Chapter 13

It had been a few days after the garden party. Roman and Jack met in the imperial palace.

“It has been a while, Duke.”

“It has been a while, Marquis.”

Jack and Roman lightly exchanged greetings.

“Would you spare a moment to have a cup of tea with me?”

It had been a while since Jack had asked for a request. It had become a rare occurrence since the time he became entangled with Prillance. Roman was puzzled, but there was no reason to decline.

“I heard you’ve been having dinner dates with my daughter lately.”

As soon as Roman sat down, Jack brought up the story. For Roman, Jack’s gaze felt a little aggressive.

“That’s right.”

Roman answered simply.

“I think you had a different partner at the party, or did I see it wrong?”

Jack asked Roman, who was drinking tea. He didn’t like the relaxed behavior displayed in front of him. It might be because of the incident at the garden party he witnessed not too long ago.

Roman, who was having dinner dates with Prillance, brought another partner with him. He was making a clear contrast of Roman’s actions.

“That’s also true.”

However Roman did not hide it. There was no reason to hide it in the first place since it was Prillance who liked and followed himself.

“Don’t you know that’s a bit discourteous?”

Jack, looking at Roman with his eyes wide open, looked like a real father. It was different from Jack’s usual behaviour wherein you wouldn’t know what he was thinking. It seemed that was how bad the incident from the party was to him.

“The Lady is already aware of this.”

But it didn’t matter to Roman. Seeing Jack’s surprised face, Roman realized that Prillance’s offer seemed purely her own independent decision.

“I guess she didn’t tell you this.”

This shocked Roman. He had thought Jack already knew about it.

Then what was Prillance thinking?

“We struck something similar to a deal…so to speak.”

Roman’s eyes sharply caught Jack’s expression. Even though Jack had a long political career and instinctively knew how to control his expressions, at this moment, Roman was able to catch it.

Thanks to this, he became relaxed. The key was in his hands anyway.

“What do you think of my daughter?”

At the moment, Jack wanted to ask Roman many questions. However, he managed to quell his curiosity by wetting his lips with tea. It wasn’t too late to go home and ask about the deal between Roman and Prillance.

“Hmm…”

Roman sensed Jack’s thoughts and stretched the end of his words. He would have done something similar if it had been himself. But now Roman had no intention of giving him what he wanted.

“If you are still uncertain about it, how about making it clear now?”

Jack didn’t know that Roman’s expressions, which neither showed like nor dislike, made things difficult for Prillance. He recalled the scene at the party he witnessed not too long ago.

“There’s something I need to clarify first.”

However, Roman still looked confident.

“Viscount Grant and Lady Weiand’s relationship.”

His inquiring face seemed to indicate jealousy in Ver and Prillance’s relationship.

“Do I have to explain it? It’s because it is a waste of Viscount Grant.”

Jack was a bit offended at Roman’s sentiment. Roman seemed to misunderstand the two, but Jack knew it wasn’t like that. He remembered how Prillance previously came to him and asked for Ver to be one of their family’s knights.

“My daughter is very sensible, similar to myself.”

Jack threw an implicit comment at Roman, who didn’t even know Prillance’s mind. Come to think of it, it was something an average noble lady would not be able to think of. Suddenly he wanted to boast more about it.

Although he refused at the time, now that he thought of it, it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“You mean to say there’s nothing going on between her and Viscount Grant?”

Roman asked once more.

“If you are asking if their relationship is one between a man and a woman’s, it is absolutely not.”

Jack gave a confident answer. His answer further fuelled Roman’s question.

Prillance’s affection for Ver was clear. If the meaning in her eyes was not affection, was there a reason to keep meeting like this?

‘If she sees Viscount Grant as something other than a man…’

Roman stroked his chin and tapped the armrest with his fingertips. He tried to remember what Ver was like before the fall of Marquis Grant.

“Viscount Grant…”

Suddenly, Roman’s movement stopped. Speaking slowly, his gaze turned to Jack.

“He is an excellent knight.”

