Unrequited Love is Over, Fend for Yourselves (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 3
Etienne looked down at her own hands. On the delicate hands of a girl not yet fully grown, only calluses from holding a pen remained.
Her fingers, stained with ink that refused to fully wash away despite daily scrubbing, belonged to the child who had once been inseparable from books.
She lifted her head and tucked the strands of hair that had fallen forward behind her ears. The hair that lightly brushed her fingers was cut neatly just above her chest line.
Reaching out, she fumbled along the bedside table until something caught her fingers. Recognizing it as a mirror, she brought it forward and gazed at her reflection. Seeing the face of a girl who looked sixteen or seventeen, Etienne heaved a sigh.
“How on earth did this happen?”
All her memories had snapped off the moment she felt the cold, sharp edge of the guillotine against her neck.
She had surely died—yet she opened her eyes as if waking from a deep slumber. Unlike Etienne, who sat dazed on the bed, the maids moved about as usual.
They tended to her without concern for the blank expression on her face.
Urged by the head maid’s reminder that time was short, they hurriedly dressed Etienne to perfection and settled her into the carriage before finally stepping back with relieved faces.
Still dazed throughout, Etienne mulled over what had happened to her while inside the carriage.
“Was it all just a dream?”
Murmuring this, Etienne quickly shook her head. Everything—from hearing the news of her parents’ death to the imperial knights storming into the mansion—was vividly real.
The shock and sorrow she had felt as the butler collapsed before her eyes still weighed painfully on her heart. How could she possibly dismiss that as a mere dream?
And moreover…
“Fernando.”
Etienne softly spoke the name that had shaken her heart deeply. The memory of loving him for the past five years confirmed that everything that had happened to her was entirely real.
“Then… have I truly returned to the past?”
If that was truly the case… she didn’t know how she had come back, but for now, she had no choice but to accept this situation as it was.
Etienne lightly pulled back the curtain with the back of her hand and looked outside, feeling the carriage’s gentle swaying motion. Right now, she was on her way with her parents to the House of Schupraher.
Coincidentally, today was the very day she had first met Fernando.
[This is the timeline separator]There was one more undeniable proof that she truly had returned to the past—everything was unfolding exactly as Etienne remembered.
Upon arriving at the ducal estate, she offered brief greetings to Duke and Duchess Schupraher before immediately being granted free time.
The duchess had told Etienne she was welcome to explore the manor, and Etienne accepted without hesitation, turning on her heel at once.
‘I must see him.’
If the same events were to repeat themselves, she would no longer harbor any doubt.
Etienne headed straight for the manor’s rear garden. Famous for encircling a serene lake, it was a must-see for any visitor to the ducal estate.
She paid no attention to anything else. The garden’s beautiful scenery failed to register in her eyes at all. All Etienne cared about was reaching her desired spot as quickly as possible, so she almost ran toward it.
“Hah…”
Leaning against a large tree, Etienne caught her breath, her chest tight from exertion. It was only natural after nearly sprinting across such a wide space.
But thanks to that, she had arrived quickly at the place she longed for. Feeling her breathing gradually steady, she stepped forward once more from the tree she’d leaned against.
The moment the lake, hidden behind the tree, came into view, Etienne gasped. Sunlight shimmered beautifully across its rippling surface.
“Fernando!”
But Etienne had no time to admire the lake. An unnatural presence floated upon it—an unmistakably human figure, yet completely motionless.
Crying out Fernando’s name, Etienne kicked off her shoes and leaped into the lake.
Though her soaked skirt slowed her down, she pressed on resolutely, driven solely by the need to save him.
The water, which had reached her waist, suddenly deepened with one more step, rising to her shoulders—but Etienne merely lifted her chin and refused to stop.
The instant her flailing hand caught hold of Fernando’s clothing as she pushed forward, she wrapped her arm around his neck. His body followed as she pulled him toward her.
Dragging both her waterlogged dress and the even heavier Fernando out of the lake was far from easy, yet she pushed herself with desperate determination.
Though the lake seemed endless, Etienne ultimately succeeded in rescuing him.
Exhausting her last ounce of strength, she dragged his body onto the lakeshore and collapsed beside him, breathing heavily. Her arms trembled against the ground, and a faint metallic taste filled her mouth.
Having pushed herself to her absolute limit, she couldn’t even muster the thought to pull his feet fully out of the water, even as they remained submerged.
“Of all the days to come back to, it had to be today.”
