Find the One Who Abandoned Me - Chapter 101

Berchia didn’t return until the tea party was nearly over. At most, the gathering lasted about two hours. After roughly an hour and a half had passed, everyone got up from their seats, their faces showing signs of relief as if they’d just vented something they had been holding in. It seemed they simply needed a place to complain about their fiancés.

“I hope we can have a gathering like this again sometime.”

As the ladies expressed their regret and left the greenhouse, Calliope remained seated, letting out a soft sigh. She looked around. Now that the small groups of chattering people had dispersed, the tables looked even more empty and quiet.

And then finally, Berchia returned to the seat he had left earlier. His expression was subtly tense.

“Where have you been?” Calliope asked.

As she spoke, her eyes drifted down to Berchia’s trouser hems, now stained with dust and dirt. The only place within the marquess’s estate where one could get that dirty was the training grounds. She figured he must have stopped by there after briefly attending the tea party.

Berchia stood silently for a moment, just staring at her, before finally speaking, his voice a little hesitant.

“You…”

“Yes?”

“That story you told earlier… about Isaac giving you flowers.”

Calliope tilted her head slightly. Why bring that up the moment he arrived?

“Yes, what about it?”

“That…”

Berchia opened his mouth a few more times but couldn’t find the words. Then, as if annoyed with himself, he muttered, “Ugh,” under his breath. He scratched his head in frustration, then gave a small shake of his head, as if trying to dismiss the thought.

“Never mind. You just looked happy, that’s all.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know he was the type to say things like that.”

“You saw Isaac at the training grounds, didn’t you?” Calliope asked, her tone calm but curious.

“Yeah. I just watched from afar and left,” Berchia replied, lying.

Calliope nodded, not doubting him at all.

“You should’ve come back a little earlier. The other young ladies have all left.”

“Yeah, I figured. I should get going too.”

“Oh, I thought you’d stay a bit longer.”

“I was going to, but I figured I should head back. What am I supposed to do, hanging around between a couple?”

“Haha.”

As Calliope laughed, Berchia let out a quiet sigh, thinking to himself, What’s so funny… She looked completely normal. There was no sign she couldn’t tell her past from her present. She didn’t seem like someone who was confused about the men in her life.

Calliope seemed genuinely happy. And Berchia… didn’t yet have the courage to challenge that.

“I’ll get going now.”

“Shall I walk you out?”

“No, it’s fine. You probably have things to clean up.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

Berchia came and left quickly. As soon as he was gone, Calliope sank back into her seat. Because of what he had said, her thoughts once again drifted to the wildflowers.

Back then… she really hadn’t known. That he was capable of saying something like that. But he had always been that kind of man — someone who, in his own way, whether it seemed graceful or not, tried his best to comfort her. A man who tried to express even the smallest of feelings in whatever way he could.

Calliope slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again. She pictured his face from back then — expressionless, yet with green stains on his fingertips from gathering wildflowers.

She missed that time. She longed to have that perfect moment back. Maybe that was why she had returned. Maybe even the gods had taken pity on her and allowed her to come back.

“…My love.”

The glass greenhouse was warm — like that spring day. Though it was still winter, the air held the same scent. Of course, the flowers grown inside a glasshouse could never carry the same weight as those wildflowers from back then, but they were enough to stir her nostalgia.

“I don’t know spring,”
His words slowly echoed in her mind once again.
“But I wanted to give it to you.”

Those words…

She missed them. She missed him — her Isaac. Tears welled up in Calliope’s eyes. The sunlight of the still-bright afternoon blurred into a soft white through her misty gaze. As she closed her eyes, a tear slipped down her cheek. Then another. She covered her face with both hands and bowed her head.

“My love…”

She called out to him once.

“I miss you… my love.”

She kept recalling the image of who he was back then — unaware that others were watching her.

Berchia, having stepped out of the greenhouse, found himself face to face with Isaac. It seemed obvious — Isaac must have heard the tea party was over and was now on his way to see Calliope.

“You’re so blissfully happy, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I am.”

“Look at you, talking back now.”

“Well, it’s because my fiancée is impressive. My apologies.”

“Hey… you were lying earlier, weren’t you? You totally seem like the kind of guy who’d play cunning little tricks.”

“…Maybe, at some point, I might have.”

Isaac replied calmly, then gave Berchia a respectful nod and walked past him. Berchia changed direction and followed. Something told him it might be better to ask the question he had been holding back.

Isaac noticed Berchia had turned to follow and looked back briefly before continuing on. That alone was enough to confirm — he really was the kind of man who cared about nothing but his fiancée.

