Seeking for Your Forgiveness

Chapter 27. Michael Hindenburg?

“What did I do?”

“Well…… nothing in particular.”

When Ian shook his head as if telling her not to mind it, a suspicious call of someone came from behind them.

“Marianne Kloze?”

“?”

She looked up inadvertently to be met with a familiar face. Although he gained a little weight and looked better than what she remembered in her memory, it was a familiar face that could be recognized at a glance.

Someone’s name slipped out through Marianne’s teeth.

“Michael Hindenburg?”

He stood before her, with his hair pulled back with a pomade and dressed in a fine business suit. Marianne simply looked at him with her eyes wide open, as if she didn’t understand what just happened.

He seemed to be confused as well. His brows narrowed slightly while staring at Marianne with folded arms.

Ian, who was stuck between them, looked at them alternately with a dumbfounded face. Then, he whispered while turning to Marianne.

“Do you know Prosecutor Hindenburg, Marianne? Didn’t the Prosecutor just call you ‘Marianne Kloze’? But, you’re Marianne Haveck.”

“Well, I mean, it should be that… But, he’s a prosecutor?”

Ian’s eyes turned round at her puzzled expression this time. He seemed to wonder how they’ve come to know each other without even knowing his occupation as a prosecutor.

Marianne replied in a trivial way after choosing her words carefully for a moment.

“He was my sunbae in college.”

“Oh, in the Royal College?”

“Yes.”

“I heard it’s very difficult to get in there, but I think I’ve been occasionally meeting the graduates from there lately.”

Michael frowned at Ian’s remark with a puzzled expression. He muttered in a bewildered voice, scratching the end of his eyebrows as if he was lost in thoughts.

“I dropped by to see the suspect of the case. I spotted a similar face on the way, so I wondered…… and it was true. Turns out I’m meeting Marianne Kloze here.”

Then he pushed his eyebrows up. With folded arms in a determined manner, he looked at Marianne. Michael’s eyes glistened sharply.

“However, what are you doing here? Kristoff is……”

“Shall we go out and talk privately, Prosecutor Hindenburg?”

When she called Michael with ‘Prosecutor’ rather than ‘senior’, Ian quickly pushed out his chest conceitedly.

As expected, she didn’t just use the title ‘senior’ to address anyone. Doesn’t ‘senior’ mean someone who is capable and has a good personality like him?

Ian waved his hand as if to tell his beloved junior to go with the prosecutor. Then, he tilted his head as he watched Marianne’s back moving away.

However, who the hell was Marianne Kloze?

***

“I didn’t know you were a prosecutor.”

Marianne, sitting on the bench in front of the National Police Agency, looked at him calmly. Michael pulled one corner of his mouth up.

“Since when did you get interested in me? Marianne Kloze. More than that, who is Marianne Haveck?”

To assure him, she has never shown interest in Michael. However, it wasn’t Marianne who was hurt by his sarcasm. Michael was.

Having harassed Marianne for a while, he was shocked as if his head had been hit with a hammer hearing the news of Kristoff’s marriage.

Then, he realized that he liked Marianne. Carrying his father’s name on his back and living the way he wanted, he just grew older but was no different than the young boy he used to be back then.

It was his first time liking someone. Therefore, he didn’t realize it was the first love people talked about.

The pathetic thing? It was him who met her first, but Marianne was taken away from him in front of his own eyes because he couldn’t figure out his feelings. From none other than Kristoff Schneider.

If it wasn’t Kristoff who proposed to her, Michael would have still stood a chance. He was the son of the Earl of Hindenburg, and he had the money and power that everyone desired.

However, as soon as he came to a realization that Kristoff was his opponent, a deep sense of despair fell on him. He realized out of instinct that he couldn’t beat the man.

Nothing he possessed could be compared to Kristoff. Ability, title, money, power, none of them stood a chance against him. 

However, he couldn’t celebrate their wedding like a guy with no guts. He didn’t want to see Kristoff on a roll as a lawyer.

Therefore, Michael left the capital right after he graduated a year later. He chose a job as a prosecutor because he was reluctant to work in the same job as him.

He thought he could lead a normal life without having to connect with Kristoff Schneider. He thought he could stop thinking about Marianne.

How ironic that he arrived at Blauberg, the estate of the Marquis of Schneider.

Though, time was a medicine for him. He thought he had forgotten about Marianne and Kristoff. He also thought he has led a pretty smooth life so far. Then, Marianne appeared again in front of him.

Fate is so harsh to him.

“It just happened. You seem to be doing quite well.”

She thought he was doing well.

Michael, who swallowed his wry smile at her words, turned to her. He captured Marianne inside those dark green eyes.

“Let’s just say I am. Marianne Kloze, what happened to you? What are you doing here? A detective? No, but what about Kristoff? Does he know about this?”

Questions poured out like pouring rain. Marianne hesitated for a moment, not knowing which one to answer first. She actually didn’t want to answer any of those questions.

