Chapter 30

꒦︶꒷‧₊★₊‧꒷︶꒷‧₊ଓ₊‧꒷︶꒷‧₊★₊‧꒷︶꒦

·  · ୨୧ ·  ·

(Hidea’s POV)

“It’s so funny for him to ask permission just for us to meet.”

I smirked.

‘There must be a hidden camera that I wasn’t aware of?’

‘If not, then why is he doing this?’

‘And why did he buy the mansion from my father?’

‘In the end, it was the same as saying that he could visit the Hillington residence at any time for Rosé.’

However, Gabriel acted like a stranger towards me.

‘Only when he really wants to visit me.’

I heard from Rosé that they often met casually. ‘If he’s not teasing me, then why is he doing this?’

‘I’m a Hillington too, right?’

I don’t know why I’m feeling this way, but whenever I think about Gabriel, I remember the letters he sent. My back would strangely stiffen and my anxious heart would pound more than usual. 

This all started the day he rescued me, when I was almost hit by a horse.

‘No. No.’

I bit my lip unconsciously. ‘Actually, I know. Not from that time, but from the moment we started exchanging letters…’

‘No. It must be the aftermath from having an intimate relationship with an imaginary fictional character!’ 

(T/N: Haha and everything went down the drain.)

I stood up.

“Okay. Let’s get out of here. It’s all because I’m lazing around.”

Since I couldn’t exercise today, and there is still enough time until the appointment, I’m thinking about taking a walk for a bit to relieve my stuffy stomach. 

And then.

‘Regarding Gabriel, I’ll worry about it later.’

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Hildea’s POV)

“…It was this tree.”

I stood in front of a tall tree and slowly raised my head.

Perhaps because there’s no one else around me, the corners of my lips immediately relax and something similar to a laughter comes out from my lips. 

‘This is the exact location where I almost killed Gabriel, right here.’

‘It wasn’t a beautiful memory, but that boy was worried about me. And he kept asking if I was okay and if I was hurt.’

‘It was probably the first kindness that I had ever received from Gabriel.’

I gently stroked the tree with my hand.

“You have grown a lot too.”

Maybe because I always stop by the garden whenever I have spare time and experiment with my ability, this tree has become much larger and denser than before.

“…Shall I go? Since It’s been a long time?”

Just then, a sudden impulse took over my head. 

It’s not my usual thing. If I go up now, I know that I won’t make the same mistake as before when I fell down.

For some unknown reason, I really feel like climbing up again.

“I know that it’s a crazy idea.”

‘But how come I feel like climbing on the top of this tree, and it makes me feel like everything will be fine while I’m climbing?’

“It’s like If I go up this tree, I think everything will turn out well in the future.”

I looked around.

Since there are a lot of scheduled activities, all but a few people were left at the mansion, and Father and Rosé are not home as well.

‘That’s why I found Gabriel’s request for a visit quite strange.’

In any case, I clenched my fists. Since I’m wearing an indoor dress, it’ll be easy for me to move around. And if I lift it up a bit, I’ll be able to move comfortably.

“Let’s do it.”

I carefully take off my shoes and start climbing the tree.

If I only knew what was about to happen to me in a bit, I wouldn’t have climbed it. 

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Hildea’s POV)

“Wow, this is really cool.”

‘Climbing trees is definitely cool.’ While I was going up barefoot, the scenery made me feel like a great explorer. 

And for a moment, a brief memory came to me.

In my past life, when I was diagnosed with a limited amount of time to live, I climbed to a high place as well. 

And then…

‘Wait, what was I thinking?’

“Ugh!”

I clenched my teeth when an unexpected headache came upon me.

“Ugh! My head.”

‘What is it?’ It was at the moment when I tried to recall those vague memories.

Suddenly, a  crunching sound was heard from under my feet. To make matters worse, just then, a strong wind blew. I lost my balance and my body went limp.

“Oh my!”

It happened in an instant.

“Ahh!”

