Thus Began Your Regret - Chapter 34

“Evan?”

Louisa’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected encounter.

“Long time no see, Louisa.”

Evan smiled awkwardly as he slightly lifted his hat. Then he turned back to Edward and continued what he was saying.

“Anyway, sir Allen. For Louisa’s sake as well, I would kindly ask you to refrain from such actions.”

For a nobleman, his manner of speech was extremely polite. However, that was only in terms of his tone; the content within was not so.

Edward became very displeased by the sudden appearance of the eldest son of the Winston family.

Who was he to point things out for Louisa’s sake? And with such a two-faced attitude at that.

Louisa felt much the same way. She called his name in bewilderment.

“Evan. What are you suddenly saying?”

“Louisa. You know His Highness Anthony is worried about you, right? And I’m not much different.”

Evan looked down at her with discomfort in his eyes.

Hearing those words, Edward realized that this man was now reprimanding him just as the prince had done to him not long ago.

Normally, he would have followed his principle of responding to rudeness with rudeness, muttering something at a similar level before leaving.

But this time was different. Just this once, he was willing to listen to what that man was spouting. There might be something else about his wife that he was missing, as had been the case at the party.

“Lord Winston. Why don’t you explain how this becomes something for my wife’s sake?”

“Ed. It’s others’ subjective thoughts. There’s no need to listen.”

But Louisa blocked his way. She looked straight at Evan Winston and said:

“Evan. Thank you for your concern. I’ve certainly received that sentiment. But anything beyond that is a matter between my husband and me. I think you understand what I mean.”

Evan’s expression hardened at her words. It seemed to be an unexpected response.

However, thinking this incident was an overreach on Evan’s part in the name of friendship, Louisa did not withdraw her words.

Evan soon sighed lightly as if deflated, and raised both hands, laughing.

“Alright. It seems I was overly worried. I apologize.”

He bowed his head with an exaggerated gesture. He also nodded slightly to Edward and said:

“If I’ve been rude in any way, I apologize, sir Allen.”

“It’s fine. I now know that my wife had such a caring friend.”

Edward shook his head politely, as other gentlemen would do.

He knew from experience that showing composure in front of such men, no matter what happened, would make them even more agitated.

While that was certainly part of the purpose, in fact, he himself felt his earlier rising anger had vanished, to the point where he found himself quite capricious.

Whatever the case, the result was that the man who had been putting on airs in front of him had closed his mouth after getting a word from his wife. His wife had even affectionately said “my husband and me.”

Until getting out of the carriage, seeing his wife looking like she might collapse buried in clothes, he had regretted, “Should we have gone to see the play Jeffrey recommended instead of the opera?” But now he thought it was good they came out after all.

As the situation seemed to have settled, Evan spoke in a deliberately bright tone as if to make up for his mistake.

“Well then, shall we all go in now? We’ll be late for the performance at this rate.”

The three of them walked side by side down the corridor leading to the hall of the opera house.

“By the way, to think I’d run into you in a place like this. And with your husband, no less.”

Evan said, gesturing towards Edward with his eyes.

Edward, irritated by those words, replied curtly.

“Should a married couple not come together, then come alone?”

“Ed.”

Louisa called his name, grabbing his arm at her husband’s words.

Having learned through their recent outings that this was his wife’s way of cautioning him, Edward, who was about to say more, closed his mouth while looking at his wife.

Louisa smiled a bit embarrassedly and said:

“My husband had some free time after a while. I never expected to meet you in a place like this either. You used to say you hated these things, finding them boring and uninteresting.”

“That was when we were young. Nowadays, how should I put it… even passionate love stories can be interesting.”

Evan glanced at her and chuckled along. Louisa nodded slightly and replied.

“Well, we’re not that age anymore.”

“Right. A lot of time has passed, Louisa.”

Evan looked at her with eyes somewhat lost in nostalgia.

Edward continued to observe the two of them.

While Prince Anthony was also disagreeable, somehow this man irritated him even more.

Listening to their conversation, it seemed they had shared quite a long time together, too long to be just acquaintances from social circles.

