TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 223
Yuria looked at The Man in front of her with wide eyes and then shook her head.
“No…”
His words were just a pleasant facade, and she thought that he was saying them to make her feel better.
“What’s pretty about me?”
Nothing is pretty about me.
Neither inside nor outside.
Nothing is fine about me.
Every time she looked in the mirror, she found more flaws, and the wounds in her heart made her think that she was not pretty, especially when compared to more beautiful and lovely people.
So Yuria shook her head and denied Ricardo’s words, saying she was not pretty.
“What’s pretty about me? I’m foolish and stupid… it would be more fitting to say that a rock is pretty.”
Yuria thought that if she considered herself ugly, Ricardo, who was looking at her, must see her as even more unattractive, and she said this with a mix of fear and caution.
“My hair is as pale as a faded balsam flower, and I get annoyed and cry over trivial things every day. I’m not pretty at all, and I can see that there are many people prettier than me, so why would you say such things?”
Ricardo, sitting on the balcony railing, looked at Yuria with a small smile and calm eyes, his hair gently swaying in the Northern Winds.
“Hmm…”
Ricardo’s low, gentle voice was accompanied by a small nasal sound, and he spoke to Yuria with a hint of curiosity.
“Is that so? I don’t think that way, it’s strange.”
Ricardo’s voice took a step closer to Yuria, and he seemed to be crossing an invisible line as if it didn’t exist.
Yuria shook her head in denial.
“You’re lying.”
“Is that so?”
Even though she wanted to tell him not to come closer, Ricardo seemed to have no intention of stopping, and his presence was like a knocking on the door of her heart.
‘Why…?’
She wondered why he was being so kind to her, and the question kept pounding on her chest, asking her to open up.
She misunderstood him.
Ricardo’s gentle voice, which was offering her a hand, was too sensitive for Yuria, and she wished he would scold her instead.
She wanted him to yell at her.
If Ricardo had said that he suffered because of her, she would have felt better, but his kindness was hard to understand, and she wondered why he was being so nice to her.
Ricardo spoke in a sweet, candy-like voice, as he always did.
“I like Miss Yuria’s pink hair, it’s like a freshly bloomed flower, not a faded balsam flower like others might say.”
“…”
“And I love Miss Yuria’s pink eyes, they’re like gems, clear and pure, and just looking at them makes me feel comforted.”
And…
Ricardo continued to praise Yuria with a calm smile, using gentle words to describe the things she was self-conscious about, saying that those were the things that made her beautiful.
Ricardo’s conversation continued, speaking as if it was only natural, without stopping.
‘Why…?’
As Ricardo’s praise continued, Yuria’s heart remained filled with questions, and her chest kept pounding, asking her why he was being so kind.
Even though he knew everything.
Ricardo’s confidence, as if he was shouldering all the burdens, was suffocating her.
“And Miss Yuria has a… ah, I apologize, that was a bit perverted of me.”
Yuria looked at Ricardo, who was covering his mouth with his palm, and clenched her fists, asking.
“Aren’t you unhappy?”
With tears in her eyes, she asked him, wondering why he was being so kind.
“Why do you say such things? I haven’t done anything for you, so why are you being so nice to me?”
“…”
“I… I think I understand now why you treated me that way, Ricardo. I don’t fully understand, but I think I know why you were mean to me.”
Yuria looked down, overcome with emotion, and spoke to Ricardo.
“But…”
She really didn’t understand.
“But why are you being so nice to me? You’re the one who helped me, but I hated you, and yet you’re still being kind to me… I don’t get it!”
“Aren’t you unhappy?”
If it were her.
“If it were me!”
She wouldn’t be able to do what Ricardo was doing, and she would push him away, afraid of getting hurt.
“I’m so hateful and despicable, why are you looking at me like that? Why?”
Ricardo looked at Yuria with a bittersweet smile, his eyes fixed on her fist.
“I…”
Ricardo opened his mouth to speak.
“I think that way.”
He expressed his thoughts in a calm voice.
“If there are good people, there should be bad people to make them shine, don’t you think?”
“…”
“If you’re just average, the truly good people might be at a disadvantage, so I thought it would be better if I took on the role of the bad person.”
