# 25
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Gastby's eyes twitched. He was trying to make his mind work.
Eric's words were not wrong. Raising prices tomorrow will mean freezing funding for next month.
After he calculated it, Gatsby regretted his mistake, but at the same time he felt ashamed. To be insulted by an ordinary person! He couldn't believe it. With the influence of alcohol, the mind completely disappeared.
“What a petty person who only cares about money!”
“Then,” cried Gatsby, Eric's hand stopped.
"This is why common people shouldn't have the title of noble. It just becomes like this! You don't know how to return the favor that was given to you!"
“Are you the one who gave me the title of noble? What do you care about what I do with what I have so richly earned?”
"And that fool, Chloe Rolfe! She's so blind to money that she married Ami. She should be ashamed of herf!"
“This bastard wants to be beaten...!”
Eric lifted Gatsby high by the collar. Then, as his fist was directed towards Gatsby, at that moment...
“Please stop!”
A clear and sharp voice emanated from between them. It was Chloe.
“What exactly are you...”
Her hand trembled as she held her fan. She looked at Eric's hand next to Gatsby's face.
At that moment, Eric felt as if his head had been doused with cold water.
Did you hear that?
I'm sure you heard that.
What do you think?
Would you think I'm an ordinary person who knows nothing about grace?
Eric exhaled loudly, then dropped what he was wearing. He rearranged his messy jacket and raised his shoulders proudly. Then he smiled brightly.
“Excuse my behavior.”
He's back to his usual f. Calm, polite.
He left that place and walked through the gaps between the spectators who were talking loudly.
Chloe looked at Eric as he walked away, then at Gatsby who had collapsed on the floor. She approached him, as the mistress of the Marquis' household, she had to do so. Then, Eric felt bitter.
He exhaled desperately, feeling Chloe's absence as she didn't follow him.
* * *
Chloe placed her hand on her chest, which was beating hard.
She mostly listened to other people's conversations. Ha ha, ho ho. It was difficult for her to listen to these conversations amid the noise of people around her, but she did not miss them.
It's always been that way. Chloe could hear Eric's voice anytime, anywhere. She never ignored him. That's why Chloe could hear that conversation too.
Anger.
Treat her like an easygoing woman.
When Eric raised his fist, I felt grateful. But what really angered Chloe was what the man said next.
“What a petty person who only cares about money!”
“This is why commoners should not be given the title of peerage.”
As for Eric's expression after hearing this, he looked completely blank, as if he had lost something. He hesitated to look at Chloe, and it was sad and painful for Chloe's anger towards him to fade away. It hurt her deeply.
“Excuse me, ma'am.”
At this moment, Theo, who seemed more stoic, approached her with a serious look.
"All I can say is I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Those guys were drunk, so…"
“I will not accept your apology.”
Chloe interrupted Theo in the middle of his speech and said this firmly. Then she turned with a clear and transparent look towards Theo and his companions.
“It was serious and caused such a big problem that a lawsuit could be filed.”
“I understand, ma'am. I'm really sorry.”
“I apologize.”
"but."
Chloe folded her hands together. Her calm expression seemed to show that she was capable of forgiving anything. Everyone's eyes sparkled with hope.
“Everyone will be considered drunk, so I will not file a lawsuit in vain.”
“Thank you, ma’am. We will never forget this kindness...”
“But my husband might think differently.”
Chloe smiled and raised her chin as if to mock their absurd hopes.
“Eric Aslan is more stubborn than you think.”
Her husband will never calm down. Even if Gatsby files an assault suit against Eric, Gatsby will pay back this debt in double the amount.
Realizing this, Theo and his companions frowned. Chloe bowed slightly towards them.
“Then, goodbye.”
She left that place somewhat hurriedly, but no tension could be seen in her gait.
* * *
Eric was inside the cart now.
Naturally, Chloe thought her husband had already beat her to it, so she felt a bit of a surprise. But this did not appear on her face. I sat on the other side, face to face with him.
"Are you well?"
She spoke cautiously towards Eric, who was looking out the window. He turned half-turned. There seemed to be a terrible feeling of helplessness in his gray eyes.
