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Chapter 18: Taking advantage
"I don't want you to succumb to sadness and sorrow. I want you to have a new beginning in your life and your desire for revenge to be just a part of your life. I want you to live your life to the fullest from now on. Not just make revenge your life's goal. Maybe even fall in love. I'll be happy to be with you, who are just as pure and beautiful as a white rose."
His words were sincere and full of affection, which broke all her defenses as she hugged him tightly and wailed, letting out her emotions.
*Sniff*
*Sniff*
"I.. *Sniff* miss her. I was so afraid. *Sniff*"
Alicia continued crying as Luis patted her back, gently comforting her.
***
It took a few minutes for her to calm down. By the time she stopped crying, her eyes were all puffy red. Her face was flushed red in embarrassment at what she had done just now.
Trying to recover her dignity a bit. She coughed and said.
"Then I presume you will let me take part in the investigation."
"Yes." Luis nodded.
"I am grateful," Alicia said politely.
Seeing her trying to act all serious, Luis couldn't help but give a small laugh and said teasingly.
"Hehe, I didn't expect the most beautiful and cold girl to turn out to be a crybaby."
Alicia's face flushed red in embarrassment. She snorted and said.
"Didn't you just propose to me a moment ago? How could you call me cold?"
Luis thought back on his words, and indeed, it was a type of proposal. Though he said that in the heat of the moment. But he had no intention of taking back his words.
Seeing him sitting there silently. Alicia was a little annoyed.
"Don't tell me it was all a lie. You even took advantage of me and hugged me."
"What? Who took advantage of you?." Luis tried denying her accusation.
But she didn't stop. "I'll tell my father. I'm sure Uncle and Aunty will do me justice." She tried to act pitifully.
Luis looked at her blankly as he saw the teasing expression on her face.
"Stop teasing me."
Seeing that she was caught. She smiled mischievously. She was a little disappointed as she didn't get to see a flustered expression on his face. "Fine."
Luis smiled slightly and asked. "That means you agree with the engagement."
Alicia's face turned red again as she looked down and nodded.
Luis gave a big smile and offered her his hand. "Shall we go back to the mansion?"
Alicia accepted his hand as they started walking towards the mansion.
Seeing Luis' grinning face, Alicia was a little annoyed.
"I-I only agreed to the engagement. I didn't agree with your proposal yet. You understand?"
"Yes, yes," Luis replied perfunctorily.
'It's the same thing, either way,' he thought, though he had no intention of mentioning it.
Seeing her smile, thinking that she had got a win over him, Luis had only one thought in mind: 'What is this cute creature?'
At that moment, Luis felt like spending his whole life with this sweet and mischievous girl beside him would not be a bad idea.
"By the way,"
Luis turned to Alicia, seeing that she wanted to say something.
"Don't ever compare me to Candytuft." She said with a stern expression.
"Sure," Luis nodded his head sheepishly.
'I'm glad that we had this talk. If not, I don't think I could ever get to see this side of her.'
***
Inside the Mansion, the talk between Ronald and David was already over and they were now waiting for Luis and Alicia to come back.
"What do you think is taking them so long?" Ronald asked while drinking his third cup of Mana tea.
"It's odd," David murmured.
"What's odd?" Lumine asked.
David looked up at the two of them and said, "There's no way Alicia is going to talk much, as she didn't seem interested in Luis, so they should have come by now."
"Yeah, I also think it will be quite awkward for them." Ronald agreed with him.
"I don't think so." Hearing Lumine's words, they were surprised.
"Why?" they both asked simultaneously.
"Because Luis is my son, and he is very kind, I'm sure he will melt Alicia's heart," Lumine explained with a smile of a doting mother.
Ronald and David looked at each other and sighed.
Lumine was a bit annoyed. "You don't believe me?"
"Yeah, yeah, we believe you," Ronald said perfunctorily.
Shaking his head, David said, "There's no way my Alicia would-"
His words stopped with his mouth agape. He rubbed his eyes to check if he was seeing an illusion.
Seeing his unusual reaction, Lumine and Ronald also turned in the direction where David's eyes were looking.
Their eyes also widen in surprise. At the entrance of the mansion, they saw Luis and Alicia coming back together.
Luis was holding Alicia's hand, but more than that, the cold expression on Alicia's face was nowhere to be seen. She was smiling.
'What the hell happened?' They all had the same doubts in their mind.
"Hehe, as expected of my son. He fully inherited my genes." Ronald smirked proudly.
Lumine looked at Ronald and wondered, what if Luis inherited Ronald's narcissism too?
'But still, although I said that everything will be fine. I didn't expect Luis to melt her heart so fast.' Seeing Alicia's smile, she also felt happy.
After Maria's death, she had seen how devastated Alicia was when she went to visit her. It was as if Alicia had built up a protective wall around her to not let anyone approach her. But that wall also worked as a prison for her.
Lumine wanted to help her, but she had no idea what to do. Years went by and Alicia also became cold and distant from everyone.
That was also the reason why she was worried thinking about their engagement. It was, after all, a promise she made to Maria.
But seeing her genuine smile now, she couldn't express how happy she was. 'Maria, I wish you were here.'
"H-How?" David looked at his daughter as if he was seeing her for the first time.
After her mother's death, this was the first time he saw her smiling. His daughter, whom he tried everything to make her smile, was now smiling.
His eyes became moist, but he held himself back from jumping in excitement.
Luis and Alicia didn't seem to notice the changes in their parent's faces.
----------------------
A.N. - Some people might argue about Alicia's situation. But you should know a human heart is unpredictable. Sometimes someone's casual words or even the smallest of actions may affect the whole life of another person.
In her case, the comfort Luis gave was something she needed most. If the same words came out of another person's mouth it wouldn't have such an effect and she wouldn't have listened. It was only possible because Luis himself experienced the assassination attempt which made her listen to his words seriously.
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