Chapter 14

Rowan’s eyes went wide at my words.

“They didn’t let you go outside?”

“Yes. That was actually my very first time stepping outside the Cline estate without a companion—when I met the two of you for the interview.”

If the maid hadn’t brought news from the Veil Merchant Guild that they were looking for a woman who matched my appearance, I would never have summoned the courage to step outside the Count’s mansion on my own.

‘It really feels like going on an adventure.’

And an adventure it truly was, given that I was abandoning a life of familiarity to set out in search of a brand-new one.

I gazed out the window, my heart fluttering with excitement. Rowan stared intently at the side of my face, her brows knitting together slightly.

“……Even so, I still don’t quite understand. Even if you had no need to venture outside, a debutante is typically held outside the Cline Countship.”

Tilting her head, Rowan pressed further:

“Even if not in the capital, isn’t it held at the Eastern Alliance Ball where the Cline Countship is located? Don’t tell me you haven’t even had your debutante yet? You said you were a noble, My Lady.”

Is that so?

‘Come to think of it, I never even gave my debutante a thought.’

Since there were no daughters in the Cline family, the very term “debutante” was unfamiliar to me. Not knowing my own birthday—and thus not knowing the exact time I would come of age—also played a part in that.

‘Does Lord Pepe know when my birthday is?’

I should ask him later when the two of us get a moment alone to talk. With that thought, I tilted my head in confusion.

“I’m not really sure. The Countess never introduced me outside to others, except for small, minor tea parties. The Eastern Alliance, you say… Now that I hear it, I do recall Count and Countess Cline, along with Emile, attending the New Year’s Festival held at Duke Haman’s castle.”

What had I done during the New Year? For me, as long as I had my knitting basket in my room, I could spend hours by myself without a care, so I hadn’t paid much attention to it.

Looking back, though, it seemed I was left alone because Count and Countess Cline had gone out. But starting from a certain point, Emile wasn’t to be seen either…

‘Wait, who did Emile attend the New Year’s Festival with? Could Roseanne have been Emile’s partner even back then?’

Recalling Emile, sadness spread through my heart like spilled ink. Seeing my expression darken, Rowan clapped her hands together with a crisp snap.

“I see! Then you must be looking forward to this trip to the capital very much!”

“Yes!”

“Still, try not to expect too much. I’d be worried if you ended up disappointed because there wasn’t anything particularly special.”

“You don’t need to worry about that at all. Everything will be fun since it’s my first time seeing it!”

She naturally broke the flow of my negative emotions. Even though we had only just met, I felt certain that Rowan was a good person.

Fiddling with my hands, I spoke up: “I don’t know what kind of work I’ll be doing, and there is so much I don’t know. I didn’t even realize you had to show identification when leaving a territory. Even so, I’ll study hard, so please teach me, even if it might be bothersome.”

Startled, Rowan waved both hands dismissively.

“I don’t think like that at all! Please don’t worry.”

Fiddling with my fingers, I stole a quiet glance at Dante. For some reason, ever since the topic of the debutante came up, Dante had been crossing his arms with a scowl on his face, looking like someone in a foul mood.

‘Is it because my story is uninteresting?’

If Dante felt uncomfortable, I wanted to converse only with Rowan, but with only one carriage, that wasn’t easy.

Should I just say nothing at all?

Just then, as I was glancing over, my eyes met Dante’s squarely. He scowled deeply, whipped his head away, and grumbled brusquely: “You’re far better than those fools who think they’re so smart.”

It was a blunt compliment. I drew my shoulders in and couldn’t help but let out a soft giggle.

At his words, Rowan nudged Dante’s side with her elbow and chided him: “Oh my, can’t you say things a little nicer than that?”

“Hmph.”

This time, he snapped his head in the opposite direction. Yet it wasn’t out of genuine anger, but rather a natural, playful bickering. With sparkling eyes, I asked stealthily: “By the way, what is the relationship between the two of you? Are you a married couple?”

At my question, both Dante and Rowan grimaced intensely.

Rowan answered with a forced smile, her lips trembling pathetically: “Would you mind setting aside such unpleasant imaginations? Ours is a strictly business relationship. Privately, I’d prefer to never know him at all.”

