Aster Veren
Episode 61

- Esther

After hearing the details of Carel's story from papa last night. I understood why he didn't want to enter the academy. My inner self imagines the difficulty of life being a Carel who has to fulfill the wishes of her family even though she doesn't want to.

Moreover, dad said that the main reason Carel did not want to enter the academy was because of his mother. He did not want to part with his mother, if Carel entered the academy, he would not be able to see his mother often in the hospital.

"So Carel's mother was sick .. I don't know because she never told me." I murmured that I felt guilty that Carel had always lingered at home to accompany me until my father returned from his office.

It also looks like it has no problems. It looks like Carel is indeed smart to hide his problems, different from me. I continued in my heart when I remembered Carel's words saying my face was easy to read.

Dad also said Carel's mother had been sick for a long time. His body was already weak from birth, but he was able to survive until now. It's just that lately things have gotten worse, "just carel's behaving like never before."

"But that doesn't mean he can skip school as he pleases, does it? Although he was a genius even if his mother knew he was truant because of him, surely he would feel sad. So help him to be what he wants to be. I heard he wanted to become a doctor, even though he entered the academy to become the successor of his family, but he could be what he wanted to be after he entered the academy right?" Father's soft voice came back in my head.

"Really! Because there are many choices of majors in the academy. Carel is free to choose his major, right? He could secretly agree to his family's wishes, then after entering he could change his major's choice ... is it okay like that?" I was hesitating with my own mind.

"What do you think of to the point of ignoring your books?" Carel's voice shocked me half to death.

"Ca–carel?! Ka–when arrived?" I was stirred while stroking my chest.

"You didn't even notice my arrival?" He said after sighing heavily while sitting next to me with the right leg superimposed on his left leg, then his hands immediately folded in front of his chest while leaning his body on the back of the garden chair we were sitting on.

Did he hear my words? My mind immediately threw my gaze away from him.

"What are you thinking?" The question got me back into the fold.

"Ti–no." Give me a smile while showing him my best smile. But Carel quickly touched my forehead with her fingers until it made me scream in pain.

"What the hell?! Sick tau!" My growl while stroking my forehead that feels sore and throbbing.

"Your face is easy to guess ...." His words made me shut up for a few seconds.

"Ha–hah?! Mu– easy to guess? No kidding!" Kilahku trying to control my heartbeat that increasingly racing because of fear of being discovered.

Ja–so he heard my babble huh?

"Look! Your expression like this I can't ignore" he said, embarrassing me to death as his face drew closer to me.

"... You seem to have heard of my problem?" His murmur immediately distanced his face from before me and again leaned his body as comfortably as possible on the back of the garden chair.

"Sorry." My whisper felt guilty for no reason.

"Why apologize?"

"Because you've heard your story without permission."

"Why should I get permission? Didn't your father tell you?"

"Hem ...." Nodding at me while watching the Aster flowers before me, trying to distract me from Carel.

I don't know if her face is really unsightly, she keeps showing me a thin smile and a look I can't understand. I could even feel the falsity of the feelings he was showing.

I really don't like his fake smile, my mind squeezing the tip of my clothes as tightly as possible.

She also seemed uncomfortable beside me, as she looked away from her constantly shifting her eyes from me as I tried to stare at her red bead. Maybe he doesn't want to show me his true feelings. Those eyes can never lie, right?

"It looks like the old man asked your father for help to take care of me huh?" His murmur made me look at him. I don't know why I feel guilty about him for being bait to get him into that academy.

"... to–why doesn't Carel want to enter the Academy?" I asked after gathering all my courage to ask her directly. I just wanted to make sure–heard straight away the reason for not wanting to enter the academy.

"You haven't heard from your father?" He answered without looking at me at me.

"You know that far, yes .. when I don't want to see you like this" he murmured again with a faint smile at me, and somehow my heart felt so claustrophobic when I saw Carel's thin smile that looked so forced.

Actually how bad is your mother's condition Carel? Inner wondering.

"... but yes, that's just one of my reasons, another reason because I don't want to be the successor to the Alterio family. I just want to do what I want to do, but somehow it feels so hard ...." It definitely made me tighten my grip on my clothes even more, without realizing I had bitten my lower lip with anxiety because I could not help Carel when she was in trouble.

It's so useless, I want to cry now. But not while he's next to Carel, right? He's been having trouble with his problem, where maybe I'm adding more weight.

***

- Ansel

"Excuse me sir." Rigel's voice along with the sound of the door opening displayed his figure on the doorstep.

"What's wrong? Why does it look so rushed?" I ask that I can't ignore his unusual attitude.

"Anu, that's ... a–ada call from the hospital that Hans has regained consciousness." He said trying to catch his breath panting, it seemed like he was running from the parking lot to my work space.

"We're leaving now." I said while patting her shoulder as she walked past.

"Good." He immediately followed me from behind.

"By the way ...."

"Yes?"

"Don't run around Rigel's office."

"Ma–forgive me sir, I was really surprised when I heard the call from the hospital, I unconsciously ran in the office because I wanted to immediately tell you about this good news."

"Can't you call me?"

"Ah–ya, I don't think up there."

"How about Tomi? Any word from him?" I asked as I entered the elevator together with Rigel.

"So far he hasn't told you anything." Reply while pressing the elevator button to the ground floor.

"Looks like he's having trouble huh .. Should I ask Eric to help him?" I muttered while holding my chin with my right hand, thinking about what I could do to speed up the investigation process.

"What about Victor?" When I remember the face of that man.

"He's still investigating Claretta's motive for marrying Albert." The answer along with the elevator door that had opened, made me rush out of there as well as Rigel.

"Hem..this is weird," I muttered recalling the information Ian gave me yesterday.

The man said Claretta was married because she was in love with Albert, who had two children the same age as Carel, and her first child, who had been away from home for a long time.

"... You also realize it, right? If he married Albert to get his daughter back, he should have done it a long time ago. But until now she hasn't reclaimed custody, what do you think is the reason other than that she fell in real love with her husband?" Ian's voice came back to my head.

"Because he didn't want Albert to know his past. Can you imagine what Albert would do when he found out that Claretta had a child out of wedlock? the answer is only one .. divorce! Wh why? Because if she maintains her marriage to Claretta, then her family's reputation could be tarnished." It made my head ache from having to think about all the possibilities he was thinking about.

But by far, that's the only possibility that makes the most sense. It's just. .. What if the man named Albert doesn't care about Claretta's past? Wouldn't he sooner or later help the woman to snatch Kalea out of Victor's hands?

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Thanks for reading...