignity and face were Important. Being swept away by emotions was something that people would do without learning from foolishness.
It was a gentleman's principle to respect and care for women, but he had no desire to fall in love with women and take away the initiative in his life and be swept away.
For Nathan, a woman was supposed to be a sweet and romantic pleasure, nothing more, nothing less.
However, it was an extremely arrogant and foolish idea.
Emilia.
The woman was out of control. It was a being that could not dare to resist, as if it were in the middle of a swirling ocean.
That was also love. Even though the other person didn't know or even express it, it burned irrevocably by itself, and that strange thing was love.
"Ha..."
Nathan stopped in the middle of a rainy street.
If only I could turn back time.
If only I could go back to the moment I first met you...
I will not make all kinds of excuses and be indecisive in front of you.
When I found you with wide eyes next to Haspel, when I couldn't take my eyes off your mysteriously colored hair...
No, it is not.
The first time I met your cold eyes, I must have somehow broken the boundaries I had set. I fell in love at first sight while honestly confessing.
Nathan twisted the corner of his mouth and smiled bitterly.
He was a loser and a coward. While he was weighing her status and her own face, and making calculations such and such as, Hardius Meyer abandoned everything he had and destroyed them to get her.
'Emilia had my child.'
As Hardius said that, Nathan felt his weak hope completely shattered in front of Meyer's eyes, as if he didn't dare to put it in his mouth.
He wanted to shout at him not to lie, that it couldn't be, and to confirm it with his own eyes. However, he had to turn around without saying a word.
What a ridiculous and irrational obsession this is!
He didn't have any memories of her, nor did he spend a lot of time together.
She never gave her heart for a moment, and he never expressed himself in these hot things that boiled like lava.
What should I call it?
Unrequited love that is not funny, no, a terrible love for one.
"Emilia."
Nathan called her name. The white breath scattered in the air. It's so easy that it's sad, and it's too fast to be futile...
Goodbye, Emilia.
Now I really want to throw you out of my heart.
Goodbye...
My unrequited love, my tired first love.
Poor Nathan 😢😢😢
Previous Next
Comments
Post a Comment