A Cold Wind Blows
Yuria headed toward the hospital balcony, following behind Olivia as the wheelchair's wheels rumbled along.
"..."
Olivia said nothing. No casual greeting. No small talk about how things had been. With a rigid expression, she simply pushed the wheelchair forward in silence.
—Drurruk...
There was no sense of warmth or welcome. No fear, either—just the irritation of encountering someone she didn't want to see. They weren't close enough to exchange pleasantries, so Yuria didn't bother starting a conversation. If there was one thought nagging at her, it was why Olivia had called her out alone like this. Olivia must have figured there was nothing they needed to discuss either.
—Screech.
Olivia stopped the wheelchair at the balcony and slowly turned around.
"Ahem."
She cleared her throat, gathered her hair back into a ponytail, and then, facing the cold northern wind, cautiously opened her mouth.
"First off, I'm sorry for calling you out so late."
"..."
"I didn't want to drag you aside like this, but I figured if it wasn't today, there wouldn't be another chance..."
Olivia, still seated in her wheelchair, bowed her head toward Yuria, who stared back with a stiff expression.
"Honestly, you and I aren't exactly the type to sit down and chat face-to-face. Especially not you."
She knows that, so why do this? Yuria clenched her fist as she gazed at Olivia's calm face. Ricardo's fine, but Olivia... I can't stand her.
As if sensing Yuria's feelings, Olivia bowed her head again and apologized more formally. She said she was truly sorry and promised it wouldn't happen again.
"Save the apology for later."
"..."
"I'll do it properly then, so don't feel too uncomfortable."
Yuria reluctantly nodded at Olivia's words.
Olivia let out a sigh and spoke.
"...Just one thing. One thing."
—Nod.
With a long, heavy sigh, Olivia steeled herself.
"Why do you hate Ricardo?"
Olivia gripped her fists tightly, forcing the words out while carefully watching Yuria's reaction.
"No matter how much I think about it, I just can't understand."
"Me...?"
Yuria's voice rose in surprise at Olivia's question. She didn't hate Ricardo at all. This was a question she hadn't even considered.
'Hate him?'
'Me, hating Ricardo...?'
Yuria shook her head under Olivia's expectant gaze. You're mistaken.
"No. Why would I hate Ricardo? If anything, I..."
Olivia cut her off with conviction, as if she hadn't even heard.
"No. You do hate Ricardo."
"No, I don't."
"No, you do."
Olivia stared straight into Yuria's eyes. Though their relationship made eye contact uncomfortable, she clenched her fists tighter, determined to say what needed saying.
"If you didn't hate him, that sweet fool wouldn't be tiptoeing around you."
"That's your misunderstanding."
"No. My eyes don't lie."
Olivia shook her head.
"Whenever Ricardo sees you, he ducks his head. He fidgets, desperate to do something for you."
"..."
"Worried if you're hurt, if something bad happened to you—he's always fretting over it."
"That's..."
The words brought a warmth that eased Yuria's mood bit by bit. She hadn't imagined Ricardo thought that way about her. Hearing it from the villainess's mouth was oddly amusing, almost enough to make her smile. It felt joyful and wondrous that the person she liked cared for her like that.
Olivia kept her expression stern, her voice laced with emotion to emphasize that her words weren't praise.
"But you? You're the opposite."
"Huh?"
"You snap at Ricardo the second you see him. Glare at him. Yell at him."
"..."
"You assume the worst about him even when he hasn't done anything wrong. If that's not hate, what is it?"
Yuria couldn't deny Olivia's words. They rang too true. She had no defense for her own actions.
Olivia pressed on, pointing out Yuria's flaws without regard for feelings—speaking as the villainess who had scarred her, yet infusing her words with as much remorse and consideration as she could muster, hand over her heart.
"I might deserve your hate, but Ricardo doesn't. What has he ever done to you... to make you hate him?"
I just can't understand you, Olivia said.
"No matter how I rack my brain, I can't understand you."
Setting aside old grudges, Olivia thought of Ricardo lying in his hospital bed and poured out what she'd bottled up. Her tone was blunt enough to make Yuria uncomfortable.
"What more does Ricardo have to do here?"
"..."
"When you were kicked out of the Academy, he apologized to you."
