# 26
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It's cold.
He wanted to feel warm for once.
But that seemed impossible, even if it lasted a lifetime. Slum children will not be able to get any warmth in their entire lives.
He rocked on his heels and leaned his body forward. Now, he was about to fall under the bridge.
At that moment, something caught his attention. Under the bridge, there was a group of nobles laughing and enjoying their time with tea…
They were all wearing thick fur coats made from excised animal skins. They were enjoying the warmth of a fire lit by their servants. However, it was impossible. They were aristocrats, but these people were so hateful that they couldn't be human.
How could they be warm when he was cold? The contrast between them was so intense that he felt as if his bones were frozen.
What made them so different?
Think about it.
What is the difference between him and them, while they were in a warm place, while he decided to die in the extreme cold?
What is the difference?
Their birth was what was different.
They were nobles and he was a commoner. This is what made the general atmosphere between them different.
Will he be able to get there?
no.
He wouldn't have been able to do that, even if he had tried all his life to move up. From the beginning, he had no right to inheritance. He was a commoner, not even able to work.
But if he could get there, if only he could go there!
For the first time, he dreamed of living a noble life.
But the dream was just a dream. He knew very well that it was only a dream because it would never come true. So, he just imagined.
A vague image of him becoming a nobleman, an image of a future that will never be achieved.
But a nobleman, who was engaged in pleasant conversation, saw him at that moment.
As soon as the woman found him, she screamed and pointed at him. This was not a friendly greeting.
He tried to escape, but because he was limping, the servants who were following him quickly caught him and beat him mercilessly. It was because he dared to look at the place where the nobles were enjoying their time.
While he was being beaten, he thought.
What's the problem? What mistake did he make? Maybe it was his fault that he was born...
It hurts.
It's very painful.
But the part that hurt him the most was his heart.
If he was to be reborn, he must be born a noble…
He would trample anyone who looked down on him.
So he closed his eyes.
He thought he was going to die. He wanted to die.
But he survived. Even when he was thrown under the bridge, and it was all thanks to the old inventor who saved him, Eric survived.
The old inventor introduced himf as Ed, and treated the child honestly. He said he felt like he was seeing himf from the past.
He didn't know what that meant yet. Anyway, after Ed took care of him, the old inventor named him Eric.
After that, Eric became his adopted son and disciple.
In itf, the life he lived with Ed was a happy one. He received help, was no longer hungry, and no longer shivered in the harsh and cold weather.
However, despite this change in environment, Eric constantly felt hungry and cold. His childhood memories kept haunting him.
Thanks to his keen talent for invention, Eric built himf up and made himf known as an inventor, even earning a noble title thanks to it. However, even as he faced success, it was in direct proportion to his desperate sense of powerlessness.
The higher his status, the greater his fear. Because he did not know when and how he would return to his previous situation. He was afraid of the nobles who had defeated him in the past, if they would recognize him. He was afraid his prosthetic leg would be exposed.
Everything terrified him. No, what terrified him more than anything else was himf.
From some point, he became afraid of himf.
That's why he started wearing a mask. He covered himf with a mask called pride and recklessness. He thought that was enough to not be looked down upon.
He was so stupid that he stopped feeling any love or affection towards others. Because of this, he became very arrogant. His arrogant and arrogant nature was famous throughout the capital!
Eric knew all this, but he never thought to fix it. He was satisfied with the current situation. He did not want to return to the past, and he did not dream of the future either.
He always lived only in the present. Therefore, he hated that he was dreaming of this now.
On this journey through time, Eric only realized one thing. The fact that his existence was wrong from the beginning – from the moment he was born.
The moment he realized this, he woke up from this dream.
* * *
As he exhaled, he could still feel the taste of alcohol in his mouth.
Then he suddenly froze. Because he saw the woman lying on his arm.
"renal".
He mumbled in a low voice. He didn't know why Chloe was sleeping next to him. He couldn't remember anything.
Yes. He quickly looked at his right leg. His pants were still down. Chloe shouldn't have seen him unless she looked at him intentionally. That was a relief.