She lifted her shoulders casually, pretending to be nonchalant about this. Her short hair swayed above her shoulders.

Michael stared at her hair. The same bob hair as when they met for the first time. He quietly held his breath without knowing the particular reason for doing so. His memory was instantly dragged back to a few years ago.

D*mn it. How did he escape from that?

Just as Michael bit his cheeks from inside of his mouth, Marianne quietly moved her lips.

“You know, I graduated from law school as well. I mean, it’s not strange that I work in the National Police Agency.”

“Right, I’m not surprised Marianne Kloze works for the National Police Agency. However, it is strange that Lady Schneider works for the National Police Agency. Isn’t that so, Marianne?”

Michael hit the nail on its head.

Marianne looked at him crudely. She thought he might have gotten the job as a prosecutor for no absolute reason because of his surname, Hindenburg.

However, it didn’t seem that way. He wasn’t the same boy in the university back then who used to be harassing her. He had turned into a different person, he was not affected by the emotions as he used to be, and he deeply knew how to be patient.

If Kristoff was a grown man with the scent of a perfect man from the moment she met him for the first time, Michael seemed to have grown into an adult man now.

Marianne drew a faint smile. Michael frowned at the sight.

“Why are you smiling?”

“I don’t think we had a proper conversation when we were in college because we were fighting whenever we made eye contact, but it was astonishing that we are doing this right now.”

“At that time, I……”

Michael, who casually closed his mouth, frowned. There was a brief silence, and he finally spoke after quite a while.

“I was immature.”

Marianne laughed again at his remark. The corner of her smile was stained with bitterness.

“I was the same. I didn’t know how to be patient. When you were rude to me, I felt like I was supposed to be as well. Therefore, why don’t we put what happened in the past behind us?”

Michael stared at her instead of answering. His brow suddenly contorted. He wanted to ask why she smiled like that. Why was she laughing so dangerously?

The moment he was about to move his lips.

“What are you two doing here?”

A cool, sharp voice cut through between them like an ice pick. Marianne turned her head slowly. Kristoff was seen standing a few steps in front of them.

He was staring at Michael with narrowed eyes. The disapproving gaze didn’t seem to like the situation in his sight very much. His eyes flashed fervently like a jealous man.

No. It couldn’t be.

Marianne shook her head with a bitter smile. He wasn’t a jealous man. It was unlike him to envy others, let alone be jealous.

Then, the relationship between the two, who hadn’t been on good terms since their college days, came back to his mind.

Oh.

Marianne nodded inwardly, as if she finally noticed why Kristoff was offended.

“Kristoff Schneider.”

Michael slowly rose from the bench. Two people of similar height had their eyes collided in the air. They only looked at each other for a moment.

The air seemed to be tight. Or, it seemed to be heated.

Kristoff, who frowned faintly, opened his mouth first, which was unlike him at all. His eyes were still on Michael, but the words that came out of his mouth were for Marianne.

“I’m on my way to express my intention to take over Paul’s case. I met his mother.”

“Oh.”

Only then did Marianne realize why Kristoff hadn’t been seen since morning. He kept his promise with her. The corners of Marianne’s mouth went up slightly.

“However, the name of the prosecutor in charge was Michael Hindenburg. Right, come to think of it, I heard you got a job as a prosecutor a few years ago. That must be in Blauberg.”

“You’re taking over Paul’s case?”

Michael, who was looking at Kristoff suspiciously, suddenly put on a frown. That meant he was going to face Kristoff.

Michael swept his hair with a smirk. A growling voice coming out through his teeth.

“Paul must have been a wealthy man which I didn’t know about. Seeing that Kristoff Schneider, who refused to be a lawyer for a random person, unless they’re a big shot, had to take over.”

Michael recalled the contents of the incident report he had looked through this morning. A triumphant smile lingered at the corners of his thin lips.

However, it will be difficult to draw Paul’s innocence. It’s clear that he killed his sister, and even tried to cover up his sins, so it will be hard to persuade the judge. Even his own mother can’t be on his side. Rather, she’d better be the witness on my side.”

“You must have forgotten.”

Kristoff, who put a break in his words, gently drew up the corners of his mouth. His dark eyes gleamed.

“I’ve never failed, Michael.”

Michael gave a nervous look in reply to his arrogant remark and tightened his lips. Kristoff, a man who always fuels his insecurity.

Michael despised Kristoff. It was all the more so because he knew that the man’s arrogance stemmed from his ability. Perhaps, he would be incapable of liking the man for the rest of his life.

Michael clenched his fist and forced himself to draw a smile. There was a slight hint of ridicule in his tone.

“Then, you’re going to experience failure for the first time in your entire career, Kristoff. It’s an honor to be the one who gives you the first experience.”

“I’m not so sure.”

Kristoff stared at Michael, his gaze was empty. However, Michael felt that the man was looking down at him.

“However.”