As they walked, Berchia finally asked,

“Doesn’t it bother you — the thought that the woman you love might be seeing another man through you?”

“It doesn’t matter. As long as that’s what she needs.”

“I always thought you two were perfect.”

“We are perfect. As long as I do my part.”

“…That’s where you’re wrong.”

A relationship where only one side suffers silently is never a healthy one. Even someone like Berchia, who had little experience with people, could understand that. But this foolish man — he just kept insisting that he could endure, that it was enough.

They soon arrived at the greenhouse and saw Calliope still sitting in her seat.

“My love…”

They heard her voice from behind a large tree.

“I miss you… my love.”

It was the sound of someone aching deeply for someone else. Berchia, almost instinctively, turned to look at Isaac. Isaac didn’t notice the two of them standing behind the tree — he was too focused on the sight of Calliope’s small frame, quietly sobbing.

He clenched his fists tightly.

Berchia noticed the motion and lifted his gaze to Isaac’s pale eyes. In those ghostly white irises, he saw it — a clear, raw jealousy. Not toward himself, but toward the mysterious man Calliope was seeing through him… someone from her past that Isaac could never reach.

In the end, Berchia gave up on asking Calliope what he had intended to. He quietly turned away, instinctively knowing this wasn’t a moment for him to intrude. Isaac, meanwhile, stood frozen, watching her, until she finally left the greenhouse.

As he walked away, Berchia thought to himself: Isaac will wait… until Calliope stops crying, until she regains her composure, and only then will he go to her — as if he’s just arrived.
And one day… yes, when spring comes, he’ll pick wildflowers and bring them to her.
As if trying to imitate the man from her memories — the man he’s never even known.

A week remained until the Saintess’s visit. The noble ladies were flocking to dress shops more frantically than ever. The Empire, after all, was the undisputed ruler of the continent — and the Saintess would be arriving with the Crown Prince himself. It was only natural that excitement would boil over.

Calliope, of course, was no exception — though her drive came from a different place. She still couldn’t understand what the Saintess had seen in him to call him a Hero. Because of that, she was determined to pick something entirely different from her usual style — whether in suit or accessories.

“Sir Esteban truly suits diamonds…”

“No, let’s go with the sapphire next to it.”

“Black always looks best for formalwear.”

“No. Bring me that deep navy one over there.”

Isaac sat quietly nearby, calmly observing as Calliope went through everything. He watched intently as she examined every fabric she planned to use for his outfit. She murmured to herself constantly.

“This won’t do… It’s too similar to what I chose before.”

Every now and then, she bit her nails out of habit. Each time, Isaac gently reached out to take her hand and lowered it. Calliope would look at him with a startled expression, as if she hadn’t even realized what she was doing. When their eyes met, she would smile at him.

“Ah, sorry. That must’ve looked strange.”

“Not at all. I was just worried about your nails.”

“You’re right… there’s a banquet coming up. Can’t have my nails ruined. Thank you.”

Isaac gently released her hand, and Calliope refocused on giving directions about his outfit.

As he absentmindedly looked through the fabrics and jewels spread before them, his eyes landed on a bracelet. A thin, platinum piece. It wasn’t common for men to wear bracelets, but for some reason, this one caught his attention.

Lady Anastas had a bracelet similar to this one, he thought.

Without much thought, he reached out and picked it up.

Calliope immediately snatched it from his hand, clearly startled. Her reaction was so sudden that Isaac was just as surprised by the look on her face. She stared at him for a moment, then forced a smile and offered a soft excuse.

“Sorry… This one is just…”

The reason she was so shocked was because Isaac had worn that exact bracelet once before — on the day they went to see the Saintess. It was Calliope who had offered it to him, saying it matched the one she owned. And he had agreed without hesitation.

But now, seeing Isaac reach for the same bracelet again on his own — unprompted — sent a wave of unease through her.

What if this bracelet, chosen as if by fate, was the very thing that made him appear to be the Hero?

Her anxiety was growing worse by the day. The closer it got to the day he had left her, the more often she found herself mixing up the past with the present — like someone half-awake in a dream. She didn’t even realize she was doing it. And part of the blame lay with Isaac himself — always nodding quietly beside her, as if to say, yes, that’s how it happened. You’re remembering it right.

Calliope gently set the bracelet back down and said, “You’ve worn this one before. I think it’s better if we pick something else.”

Isaac bit the inside of his cheek.

He had never worn that bracelet. He had never even owned one like it. But he didn’t correct her , for her sake.

Still, the more he stayed silent, the more suffocating it became.

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