# 3
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Ariana whispered, scratching the ground lightly with her toes.
“Aren't you finished?”
“I came at Quentin's request. He's really busy over there.”
“How much does my brother work for?”
Ariana mumbled quietly.
I suddenly realized that what I did to hide my embarrassment would seem childish, but it was already too late.
Kenneth noticed everything and was watching with open eyes.
“It was Quentin who found it interesting to expand the scope of the work, and not because I recommended it.”
“Hmm”
“Why aren’t you thankful that I didn’t lead you down a corrupt path like gambling?”
“…yes”
Ariana knew she couldn't deny those words.
'My family benefits more than Clifford's family'
The Aberdeen family was barely able to survive in the capital, but they had been on a roll since they began running the company with Kenneth.
Kenneth nodded to indicate that I shouldn't think about anything else and move on.
It was as quiet as if the other person had come to take away an eight-year-old girl, not an eighteen-year-old woman.
Ariana entered the car quietly despite being watched.
'No matter how much less strict etiquette has become than our parents' generation...'
I never thought sitting next to each other about two inches apart would be so breathtaking.
But then, Kenneth broke the silence first.
“I heard your grades are very good.”
“Yes?”
“Quentin said so. You are particularly good at foreign languages.”
He smiled slightly and looked at Ariana. Ariana's cheeks felt hot as she looked at her as if she was playing a child.
“It wasn't anything to brag about.”
I was embarrassed to say that I was so interested in Kenneth that I became a senior...
“Really? I was so curious after hearing that so much that it blew my ears away.”
“How good are you?”
I felt a tingle in my knees when I thought of his eyes focusing specifically on the lips.
After their first meeting, Ariana was very nervous every time she talked to Kenneth.
I couldn't babble in front of this person, and it was difficult for me to make colorful facial expressions because I was worried about what others would think.
However, she could not bear the silence in the car alone.
Ariana also struggled to open her mouth.
“I like the material, but it's at the level it's taught as a priest anyway.”
“Hmm”
“There will be very little to write about after I graduate. I will marry someone anyway.”
“…huh?”
Tack-! Tack-! At that moment, Kenneth slowly tapped his knee with his long fingers.
Ariana secretly looked at him through the glass window.
The relaxed look was surprisingly elegant.
The person reflected in the window asked indifferently,
“Is there anyone you've heard of?”
“This is the thing that my mother will decide, so I just have to follow her. I don’t think about anything else.”
In fact, there was a possibility that there would be a story about her fiancé, but Josefina kept putting it off.
“The current situation is chaotic, so I can't quickly propose to a random person.”
This was Josefina's answer.
It was a tone that looked down on others, but from what Ariana heard, there was nothing wrong with it.
They say that there are sharp political conflicts every day, even through rumours. Therefore, everyone takes necessary precautions.
The imperial people were confident that the barbaric era of waging war against other countries with bayonets was over. However, rumors spread that someone was secretly instigating the assassination like a ghost story among the nobles and businessmen.
It was a shadow that arose when the prestige of money became higher than that of fame.
Given this situation, doesn't Crown Prince Andrew still have a partner?
It was the same with Kenneth.
'But it's impossible not to have marriage talk with him when articles praising him like this appear every day.'
When I came to this thought, my throat closed and I became anxious.
Each time, I watched from afar, but it felt like the other person was going to disappear just beyond my reach.
Josephina's preaching words lingered in my ears.
"Ariana. You just stay still. Every time the girl opens her mouth, the guy runs away."
Ariana has always followed her mother's teachings cloy. Because I wanted to be a good daughter and be loved.
But this time, I spoke because of Kenneth.
For the first time in my life, I had the desire to gauge the other person's reaction.
“But on graduation day, I will ask the person I love to come.”
“I think it would be great if we could go see the opera together that night.”
I tried to act brave, but I ended up chewing my tongue. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to die on the spot.
Ariana whispered, leaving her hair down to hide the side of her face.
“… Do you want to come?”
I felt like my heart was going to explode, and even my limbs were throbbing, but I couldn't bear to look at the other person. He was really unknown.
How did you expect the other person to react to this strange provocation?
