Chapter 19

“Here, Lady Minuelle. Please have a seat.”

Lapheche smiled more sweetly than usual and gestured to the seat between herself and Theodore.

“Oh no, it’s fine. If I sit between you two, it’ll just make conversation harder.”

I brushed off her offer lightly and took a different seat, speaking as casually as I could.

“Come to think of it, Lord Tregosnan—Lady Celeste said she had something she wanted to say to you today.”

“Oh, really?”

Both Theodore and I turned our eyes to Lapheche.

She clearly hadn’t expected me to bring it up so directly. After a brief moment of fluster, she opened her mouth.

“Um… I think I may have been rude the first time we met. I’m sorry, Lord Tregosnan.”

“No need. I should be the one apologizing for startling you.”

“Right… I don’t often talk to gentlemen, so I guess I got a bit defensive.”

“In that case, would it be all right if I approached you a little more slowly?”

Oho—how very male lead. Theodore made a bold move when no one expected it.

Just as things were getting interesting, the overture began to play, like the background music to a budding romance.

‘Ah, great timing…’

I wanted to hear Lapheche’s response, but curiosity had to be set aside as I straightened my posture.

A little while later, just as the overture—filled with a strangely tragic air—was wrapping up, Lapheche whispered something to Theodore and left through the side door.

‘Bathroom emergency?’

But even after the play had fully started and Act One ended, Lapheche didn’t return. Something felt off.

“That’s odd. She said she left something in the lounge and went to get it, but…”

Could something have happened?

Theodore’s worried voice hit me like a blunt blow to the head.

‘She tricked us!’

Just like I had planned to push her and Theodore together, she must have come up with a similar plan of her own.

‘But why? She knows I’m engaged.’

Lapheche’s face as she gazed at Esadien came to mind. A wave of nausea rose up my throat, but I barely managed to swallow it down.

‘Stay calm. I warned her. She accepted it.’

I didn’t have any proof yet. I couldn’t just accuse her recklessly.

“For now… let’s ask one of the attendants to look for Lady Celeste.”

“Understood.”

Just before the act ended, we received word from the usher that a noble lady matching Lapheche’s description had left the opera house.

At that moment, the heroine was singing a tragic aria.

While the play’s emotional tension was building, Theodore spoke in a subdued voice.

“I’ve never been rejected like this before.”

Of course he’d be bewildered. After she’d apologized and things seemed to be going well, she had suddenly fled like a startled bird.

Feeling sorry for him, I patted his arm a couple times.

“Let’s head out after this act finishes.”

“…All right.”

Theodore’s head hung low in quiet disappointment.

Since we had left in the middle of the play, it wasn’t completely dark yet. The slightly chilly evening air helped me feel like I could finally breathe again.

Theodore still wore a gloomy expression.

“I’ll escort you home.”

“Uh… okay.”

I couldn’t bring myself to refuse—he looked too pitiful.

But not long after, I would come to deeply regret that decision.

“Am I really that unappealing?”

He must’ve been more hurt than I thought. Though he hadn’t had a drop of alcohol, Theodore was muttering like a drunk, repeating the same complaints over and over.

“I know I’m not good-looking. I see myself in the mirror every day. But I thought…if I tried hard enough, I could at least be likable. But…”

“Wait, wait. Lord Tregosnan, stop right there.”

I couldn’t listen any longer. Theodore had a pretty decent face—talking like this was an offense to Plendena’s name.

‘What was it that Ramande said again?’

“All of Lord Plendena’s children are beautiful. So please don’t say things like that.”

“L-Lady Karnian?”

I spoke solemnly, imitating the tone of a priest. He seemed genuinely surprised—his eyes went round.

“Then… are you saying I look just like the Prince?”

Ugh. No matter what, that’s a bit of a stretch!

“Excuse me!”

“See? Even you don’t agree.”

His enormous shoulders drooped dramatically as I furrowed my brows, half-annoyed and half-bemused.

‘This guy… I didn’t think he was the type, but he’s surprisingly sensitive about this stuff.’

I let out a deep sigh and patted his knee a couple of times.

“I like the Prince, so of course he looks like the best man in the world to me.”

“……”

“Looks do matter when it comes to dating, but they aren’t everything. I’m sure someday, someone will come along who sees you as the most precious person in the world.”

“You think so?”

“Of course.”

Even straw shoes find their match, as the saying goes. But for some reason, it seemed Lapheche wasn’t meant to be Theodore’s match after all.

‘What’s caused the original story to twist like this?’

I had fallen for Esadien instead of Theodore, yes—but that had nothing to do with Lapheche. Besides… Lapheche should’ve been struggling to survive near the desert border around now. The fact that she’d suddenly been adopted into another noble family and brought to the capital was strange in itself.

“…My lady. Lady Karnian.”

We had arrived home while I’d been lost in my less-than-pleasant thoughts about Lapheche.

‘Whoops. I completely neglected him without meaning to.’

