Chapter 36
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
Dear, I believe you may be misunderstanding.
Episode 36
I found it impossible to follow his train of thought. Once again, he spoke in riddles, as though playing a guessing game with twenty questions.
In the midst of this, the word "cute" that Lucas had uttered kept circling through my mind, and my cheeks flushed crimson.
"Well, I must confess I'm rather bewildered at the moment, and I don't quite understand. What exactly do you mean?"
-So why do you keep setting my heart ablaze? Hmm? Truly, it's most unsettling. Is arson your hobby?
What on earth was he saying?
One moment he calls me cute, the next he's comparing me to a wild boar, and now he speaks of arson.
Grace found it so absurd that she couldn't help but challenge him directly.
"Fire? Me? Arson? I—where exactly have I done such a thing?"
At her flustered response, Lucas fell silent for a moment.
Soon, a hint of amusement colored his words.
-The fire I speak of is not that kind of fire...
"Then what exactly do you—oh!"
A sudden realization struck her, and Grace clapped her hand over her mouth.
'So he means that I keep setting his heart ablaze...'
Was that what he meant?
'...Oh my.'
"...No, surely you wouldn't say such a thing to a lady."
How mortifying.
Though no one was watching, I buried my face in Grandel's botanical encyclopedia and sighed.
I had sensed it before, but it seemed Lucas Black did indeed have feelings for me.
And perhaps more deeply than I had initially believed.
Each time I acknowledged this, my heart raced uncontrollably.
Yet I didn't harbor such feelings for him—so why did my heart race so and my face grow so warm?
-Grace?
At the sound of my name, I found myself unable to respond.
'...What is he doing? Truly, he confuses me so.'
Having experienced him up close, he was certainly not the frightening man I had imagined.
Beneath his sharp demeanor lay a warm and gentle true nature.
And so I found myself losing my bearings.
My resolve to break the engagement had vanished, replaced by the thought that perhaps I could marry this man after all.
'How could I be so lacking in conviction?'
My chest tingled, and a sigh escaped me unbidden.
-...Grace? Are you not hearing me again?
I buried my face between my knees and pressed my lips firmly shut.
I dared not open my mouth, lest my trembling voice betray everything.
* * *
"Cough, ptui!"
The moment Capren Oellin stepped out of the Heath Information Bureau, I watched him spit forcefully onto the ground.
From the third-floor window, the white-haired youth observing the scene let out a soft chuckle.
"What an adorable old man."
A thin blanket draped over the lean shoulders of the man who stood with arms crossed, leaning diagonally against the window frame.
"You'll catch a cold again if you keep that up, sir."
It was Ulias, who had just dealt with Capren Oellin.
He muttered softly that it was hot, but made no move to push the blanket away.
The man with pallid cheeks and crimson eyes possessed an air of bewitching allure about him.
Left as he was, he seemed fragile enough to shatter, yet he emanated an oddly chilling presence.
It could have been the dissonance created by his white hair contrasting with those crimson eyes.
"Ulias, that man's words... I think he was talking about him, wasn't he?"
"Such remarks are rarely heard."
"Then, does that mean that old fellow angered the Black Horse?"
Ulias fell silent.
Her silence was affirmation.
The lean man—Hiess Cerviente—rolled two pebbles between his fingers, his mind turning quietly.
'That Black Horse, who had only grown angry three times throughout his entire life, has suddenly revealed himself because of such fury. What on earth did that adorable old codger do?'
Hiess felt his curiosity ignite.
He was the type whose disposition could only be settled once he knew everything he wished to know.
Besides, this concerned one of the Seven Great Houses, so he needed to be informed regardless.
It was also his responsibility to relay this fact to the King.
"Ulias, investigate—"
"Already underway. The Black Horse's Estate has fairly thorough security, so it won't be easy, but I'll bring back something."
"Good. I'll wait."
Hiess smiled wickedly and reclined into the plush chair specially crafted for him.
Hundreds of pages lay spread across the massive mahogany desk.
It took him merely ten minutes to compile and read through them all.
His constricted pupils rapidly scanned the characters on the pages.
Though it appeared he was skimming through the papers quickly, every piece of information written on them had already been absorbed into his mind.
The young master of Serviente, who dealt in the intelligence of the Kingdom of Zeronum—nay, the entire continent.
Exactly one day later.
The name 'Grace Oellin' reached his ears.
* * *
I spent most of my time in Lucas Black's study.
Once I entered the study, I would remain there for nearly half the day, absorbed in reading without moving.
I focused on reading, writing, and committing things to memory.
"Then, Your Excellency, is there nothing you fear?"
When I grew weary of reading, I would converse with Lucas Black.
