101st Confession

It’s a beautiful day, with blue skies, a few clouds, and the sun shining brightly.

 

A man and a woman stood in an off-the-beaten path corner of a sprawling mansion.

 

A man taller than most, with jet-black hair like silk, and eyes blacker than blood.

 

A man with the kind of swagger that would make a passerby’s eyes glaze over, stood stiffly against the wall of the building, looking down at the woman in front of him.

 

In front of the man, who seemed to have a chill in his step, stood a petite woman, fidgeting with her hands.

 

She was quite beautiful, though not as dazzling as the man in front of her.
She was a cute woman with hair as dark as a tree and eyes as blue as a sunny sky.

 

She flushed red, squeezed her eyes shut, and summoned all the courage she could muster for the man in front of her.

 

“Herwin, I like you, you should go out with me!”

 

“Decline.”

 

Without a second’s hesitation, the man called Herwin rejected the woman’s confession.

 

Herwin let out a breath of annoyance and swept his hand up through his hair.

 

“Lucia, how many times have you done this, don’t you ever get tired of it?”

 

His tone was friendly, despite his refusal of the confession.

 

Lucia opened her eyes slowly, unable to hide her flushed cheeks.

 

“Hmm… 98th.”

 

“You’re the one who never gives up, even when you know my answer is always the same.”

 

Herwin shook his head as if he was sick of the situation.

 

In what could have been a very embarrassing situation, all Lucia could do was giggle like an idiot.

 

Looking at her, Herwin sighed again and shifted his back against the wall.

 

“You would have given up at this point, but you like me so much, even though I don’t accept your confession?”

 

Lucia was silent for a moment, then her eyes widened.

 

“Yes, I would love for you to accept my confession, but if that’s not possible, this is the least I can do to let you know how I feel.
At least I’m not doing it in public, right?”

 

“Ugh, just make a public confession like you did on your 16th birthday.
Then I won’t see you for a month.”

 

“You can’t do that!”

 

In response to Herwin’s lighthearted comment, Lucia spoke firmly in a playful tone.

 

“I’m just doing it because I love it, so don’t feel pressured.”

 

For a 21-year-old adult, her words were pure.

 

It seemed so overwhelming that Herwin frowned.

 

“……Lucia Agnes.
I like Arista.”

 

“……….”

 

Herwin boldly spoke the name of the woman he had in mind.
Even as he spoke, he watched Lucia’s eyes to see if she was bothered.

 

A sadness flashed through Lucia’s blue walls.

 

“……I know that.”

 

“Hah…….”

 

Herwin took a deep breath to clear his throat and glanced at Lucia.

 

“Let’s go.
The kids will get the wrong idea if we stay here.”

 

“I don’t want to get you in trouble, let’s go!”

 

Lucia was back to her usual bubbly self and had her usual beaming smile.

 

Relieved to see that, Herwin followed Lucia, who was ahead of him.

 

The woman who confessed and got dumped, and the man who got confessed to and dumped it without a second thought.

 

The bizarre atmosphere dissipated as the two of them left the room.

 

When they were gone, only dark shadows remained in the space.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Uh, here he comes.”

 

“You’re here, I haven’t seen you in a while and was going to look for you.”

 

“What, what, are you two having a little secret society?”

 

At a social gathering of men and women who knew each other, the disappearance of Herwin and Lucia led to a series of jokes.

 

Herwin frowned, nudging Ethan, who was poking him in the side, with an annoying hand.

 

“It’s not like that, so don’t say anything weird.”

 

“No, I wouldn’t, you weren’t with any other girl, you were with ‘Lucia’, ‘Lucia’!”

 

Ethan waggled his eyebrows up and down with a knowing smirk.

 

“How many years has she had a crush on you and isn’t it time you let it go?”

 

Ethan nudged Herwin once more.

 

Then Herwin stared down at Ethan, his red eyes narrowing.

 

Ethan, who was now the legitimate recipient of a murderous glare, made a dumbfounded face and broke out in a cold sweat.

 

Shut the fuck up.

 

The red eyes seemed to say so.

 

Ethan’s tail curled, knowing exactly what he meant even though he hadn’t said it out loud.

 

“Ethan’s not wrong.
It’s no secret that Lucia likes you.”

 

This time, Brian, who had been quietly sipping his tea, spoke up.

 

He swept his long hair back, and the maids nearby melted.

 

Brian, who was annoying in a different sense than Ethan, began to scratch his head.

 

“You, shut the hell up.”

 

Herwin warned through gritted teeth, but Brian only shrugged nonchalantly, not backing away as Ethan had.

 

He was impressed with Brian’s ability to slip out of his gr