Chapter 101
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Chapter 101
Teresa sensed the strange atmosphere and was about to speak when Dietrich quickly silenced her. He pulled her close, her eyes widening in surprise, and whispered urgently.
"Come now, you've seen the demonstration—why don't we practice together, Teresa?"
"You, just moments ago you claimed you didn't know how to dance."
"Exactly because I don't know—that's why we should practice together. Practice."
"Stop dropping your formal speech so casually, Squire Dietrich Sarua."
"When have I ever been disrespectful, Teresa? Remove courtesy from me and there's nothing left."
Dietrich grinned widely and pulled Teresa toward the inner part of the terrace. As they left, the terrace door that had been open clicked shut behind them.
As if that sound were a signal, Echinacea tried to slip her hand free from his grasp. Yurien finally released the hand wrapped in his gloved fingers. Echinacea stepped back, breathing steadily. Once her composure had somewhat returned, she spoke.
"When did you arrive in Agenka, my lord?"
"...I returned early this morning. I'll begin my duties as squire starting tomorrow."
"I understand, then...."
"Echinacea."
His voice called out to her as she turned to leave. She wrapped her right hand—the one he had held—in her left, and looked up at him. From his colorless form, only his eyes burned a brilliant blue as they fixed upon her.
"I told you before that I have no obligation to answer for my feelings toward you."
"...."
"However... might I ask you one thing?"
"...Please speak, my lord."
Yurien tilted his head slightly. Shadows fell across his composed face, and his eyes grew heavy. His voice trembled as he asked.
"May I wait for you?"
"Wait? Wait for what...."
"Whether you give me an answer or not, I wish to wait for you. Is that permissible?"
Echinacea fell silent for a moment. The depth of feeling revealed in his words ran far deeper than she had anticipated. She found herself asking in confusion.
"And if I tell you that you may wait, what will you do?"
Yurien smiled faintly. The pale man smiling beneath the abundant sunlight flooding the terrace appeared so fragile he might shatter at any moment.
"Then I will wait. As long as you do not refuse me, I will continue to wait."
Though he would not simply wait in silence—that much he kept to himself.
Echinacea, still bewildered, asked again.
"But my lord, you're supposed to be betrothed to the Diasant Princess. How can you possibly wait for me?"
Yurien recalled the conversation he had shared with Rosalind Diasante before coming here. In this moment, he decided whether to reveal the false betrothal to Echinacea.
"Echinacea, you may not know this, but my betrothal to the Diasant Princess is entangled with many complications."
"I'm aware of that much, so...."
"That is why I intend to stage a false betrothal."
"What?"
"At the banquet on the final day of the festival, I will announce the date of my betrothal ceremony with the Princess. However, no actual betrothal will take place. I have already discussed this matter with the Imperial Court."
"What do you mean...."
"So do not concern yourself with anything else. Simply tell me what your heart desires. I can wait as long as necessary."
A false betrothal? Was such a thing even possible? The Crown Prince, who had proposed the betrothal, agreed to this? What of the Diasant Princess herself? The Duchy? A betrothal, false or otherwise, was still a betrothal—did that mean Yurien was supporting the Crown Prince? And if the Crown Prince had placed the Demonic Sword...
'If, by any chance, it was the Crown Prince who left the Demonic Sword behind....'
That chilling hypothesis was buried for now. It was a question to ponder after seeing the Wedge's investigation results.
Echinacea recalled the situation surrounding Yurien that Nicole had told her about. A fake engagement in such a suffocating circumstance? How on earth could that even work? It was certainly no simple matter. A real engagement would have been far easier. To go to such lengths just to wait for her, who had given no answer at all? There had to be another reason.
"...Why did you decide on a fake engagement? For Agenka's sake? Does it have something to do with the Changtian Knights? Or is it a matter of the Lord's position, or friction with the Diasant Duchy...?"
"I didn't want to."
He cut short her rambling words curtly. Echinacea looked up at him in surprise.
"You disliked the Diasant Princess?"
"It's not a matter of that."
"Then why...?"
"Because it's not you."
Yurien, answering reflexively, didn't realize what his words meant. But Echinacea understood immediately. It was similar to what she had thought when she received the telegram from the Count and Countess. Except she had thought it didn't matter who it was as long as it wasn't him, and he now...
[Is he saying he wants to marry you right now? That he won't marry unless it's you—that's what he's saying, isn't it?]
The Demonic Sword, who had been watching carefully and keeping quiet, could no longer hold back and pierced through to the heart of the matter. Echinacea nearly hiccupped.
[Humans make such grand proposals, but this guy's doing it weird. It's terrible, right? Just kill him, uh, no wait, cancel, cancel! I didn't say kill him! Master, you didn't hear that, right? You're not going to hit me, right?]
Echinacea's mind had gone completely blank, and she couldn't properly hear the Demonic Sword's rambling.
Of course, she had already heard Yurien's confession that he liked her. But that was different from saying he wanted to marry her, wasn't it? She never expected to hear him say to her face that he wouldn't even engage in a fake engagement if it wasn't her. For some reason, she felt terribly dizzy.