Yuria clenched her fist as she listened silently. Olivia had dredged up a memory she'd rather forget.
She had hated Ricardo. She had to. Revisiting that memory stirred her emotions.
—Grip.
Olivia glanced at her warily but continued, her voice timid as if bracing for curses just to hear a response.
"Ricardo apologized to you. Said he was sorry for what happened, promised he'd never show his face in front of you again."
"Ha."
Emotions surged to Yuria's throat, and she couldn't hold back anymore. Memories of time spent with Ricardo were cherished yet a raw nerve for her.
"If he apologized..."
"...Huh?"
"...then it should be over, right?"
"No, that's not..."
"I apologized to you too. I don't even know what I did wrong, but I said I was sorry."
"..."
"I admitted I was wrong. Begged you to forgive me. But how did you treat me? Did you say it was okay and be nice? Compare apples to apples."
Yuria bit her lip, her words slurring with pent-up frustration.
"Do you know how much I suffered because of you people...?"
"...That's."
"Don't make excuses. I don't want to hear it."
"..."
Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, shook her head, and steadied her trembling shoulders. Ricardo had told her not to get angry. She took a deep breath, reining in her temper.
—Hoo...
"Fine, you're right. You can treat me like that. But you can't do it to Ricardo."
"..."
"He's not a punching bag. Not someone you bow to every time you meet."
Olivia shook her head, gazing at Yuria with a timid voice and clenched fists.
"He's my punching bag. One only I can hit, and no one touches without my permission..."
Olivia's petulant words gave Yuria plenty to retort. Yeah, I get it. I know I'm too sensitive around Ricardo, snapping at him—that's wrong.
But I'm wronged too. The person I trusted and liked... still like, more every day... thinking back to being shunned by him hurts and angers me.
I know. I know.
But what can I do about feeling wronged?
Yuria couldn't understand why she, who'd been hurt more because she liked Ricardo, deserved this scolding.
She clenched her fist and shot back at Olivia. Don't be so shameless.
"Your personal punching bag?"
"Yeah."
"Ricardo can't do anything because of you?"
"I know."
"No guilt?"
"As if."
Olivia bowed her head, stammering. She knew her place, wasn't ungrateful. She repeated herself to Yuria.
"But you still can't do that to him."
Olivia met Yuria's eyes squarely.
"You don't know."
"Know what?"
"How hard it's been for Ricardo because of you."
"No, I do know."
"Then why do you act like you're the only one suffering?"
Olivia knew her own situation. She was dead weight holding Ricardo back, a spoiled villainess who only threw tantrums. She knew it took time to change, and she was always sorry and grateful to him for it. She avoided Academy talk because he seemed to hate it and did her best in her own way.
At least, she had some idea of his struggles.
"At least I'm grateful to him. But you're not."
Yuria clenched her fists and bowed her head. Her trembling hands and twitching lips betrayed her.
'I have to hold back.'
'Can't bring up the Academy again.'
'Can't say I'm wronged.'
Ricardo nearly died because of me—with my own knife thrust. I know how awful I am for hating him when he never boasted about it.
'I know. Olivia's right.'
But... but what about the fear?
Yuria cried out.
"You know?"
"..."
"Do you know how it feels to be betrayed by someone you trusted? Someone who promised to always have your back, only to turn away overnight and scribble graffiti on your desk?"
Dredging up her raw emotions, Yuria vented about what she'd endured.
"You say I don't know gratitude? I do! I know how much Ricardo suffered because of me! How he got hurt because of me!"
"Hurt...?"
"But you don't know! You don't know about being locked in a closet for three hours at the ballroom."
Ignoring Olivia's changed gaze, Yuria pressed on. You know nothing about me.
"I trusted him—really trusted him! Do you know how it feels when that trust shatters?"
Yuria screamed about Ricardo's duplicity she'd witnessed back then.
"It's scary... Honestly, it's terrifying."
"I want to stop now, but I'm scared of being betrayed again."
Olivia let out a hollow laugh, her anger rising at a certain keyword.
"You really don't know anything."
Olivia glanced around once, then muttered softly.
'Ricardo told me not to say it...'
She sighed and enunciated each word clearly into Yuria's ear.
"Ricardo."
"Was ostracized at the Academy because of you."
"You really don't know anything."