For Your Failed Unrequited Love

Rosé then described the appearance of her uncle so Lucy could easily find him.

“He’s tall, skinny and has mottled blonde hair. He might be smoking on the terrace because he’s done talking by now.”

Then Rosé pushed Lucy on the back.

“Don’t be nervous and do well. I have to finish this interview, so I can’t come with you.”

Then she waved her hand as if to ask her to go. Lucy was deeply grateful to her.

“Thank you, Rosé.”

“This is nothing.”

She shrugged her shoulders as if it was nothing, and then turned back to the reporter.

Lucy left the banquet hall to go up to the second floor as Rosé told her. Unlike the banquet hall that’s full of guests, the central hall was quiet. Some people were just hanging around the door to get some fresh air.

Lucy headed for the central staircase. With every step she took, the marble floor rang under her shoes. The sound made her even more nervous for some reason. As she climbed the stairs, a long corridor appeared. Most of the guests didn’t come up to this floor, but every window had a soft light.

There was a faint chuckle nearby. A lover who sneaked out of the banquet hall was enjoying a secret meeting on the nearest terrace. Lucy turned her head hurriedly. She walked down the hall looking for Wayne Millard and looked at the other terrace. However, no slim man was seen smoking.

There was one thing that caught Lucy’s eyes as she was sneaking down the hallway. It was a big door at the end of the hallway. Looking at the size and splendid sculptures that are far larger than other doors, it seemed like it’s not a normal room.

Forgetting for a moment to find Wayne Millard, Lucy slowly approached the big, overbearing-looking door.

Up close, the door was more magnificent and gorgeous. Lucy peeked inside through a crack in the slightly open door. She saw desks, chairs, and bookshelves made of high-quality wood. It looked like a study.

Lucy, who then found a candle lighting on the desk, faltered back. For some reason, she felt like she shouldn’t wander around here. It was then that Lucy turned around at the door and ran into a woman standing tall.

“Ugh!”

Surprised, Lucy shrieked and reeled back. Holding her center, she looked up at the woman in front in surprise.

The tall woman, as if her head could reach the ceiling, was looking down at Lucy without a movement. Seconds later, Lucy’s heart calmed down

“That surprised me.”

It wasn’t a real person; it was a picture.

Lucy looked up at the picture. In a frame the size of a window, a woman with mossy green hair stretched to the floor held an emerald as big as a fist in her hand. From the light of the hallway, the woman and the emerald shone softly.

Lucy approached the painting.

The woman looked really alive and seemed to be staring at Lucy.

… This is the painting.

The emerald in the picture that young Felix was talking about comparing her eyes, was right in front of her. In reality, it was bright, mysterious, and beautiful.

It was an uncommon green. It was a mysterious color that made her wonder, “Where did they find that color?”

“It’s beautiful….”

Lucy fell in love with the painting. She felt as if the witch would reach out and gently sweep her cheek. While looking into the painting carefully, a cool wind of autumn night blew from the terrace next to the painting. The silk curtains, which stretched from the ceiling to the floor, moved slowly. Then, the silhouette of someone beyond it slowly emerged.

It was a man. Tall and slender, he stood in front of the railing and looked at the vast open garden. White cigarette smoke scattered high in the sky over his head. Lucy realized that she was about to interrupt someone’s time and tried to leave quietly, but soon stopped walking when she saw the color of the man’s hair.

He’s tall, thin, mottled blonde.

Recalling the appearance of Wayne Millard that Rose explained, Lucy looked at the man’s head once more. The man’s hair, which was slightly revealed in the dark, was also golden.

Is it him?

Lucy walked quietly up to the terrace. She looked more carefully at the man’s back, with only one silky curtain in between.

The body shape and hair color matched what Rosé described.

Maybe he is Wayne Millard.

Lucy breathed in slowly and exhaled again. The tension shook her body a little, but she got her mind together once again.

Tonight, I must get a sponsor before I go back.