Before I knew it, I was already falling.

With a distant feeling, as I was looking at the sky and the trees, I thought for a second,

‘Again?’

‘Since this happened again, what would happen next? There’s no boy who will catch me, unlike back then.’

So I closed my eyes tightly.

(PR/N: PSA – And this kids is why you shouldn’t climb trees)

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Gabriel’s POV)

I’m ashamed of myself. I came in triumphantly after dropping Dian off at the mansion.

‘It’s because I got the wrong time for our scheduled appointment.’

Since I was in a hurry, I didn’t notice the time and before I knew it, I’d already arrived inside the Hillington residence. ‘Why did I come so early?’ It was thanks to a maid who was serving the Hillington residence and talked to me bluntly.

‘It was impolite to arrive too early for a scheduled appointment.’

‘Perhaps that’s why the maid’s gaze was also kind of sharp.’

Although I look indifferent from the outside, I’m still ashamed of myself for being so sloppy whenever it comes to things related to Hildea.

‘Of course, it didn’t show at all.’

“…I’ll come back.”

“Huh? Pardon me, My Lord?”

‘I’ll leave first and go back at the exact time of the meeting.’

Initially, I tried to sneak out. After thinking about it, I went through the garden path just to avoid bumping at Hildea’s maids as much as possible. 

“Oh.”

A large tree appeared in front of me. I stopped and stood in front of it. I was immediately immersed in thoughts at the familiar scenery.

“It was this tree.”

It was this tree, where something fell from the sky and struck me hard. I was so surprised at that time.

“Ugh!”

“…My lord.”

All I remember from that time is that I lost consciousness for a moment due to an intense pain.

‘When I finally came to my senses, a girl was looking at me intently.’

‘I thought at that time that she was a gentle child, but It never occured to me that she would climb a tree. And of course, she failed when descending.’

“Beautiful…”

‘She had a cold and expressionless face at that time, but I could see through her eyes, and just how helpless she was.’

“I’m sorry” is what I thought she was going to say. 

‘Even after that happened, I wasn’t angry at all, but rather, my heart sank as soon as I saw Hildea’s pale face.’

‘I was also worried if by any chance she had any injuries from her fall.’

‘So, regardless of my own pain, I inquired about Hildea’s well-being first. I’m fine so please don’t make that face.’

“The tree at that time…”

I tilt my head for a moment.

“This tree?”

Something seems very strange.

Although years have passed, this tree appears to be too dense.

‘Is this really possible? It’s as if this tree has been blessed by a plant-related healing ability…’

‘However, plant abilities are very rare, aren’t they? And there is no way that a talented person with such a rare ability would be a gardener.’

That was the moment when a lot of doubts came to mind.

“Ahh!”

From the top of the tree that I was looking at, an angel suddenly fell.

Toward my arms.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Hildea’s POV)

‘Am I getting used to this kind of situation?’

‘Not only once, but twice.’

When I almost died then after falling from the same tree, it seemed like my heart would explode in a situation similar to then.

“Hmmm…”

But now I can’t open my eyes. While I was holding my breath, I leaned against something or rather someone who received me momentarily.

‘Obviously, this is a human body’s temperature.’

‘But…. Is it possible for the same thing to happen again?’

‘And it feels like it’s the same but  different at the same time.’

Unlike in the past, I don’t feel pain all over my body, and it’s not a young boy who was crushed by me.

It’s as if I’m floating in the air, and to be precise, I’m being held by someone.

(PR/N: Honestly I was counting on an accidental kiss.)

“…….”

“…….”

As I listen to the person’s heartbeat, I gently lift my eyelids and confirm that I’m being held in someone’s arms, who appears to be well-trained.

‘But, who?’

The moment I lifted my gaze, I made eye contact with the other person’s eyes.

A young man opened eyes wide as if he was surprised and frowning at the same time. ‘His slightly tangled platinum hair looks very pretty…’

‘Gabriel… Gabriel?’

“Gasp!”

