Don’t Ask, It’ll Hurt If You Know - Chapter 45

As the lingering image of the past swelled up, Chloe’s face turned paler and paler. She wished she hadn’t remembered it, but the memory was becoming so vivid—as if it had happened just yesterday—that she felt like she was going crazy.

Especially the part where she’d said she’d never forget it for the rest of her life kept echoing in her mind, causing her self-loathing to intensify.

“Idiot. Moron. How could I forget that?”

“P-Please calm down, Sister.”

As Chloe hit her own head as if self-mutilating, Jeremy became extremely flustered and restrained his sister. Fortunately, the self-loathing quickly faded, but guilt immediately took its place. The guilt became sharp thorns that mercilessly stabbed her chest.

“I have to apologize to Ian.”

Her terrible habit of single-mindedly fixating on one thing and digging into it, regardless of what anyone around her said, manifested without fail this time, too.

Ignoring Jeremy’s plea to wait a moment, Chloe bolted out of the reception room.

What should I say to apologize when I meet Ian? That jerk, unlike his appearance, has a narrow mind, and it won’t be easy to cheer him up once he gets sulky.

It was also doubtful if Ian MacMilden was still at the Basilock Grand Temple. It had been quite a while since she left the reception room. It was enough time for him to have already left the temple.

If that’s the case, I’ll have to find the House of Duke MacMilden and apologize. This was clearly my fault. When I meet him, I should respectfully bow my waist and…….

“…….”

What stopped Chloe, who was running until her breath caught in her throat, thinking only of apologizing to Ian, was her reflection in the highly polished marble wall. The wavy pink hair was burned into her eyes. Suddenly realizing that this was Bianca’s appearance, not Chloe’s, she clenched her fist so tightly that the tendons stood out.

“In this body… I can’t apologize.”

The person who should apologize to Ian MacMilden was Chloe Elena, not Bianca Lloyd. It was right to apologize when she returned to her original body. Chloe exhaled the raw breath surging up from deep within her chest and closed her eyes tightly before opening them again.

“Still, I need to find him.”

She wanted to know if Ian had left the temple, how angry he was, and how disappointed he was in her. Chloe headed towards the large open ground where the carriages were waiting.

“There he is.”

The presence of the carriage meant Ian MacMilden was still at the Basilock Grand Temple. Her feelings became complicated after confirming he was here. She was also curious why he hadn’t gone back yet.

Chloe stood dumbfounded for a moment, staring at the carriage belonging to the House of Duke MacMilden, then approached the coachman who was grooming the horses.

“Welcome back, Miss.”

The coachman recognized her and bowed his waist in greeting. Chloe confirmed the inside of the carriage was empty and asked the coachman.

“Where is the Young Duke MacMilden?”

“He said he was going for a short walk until you returned, Miss.”

“A walk? Where did he go?”

“I’m not exactly sure, Miss…….”

Did he just leave without telling his attendant his exact location? That was an Ian MacMilden thing to do. When they were at the Academy, he would often disappear without a word, and she had to look for him more than once or twice. And every time, the one who found Ian was none other than Chloe Elena. She could find him because Ian MacMilden’s hiding spots were obvious.

“Which direction could he have gone?”

But this was a temple, not the Academy.

Chloe wrinkled the bridge of her nose, unable to guess where he might have gone.

Chloe scratched her cheek and looked back towards the temple. If she waited here, he would return on his own, so there was no need to go looking for him. Finding Ian in this vast temple was as difficult as finding a needle dropped in the desert.

Yet, why did she want to go looking for him?

No, she felt a strange compulsion, as if she absolutely had to go. Above all, she had a strong premonition that she knew where Ian MacMilden was, and Chloe walked in that direction as if possessed.

Without realizing where she was going, simply walking aimlessly wherever her feet took her, Chloe suddenly came to her senses and blinked widely, looking around.

A building meticulously carved from pure white marble, and a thick, green forest spread out in front of it. She thought she’d seen it somewhere before—it was the same place she’d seen in her dream.

“……No.”

I have been here.

However, she couldn’t remember when, and as she looked up at the building, retracing her memories, Chloe turned her head when she sensed a presence behind her. Amidst the gentle rustle of leaves stirred by the warm spring breeze that held the sunlight, a black dot came into view.