Even his low voice full of exciting laughter could be heard,
"Ariana Aberdeen. How about making a suggestion like this when the driver isn't there?"
Only then did Ariana hurriedly look forward.
Although silence is the virtue of a high-ranking employee, the driver must have heard all this pathetic flirting.
I wanted to open the door now and go running.
It will be less shy that way.
In the end, the wheels stopped and Ariana tried to escape as if she saw a path where an angel came to meet her.
However, the driver had not opened the door completely yet, so he hit one of her shoulders forcefully.
"Yes!"
“Ha, Ariana”
She almost hit her forehead, but Kenneth pulled her arm behind her just in time. However, I was overcome with shame when I realized that I was in a position to hug him from behind.
“It seems that your experience as a beginner was in vain.”
“Ah, this...”
Ariana felt like crying like a baby.
Never had such a humiliating mistake been made anywhere else.
It's always like this when it comes to Kenneth.
As he escorted me out the door with a faint smile, my heart was beating so fast that I wanted to die.
“I'll think about it”
“I'll have to check the schedule with Roger.”
After that, I couldn't even remember what I said. However, she remembered that Clifford couldn't bear to look at the driver's face.
With her head feeling like she had the flu, Ariana thought countless times.
“No, Kenneth Clifford can't be serious.”
He makes fun of me every day. If Quentin is not in the middle, we are not close to each other...
I'm sure Kenneth was teasing me. This person has a laid-back attitude and often makes clever jokes.
But something actually happened that couldn't be real.
* * *
The night after the graduation party...
Ariana was sitting on a box seat in the opera theater with a puzzled look on her face.
She also wore a silver lavender evening dress, and also wore sparkling jewelry on her hair and the back of her neck.
On this day, Ariana looked like a proper lady from the outside.
In fact, her face was frozen.
'This doesn't make sense'
He was the one who laughed at her when they first met, saying that she was young and petite. But Kenneth Clifford did come.
Even the opera spoke in a strange way...?
When she honestly admitted what she had done, Ariana expected to receive a harsh beating from Josefina.
She tells her that she laughed without knowing any shame.
[...that's a good idea too. won't be bad]
However, my mother was more willing to allow this outing than I expected.
'Did she really hope that things would go well with the Little Duke?'
Anyway, I was alone with Kenneth in the dark for at least three hours. Unlike her, who was frantic, Kenneth was very relaxed.
'Did he really come here?'
Or are you just hanging out with me as a joke to flirt with me a little?
Although I wanted to scream and run away, I also wished that time would stop at this moment.
However, as if it was revealed that he was paying attention to other things, Kenneth ended up scolding her during break time.
“You can't seem to concentrate.”
“Okay...”
In fact, I couldn't help but find the face of Kenneth sitting next to me more interesting than the male lead on stage.
However, since she couldn't say it, Ariana had no choice but to insist.
“Really? I was concentrating right.”
"Really? So what do you remember from the proposal scene you just saw?"
“Mmm. And since it’s a marriage proposal, the most romantic aspect is…!”
“Didn't you see that the first female singer just rejected the main male character?”
“Ah”
“You didn't look at her right.”
Ariana was about to refute, but stopped talking.
Although the lighting had returned to a softer tone, the box seats with velvet curtains were dark.
The man staring at her was very close...
“Ariana”
A hoarse voice came out from between still smiling lips.
When I listened to it, the tune made my back tingle.
Could it be that this person also came out honestly?
“Kenneth-”
But then, an ear-piercing sound came from below.
At first, Ariana thought it was a scream from someone who fell on the first floor. However, the screaming gradually became louder, and violent punching sounds began to be heard.
'What? What's going on here?'
The moment anxiety creeps from under your feet...
Tak-!
As gunshots were heard, the velvet curtains covering the bench seats were pulled back forcefully.
“Ariana, stand back.”
Kenneth stopped her, but Ariana covered her mouth at the sight behind the curtain door.
Everyone present in the Clifford family died.
The smooth marble floor was soaked in blood, and when I looked up… masked men were pointing their rifles.
“Die, Clifford!” ,
The wild screams were followed by a final gunshot.