<h4>Chapter 487: 487-He Secretly Likes Her</h4>


    <strong>Ian:</strong>


    "Anyway, I need to tell you thatst time I was rude to your wife, but I promise I am going to fix it. When I meet her, I will apologize to her, and I will keep apologizing until she forgives me," Fauna rambled innocently.


    It may not have seemed like it, but she made it clear that she did not take anything to heart. I guess it was just Haiden how much she loved and how she lost her mind over it and decided to act differently sometimes.


    "She will forgive you. That is how she is," I replied with a smile as we continued our walk.


    We had taken a full round and returned to the entrance of the mansion, but we were about to go for another. I noticed a little hesitation in her.


    "You know, my father, he told you about," she began, but before she could finish, my father and Patrick came out.


    "What are you doing here?" her father asked her.


    While my father looked slightly confused, I could tell he just wanted to be alone. He was not a talkative person, but he had to act like he was there tomunicate, otherwise Patrick would not share any information about Clementine and Nook.


    "We were just taking a little walk," she replied, showing a strange hesitation, maybe even fear, while facing her father.


    "What were you two talking about?" her father questioned, looking more intense as he tilted his head.


    "We were just talking about the North. She was excited to learn how we fought the monsters," I exined,ing to her defense and noticing the way she quietly sighed in relief.


    "Oh well, what do you want to know, you silly little daughter of mine? It is not like you can ever do that. And do not talk too much about monsters, or you will have nightmares and scare yourself," her father remarked in a yful tone, though the way he pointed his finger at her seemed harsh and rude.


    "Now go help your mother with the preparations for dinner," he ordered, his tone suddenly changing.


    She looked at me, then at her father, and walked away.


    I was sure my father noticed it too because he made direct eye contact with me.


    "Father, have you rested?" I asked, stepping to his side while Patrick stood on his other side.


    "Oh no, he is the headmaster. Trust me, your father never gets tired," Patrickmented as he continued walking, which felt like his way of saying he still nned to walk with my father.


    "Yeah, it is fine. You go ahead and rest, Ian. We will have dinner here," my father told me. His hands were tied behind his back, just like mine.


    I gave him a nod and walked past him. As I did, we shared brief eye contact, silently looking at each other.


    I returned to my room, and after a few hours of rest, I heard a knock on the door. I got up from the bed and went to the door to find Haiden and Troy waiting for me. The two had gone to their separate rooms after work, from what I understood, but they had spent quite some time together.


    "Let’s go, dinner is being served," Haiden told me, walking ahead of me while Troy stayed behind.


    "What is up with him? Is he okay?" I asked Troy as I closed and locked my door.


    "Uh, not really," Troy replied, his hands in his pockets. "He is dealing with quite a few things."


    We started walking together while Haiden stayed a few steps ahead of us. I guessed he just wanted to be alone for the moment.


    "Yeah, one of them is realizing that the crown and the mansion belong to him," I remarked, and Troy nodded.


    "What is the other thing?" I asked.


    "Ah, he just gets annoyed by Fauna, and we also decided that we should move on from Clementine," Troy answered.


    The moment Troy said that, I did not show it, but hope filled me. I always felt annoyed when they were stuck on her, when they showed too much love for Clementine. Thest time I remembered, Troy had caused a rift between me and her.


    As I watched his face, Troy nced at me.


    "Yeah, yeah, I remember," he muttered, almost as if he had heard my thoughts.


    "Well, are you ashamed?" I teased, and he grunted, scratching the back of his neck.


    "Yeah, I will tell her everything," he said.


    "Well, you do not have to. She believes me, and I believe her. We talked and fixed things in the North," I replied.


    When I said that, I saw him roll his eyes.


    "Yeah, yeah, you and your perfect love," he scoffed.


    I could tell that even though he said they were going to stop thinking about her, he was still bitter about many things.


    "Anyway, about Fauna, I do not think he hates her," I added.


    When I said that, I noticed Haiden did slow down. He must have heard me mention her. Troy looked confused. He slipped his hands into his pockets, stiffened his posture, then shook his head.


    "Nope, I know he hates her. We were teasing her just a few minutes ago," he said, and I sighed.


    "Well, you two need to grow up. Bullying someone for their feelings is not right. Otherwise, I should be bullying you two until you cannot show your faces," I told him.


    That was my way of reminding them how much they had tried toe between me and Clementine.


    "Yeah, I told you I will apologize to her. You do not need to remind me every time," he grumbled.


    "Anyway, that is not the point. I was talking about Fauna. I think she and him used to be best friends before," I continued.


    The moment I said that, Haiden stopped in his tracks. Troy did too, and I did not notice at first because Troy gently held my arm to stop me. I paused a few steps ahead of Troy, then looked at Haiden as he turned around to face me.