Determined, she tore through the curtains and entered the terrace. The terrace was enveloped in darkness because the moon was covered by clouds. The man stood gray in it, barely catching the dim light of the hallway.

Lucy squinted and tried to get a better look at the man.

Blonde and slender body. Terrace. Cigarette.

All the descriptions fit.

Lucy walked quietly up to the man. He didn’t even budge whether he didn’t feel the presence or didn’t care much.

“Hello.”

Lucy greeted quietly. But the man didn’t look back.

Was my voice too low?

After swallowing her saliva, Lucy greeted her in a slightly louder voice this time.

“Hello.”

Her clear voice echoed through the terrace. It was certainly a voice that could be heard. And yet, the man just stood still, unresponsive. Soon the cigarette smoke that was rising into the night sky stopped. The man turned slowly.

The man’s face was dimly revealed in the dark of the terrace. His eyes, nose, and mouth were hard to see, but only his parched face and protruding cheekbones could be vaguely identified.

The man who looked back stood still without answering. His appearance was somehow spooky, but Lucy plucked up her courage and greeted him.

“Hello, I’m Lucy Keenan from the Xenomium Academy. ……Excuse me, are you Wayne Millard?”

After Lucy asked the question, silence filled the terrace. The man didn’t answer. He stood like a statue and stared at Lucy.

“Well….”

Lucy stood awkwardly and took a step back. Apparently, this man wasn’t the man he was looking for.

“I’m sorry, I mistook you.”

She bowed her head and tried to leave the terrace.

“What’s going on?”

Then, the man’s heavy voice held her feet. Lucy turned around again.

“Are you a student at the academy?”

The man muttered one more time.

Is it this person?

Lucy, with a puzzled face, took out an application for sponsorship from her bag.

“Well, as you may have heard from Rosé, I’m looking for a sponsor to fund my tuition at the Xenomium Academy.”

Lucy hesitated but moved a little closer to the man. She slowly held out the paper she was holding to the man.

The man stared down at the paper and held out his white hand to accept it. Unexpectedly, the man stood upright and began to look carefully at the paper. Lucy, who gained courage thanks to that, added.

“These are the applications for sponsorship and the results I’ve received at the academy. The grades from the entrance exam to the final exam last semester are all listed. If you read it carefully…….”

Just then, the moon hiding behind the clouds slowly stuck out its head. The terrace, which was submerged in the dark, slowly emerged.

At the same time, the man standing tall in front of Lucy was clearly seen. Lucy’s eyes first turn to his hair. This is because it was shining unrealistically bright under the moonlight.

Didn’t she say it was a mottled blonde….

Rosé certainly explained so. But the man’s blonde hair standing in front of her was far from spotty. It was a beautiful blonde, like a gold thread pulled out, free of a single strand of impurities

And it was also a blonde that Lucy was very familiar with.

The man exposed in the moonlight took his eyes off the sponsorship application and stared down at Lucy.

He was like the skeleton of a man. His protruding cheekbones looked more prominent because the bottom of his eyes was completely dark. His cheeks were dug deep as if he had no flesh, and his face was as pale as a vampire.

That’s why the two eyes looking at Lucy felt more eerie and sharp.

He seemed to bear no resemblance to Rosé. Even Rosé, who does not know how to be humble and likes to show off, was basically a person with compassion.

But this man’s eyes were different. She felt the inherent arrogance and self-righteousness as if he wanted all people under his feet from his fiercely open eyes as if he could see through people and tightly closed lips.

“Well….”

A thin voice came out of Lucy’s mouth.

“Are you Wayne Millard…?”

Even though she had an ominous hunch that she had come to the wrong person she had no choice but to ask.

“I’d like to apply to Mr. Wayne Millard for sponsorship…….”

Lucy couldn’t continue her words properly after looking at the eyes of the man who was like a corpse. She recoiled without realizing it. She has never met anyone who breathes out such cold energy.

Hearing another movement behind her, Lucy looked back.

There stood a man with the same blond hair as the man standing in front of her, breathing heavily.

It was Felix.