LUCIA

Chapter 27 Disagreement

So what?'

Lucia expected him to reply in that manner.

Or say 'What do you want me to do?', 'Wasn't that the case from the beginning?'

She expected him to have a cold expression and answer in an unfeeling manner. She worried frantically about whether she could return an answer that was even colder than his reply would be.

Truthfully, she did not want to hurt him. She initially thought that was really how she felt but she realized that she truly did not want to see him in pain.

Lucia's heart sank as she watched a moment of inexplicable despair appear on his face. She watched as the steel-like man in front of her expressed his pain in such a way.

He struggled to breath like a fatally wounded animal then he slowly closed his eyes and reopened them.

Her heart desired to reach out to him and comfort him but her body was frozen at the sight of him. She couldn't wrap her mind around it as his hands that were holding her trembled slightly.

She couldn't make herself move or say anything and it stayed like this for a short while.

He laughed bitterly then paused and in a moment, everything disappeared like a mirage and his expression returned to its usual somewhat deadpan state.

The momentary glimpse of his emotional state before it disappeared was like an illusion, making her feel both confused and frustrated.

It made her feel as though she was trampling a soft cake.

"...Right. You already see the end."

His voice was much calmer than it was cold.

'He...'

Lucia felt like she had truly seen him for a short moment.

His usually cold expression and tone was an armor. His coldness was not because he didn't feel anything but to hide himself so he wasn't exposed.

"Just then..."

"What?"

Lucia wondered if it was possible to have dreamt it for a while. Even though she saw it, she couldn't believe it. Looking at his current expression, it was as if she was truly mistaken.

When she continued to silently stare at him, Hugo opened his mouth and spoke.

"I see. It was finished from the start. This is what you meant when you asked me to send you a rose, right?"

When he mentioned a rose, Lucia's blood ran cold and she returned to reality, taking a moment to scold herself.

She was currently at a significant crossroad with him. What started as grumblings had at some point become something that was too late to turn back from.

"Yes... you are right."

She didn't want to cling to an invisible ending so she asked him to wake her up with a rose.

She felt that if he announced their ending with a rose, even if she had lost her senses for a while, the shock would bring it back.

"If you received a rose from me, what were you planning on doing?" (Hugo)

Thinking that he was likely sounding her out, Lucia's heart cooled down. She quickly took control of her indecisive heart.

"That... I haven't planned on doing anything. As you said, that would be the end. There is nothing after the end."

"There...is nothing."

He quietly repeated her words then he spoke again.

"Is that condition unbreakable?"