Chapter 188 - 188 Ch. 188 The Beginning Of Harmonie’s Love

188 Ch. 188 The Beginning Of Harmonie’s Love

Andrew didn’t know how long he had been standing on the balcony while reminiscing. Seeing Harmonie’s lonely figure made him want to grab the girl and hug her, but Andrew stayed where he was standing. Even if it only took one step for him to reach out―he only needed to take her hand, Andrew still did nothing, helplessly watching over her from afar.

If Andrew didn’t know what it felt like to have someone close yet so far before―he did now.

Andrew observed their gap and noticed it was only a few steps for him to wrap his arms around the girl, and yet... he felt he had to jump over a towering wall before he could reach her.

Andrew was torn between good and evil―comply with Stanley’s wish or follow what his heart told him to do. He still remembered how Stanley disliked him for getting close to Harmonie, but his heart yearned for the girl. When he decided to make a move, his logic scolded his heart―banned his muscle.

But what if ... he encouraged himself without thinking―without remembering Stanley’s threat? They were no longer youngsters, and his father’s company was in its prime. Even if Stanley tried to play a trick on the company, Andrew doubted Meisya would let her husband do it.

‘It only takes a few steps,’ encouraged Andrew to himself. Alas, right after he determined to change their ambiguous, awkward relationship―someone interrupted him.

“Moni.”

Andrew and Harmonie instantly turned towards the sound source when a female voice called out to Harmonie.

“Moni. Where are you?”

.....

“I’m here,” Moni answered so that the voice owner could find this place easily.

“Moni, I’d like you to... oh, you’ve got some company here. I’m sorry. Did I interrupt something?”

Andrew gave a friendly smile when he saw Anxia coming out of the balcony door and walking over to them.

“Absolutely not.” Andrew couldn’t help but lie and gave his utmost friendly smile. “Then I will return to my room―I have work to finish. Good night, ladies.”

‘Work again? It’s not like he’s a workaholic.’ Harmonie couldn’t help but suspect it was only an excuse to avoid her. Nevertheless, she let the man go and greeted her sister-in-law with a cheerful smile.

“Anxia, what is it?”

For a while, Anxia didn’t answer and looked at Andrew’s back as he walked back inside. Then she glanced at Harmonie to examine the girl’s expression. It wasn’t obvious, but Anxia could see the girl’s gleam of happiness after being with Andrew.

“Do you like him that much?”

Harmonie blinked several times when she heard that unexpected inquiry from her brother’s wife. She tilted her head in confusion as if she couldn’t understand what Anxia was asking her.

Her sister-in-law couldn’t possibly know her feelings for Andrew, could she? Harmonie had kept and hidden her affections toward the man for years―she even believed none of her family members were aware of her feelings. If her close kins didn’t notice her heart, why would a new member like Anxia detect it?

“What are you talking about?” Harmonie kept a confused expression―acting oblivious, for she still wished no one would know about her little secret.

“You’re really something, Moni. I’ll give you that. But you know what? It’s your misfortune to have a sister-in-law like me. You can fool your family, but you can’t fool me. I saw how you looked at him, and I caught you occasionally stealing a glance at him. Moni, you love him. Why’s the secret?”

Harmonie’s eyes widened upon hearing this, but a burst of hearty, bell-like laughter escaped her lips. “Ah, Anxia. Now I’m really curious about what carrier you took before you married my brother. You have a keen perceptive.”

Anxia directly sealed her mouth when she heard her sister-in-law’s comment because she didn’t want her past to be exposed just like that.

“Nah, my carrier was nothing important. Don’t worry. Your little secret is safe with me. But why did you hide it?”

“It’s my one-sided love―he will never see me the way I see him. Why would I reveal this and make my brothers hate Andrew?”

“It’s not like your brothers would force him to like you.”

“Believe me―they would.” Harmonie chuckled in amusement to see Anxia’s opened mouth reaction.