Ian MacMilden. It was him.

Chloe, faced with the exact scene she had witnessed in her dream, involuntarily held her breath. Even though she had come to find Ian, she hid her presence as much as possible, as if she didn’t want to meet him. Her posture lowered, and her shoulders hunched.

But despite her efforts, Ian immediately noticed her presence. The moment his head unexpectedly turned and their eyes met, Chloe realized.

The person who had actually come here was Bianca Lloyd, not Chloe Elena.

While she was confused by this fact she somehow knew, Ian MacMilden approached.

The sunlight mercilessly beating down on her head was suddenly obscured by a dark shadow, and only then did Chloe regain her composure. She straightened her bent waist and raised her head. While Ian was damnably tall, Bianca Lloyd was shorter than average, so she had to look way up to see his face.

“Why are you here?”

The voice and gaze, entangled with suspicion and caution, clawed at her heart. Chloe, unaccustomed to the sharp pain starting from the region of her solar plexus, instinctively frowned and answered.

“Why? I came to look for the Young Duke. I was worried that I might have made a mistake when you left so abruptly.”

Contrary to her expression, her voice was supremely gentle and courteous. The utterly mismatched combination caused Ian to look down at her, somewhat dumbfounded.

His gaze was far from affectionate, closer to contempt, yet her heart was pounding strangely. It wasn’t fear, but some other reason. She felt like she knew what it was, but Chloe deliberately ignored it because she didn’t want to know.

“Why? Why are you looking at me like that?”

She shot back the question sharply, matching the intensity of her desire to ignore it. Ian then turned his head to look at the stone wall, the sky, and the forest, before turning back to her and asking.

“Did Chloe truly ask you to bring that sapphire to Jeremy?”

At the follow-up question, Chloe flinched and cast her eyes downward for a long time. Unlike herself, she fiddled with her hands and parted her lips slightly.

“Well, about that. So…….”

If she hadn’t remembered anything, she would have shamelessly nodded, but because she remembered everything, she couldn’t. Yet, telling the truth would also make Jeremy look like a liar, so Chloe hesitated, unable to do one thing or the other. Since she couldn’t openly declare that she was Chloe Elena, she was even more at a loss as to what to say or how to say it.

Ian, who had been staring down at her confusion, let out a dry sigh and turned away. As the long shadow cast over her head receded, the dazzling sunlight poured down again.

Only then did Chloe raise her head and stare at the back of Ian MacMilden, who was walking away. Somehow, his back looked lonely.

* * *

Jeremy, who had been waiting for Chloe to return to the reception room, came out after a long wait when his sister didn’t come back. He didn’t forget to take the items she had given him.

Just in case, he went to the place where the carriages were waiting, but Chloe wasn’t there either. Ian MacMilden was also nowhere to be seen, but the carriage of the House of Duke MacMilden was there.

After hearing from the coachman that the two of them had been there and that Chloe had gone to look for Ian, Jeremy looked around.

But the two of them were nowhere to be seen. Since it was almost time for prayer, Jeremy finally gave up looking for Chloe and headed to his room.

Bong—

As he was nearing his room, the sound of a bell rang from afar. It was the bell announcing that prayers would begin in ten minutes.

“Oh no.”

In his haste to quickly change clothes and head to the prayer room, Jeremy ran quickly. Just as he was about to turn the corner of the hallway, he saw a person’s shadow.

“Ugh!”

Jeremy, who collided head-on with the owner of the shadow without slowing down, fell backward. His hip, which hit the floor hard, ached, but he was more worried about the condition of the person he had bumped into.

“Are you all right?”

Jeremy scrambled up and reached out his hand to the other person, who had also fallen backward. The person, who had rare green eyes, smiled awkwardly and took his hand.

“Yes, I’m fine. I should have watched where I was going… I apologize.”

“Not at all. I’m the one who wasn’t paying attention.”

Since neither of them was hurt, they exchanged brief apologies and parted ways.

Jeremy hurriedly returned to his room and checked his pocket before taking off his clothes, but the medicine bottle Chloe had given him was missing.