At some point, it became natural for me to greet him each morning upon waking.
It felt no different than hearing his voice even in those final moments before sleep claimed me.
Thus did I grow accustomed to our conversations.
-I fear nothing, but there are things I dislike.
"Things you dislike? What might those be?"
-Snakes.
He spoke with absolute finality.
-Snakes and I simply do not get along.
At the evident distaste in his voice, I laughed silently.
He truly despised them with remarkable intensity.
Though in fairness, how many people genuinely enjoyed snakes?
'Yet I have never seen one myself.'
One could hardly despise something one had never encountered.
I understood that creature—with its elongated, cool-skinned form—was neither inherently malevolent nor savage.
Of course, a snake the size of a house would be terrifying, but I knew such serpents did not exist in this kingdom.
They dwelled only in the Eastern Island Nation, where tropical rainforests flourished.
Then had Your Excellency actually seen a snake?
"Have you seen a snake before?"
-I apologize, Grace Oellin. I would rather not recall it.
At his grave response, I let out an understanding laugh.
"I understand. Then, what was Your Excellency like as a child? Oh, and what became of that rabbit doll? Your Toto?"
-Please... erase that cursed rabbit doll from your memory, Grace Oellin.
He spoke with evident exasperation, but I could not restrain myself.
"Cursing at a cherished doll? That simply will not do."
My playful reproach deepened Lucas Black's sigh considerably.
-I should have destroyed that photograph... if only it had not been one my mother treasured... alas.
"Destroy a photograph when it is so precious? This must be kept forever. You must never discard it, Your Excellency."
-Have you now joined the ranks of those who mock me with that photograph?
"I apologize. But it is truly so adorable? I can scarcely believe there was ever a time when Your Excellency was this endearing."
-...Very well. Do as you please, Grace Oellin. If it brings you joy, then what is a little of my humiliation...
He replied with resignation.
His tone suggested this was far from the first time he had suffered such treatment.
I set down the book I had been reading and picked up Lucas Black's family photograph once more.
No matter how many times I gazed upon it, I never tired of the sight.
Grace, who had been tracing the tear-stained cheeks of the weeping young Lucas with her fingertips, glanced at the man standing beside them with an expression that suggested he found the situation rather amusing.
"What sort of person was the Previous Duke Black?"
-My father, you mean?
"Yes."
-Hmm... a man of no restraint?
Grace paused, turning the words over in her mind to ensure she had heard correctly. As she did, he murmured as if speaking to himself.
-That's right. There's no more fitting word for it. A man of no restraint. My father was precisely that.
He stated that the Previous Duke Black had been a man of no restraint with utter composure.
His tone was unwavering, as though he were saying: My father was a great man.
"What does that mean?"
-You asked me earlier if there was anything I feared, didn't you, Grace? Even as a child.
"Yes."
-Now that I think about it, there is precisely one thing.
He had just spoken of his father being a man of no restraint, and now suddenly he was speaking of fear... What was this?
-Five years ago, when my father passed away, I saw my mother cry for the first time.
"...I see."
-She's a spirited woman, but when she shed tears for the first time, she withdrew into her chambers as though she had abandoned all will to live, and did not set foot outside for an entire year.
It was a story I could scarcely have imagined.
Grace listened quietly to his account, taking care not to betray her astonishment.
-At that time, I could not even bring myself to enter her chambers. The weight of that sorrow, which I could feel even standing before her door, was unbearable.
"That must have been difficult."
-There's no need to adopt such a sorrowful tone. Fortunately, my mother recovered after a year, returning to her former brightness. However, her health deteriorated so greatly during that year that she no longer resides in the Capital, but remains in her Territory.
"Still, I'm truly glad to hear it."
-My brother Capren and I—that is, we brothers—made considerable effort for our mother's sake afterward. ...To keep her from experiencing further hardship.
Grace laughed softly at the last remark, delivered in a measured tone with playful intent. He laughed along with her.
"Now that I think of it, you have a younger brother as well, don't you, Your Excellency?"
-Yes. Unlike me, he enjoys making a spectacle of himself, so he rarely stays at this Estate. He prefers to live at the Royal Palace. And it's not as though he harbors any grand ambitions either.
Lucas murmured as though he truly could not fathom it.
"Does he resemble Your Excellency?"
-Not in the slightest.
He spoke with a stern expression.
That was amusing.
"But he seems like he would..."
-Don't say such things, Grace. That fool is remarkably adept at making poor decisions. Even now, he chases after someone who shows him barely any interest, working himself into a frenzy over it. Last time, he claimed he was going to give someone roses as a gift, so he uprooted every rose in the Estate's garden. It's madness. Why would he do such a thing?
...But they do seem alike... How strange.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org