“Well, I don’t want my husband to have a sister-in-law like Quinn. So, it’s fine by me.” Harmonie chuckled at that, but Anxia noticed the sad look in her eyes even though her smile was broad.

“Moni, why does it have to be him? You could find other men much better than him.”

“You’re right.” was Moni’s straightforward answer, but she didn’t add in detail.

“Since when did you like him?”

Harmonie lifted her head and looked at the sky for the umpteenth time.

Her mind wandered to the past, where her feelings for Andrew started to emerge.

Back then, she was still the Gale Master who could control the weather and grow flowers whenever she was happy. Unlike the other realm lords, the Gale Master’s power would evaporate once she reached adulthood―when she fell in love for the first time. It explained why Harmonie couldn’t feel love as a woman toward a guy before she came twenty-one.

No matter how handsome or kind a young man tried to approach her, Harmonie would feel nothing and considered all the young men as friends.

Her heart would only bloom when she turned twenty-one, and that was when she realized that she had feelings for her cousin from the Heinest family.

Upon realizing her feelings, Moni had headaches and frequent nausea because her power as the Gale Master began to fade away. This was the inevitable weakness of all the Gale Masters―their strength and force source represented the Autumn that made all plants fall when the season ended. Likewise, the Gale Master―the ruler of Autumn’s legacy, would move on to the next Gale Master once they fell in love.

Little did Harmonie know the stronger her feelings for someone, the greater the dizziness and pain she would suffer―that was precisely what Stanley was afraid of. He wanted to make Andrew stay away from his daughter so that Harmonie wouldn’t fall in love with the young man. But instead of running away from his daughter, Andrew didn’t even leave when Harmonie approached him.

The young man always listened to Harmonie’s complaints whenever Quinn stole her toys or snatched her dolls. Andrew was patient even when Harmonie badmouthed Quinn for monopolizing her brothers’ time. The young man even secretly paid attention to Harmonie, making the seeds of attachment grow in Harmonie’s heart.

It’s just that Harmonie didn’t realize it because she was still a teenager at that time and assumed that Andrew’s attention to her was the same as her two older brothers’ attention to her.

But as soon as she turned twenty-first, the feelings that Andrew had instilled came out of nowhere. It was the young man who first made her fall in love with him, so the first person she thought of when her heart bloomed was that young man.

In the first few weeks that Harmonie fell ill, Stanley deliberately failed to tell the Heinests that his daughter was sick. He knew Andrew would come to check on his daughter’s condition and decided to take care of her.

However, Stanley knew that if Harmonie didn’t immediately confirm her feelings, she would continue to fall ill and weaken her body. The only way for Harmonie to understand how she feels is to meet Andrew face to face.

If Harmonie didn’t like Andrew, she would be fine and still be the Gale Master. But if Harmonie’s heart were set on that young man, then… her power would disappear.

Thus, Stanley arranged something for the Heinest family to hear that his youngest daughter had been sick for days. Stanley hoped that his daughter’s suffering would end soon and that her feelings for Andrew were just a mishap.

Harmonie didn’t know that Stanley had threatened Andrew several years ago, and she didn’t even know that long before this, Andrew had stopped looking at her like a little sister.

All Harmonie knew was, as soon as she opened her eyes and looked into Andrew’s concerned eyes―she knew right away… she had fallen in love.

In that instant, her powers disappeared, and she was no longer the Gale Master.

Even though she had lost her power as a Gale Master and could no longer control the wind as much as she liked, Harmonie didn’t feel depressed.

She instead felt relieved that her brain was no longer storing up so much information that it made her feel like she was going to explode because of the overwhelming information―from the previous Gale Master’s memories and on her own.

Harmonie also had the pleasure of seeing Andrew almost every day when the Heinest family visited her as soon as they heard she had been sick for days. She was thrilled to have Andrew take care of her, but...

Why did the man now avoid her and didn’t want to look at her?