Come to think of it, he recalled his wife mentioning before that she was acquainted with the Winstons. Edward asked about this part of his wife’s story that he didn’t know.

“From the sound of it, you seem to have known my wife for a very long time.”

“We’ve known each other since childhood, so it’s been quite a while. I’m not sure exactly when we first met. Our families had frequent interactions with the Averitts.”

Evan replied, pondering deeply. As he shook his head, unable to recall further, Louisa spoke up instead.

“It was probably my seventh birthday. You fought with my brother as soon as you arrived. Because he laughed at the gift you prepared.”

“Ah, right. Even now, I think Daniel was wrong about that.”

“I think so too.”

The two of them giggled. But Edward, unable to simply laugh along at past stories he didn’t know, continued walking with a somewhat uncomfortable feeling.

Seven years old. Seven years old, she said.

He decided to think about what his wife might have been like back then, instead of the unpleasant fellow in front of him.

‘At seven, she must have been even shorter than my waist.’

She must have been so cute. Then immediately, realizing that this rascal knew that side of her that he didn’t, Edward’s mood worsened even more.

Thinking to find out just how close they had been, he threw out another question.

“It seems the relationship between your families was quite close. It appears you know Lord Averitt as well.”

“I suppose so. Until uncle… that is, until the then Lord Averitt passed away, there was even talk of an engagement between us.”

At those words, Edward failed to maintain his composure. His jaw tightened.

‘Engagement?’

He thought they seemed close, but he didn’t know they had been engaged.

Louisa, flustered by the unexpectedly developing topic, hastily added:

“Even if it was called an engagement, it was more like a joke among the adults.”

But Edward’s hardened expression showed no signs of softening. To make matters worse, Evan started fanning the flames with what he thought was a joke.

“To consider my father so lightly, I feel a bit hurt too, Louisa.”

“It became a joke because it was a promise that could change depending on the situation, Evan.”

Louisa replied firmly despite his glib laughter.

The severance of ties, which couldn’t even be called a broken engagement, was one of the major instances that made her realize the heartlessness of noble society at the time.

The Winstons, too, had pretended not to know them after the fall of the Averitts.

Nevertheless, the only reason contact hadn’t been completely cut off was because the Winston family had introduced a suitable research lab for her elder brother Daniel to join.

Evan’s expression hardened along with hers, as if he hadn’t expected such a resolute response from her. He fell silent, unable to give any reply.

A fork in the path appeared before them as they climbed the stairs together. Edward, embracing Louisa’s shoulders, said:

“It was pleasant meeting you. We’re in the left section of the second floor, so we’ll go ahead.”

He gave a perfunctory greeting, just nodding his head slightly. Louisa also turned around briefly and offered a simple farewell.

“We’ll go ahead, Evan. I hope you have an enjoyable time.”

Standing behind and watching them, Evan seemed to finally come to his senses. He smiled awkwardly and slightly lifted his hat, saying:

“You too, Louisa.”

The sound from behind grew fainter as they moved away.

As soon as Evan disappeared from view, Edward began to grumble.

“Don’t associate closely with a guy like that.”

“Evan was rude today. I’m sorry.”

Louisa said, looking up at her husband whose hand was on her shoulder. Edward then snapped back in his usual manner:

“I didn’t tell you to apologize. Who is he for you to apologize on his behalf?”

Louisa looked at him nervously, not knowing what to do. Seeing her expression, he finally realized his mistake and let out a groan.

Edward cleared his throat once and asked again.

“…More importantly, what did he mean by saying not to drive for your sake? Surely he doesn’t mean to treat me like their servant?”

Louisa felt tired already from the series of awkward situations arising.

Evan’s unnecessary words had stirred up facts she didn’t want to mention. She sighed and said:

“It’s similar. The same actions, if done by a high-ranking noble, would be dismissed as a mere transgression, but…”

“Not for me.”

He said, as if familiar with the concept.

“Well, if it weren’t for you, who knows. I might have really become a servant to some family.”

At the end of her words, which faced her own origins squarely, there was self-mockery.