Chapter 2.2

“Prillance.”

It was Marquis Jack Weiand who called her back to the mansion. He then gave a long lecture about being careful. In the meantime, just like last time, Prillance did not respond.

“I would like for Viscount Grant to be one of our family’s knights.”

In the end, Jack sighed and touched his head. He spoke for so long, but it was clear she hadn’t heard his words at all.

After going out for the last few days, he thought she understood his words well and thought she was going shopping as usual so he left her alone. If he hadn’t asked the coachman, he probably wouldn’t have known about it until today.

“The Grant family already received their punishment. Then it doesn’t matter where he belongs, doesn’t it?”

Prillance was right. His title fell and his land belonged to the imperial family, so he was already punished.

So even if he belonged to any family, it would not be strange. Nevertheless, Ver wasn’t going to be welcomed everywhere.

“It doesn’t have to be our family.”

Jack resolutely refused. He also thought there was something suspicious about Marquis Grant’s case, but he was still unsure. He didn’t want to show him embracing her ideas in this situation.

“Why? Even for the sake of the empire, isn’t it better to be found in another house’s knights?”

“It’s not that simple.”

Prillance knew that she was being unreasonable. Even if it weren’t the Marquis in front of her, no other noble would be able to accept Ver in a single stroke. And if she didn’t know the contents of the novel, she would have understood it and moved on.

But she knew the content, and she knew the reason Jack was rejecting her idea. Maybe that was why she was more frustrated.

“If you are refusing just because of the eyes surrounding him, then you’re making a mistake. You know better than anyone. He is a talented knight.”

The eyes of the two people facing each other were tense. In the end, it was Jack who first avoided her gaze.

There was nothing wrong with Prillance’s words, but it was also an extremely ordinary idea that could only be thought of because she didn’t know politics. If that weren’t the case, the noble families that had knights would have been fighting over to take him as one of their knights.

On the contrary, it was such a big burden.

“The Viscount won’t want to belong to our family either.”

And even if Jack accepts it, Viscount Grant won’t be pleased with the Weiand family, who they had many disagreements with.

“That…No, if the Viscount asked, would you allow him to come in?”

“…I’ll reconsider it then.”

Eventually, it was Jack who raised the white flag. Of course, he showed meticulousness, leaving room for vague consideration.

***

Prillance headed for the promenade next to Viscount Grant’s mansion. Ver was there. According to Mindy, he enjoyed walking alone in that place.

She had no intention of giving up like this. She stood in the middle of the promenade and waited until he came.

“Lady Weiand.”

When she heard Ver’s long-awaited voice, Prillance slightly grabbed the hem of her dress. It was time to show the face she practiced for days.

The key point of the operation was shamelessness.

“Oh my, it’s been a while.”

She then pretended to remain calm and raised the corners of her mouth that didn’t go up previously.

“What are you doing here?”

“As you can see, I was walking.”

“Alone?”

She could hear Ver’s puzzled tone. She knew what his expression meant. This place was neither a short distance from Marquis Weiand’s estate, nor is it a place for a woman to come alone.

“I wanted to go to a quiet place.”

His response was already to be expected, so Prillance responded shamelessly.

“Then, I will not disturb you. Please have a good walk.”

Ver politely greeted and passed Prillance. As Ver showed his back, Prillance grabbed the hem of her dress and moved quickly. Then, when Ver stopped and turned, Prillance stopped and pretended to walk slowly.

“You are quite a fast walker.”

He spoke to Prillance. Even though Ver walked quite quickly, he saw that she was standing not far in the distance.

“Oh, am I? I didn’t even notice, the forest was so pretty that I didn’t even realize I was walking so fast.”

Prillance pretended to be casual and laughed. Then, she eagerly followed the same posture as soon as Ver walked again.

Each time, Ver went a few steps, then stopped and looked back. As the gap became shorter, Prillance grabbed the hem of her dress and let go of it.

In a hurry, her hands missed the hem of her dress and one of her shoes came off. This time, Ver walked without looking back.

‘My old sneakers would have been perfect for this walk.’

Prillance, with such thoughts, limped along to find her shoe. The shoe rolled along the uphill path and was quite a distance away.

She walked enthusiastically while holding her inconvenient dress. As she bent over and tried to pick up her shoe, there was a hand that picked it up first.

“This is why it is dangerous to be alone.”

He purposely didn’t look back this time to see how far she would follow, but he couldn’t hear her footsteps. And when he turned around, he saw Prillance limping with only one shoe on.

Ver brushed the dirt off the shoe he picked up and put it down. And with one knee down, he grasped her foot to put on her shoe.

“Uh, my foot is dirty.”

Prillance wobbled as her dirt-stained foot was taken off the ground. Ver took her hand and put it on his shoulder.

“It’s alright. Please hold on to my shoulder.”

As Prillance’s hand leaned on Ver’s shoulder, his body naturally came close. She became nervous at the close distance between them.

Prillance’s feet were wrapped in one of Ver’s hands. He thought her feet were really small. He brushed off the dirt, put on her shoe and stood up.

“Thank you.”

Prillance, blushing, said quietly.

Ver looked at the bashful face and wanted to know if that face was real or not. But he didn’t ask. If it wasn’t real, he would be disappointed again.

“Don’t walk alone from now on. Even if it’s just a walk in the promenade, there is a high risk of getting hurt.”

Ver only said to be careful and stepped back on his way. However, his steps were significantly slower than before. Following his slow pace, Prillance also moved slowly from behind. Thanks to this, she was truly able to take a stroll while looking at the sights along the way.