"That, that is, so..."
Only when he saw her eyes wandering in confusion did Yurien realize what his words meant. It was no different from an indirect proposal. She probably had never even considered such a thing, so what was he doing? He spoke in a flurry.
"Echinacea, it's simply how I feel. You need not concern yourself with it."
[As if she won't be concerned about it.]
The Holy Sword muttered, but Yurien was too busy observing Echinacea's reaction to hear it. She asked hesitantly.
"That, um, Lord, did the Lord... think about m-marriage with me?"
Yurien's face flushed crimson in an instant. He could not deny the question and fell silent.
"Was planning the fake engagement truly because of me? To wait for me?"
"...I didn't mean to burden you."
She looked at him, flushed as he was. His expression was composed enough, but his face was beet red, rendering it useless.
"To that extent, I... why would you go so far...?"
Echinacea murmured as if in pain. She couldn't understand. Because she couldn't understand, it was difficult to believe in the emotions he was so nakedly displaying.
Though it was hard to guess precisely, the fake engagement must have certainly caused various complicated matters. There was much he would have to bear. She could understand it if she had given him an answer in return. But she had said nothing. He was bearing all this burden without even certainty.
'I should have refused.'
She should refuse even now. She didn't want to make Yurien suffer when she had no intention of accepting him. Perhaps it would be better to refuse cleanly and marry as her parents wished. Such a bitter resolve took shape.
Just as Echinacea was about to speak her refusal, Yurien approached her, steadying his ragged breathing. He stopped at a distance where they were barely a step apart and whispered.
"Does asking such things mean you're giving me permission to wait? Can I... wait for you?"
I could see his lowered lashes trembling. His face was flushed with heat.
His height towered over hers. His shoulders were so much broader. At this close distance, looking down, he nearly engulfed her entirely, yet why did he appear so fragile to her? She suspected that if she uttered words of refusal, he might shatter right then and there.
Echinacea opened her mouth, then closed it. She should tell him not to wait, but the words of refusal simply wouldn't come. Those words would become a blade that would cut him. She didn't want to hurt him. She wanted him to be happy. She knew what answer would bring a smile to that face. That answer was her true heart, yet she couldn't speak it. She was afraid of what would follow.
So what was she supposed to do? In her dizzied state, words rose unbidden.
"Lord, why do you like me?"
Yurien stiffened with a start. It was a question he couldn't answer easily. To answer that question, he would have to lay bare what he knew and what he had seen.
Echinacea poured out the doubts that surged within her.
"When did you come to like me? We haven't known each other for long. You said you noticed my talent with the sword from the birthday celebration. Does the Lord like me because of my talent with the blade?"
"No, it's not just that."
"Then what is the reason?"
"...."
"What could I possibly mean to the Lord that you would undertake something so complicated and perilous, simply because you wished to wait? What am I to you?"
Her voice faltered. I lowered my head. A sudden urge to weep washed over me. I didn't fully understand why I felt this way—joy that made my heart race, anger that burned alongside it, and a bittersweet sorrow that ached in my chest all at once.
"It's difficult to explain. Because things have already become this way."
A quiet answer came from above. I lifted my head and looked at him. Yurien gazed down at me with eyes narrowed as if beholding something distant and dazzling. Without thinking, he raised his hand, and his fingertips brushed across my cheek—a touch as light as caressing down. I forgot to breathe.
"You are to me...."
As his hand swept down from my cheek, his fingertips grazed my lips. That sensation brought me back to myself. Yurien flinched in surprise and withdrew his hand. It lingered in the air for a moment before slowly falling away. He grew quiet, his gaze lowering.
I exhaled the breath I had been holding. The tangled present, the uncertain future, and the unknowable past all rushed out with that breath and were buried somewhere far away. I spoke impulsively.
"I will wait too."
"...?"
"Until you explain what I mean to you, I will wait."
If he was sincere. Perhaps—just perhaps—if his heart was deep enough to accept everything I might lay bare before him.
"Convince me. Then I will give you my answer."
My eyes meeting Yurien's were clear and resolute. I gathered the hem of my dress and bent my knees slightly in a bow.
"Then, from tomorrow morning, I shall serve you as your squire, Lord."
I turned and crossed the Garden. Yurien remained where he stood, watching my receding figure disappear among the pale green garden trees. He gazed at the hand that had touched my cheek as though entranced, then brought it to his lips.
"An explanation, she says...."
Could she possibly fathom how utterly consumed he was? How desperately he suppressed it, yet his hand moved of its own accord and heat rose to his face? Could she know the desire with which he beheld her, how even as he spoke of waiting, the thought of possessing her invaded his reason with improper imaginings? Could she comprehend that the reason he struck down his father and elder brother, the reason he sought to make his half-brother emperor, was her—and if she ever learned this truth, how would she regard him then?
A soft sigh escaped against his fingertips. Yurien lowered his hand and turned away, leaving the Terrace. Only the soundless minuet, still turning because no one had stopped it, remained in the empty space.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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