“Did you come to make fun of me too?”
He smelled of alcohol. Chloe was surprised this time. Her husband was originally a person who did not drink alcohol at all!
How hard it was for him to have to drink alcohol. Chloe was now completely immersed in her husband, forgetting that she had been hurt by his earlier words. To the point of foolishness.
“Sarcasm? What do you mean, I never did that.”
“Don't lie...”
Eric frowned. He ran his hand over his face, his sighs mingling with the smell of alcohol.
“It is inevitable that you will make fun of me. Because I am originally an ordinary person with dirty, hateful blood.”
“Why do you say that?”
Chloe was genuinely worried for Eric. She leaned forward.
“Eric.”
Eric's gaze gradually rose and turned to Chloe. When their eyes met, Chloe opened her lips to speak.
“No one looks at you that way. You are respected. You have constantly contributed to progress through your inventions.”
Eric opened his mouth as if to say something, but immediately closed it. the curse! He muttered an obscene word while ruffling his bangs. He looked at Chloe with his eyes half closed.
“You said you don't trust me.”
She didn't know he was going to say this here, so Chloe felt confused.
Eric closed his eyes and chose his words carefully.
“You say I did something like that, but you don't meet me.”
He leaned towards her, resting his forehead on Chloe's shoulder as he muttered.
“I never did anything. I never did anything for you...”
Chloe stopped breathing for a moment at the smell. In addition to the strong smell of alcohol, the pungent smell of cigar smoke lingering on him mixed with the smell of the musk perfume he was wearing, and remained lingering on the tip of her nose.
One moment seemed like an eternity. Eric leaned slightly against Chloe.
“But why, why don’t you respect me?”
She wanted to say that.
The fact that she heard him call her a terrible woman.
That's why she didn't believe anything he said.
But what difference would it make if she said that?
Chloe smiled helplessly and slowly extended her hand. She put her hand on Eric's hair from behind.
“I'm sorry.”
Chloe gently stroked Eric's hair. His shoulders were tense, but he quickly relaxed and closed his eyes. Chloe continued to stroke his hair like this.
“...That's true. I'm sorry.”
This situation continued until Eric fell asleep. Chloe repeated her apologies to him over and over again. She didn't know why she was apologizing, but she was sorry for everything anyway.
The biggest thing she regrets is that she married him.
It is said that dreams are a kind of retreat into the past, as if they are returning to the past and living the same life again.
Eric had a dream like this.
* * *
That was a long time ago. How old was he here? He didn't even remember this place.
He was born in the streets and grew up in the streets. He didn't know his parents' faces, and the people around him were always new and always dying, so he couldn't remember their faces anyway.
The bread always came in crumbs, and the milk was never whole.
His life was so harsh that he wondered if he was even living. There was no future, no present. There was no such thing as everything, but nothing at all.
He had nothing but a miserable life.
It was normal for him to oscillate between life and death because he lived in the slums.
It was also cold in the north. On that day, the cold was severe. He later heard that it was one of the coldest days ever.
He was curled up under an old blanket he had gotten from somewhere, and there were wooden boards next to him as a shelter. As long as he didn't fall asleep, he would be able to withstand the cold.
That's what he thought.
Until a little girl approached him.
The unknown girl was very young. It was so small that it didn't look like it would even reach his waist. The little girl sat cross-legged without a plank or blanket, rubbing her hands together to stave off the cold.
He couldn't ignore the girl. He couldn't pretend not to know that the child would die if he left her alone.
So he gave her his blanket. This sympathy was considered costly.
He suffered frostbite and his flesh rotted. It started from his big toe and eventually reached his ankle, eventually forcing him to have his foot amputated.
Pity was so expensive that he had to give up his right foot. He regretted it, but it was in the past. And the girl died. She could not overcome her hunger and eventually died of starvation.
miserable.
How long will he have to live this miserable life?
He limped onto the Pier Bridge. The river below was high and fast flowing. If he had fallen from that height, he would have died.
He heard from somewhere that a person's past - his entire life - passes before his eyes before his death. He asked himf if he had a life like this to remember.
No, he didn't. He was always hungry, always desperate, always waiting for death.