Gritting her teeth to keep her trembling body from collapsing, Etienne grumbled. If she’d returned just one day later, she wouldn’t have had to go through this ordeal again.
“Coming back isn’t all good, after all.”
Because it meant reliving painful memories she’d long forgotten.
“Fernando, you really…”
Now that she’d saved him, the confusion and turmoil over returning to the past had completely vanished. Right now, all she wanted was to calm her racing breath.
In the past, simply saving someone had filled her heart so fully that she hadn’t thought of anything else—but experiencing the same event again made her let out an involuntary, hollow laugh.
“I’m insane. Completely insane.”
Once she’d regained some strength, Etienne turned over and sank down onto the lakeshore. Glancing back at Fernando, she noticed the unnatural paleness had already faded from his face.
Staring quietly at his features, her earlier wish—that it might have been better to wake up tomorrow instead of returning today—slowly melted away. She realized she didn’t dislike this moment, sitting beside him.
The rustling grass sounded like soft music in the breeze, and the cool scent of water filled the air. It was a moment of peace.
It had felt this way back then too. Though her focus had been entirely on the unconscious Fernando, her senses had remembered everything else.
“This was precisely the moment I fell for Fernando…”
Etienne propped up a knee and rested her cheek on it, gazing at Fernando’s face. His forehead—fully visible now that his hair had fallen back—was smooth and even, framed by thick eyebrows above long lashes.
His nose was high and straight, and his lips, unusually full for a man, formed a face too exceptional to be described merely as handsome.
The first time she’d saved him and looked closely at his features, she’d wondered if she’d just rescued an angel fallen into the lake.
Her heart had skipped a beat—and from that instant, she’d helplessly, irrevocably fallen for him at first sight. Reliving this moment again left her with a strange, complex feeling.
“That’s right.”
At sixteen, Etienne had given her heart to Fernando just like this. Recalling that somewhat innocent time, she offered a faint smile before turning her eyes back to his face.
Originally, she would have run off to call for help since Fernando hadn’t woken up—but this time, she stayed put, knowing he’d open his eyes shortly.
She’d learned later that when someone drowned, their breathing could stop or become impaired, so one should blow air into their mouth to help them breathe.
But Etienne hadn’t known that back then—and even after leaving him to fetch someone, he’d woken up perfectly fine not long after.
In other words, there’d been no need for her to run again, dragging her soaked dress and gasping for breath. As she studied Fernando’s handsome forehead, Etienne suddenly reached out and slapped it.
“You should’ve told me your family had water abilities. Do you have any idea how shocked I was back then?”
Remembering all the trouble she’d gone through, one slap hardly felt satisfying. Worse, Fernando had mistaken the person who saved him—not realizing it was Etienne, but believing it was Hana.
“It was me who saved you when you collapsed by the lake. Not Hana.”
Etienne reached out again and pinched Fernando’s nose. Taking advantage of his unconscious state, she quietly took a little revenge for the lingering hurt she’d carried since that day.
When Etienne returned after calling for help, Fernando was no longer alone. A girl her age stood beside him—and that girl was Hana.
She should have declared it was her who’d saved him, but the sight of the two looking so close left Etienne unable to say a word.
Now, she wondered why she’d stayed silent—but back then, she’d simply disliked the idea of awkwardly inserting herself between them.
“Well, it’s nobody’s fault, really.”
How could Fernando, unconscious at the time, possibly know who had saved him? Seeing Hana beside him, he naturally assumed she’d been the one.
“But I can still be mad about it.”
Etienne slapped his forehead again, lightly at first—driven by the initial disappointment of his not recognizing her as his rescuer—but as memories of his later indifference toward her surfaced one after another, her hand kept striking harder.
His face had regained its natural color everywhere except his forehead, which was now bright red. Guiltily wondering if she’d gone too far, Etienne pulled her hand back just as Fernando’s eyelashes fluttered.
“Huh?”
His eyelids slowly lifted, revealing the precious gem she’d kept hidden away.
She’d often wondered, while secretly stealing glances at his face, if God had planted jewels within his eyes—and now she saw those luminous orbs up close.
She’d often wished those sparkling eyes would look at her…
But right now, she was terribly embarrassed. She’d known he’d wake up—but not this quickly.
In the awkward silence where neither dared speak, Fernando’s gaze shifted sideways. Seeing it land on her awkwardly raised hand, Etienne changed direction and waved it from side to side.
“Hello?”
Male lead says he’s pregnant — and it’s female lead’s child
Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
__________
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