At that, Jack’s movement as he drank his tea halted for a brief moment. Although it was fleeting, Roman did not miss it. It was a fact he had forgotten for a moment – that Ver was a skillful man, competent enough to join the Imperial Knights.

“Your daughter has much forethought.”

Finally, the tangled thread before him was unraveled. Roman smiled brightly at Jack. Looking at Roman’s strange smile, Jack comforted himself by thinking that his smile must be a positive response.

***

After the garden party, Prillance wasn’t as motivated before. She couldn’t understand why all her plans had ended up as failures.

Even though there were many things that had not gone as planned, she felt her mind was not the same as before. Moreover, the conclusion of those thoughts was…

‘Can someone else fill Ver’s happiness?’

After a few days of contemplation, it became clear. She was hoping for that someone to be her.

“Be careful.”

As Prillance stumbled, Ver caught her. After quite some time, she was dressed in comfortable clothes and was once again learning self-defense with Ver. To clear her head, Prillance practiced much more vigorously.

She tried to hit the scarecrow’s vital point as Ver had taught. Apparently, doing so would throw off the opponent, giving one the opportunity to run away or attack in the meantime. It was a precaution against possible dangers in the future.

“Looks like you have a lot of things on your mind.”

Ver stated as he saw her breathing heavily. Exercise helped eliminate the clutter, so on days when his head was muddled with thoughts, he purposely tried to focus on the exercise. That was the sense that Ver felt as he saw her more impassioned and focused than before. After the garden party a few days ago, she had been lost in thought even as they took a walk.

“I know right. Today, I want to sweat a lot.”

Prillance couldn’t tell him about her greed, so instead she just laughed as she wiped away her sweat. Though he could hear the bitterness in her laughter, he pretended not to notice as she seemed unwilling to talk about it.

“But still, the lady shouldn’t overdo it. The lady’s stamina cannot sustain up to that level yet.”

Ver said as he handed her some water. Ver, unaware of her greed, was still kind. On one hand, she felt bad. But at the same time, she felt that the feelings she had put away were surging once more.

Just like those days when she hid her improper emotions while wearing a friendly mask. Prillance gave a wry smile. As her face turned red with practice, she eventually decided to sit in the shade and watch him practice.

His face was expressionless as he lightly struck the scarecrow using a wooden sword. However, his gaze was sharp so as not to miss the target.

He looked sexy as he wiped off the sweat that flowed from his wet hair and ran along the side of his face.

‘I didn’t think I would ever look at a man and think he is sexy.’

It wasn’t just his face. She thought as she saw his tidy movements hit the scarecrow in the correct spots. Every time he hit the scarecrow, tiny straws scattered around him. His swordsmanship captured her attention even when she wasn’t well versed in the area.

Throughout Prillance’s gaze, Ver kept his eyes focused on the target. His actions seemed to resemble her own.

As she became self-aware, she felt a little heartache. She knew that it was selfish of her to desire for his eyes to turn toward her.

“Oh, can you give me your hand?”

After finishing his practice, Prillance turned to Ver, who sat alongside her.

“Come on.”

Prillance wrapped a wristband around Ver’s reluctant wrist.

“What is this?”

“A leather wristband.”

“Leather…”

It was usually used for bags. Ver looked at the strap around his wrist and found a round metal. On it, the letters ‘VG’ were engraved.

“You can treat it as a keepsake. You can wear it like a men’s bracelet, or you can put it wherever you want.”

It was the item she unconsciously bought on the day they went out together.

When she got home, she wanted to make a keepsake out of the leather strap she picked up. She didn’t mention there was a similar wristband in her house with her name on it.

“It’s not expensive, but it’s the only one in the world.”

Only one. Ver ruminated over the meaning of her words. The nuance of these words was very strange. It was a modifier; the meaning behind such words usually implied something precious and contained one’s heart.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

At his innocent gaze, Prillance could not help but avoid his eyes.

“Please think of it as a token for training me all this time.”

After hearing her response, Ver made a strange expression and fiddled with the leather strap around his wrist. He didn’t even know what answer he wanted from her, but he was sure it left a lot to be desired.