Chloe was wearing the same clothes as she had yesterday, probably because she hadn't changed her clothes. Unlike Eric, whose appearance was messy due to his tie being undone and his shirt not tucked into his pants, Chloe looked very neat and tidy. Or was the back of her dress loose?
He tried to retrieve his memories. He attended the banquet last night and punched the man who was looking down on Chloe. Then, as he left, he drank glass after glass of champagne.
No matter how much he drank, he did not expect to get this drunk. He looked miserable in front of Chloe. His face was burning with embarrassment.
He was not the type to lose control of himf to the point of losing his memory due to drinking alcohol. That's why he remembered in the end what he said to Chloe, and he also remembered what Chloe said in response to him.
{No one looks at you that way. You are respected. You have constantly contributed to progress through your inventions.}
Hearing the voice still echoing in his ears, Eric bit his red lips slightly.
'I'm sorry.'
Why did you apologize?
What exactly did he hear? Even if she becomes this rebellious, there is nothing lacking in her.
"…This is correct. "I'm sorry."
What a foolish woman.
Eric glanced at Chloe, who still had her eyes closed the whole time.
Whenever Eric looked at Chloe, he would sometimes remember that day when he climbed onto the Pier Bridge and was brutally beaten even after he had already decided to end his life.
There was a bitter taste in his mouth. Eric shook Chloe gently, moving his arm.
“If you are awake, open your eyes.”
“Did you know?”
A slight smile appeared on Chloe's lips as she slowly opened her eyes. Her blue eyes, as clear as the summer sky, sparkled like jewels.
“How can I not do it when you are twisting like this? Get up now.”
“Are you thirsty?”
“A maid can be called to do this.”
Eric pulled the rope before Chloe could move. Since she had nothing to do, Chloe smiled awkwardly and sat down.
Eric asked: “What happened?”
“Nothing happened,” Chloe replied.
Chloe gestured to her stylish outfit as she said this. Eric frowned.
"I can at least guess that. I'm asking why we slept together."
Chloe remembered how Eric had clung to her last night, refusing to help Daniel.
When she had hardly brought him into this room and tried to change his clothes, he suddenly embraced her and lay down like that, and then fell asleep.
That's why Chloe had no choice but to sleep next to him.
Chloe could still feel Eric's warmth on her chest and his steady breathing.
“Would you believe me if I told you you were clinging to me?”
Chloe burst into a loud laugh. It was a childish laugh, and Eric liked the sound of it. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he ruffled his hair. Then he looked in the mirror. He really needs to clean up his messy appearance immediately.
“You'd better go back to your room now, wife.”
“Are you firing me?”
Did it look like that? Eric was serious. Chloe quickly shook her head.
“I'm joking. There's no need to take it seriously... I'm not affected by such words.”
“What did you hear being said behind your back?”
“It's not like that at all.”
Chloe smiled brightly as she headed to the other side of the room. Eric looked away for a moment, at the unmade bed, then back at Chloe as she walked away.
“I'll take care of this matter with Gatsby.”
With perfect posture, Chloe stopped walking. Eric continued talking.
“And I apologise. Because of me, you heard something you shouldn't have heard.”
She turned to Eric. She stared at him with clear, transparent eyes. For a moment, Eric felt suffocated. Avoid looking at it quickly.
“You didn't do anything wrong.”
"Really. You didn't do anything wrong."
Chloe spoke with all her heart.
“The ones who are wrong are those who live their lives with these ideas.”
Eric exhaled forcefully. His chest was tight.
He remained silent for a while, pressing his hand to his eyelids due to a hangover.
“It was-”
He took a step closer to Chloe and continued walking.
“Do you like to have breakfast together?”
Chloe clasped her hands together, shaking her head.
"No thank you."
She replied with a fake smile.
“I mentioned earlier that eating with me is uncomfortable for you.”
“This...”
"And I'm a little tired. I need to rest."
Eric hesitated for a moment, but quickly answered.
"Show."
Chloe left the room hurriedly.
The room I left then felt empty. Although the heater was warm, the cold seeped into him.
Eric put his legs back on the bed, not knowing what was causing the throbbing pain in his right leg. Then he placed his hand on the spot where Chloe was lying before. The room, which had been warm up to this point, had become terribly cold.