Theodore still had a gloomy look on his face as he escorted me. He looked a little better than earlier, but I couldn’t bring myself to just send him off like this.

“My lord, why don’t you stay for dinner?”

“…Pardon?”

“If I let you go now, I have a feeling you’ll drink at least three bottles of wine tonight.”

Judging by his sheepish chuckle and the way he rubbed the back of his head, I’d hit the mark.

He may have fallen at first sight, but it was clear that his feelings for Lapheche—short-lived as they were—had been genuine.

‘I get it.’

I had also lost my heart to Esadien the moment I laid eyes on him.

“By the way, my lord.”

“Yes?”

“Shall we… be friends?”

“Pardon me?”

His booming voice echoed with a prolonged “Eeeeeeh?”—if we’d been on a mountain, it would’ve definitely come back as an echo.

“You’re hurting my ears, Theodore.”

“S-Sorry… But, what did you just say?”

I tilted my head and raised one corner of my mouth in a teasing smile.

“Maybe I should just start calling you Theo instead.”

“……”

After a moment of silence, Theodore’s face slowly lit up with a familiar smile—playful and warm, the one that suited him best.

“Wait, you ask if we should be friends and then just decide without hearing my answer?”

“You don’t want to?”

“Well… it’s not like I said no.”

Exactly. This is how friendships can begin too.

Like mischievous teenagers, we laughed together as we walked inside. The servant who greeted us at the entrance said, “Did you enjoy your outing, my Lady? His Highness the Prince is waiting for you in the library.”

“Oh, really?”

It seemed Esadien had made a habit of dropping by unannounced these days. But I didn’t mind—after all, I never sent word ahead when visiting the palace either.

Delighted, I turned toward the servant, only for Theodore to ask me hesitantly, “I suppose I should be heading home now, shouldn’t I?”

“What are you talking about? You and Esadien are practically inseparable.”

“Even so… surely the two of you would prefer to be alone.”

“It’s fine. Come on, this way!”

Grabbing his arm without giving him a chance to argue, I led him inside. Theodore let out an awkward laugh but followed obediently. My strength probably felt no more than a mouse tugging on a lion to someone like him—but he came all the same.

* * *

Esadien’s unannounced visit to the Grand Duchy was for a simple reason: to return a borrowed book.

Ever since he finished reading it the night before and lay down to sleep, Minuelle’s voice had lingered in his ears.

“I’ll lend it to you. Please make sure you come back to return it.”

Even in his dreams, while swinging his sword at dawn, and during breakfast—he kept thinking of her. He even found himself recalling those sky-blue eyes gazing at him from up close. It made him wonder if the book had some kind of magical enchantment cast upon it—one he couldn’t detect.

“Haa…”

Esadien let out a sigh, prompting his attendant to look at him in surprise.

‘He ate fine just a moment ago. Why is he suddenly clutching his head like that?’

The attendant had served the Prince for many years, but this was a first. He looked as if he might start shaking his legs any moment now.

Though born to a humble household, a royal attendant was still considered noble blood. Reading and writing were a given. He cautiously glanced at the book Esadien was glaring at as though it had insulted him—only to find it was a simple history book:

The Imprisoned Euneas

Judging by the title, it was likely a chronicle of the founding of the Parmian Duchy

That ruled out the book as the problem. Abandoning speculation, the attendant asked directly: “Your Highness, is something troubling you?”

“…Troubling me, huh.”

Esadien blinked as if waking from a trance, then suddenly covered his mouth. How could he say he kept thinking about Minuelle?

He had believed that keeping things cordial and emotionally distant would be enough. But Minuelle… she was difficult in a completely different way.

“Your Highness, I like you!”

That innocent smile and her affection—like a gift—were stronger than any siege weapon. Who could’ve guessed that a wall he had so carefully built would crumble so easily to such a direct confession?

But there was one memory that always kept Esadien tethered to reason.

“My beloved son. I hate you.”

His mother, once a Princess, had secretly been in love with someone. It wasn’t a fling; she had truly loved the man. But it seemed he didn’t feel the same. When she told him she was pregnant, he disappeared.

To make matters worse, word of the affair reached the former emperor around the same time, and in his fury, he banished her from the palace.

Though she was still royalty and never ended up on the streets, being abandoned by the man she loved had broken her completely.

“Esadien, my little angel… I wish you’d never been born.”

He still remembered those days vividly—watching her speak from her sickbed with that pale face.

“He told me he loved me…”

Even now, Esadien didn’t know who his father was.

“My little Dien, if someone ever tells you they love you…”

Even at the end, her voice was as gentle as freshly drawn milk.

“Remember that love scatters faster than morning mist in the sun.”

“Think of me. Always…”

“Your Highness?”

“…Ah.”

Snapped out of his reverie by his attendant’s voice, Esadien blinked. The light returned slowly to his previously distant eyes.

“If you’re tired, shall I prepare your room for a nap? It’s already in order.”

Esadien slowly shook his head. There was no way he could sleep like this.

“Ready the carriage.”