Chapter 172
“I should give you a token of trust in return for your generous gift.”
“A gift—ah… What are you going to show me?”
“The secret of Carter Livingston and Magnus Napier.”
“…!”
Eugenie suddenly felt as if someone had grabbed her by the throat. The secret of Carter and Napier?
‘No matter how many times I slept with them, I could never see any ‘secrets’ between them…’
But this man had the ability to peer into the memories of others. She couldn’t possibly forget, after what he’d done to her before.
“Come, take my hand, Eugenie Norton.”
Alokes looked at her with kind eyes and whispered gently.
What’s the most effective way to gain someone’s trust?
It’s to shake their belief in the ones they love most, slipping into the cracks that form in that trust.
“I’ll show you the secrets of those who’ve deceived you.”
* * *
The memories that the tree pervert shared were unlike anything Eugenie had experienced before.
‘When I saw Percival, Alfred, and Cassius’s memories, I had to enter their minds directly.’
Thanks to that, she was able to read their feelings, but could only see what they saw.
But—
“I’ll show you the secrets of those who’ve deceived you.”
At those words, Eugenie blinked and suddenly found herself on a familiar campus. Not far away, the seventeen-year-old Carter and her younger self were having a conversation.
Eugenie’s heart dropped at the scene.
“…Ah.”
She never expected to revisit this moment from the outside like this.
This was after she’d rejected Carter’s confession, a few weeks later.
During those weeks, she’d desperately avoided Carter whenever he tried to approach her again. That she managed to dodge him so well—despite the limited places to hide in the academy—was almost impressive.
“Eugenie, can we talk?”
But you can’t run away forever. On her way back to the dorm, Carter called out to her, and she finally stopped. Still, even at her old friend’s voice, she stubbornly kept her eyes straight ahead.
But Carter, even just grateful she wasn’t running away, was filled with complicated emotions.
Now, not only could Eugenie see the memory, she could feel Carter’s heart flooding into her own.
“Eugenie. I’m sorry.”
The boy’s voice was strained, weighed down by sorrow.
At seventeen, Eugenie had thought Carter sounded so calm.
Now, at twenty-four, she could finally sense how nervous and desperate that seventeen-year-old boy really was.
“I’m sorry I said something I shouldn’t have…”
“….”
“Please, just forget my confession ever happened.”
Eugenie caught a fleeting glimpse of Carter’s inner thoughts in that moment:
Let’s just… go back to the way things were. If we can spend tomorrow together like always, that’s enough for me. I…
“…You can ignore the way I feel about you. Just pretend it doesn’t exist.”
Despite originally being by her side because of Richard’s orders, Carter’s purpose had changed somewhere along the way.
By then, he was ready to throw away all the pride he’d ever built up.
If he could have spoken without choking up, he would have told her everything.
So Carter gritted his teeth and forced the words out:
“So….”
So please, don’t abandon me. Just let me stay by your side. Richard and the temple expect great things from me, but honestly, I…
But the girl standing a little ways ahead cut him off with a trembling voice.
“Carter, I’m sorry. I don’t want to hear any more.”
“Eugenie—”
“It’s too awkward being around you now. Let’s keep our distance.”
The present Eugenie clenched her jaw as she listened to her own teenage voice.
Ah, back then, she really thought that was the best thing to say. She thought ending things so coldly would snap Carter back to his senses…
Seventeen-year-old Eugenie spun around, her eyes red and swollen as if she was holding back tears.
“Why did you have to confess?”
“Eugenie…”
“Didn’t you realize how perfect our relationship was? Why’d you ruin it by saying something like that? Now we can never go back!”
“But—”
“You’re really awful, Livingston. I don’t even want to see your face.”
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