Chapter 24 – Flashback
The first time she saw the light of day in her life, all she saw was 3 people.
Father, mother, and even the midwife who helped give birth.
In fact, it would be more appropriate to say that I heard it than to say I saw it.
A newborn baby won’t be able to remember the surroundings.
Being from a merchant family, I grew up without any shortcomings
Maybe it was because of the minimum responsibility as a parent,
I couldn’t grow up enjoying luxury beyond my needs.
Merchant families usually produce one or two heirs, but
Torre had a lot of brothers and sisters.
I had three siblings with a slight age gap who had already become adults.
Just as she was slowly becoming aware of what was going on around her, her little brother was born.
Her older brother, sister, sister, and younger brother.
Due to the large age difference between the top and bottom, she was always alone.
It would be the right expression to say that I am psychologically alone.
There were no children of the same age.
The Thorlern family had only two policies.
Either engage in the business of the upper house or be sold into a moderately arranged marriage.
Although he was a merchant, he also received a title that could be a problem with his own way of life and skill,
It was quite famous in the industry.
Of course, in front of real nobles, it was still the same.
His older brother and older sister worked upper-class jobs.
Even if he wasn’t appointed as a successor, it wasn’t to the point of being ostracized from the upper ranks.
Still, there was no one who did not know that it would be better to succeed the family head.
So the two always competed for a spot.
The second sister had an arranged marriage.
Sometimes when she came home, she would complain to herself about the marriage she didn’t want.
Heina Thorlern was a heretic in that respect.
She hated working at the top and living as someone’s wife.
If the former was a little bit of selfishness that there are many people besides me who can do it.
The latter was an outright distaste.
The idea was not radical, but I couldn’t help but wonder about marriage without love.
It was her idea when she was 14 years old.
###
“Hey.”
“My father is looking for you.”
It was his brother’s words.
At 15 years old of her own age, it would be the time of her choice, which she had probably heard from her older sister.
When I visited my father’s office, a topic prepared in advance appeared as if I had been waiting.
“Your age is 15 now.”
“You’re old enough to choose your own path, just like your brothers and sisters did.
Please think about it.”
The deadline given to her was three months.
She never really thought about what she would do.
It was purely by chance that she decided to go to the academy.
I didn’t mean to go here
For some reason, I felt like I could buy some time there.
So she said she would go to the academy.
The response was doubt and concern.
The doubt was probably due to the presentation of an unexpected option.
It must have been because they were aware of the academy’s reputation.
The answer that came back was if you could go.
From that day on, her entire day was only preparing for the entrance exam.
It was full of things I didn’t understand at first.
I memorized something that didn’t work.
The result of pouring in like that for nearly two years was passing.
Maybe I was lucky?
She herself thought so too.
Others failed even after preparing for several years.
She seemed right to think she was lucky.
Several notices were brought home, one of which was an introduction to the dormitory.
It was her first time leaving her hometown to go to the islands, but
In fact, she wasn’t particularly impressed.
Because she didn’t really want to go in the first place.
On the first day, there was a student named Edward Weiss in the same class.
###
Heina’s first impression of Edward was that he looked like he was only studying.
In fact, I wouldn’t have received that impression if it wasn’t for a group like the group assignment.
In that group were Edward Weiss, William Augustin-Louis-Cauchy and Heina Torlern.
It wasn’t long before they heard why the three of them were hanging out together.
All three were characters who were not interested in such rumors.
Edward Weiss, who devoted his life to studying.
William was the heir to a famous aristocratic family, but no one knew why he entered the academy.
And Heina Thorlern, who came for the purpose of escaping rather than studying.
I would have done it if I had been with people like me.
As people with completely different circumstances went around, the rumors gradually amplified.
Only they knew why they were together.
How did Heina become interested in Edward?
Ironically, it was because Ed was not giving her any attention.
He lived in her own world to such an extent that she wondered if there was anyone who was indifferent to others.
After a while.
Due to Bill’s suspiciously good affinity, the three of them could say hello now, but
Still, we didn’t know each other’s circumstances.
Edward, it was a time when I couldn’t afford to see anything else.
Bill would have been polite
Hey, I was just getting used to her academy life.
Today, as always, the moment I was eating something at the cafeteria being led by Bill’s hand.
Heina, curious for some reason, asked Ed.
“Why are you studying?”
It was Ed in those days who rarely showed her emotions, but she gave her answer back to her with a bitter smile on her part that day.
“Is there a reason…I’m just doing it.”
If I said it specifically, I would have missed it.
That ambiguity attracted her attention.
She seemed to be a different kind of person, even though she was like him.
So I decided to watch.
She had a really blunt impression, but when she was doing group assignments or preparing for exams,
There was an intellectual attraction.
Later, when it was time to tell each other’s story, he was happy to help her study for the exam.
Coming from a merchant family, it was not well understood.
What she saw was mostly give and take with a clear price.
Two years passed like that, and it was time for a crossroads in front of the academy students.
There must be people who have reached the end here, and there were people who wanted to go to college.
Ed was going to school.
If she was the same as before, she should have gone back like Bill, but
Somehow she didn’t want to. She wanted to watch this guy a little longer.
Surprised that she had such feelings, she decided to bury the marriage conversation that had been caught without a doctor as an excuse.
However, feelings once formed do not disappear easily.
Sometimes he helps with his studies and he finds himself unable to concentrate.
There were many stories, but his help and her efforts eventually resulted in going to both schools.
She was the one who was happy, but she didn’t know why she was feeling that way.
Do you have friends even in college?
To see more of Ed?
Her truth would only be known to her, but she was probably the latter of hers.
###
After entering college, it was not three, but two.
It was because there was no friend, Bill, who passed away due to circumstances.
It is often said that men and women cannot be friends, but Bill was not.
His easy-going personality for an aristocrat was like that, and as a result he already had a fiancé.
She heard that her fiancé was holding on tight to him… It was a story between the two, so she couldn’t believe it.
The place they are in has changed from an academy to a university, but the way they live hasn’t changed too much.
Is it the amount of alcohol added?
When I had time, I ate and drank at the end of the week.
It may not have seemed romantic, but she enjoyed it too.
Just being with Ed made her laugh no matter what.
Then, at some point when they were in their third year, Edward disappeared.
She was very embarrassed.
As for his whereabouts, he disappeared without telling anyone, and no one related to him knew.
I wondered if the professor would know, so I secretly asked his professor, Professor Rosalyn Erennis, but
She didn’t talk
I know, but it didn’t really matter if I didn’t say it out of respect for privacy or if I really didn’t know.
He thought it was something he couldn’t even tell himself, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit of sadness in his heart.
She was confused
Her unaware emotions shook her and her shaken emotions started to create all kinds of emotions in her.
Anxiety, anxiety, regret, fear.
But the most important emotion was yet to be realized.
Her wedding talk, which came like her annual event, forced her to make her choice.
Should I wait for him and ask him? Or go home
She chose the former.
There was some opposition in my family, but I passed the master’s course at the end of two years.
Instead, under the condition that there will be no after that.
The day she chose to wait for him, she became aware of her own feelings.
He wanted to see
He’s asking him how he is? That didn’t matter too much.
I just wished I could see him again.
No, he missed.
When she recalled what had happened with him, behind his sullen demeanor, there was always the consideration he had for herself.
Even if it didn’t happen, it didn’t matter.
She said that someday she would go back to her family and marry someone of her own, but now was important to her.
She just wanted to show her own heart in front of him.
I wanted to let you know that my heart toward you is love.
On that day, Heina Thorlern’s first love began.