Dante chimed in with a heavy voice: “Agreed.”

“Ah…”

I had thought they were surely close, even if not a married couple.

Finding my guess entirely off the mark, I drew back my shoulders. Rowan held out both palms as if holding a tray, pointing toward Dante as she said: “This gentleman is Sir Dante Christopher. He is the de facto guild leader of the Veil Merchant Guild.”

“Pardon? Dante Christopher?”

Yet that name sounded remarkably familiar.

“…By any chance, the Imperial Knights’ Black Wing?”

At my question, Dante’s thick eyebrows arched.

“For someone who claims to know nothing, you certainly know that name well.”

“How could I not know! It’s the name of the most famous knight in this entire kingdom!”

I was so excited I felt like jumping up and down.

Dante Christopher. He was the Commander of the Imperial Knights, and for his extraordinary martial prowess, he was hailed as the ‘Empire’s Black Wing.’ He was also Duke Christopher, the Leader of the Northern Alliance.

‘Good heavens! Am I sitting face-to-face with one of only four Dukes in this entire country?!’

Too shocked to do anything but part my lips blankly, he scowled and asked: “You really are a strange lady. So you were speaking formally to me without even knowing who I was? When the leader of the Veil Merchant Guild could have just been a commoner?”

“But you’re my employer! It’s only natural to speak formally.”

Wasn’t the fact that he was my employer what mattered, rather than status?

“Besides, even if I am called a noble, I only have the title in name. I have nothing—neither wealth nor rights.”

Rowan showed a surprised expression at my answer, then tilted her head at the statement that I had nothing.

“Surely your parents left something behind when they passed away.”

“There’s nothing. It happened when I was so young that I don’t even remember it well.”

“You have no memories of your parents?”

“None at all, I’m embarrassed to say.”

As the conversation went on, both Rowan’s and Dante’s expressions grew darker.

‘It feels like I keep dumping heavy topics on people I’ve only just met.’

Shrugging my shoulders, I replied: “Please don’t make such faces. I’m completely fine. Countess Cline cared for me like a real daughter, so I wasn’t lonely in the slightest.”

Though I told them not to worry, for some reason, their faces grew even darker.

‘Does saying Countess Cline treated me well sound even more heartbreaking?’

Deciding it was better to just keep quiet, I closed my mouth with an awkward expression.

Right then, Dante—who had been scowling for quite some time—asked in a oddly sharp voice: “Did you say your fiancé was the Young Count Cline?”

“Ah.”

Having Emile brought up made my heart ache once more. Forcing a smile to look as though I was fine, I answered: “Yes, my fiancé is Emile Cline. We were originally scheduled to hold our engagement ceremony soon. Though things turned out like this…”

Before I could even finish my sentence, Dante grimaced fiercely and grumbled: “Fiancé, my foot. Call him a prospective fiancé. And since even that broke off, he’s just a stranger now.”

‘He was the one who called him my fiancé first.’

I wanted to point that out, but honestly, it felt so refreshing that I simply let out a quiet chuckle.

It was a strange thing. I had turned my back in anger because Emile deceived me, yet now that we had become strangers, fond memories began trickling back one by one.

“Though the engagement broke off, Emile is a good person. He was probably pushed into it by Count and Countess Cline. Since I’ve left like this, I hope he finds true love.”

Dante answered without hesitation this time as well: “That guy’s a bastard.”

Then Rowan chimed in as well: “He’s right, My Lady. If he were a truly good person, he shouldn’t have cheated with your friend—he should have told you beforehand. Whatever the reason, deceiving someone’s heart is a terrible act. There’s no room to defend him.”

“That’s…”

At a loss for words, I fell silent. Dante added one more line: “The one in the wrong is that bastard. You’re blameless.”

At those words, I finally realized why I had been trying so hard to defend Emile.

‘Because if I make Emile out to be a bastard, then I become the fool who was tricked by a bastard.’

Yet it was just as Dante said. The one in the wrong wasn’t me, but Emile. There was no need for me to think of myself as foolish.

“…Thank you.”

I answered in a small voice. Dante scowled once more and snapped his head away.