Silver Lining Yesterday - Chapter 11

The old-fashioned car rattled dangerously as it descended the rough mountain path.

Despite that, Jean hummed cheerfully and wiggled her loose boots.

The seat cushions were long worn out, and her hips ached, but for someone like her, who had lain in the cargo hold of a train while traveling through battlefields, it wasn’t a big deal. In fact, it could be a great story to brag about when she saw Ernest again.

As the car narrowly avoided a pile of snow falling from a tree branch, Jean asked,

“I mean, it’s nice to ride in such a cool car, but couldn’t we have just gone straight to Satin?”

“Yes.”

“Is it because of me?”

Tomorrow was Gemma’s birthday.

No doubt, to celebrate the birthday of the head of the Heidegger family, Gemma, there would be a flurry of activity. Many well-known figures and reporters might have gathered.

After all, it wasn’t the best time to make an appearance as someone who had been missing for so long that was about to show up.

Jean wanted to surprise Gemma, not ruin her birthday.

“Well… there are other reasons.”

Nix, trailing off and speaking vaguely, gently steered the wheel along the winding mountain road.

Jean, who had been observing him with interest, suddenly reached up and touched the numerous piercings on his ear.

Nix, startled, jerked his body to the side and warned,

“I’m driving.”

“Yes, keep it up.”

Jean, with her knees on the passenger seat, leaned forward sharply and grabbed his ear again.

She curiously touched the piercings in his earlobe, cartilage, and the soft bone, then asked,

“Is this okay? I remember Gemma saying that wearing a friendship ring would interfere with training.”

“What kind of training could be interfered with by that?”

“What? But if you’re a swordsman from the Serpens School…”

Nix scoffed coldly. He just dismissed the long tradition with a sense of arrogance.

Jean, who was stunned, then subtly scanned Nix from head to toe.

No matter how much he hid behind his military uniform and ascetic appearance, his worn-out ear was clearly visible.

Even armed with strictness that didn’t match his age, his rebellious attitude, like a needle poking through his clothing, couldn’t be concealed.

A meaningful smile appeared on Jean’s lips as a fascinating hypothesis flashed in her mind.

“You and Gemma don’t get along, do you?”

Nix’s expression didn’t change.

But Jean knew very well that Nix was skilled at controlling his expressions.

“Gemma believes in obedience to rules and hierarchy, and she expects everyone else to do the same. She’s the embodiment of order. Do you think she’d let her precious son break even the basic rules of the school?”

As she teased his soft earlobe, Nix jerked his head away.

Jean withdrew her hand and turned to face him entirely. Her eyes sparkling as if she had discovered a new toy.

“So, how was it? Did Gemma scold you a lot? Did you two fight?”

“……”

“It’s hard to imagine… Gemma used to get angry with me too, but if I smiled sweetly at her, she’d calm down in no time. Of course, Ernest— that wild horse—was an exception. She found him stumbling in at the crack of dawn, completely drunk, and would beat him senseless with a broom. I remember how I had to talk her down, telling her, ‘How are you going to survive without me?’ and yet… how did they end up together?”

She wondered aloud, lost in her own thoughts and memories.

While the unfazed Nix turned the steering wheel casually, Jean, deep in thought about the muddled questions, nervously bit her nails.

Ernest had always been the reckless, thoughtless one, but Gemma was different, wasn’t she? After scolding him every day like catching a rat, how could she end up in bed with such a scoundrel?

It must have been a one-night stand.

Both of them likely got completely drunk, didn’t even know who was who, or what they were doing.

Ernest was the type to do that regularly whether sober or not, and Gemma… even someone with such a noble spirit, like a rose, could make a mistake when drunk, right?

Jean, resolutely ignoring the proof of love sitting beside her and formed her own conclusion.

With a much lighter heart, she lifted her head, only to meet Nix’s contemptuous gaze. As he looked down at her from the corner of his eyes, he shot her a derisive laugh and turned his gaze away.

Jean’s eyes narrowed into slits.

As expected, she’d never liked him from the start.

“So, you’re taking me so you won’t get scolded by Gemma, right?”

Her sharp words aimed directly at Nix.

“You’re worried if you show up empty-handed, Gemma will beat you senseless, so you’re taking me with you. Do you really think she’ll go easy on you? Gemma won’t be fooled by shallow tricks. She likes honest people, even if they’re her enemies.”

In that regard, Ernest, who was always scheming, was the complete opposite of her. After being betrayed by Lipton, Jean found herself missing Gemma’s unyielding integrity even more.

Suddenly overwhelmed with longing for Gemma, Jean’s face softened.

Even though they had been apart for just a short time, how had Gemma endured 23 years without her?

“Did you wake me up because of Gemma? Because Gemma couldn’t stand being apart from me…?”

“If you’re going to make me filial or unfilial, I wish you’d just pick one.”

Nix responded with a bored and almost weary expression.

Jean glared at him with narrowed eyes before suddenly sitting up straight and blowing a hot breath into his ear.

The car that was speeding along the mountain road, suddenly swerved out of control.

A startled Nix covered his ear, looking at Jean with a horrified expression.

“Are you crazy?!”

Jean laughed out loud, clearly pleased with herself.

Nix, grinding his teeth and swallowing the insults he had almost uttered, ran a rough hand through his hair.

She was a woman who he could never let his guard down for a moment.

* * *

Jean had always been curious about Satin, the place where Gemma was born and had grown up. However, Gemma never invited friends over, citing her strict mother Cornelia as the reason.

Therefore, Jean’s first visit to Satin was after the flames of revolution had swept across the entire Alderon.

In the third year of the war, Gemma led a strike force to assault Satin.

With the undefeated General Cornelia dispatched to the southern front, Satin lacked a strong commander. However, the city had long held the northern border of Alderon and still had its strength.

The entire city fought desperately as one, and it seemed as if Gemma’s well-prepared surprise attack would ultimately fail.

But Gemma, who had long been waiting for an opportunity to reclaim her homeland, took the risk and infiltrated the enemy’s stronghold alone, ultimately capturing the steel fortress.

Thus, Satin, a vital northern stronghold, fell into the hands of the revolutionary forces.

For a brief moment, the leadership of the revolution could breathe a sigh of relief.

Until the news arrived that Gemma had been injured.

Though it wasn’t a severe injury, if Gemma was truly alright, she would have hidden her wounds and continued to fight on the battlefield without a second thought.