For My Birthday, I Was Gifted Five Husbands - Chapter 53

‘Eugenie, the truth is, I’ve liked you since we were kids.’

This had happened when they were both seventeen.

Carter, dressed smartly in his academy uniform, blushed as he spoke.

‘Would you go out with me? I’ll do my best to make it fun for you.’

Eugenie had a faint understanding of his feelings. She could tell that Carter treated her with more kindness than he did other girls. After hitting puberty, she realized that such kindness couldn’t simply be brushed off as ‘just because we’re childhood friends.’

She was aware of how his affectionate behavior would appear to others.

And at some point, she found that kind of ‘gentle attention’ from a boy to be somewhat uncomfortable…

Moreover, receiving a proposal for a relationship at the age of seventeen, during a time of budding romantic interests, felt significant. If their relationship advanced even slightly, it could lead to a serious engagement.

Did she want to pursue that path with Carter?

But knowing her own personality, she would likely ruin everything to the point where nothing would remain…

‘I can’t see you like that, Carter.’

Confessions are a strange kind of magic.

They could completely change a relationship that had been carefree and easy, where they shared meals and vented about schoolwork, in an instant. For some, it might be a happy ending, but for Eugenie, it was different.

It felt like a curse that brought an end to the easygoing relationship they once had.

Unable to bear the sight of Carter’s expression as he struggled not to crumble, Eugenie chose a somewhat cowardly approach.

‘I’m sorry.’

After turning away and fleeing to the girls’ dormitory that day, she pretended as if nothing had happened the next day.

Fortunately, Carter made witty remarks that mixed sharpness with kindness when he spoke to her with a composed expression.

However, that was the end of their relationship. They didn’t exchange messages after graduating from the academy unless it was during the annual temple events.

‘Looking back now, did I end up dating Peter Lamburg because of Carter’s confession?’

It wasn’t merely curiosity about whether ‘someone was interested in me.’

‘Why isn’t Eugenie Norton dating Carter?’

‘Maybe he’s just playing around? She’s only praised because she has a decent face…’

‘Her mom is strange too. She doesn’t even have the basic qualities of a lady.’

At the time, rumors among their classmates at the academy had cornered Eugenie a bit. Not surprisingly, it was Apollin who had brought up their mothers.

It seemed that, to prove Apollin’s last remark wrong, she wanted to show that she was ‘dating someone other than Carter.’

‘In the end, I’ve returned to this dead end.’

Regardless, even years later, that incident remained a taboo between them.

But now that Carter had brought it up, she had no choice but to listen quietly as a sinner.

“Maybe among the five of us, I’m the one you dislike the most. I’ve thought about that.”

“That’s not it. It’s just awkward.”

“Really? Then can I take this as an opportunity?”

At that moment, while the automobile paused due to a traffic signal, Carter turned to face Eugenie. The smile that tugged at one corner of his mouth appeared affectionate and captivating, even to Eugenie.

“I told you back then when I confessed, right? That I’d do my best to make you happy.”

She almost wanted to say that he had already done more than enough without trying so hard, but before she could, Carter leaned in and whispered in her ear,

“Far more than the other four.”

Feeling a rush of embarrassment, similar to when Percival called her ‘wife,’ Eugenie playfully shoved his face away with her hand. Even though she was confident in her verbal sparring, she couldn’t hold her ground when Carter decided to tease her with his words.

“…Who do you think I’m going to stop? Just look ahead, unless you want to die together right after getting married.”

“Of course not. I’m incredibly happy right now.”

“Ugh… but Carter, are we really heading toward the temple?”

“Yep, that’s right.”

…Why? Eugenie stared incredulously at the approaching white building. The pointed white spires were flanked by artificial lakes, symmetrically positioned, with a wide expanse of greenery behind them.

Though the days when a single religious figure could execute people with the finesse of pulling a rat’s tail had long passed, the majority of the empire still worshiped Arthurian in their daily lives.

Eugenie, too, had prayed as a child, but she had long realized the futility of it and had distanced herself from the temple.