Chapter 67
A few days have passed since Eric visited Chloe.
It was like walking on thin ice all these days, Daniel and Andrea recalled, because Eric was so sensitive. While he never got angry or scolded them, his behavior was so different from usual that they naturally had no choice but to keep their eyes open at him.
At the same time, they were very worried because, at some point, Eric stopped stepping out of the lab.
He did everything from eating to sleeping in his lab, in addition to concentrating on his studies like someone who was really crazy when they went in every once in a while and checked on him. Eric was constantly turning screws, constantly touching nippers, constantly drawing blueprints…
Even though Daniel was worried about him, he thought it was time for him to work, so he left Eric alone.
But, Andrea was different.
Andrea, who was serving the meal, noticed that Eric hadn’t touched the meal and told Daniel. Feeling the situation getting serious, Daniel eventually knocked on the door of the lab.
“Your Excellency, may I come in?”
Although there was no answer, he opened the door and went in.
The lab where he had opened the door and looked inside was the worst. It was a complete mess as though it hadn’t been cleaned up at all. As if all the machines had been taken out, the floor was full of scrap metal.
Daniel rubbed his forehead and sighed.
“Your Excellency.”
Eric still didn’t answer. He was just raising his glasses and turning the nippers.
“Your Highness!”
As Daniel shouted as he approached him like that, it was only then did Eric slowly raised his head. Daniel could feel his breath suffocate for a moment. At the same time, he could see Eric’s eyes were really dead, completely different from when he saw them a few days ago.
“Are you alright… No, why are you doing this!”
He exclaimed. Daniel shouted again, snatching the nipper from Eric’s hand.
“A week. You haven’t stepped out of the lab for a week!”
“…Already.”
He didn’t speak for a long time and answered in a deep voice.
“That’s what happened?”
Eric wondered if Chloe would be alive during this week. Thinking so, he then shook his head, repeating that he shouldn’t think about her and that he shouldn’t worry about her or think of her.
“It is because of the research on the newly developed prosthetic limb. You know, when I start researching, it’s usually like this.”
“…But this time, it’s too much.”
Daniel pulled his arm.
“Get out. Go out and wash, eat, and sleep. Live properly!”
“I’m alright. You don’t have to worry.”
“What’s alright?!”
Daniel was now on the verge of breaking loose. He almost clung to Eric and held on to him.
“If you are going to do this, bring Madam, okay?”
He, of course, thought that Chloe was the reason Eric had come this far. Because of that, his life had been completely messed up, and he was so out of his mind. Wasn’t it? After Chloe left, Eric was literally living a life of exhaustion.
That was why he said that. However, Eric’s expression mysteriously changed as the tips of his eyebrows dropped.
“…Do you want me to bring Chloe?”
“Yes. Go, hang on to her, or even kneel down and bring her back.”
As Daniel uttered in a completely stubborn tone, Eric was even more puzzled. Why, why? The questions didn’t stop.
“Why… should I?”
“Only then will Your Excellency be set right!”
Not understanding Daniel’s cry, he wiped his face with one hand and took a deep breath.
“I am still living well. Enough for now. You don’t have to do anything more here. But why…”
He paused, then opened his mouth again.
“Why… should I?”
Hearing that, Daniel was completely bewildered. This stupid man. Stupid, pathetic man!
He shouted loudly at Eric.
“Because Your Excellency loves Madam…!”
Loud shouts filled the laboratory. Eric listened blankly to the echo of the sound, then pulled his chin and lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“…Yes?”
“I know that I love her.”
Daniel opened his mouth.
…Eric Aslan of the world admitted love? That he realized that he was in love? At that moment, Daniel stared at him in disbelief, still pouting, but Eric’s face didn’t change. He was still gazing at him with an expression stained with various emotions.
Suddenly, Eric’s lips opened halfway.
“Still, that’s no reason for me to kneel in front of Chloe.”
He mumbled.
“Yes. I can’t do that. I can’t… because I am Eric Aslan.”
Daniel touched his forehead.
Was he still like this even after realizing he loved her? What happened to Eric’s temper?! How come, at a moment like this, he could only worry about his pride and only think about himself? He was such a damn selfish man…!
Daniel was angry.
Even he was this angry, then what about Chloe? As he thought, he clapped in awe at Chloe, who had been accepting Eric’s attitude so far, and felt sorry for her at the same time. When she returned, he would treat her with all his heart and sincerity.
Thinking so, he glared at Eric.
“How long will you keep your pride? Even if the madam dies, will you still keep up your pride like that?”
At those words, Eric was silent, but Daniel continued his words.
“You will regret it. You will definitely regret it! You’re still regretting it!”
His downcast gaze lifted and Eric open eyes, which were filled with emptiness.
He was truly empty.
“What am I… regretting?”
Oh, my God. Daniel touched his forehead again. This foolish man in front of him doesn’t even realize what he regrets. How stupid!
“What you couldn’t do for her!”
So, he cried out in a loud voice.
“You’re regretting all the things: when you didn’t care about her, left her alone, and hurt her! That’s why you live so stupidly! Damn it! If I had known this was going to happen, I should have stopped Madam as well!”
Eric stared blankly at Daniel, then slowly looked away before glancing out the window full of sunset light.
It was already evening again.
The time he separated from Chloe, that time has returned.
As he thought of Chloe, it reminded him of the moment he realized he loved her. He had to admit it now… the moment he saw Chloe, the moment he looked at her from under the podium, he knew that he had fallen in love with her at first sight.
Yes… it was from then.
From then on, Eric loved her, and he had always loved Chloe.
Still, he didn’t want to admit it. He judged her lofty pride, which he loved, as arrogance. He only thought of her uprightness as a stubborn personality. So, he criticized her down again and again. In the end, Chloe became nothing because she was brought down like that.
…In other words, everything he loved was gone.
He felt like he was going crazy every time he thought of that moment.
“Maybe…”
Eric put his hands on the desk and let out a long sigh.
“…Maybe I turned around in front of her because I knew I couldn’t.”
Daniel narrowed his brows.
“What do you mean?”
Eric stammered.
“I thought the filament broke.”
The Chloe he saw a week ago looked like a light bulb with a broken filament… a light bulb that had lost its light.
“So, I thought I would just connect it. I’m a renowned scientist, so I figured there wouldn’t be a problem with that.”
Eric really thought so. He thought so stupidly simple.
“Still, it wasn’t. The light bulb was totally out of order, and I found out about it too late.”
“….”
“Even if I try to fix it, I can’t fix it.”
The more he thought about it in retrospect, the more he pictured her, and the more he couldn’t get rid of the feeling that she was broken. That was why he had to fix her, but he had to return her to the original Chloe…
“There is nothing I cannot fix. There’s nothing that can’t be fixed once it’s in my hands. But…”
Eric sat down. He sat down and rested his forehead on the edge of his desk.
“…Why is this relationship not fixing?”
It didn’t seem like it would be fixed. It seemed that Chloe was going to die after living in a completely broken state. Maybe that’s why Eric ran away. Actually, it was not because of his great pride though because he subconsciously realized that Chloe really wouldn’t be fixed… so…
“Daniel.”
Eric grabbed the desk and gazed at Daniel.
“…What can I do?”
He asked.
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