‘But why?’

‘Why is he here?’  

His lips trembled slightly, as if he was mumbling my name.

“……”

“……”

There was an eerie silence between us that might have lasted a few seconds, but strangely it feels like we stayed at that position for more than an hour.

It felt like my heart was about to burst in a different way than before. ‘What’s wrong with me?’

It felt hot as if my back had caught on fire after being in contact with his arm. 

Strangely, the stability and warmth that I’m receiving causes a twinge of emotion directly to my heart.

‘As if I want to cry.’

‘I guess I must have been extremely surprised.’

‘That might be it.’

‘What if he hears my heartbeat?’

Without realizing it, I grab the hem of his clothes and put it back in surprise.

Once again, our eyes are entangled. While the wrinkles on his clothes were clearly visible, his face furrows as if he is sorry.

Somehow, Gabriel’s gaze seemed to focus on my lips, which I was biting and chewing from this tense situation.

But why won’t he let me go?’

“Hill.”

The strange tension disappeared at once, without a trace as soon as he opened his mouth.

‘Like a rubber band that was pulled tightly and immediately broke off.’

“Hil… Dea.”

‘His cracked voice seems to be holding on to something, and I wonder if it is because I’m heavy.’

(T/N: Hahaha, Hildea’s obliviousness is sooo cute!)

I wanted to go down, but somehow my body won’t move.

“Would you like to go down?”

Just as I was about to say it, he spat out the words quickly, as if he had been holding back.

“It’s called an indoor dress, but it would be very dangerous to climb a tree wearing it.”

“Oh, about that…”

Somehow, it feels kind of strange when I hear the words that Rosé was supposed to hear. ‘And I’m flustered at the same time, because I quit tree climbing years ago!’

“Well, you know..…”

“Hill.”

But I realize that even if I say that he wouldn’t believe it because of what happened. That’s why I just keep my mouth shut. He has seen it twice and I’d be lying if I told him to believe me.

“If I hadn’t passed by here.”

‘It definitely would have been terrifying.’

“It would have been a big problem.”

“Well you see…”

“You could have been seriously injured. If you got hurt, I…”

I felt embarrassed when I heard his very low and cracked voice sounding like he was very shocked.

Unable to hide his sullen look, he awkwardly rubbed his ear. ‘Maybe he’s angry with me.’

(T/N: My gosh Hildea, you would definitely kill Gabriel from anxiety.)

And I don’t know how to move my face muscles in line with my usual expression, since they harden whenever I panic.

‘I am both thankful and sorry.’

“What I’m trying to say is…”

“Yes?”

I bite my lips not knowing what to say, but once again his eyes stare at my lips.

“It’s nothing.”

I’m stunned. That is because Gabriel’s voice, which had a slight annoyance on it, is much lower than before.

‘Well, I wonder what he was thinking?’ As I tried to read the atmosphere, Gabriel slowly put me down with a brief sigh and a gentle gesture.

It was a very soft movement, as if blowing on a feather in his hand.

‘However…’

‘How come this person’s hand is trembling?’

(PR/N: Hildea causes more hand tremors than my antidepressants lol. She’s a natural stimulant.)

TO BE CONTINUED……

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚ ୨୧ ɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(PR/N: In honor of Thanksgiving this week, I’d like to take the time to note some things I’m grateful for. 

Thanks to the 3 readers (1 might’ve been me) who outvoted HLMS for UTROSU. You saved me from making multiple WP accounts and committing voter fraud.

Thanks as always to Kyesha for working so hard to translate all the novels that she does for you guys – make sure you show your appreciation for her or I’ll come after you.

Thanks to Bubblies, the PR for UTROSU, for winning the Thanksgiving bulk update. You truly deserve the win – I can’t compete against your greatness.

And lastly thanks to you guys, the readers who keep reading our updates. Seriously, I sign into WP just to read your comments sometimes. *HINT HINT COUGH COUGH* Drop some more of those. 

Happy Thanksgiving!)