“It would be nice if someone understood me… it would be less lonely and a bit easier.”
“Hmm… I think I was too rigid and didn’t think that far.”
Sometimes.
“Sometimes I think that I might be a hindrance.”
Yuria couldn’t understand Ricardo’s foolish altruism, but he seemed to be okay with it, stubbornly trying to reach out to her.
Ricardo’s deep red color was spreading to Yuria, his color extending to her.
“That’s why I like Miss Yuria. Even when she’s unhappy and in pain, she remains kind and sometimes acts like a push-over, sacrificing herself, which I think is really cool, something I could never do.”
“…”
“But the biggest reason is that Miss Yuria is pretty.”
Ricardo chuckled and carefully got down from the balcony railing, his footsteps quiet on the veranda.
“Don’t cry.”
“Sniff…”
“I’m just keeping my promise.”
“But I didn’t keep my promise…”
“It was a one-sided promise from the start.”
A promise made without her consent.
-I’ll protect you.
Yuria burst into tears as she looked at Ricardo, who still remembered his promise.
Why didn’t she trust him?
Why didn’t she think a bit more?
If only she had been more open-minded.
If only she had trusted him more, she wouldn’t have felt such pain, and she cried, regretting her past actions.
“Is it okay…?”
Yuria asked Ricardo, looking at him with affectionate eyes, remembering the painful memories she had given him.
She asked, recalling the wounds she had inflicted on him.
“Is it okay that I hurt you, Ricardo?”
Ricardo nodded in response.
“It’s okay.”
Yuria asked again.
This time, she thought about the pain she had caused him and asked with a sense of trepidation.
“Is it really okay? I caused you so much pain and hardship…”
“Yes, I can do it many times.”
“Because of me…”
Yuria’s apologies continued, and she kept crying, asking Ricardo to forgive her, filled with fear and sadness.
She asked, hoping to make amends, to be forgiven.
And Ricardo gave the same answer.
“It’s really okay.”
Many stories were carried away by the Northern Winds.
The time she was locked in the wardrobe for 3 hours was also told to Yuria by Ricardo.
The reason she was wandering around her shoe cabinet was also explained.
Even the revenge she took on those who spread false rumors and hated her was revealed.
Ricardo told Yuria everything without hiding anything.
-I put all the thumbtacks in Kyla’s drawer.
-…Really?
-Yes, I even wrote my name on them and put them in there. You should have seen the look on that girl’s face, but I only saw yours, Miss Yuria.
-Olivia?
-Yes. If you’re upset, then… uh.
-Pfft.
A smile spreads across her face.
Perhaps the conversation she had been longing for the most was finally happening in Yuria’s reality. Yuria, who had been waiting for something so simple, clenched her fist and looked at Ricardo.
“So…”
In the sky where white snow was falling, it seemed like flower petals were fluttering strangely. Pink-tinted flower petals were gently swaying in the spring breeze, knocking on the door of her heart.
It was strange, though.
Yuria felt a warmth in her melting heart. She thought about making a promise again, even though she was selfish and foolish.
Looking at Ricardo, who was sitting with his back against the wall, she said.
“Mr. Ricardo.”
“Yes.”
“Can you make me a promise?”
“What kind of promise?”
Yuria smiled slightly and buried her face in her knees.
“A promise that you won’t be surprised.”
“What do you mean?”
-Hmm.
Yuria grabbed Ricardo’s sleeve and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Smiling softly, she spoke with a sense of certainty.
“I made a promise.”
Ricardo looked at Yuria with a surprised expression, touching his cheek.
“Uh…?”
“It’s a token of promise.”
“A promise…?”
“A one-sided promise I made.”
A promise to never waver again.
Ricardo looked at Yuria with wavering eyes and spoke. He said something he shouldn’t have said in this atmosphere, with an awkward smile.
“I… I should mention that I’m a polygamist…”
“Oh, come on!”
He really didn’t understand the atmosphere.
Yuria looked at Ricardo with a smile.
*
-The Past Restriction ‘Favorability Limit’ is lifted.
(!) Yuria’s Favorability increases.
(This line is left blank because there is no corresponding Korean text)