Chapter 17

=It had been a day after Duke Tonz’s visit. The words Ver had heard did not leave his head.

It was hard to gauge just how sincere Prillance was, who told him she wanted him to be happy. Although he didn’t want to admit it, the truth was, Roman’s revelation coincided with all her actions.

Other than that, it was hard to explain the reason for her actions.

His thoughts continued to spiral. Eventually, Ver went out to the promenade to empty his head.

But most of the places he tread were paths he walked together with her. These places, once filled with memories of his father and Cecia, had changed into memories with Prillance. And once more, the same set of thoughts gripped his mind.

He went out in search of a place where he wasn’t with her. As he took a step, he remembered the figure of Prillance following him. And with the next step, her face, flushed with embarrassment, came to mind.

After another step, he was reminded of her beautiful smile. He went at that pace. As his mind became filled with memories of her, he walked one step at a time, looking for a place where no memories of her existed.

Finally, he remembered one place. It was a place he had forgotten. A place he had dropped by only a few days ago.

At that place, he buried his first love.

At that place, memories with Prillance did not exist.

He moved toward that place. The scent of flowers flew in the wind towards him.

But contrary to Ver’s wishes, Prillance was on the cliff. Exactly in the flower garden where Ver was headed.

Prillance knew what the flower garden meant in the novel, and it broke her heart. But selfishly, in proportion to her feelings, a small greed grew endlessly. If Ver and Cecia’s relationship couldn’t continue even with her efforts to bring them together, her desire to stay with him, even if it was just for a short while, grew.

After a few days of agonizing over many thoughts, this was her conclusion.

Everyone had one thing they are greedy for. Her greed was to stay beside Ver, even if it was just for a little while.

“Lady Weiand.”

At that place was Prillance. The same person who filled his mind.

Prillance heard Ver’s voice. It was the voice that she longed to hear for days.

She tried to form her most beautiful smile before looking back. She wanted to smile as much as possible whenever she was with him. When she turned around to look at him, she smiled beautifully.

As the wind blew between the two people facing each other, the scent of Jasmine began to spread.

“It’s been a while.”

With a greeting that was unlike usual, she approached him first. Ver kept his eyes on her but gave no response. She reached out and gently grasped Ver’s sleeve. She felt Ver flinch at her touch.

“Are you like this because we haven’t seen each other in a while?”

Prillance let go of her grip, pretending to be indifferent to his response. Then she gave a playful smile.

Ver steadily looked at her. He agonized over what to say.

“Right, it’s my first time coming here. What are these flowers?”

Feeling awkward, she changed the subject first. Even after her question, Ver remained unmoving. His eyes seemed resolute, as if not wanting to miss any of her actions.

“These are flowers I planted before.”

Ver broke the silence. He was now looking at the Jasmine flowers.

“They say that in the East, this flower is used in newlyweds’ rooms. So I planted it.”

“……Newlyweds?”

“Yes.”

Only then did she notice the story about Ver and Cecia being brought out. They were flowers planted by Ver, who dreamed of a happy marriage with Cecia.

“Why……a Jasmine?”

Prillance asked as if she didn’t know. However, her voice became muted, unlike when she first spoke.

“This flower means ‘you are mine’.”

“Ah……”

“So there was someone I wanted to present these flowers to as a gift.”

Ver’s gaze turned to Prillance.

“Do you know who it is?”

He asked. It was a sudden question. Ver’s unwavering gaze was on her. It seemed that he wanted her to answer.

But she did not answer. She instinctively knew that it was something she shouldn’t answer.

“Didn’t you already know – my relationship with Lady Royne?”

Ver answered for her. Prillance fiddled with her fingers and avoided his gaze. But he knew what type of gaze would be in her eyes. As she turned her eyes away from him, he was reminded of Roman’s words from yesterday.

There were many things she didn’t tell him.

“Did you not know?”

Ver purposely asked. Prillance shook her head reluctantly.

“How much do you know?”

“……Just that you had been engaged since childhood……that’s what I know.”

This was something that even social circles knew. Most people knew that Ver, the most sought-after bachelor among social circles other than Duke Tonz, sees women like mere stones because of Cecia.

Thinking about it that way, Prillance’s response made sense. Honestly, he didn’t really want to talk to her about this. But if you think about it otherwise, if she had truly trusted him, then she would have been able to tell him everything she knew.

“Didn’t you also know that our engagement was broken?”

“……”

“Do you know why it was broken?”

But she chose to listen in silence. Nevertheless, she did not take her gaze away from Ver.

He looked at the flowers again. And he continued to speak as if he didn’t care about her.

“I didn’t want to bring damage to her.”

Ver’s face was frowning. Talking about Cecia still hurt him. Prillance had no choice but to speculate.

She felt his heartache and grasped his hand. At the sudden warmth that he felt, Ver stared at the spot she touched. Even now, the warmth seeped in at the contact.

“So I called off the engagement.”

Then he looked at her.

“I broke it off through a letter which contained only a few lines.”

When Prillance saw the sorrow contained in Ver’s eyes, her heart ached once more. The look in his eyes drove away the greed she had into a corner of her mind.

She hated that he was sad. She just wanted to make him smile. And it occurred to her. It would be fine even if she was not beside him.

“The Marquis is not one to commit something like that. So……”

She wanted to tell him that it would all work out with him and Cecia if only the truth would come out.

“The Lady said so from the beginning.”

Ver interrupted Prillance’s words. A hoarse voice came out. Even till now, she was treating him like a fool.

“I believe in you, let’s be friends. At first, I was suspicious. Why does the Lady say that? There was no reason to do so. So I thought it was just empty words. But little by little, I started to think you were being sincere.”

He watched as her eyes opened wide. When he saw those eyes, he thought that perhaps he should stop here.

It was obvious that she got hurt because of his words. However, the questions that have not ceased since last night, and the thoughts that have continued since then, were still conveyed through his mouth.

“I believed……No, I wanted to believe that the Lady’s face was genuine.”

“Viscount……”

And the moment when Prillance was about to repeat his question after she noticed that Ver’s heated words were flowing in a strange direction-

“Did you want to be engaged to Duke Tonz?”

“H……how…….”

“And so, you offered him your family’s Order of Knights?”

Prillance’s surprised look wasn’t an expression of denial. Rather, it seemed to ask how he knew. It meant that what Roman said was the truth.

‘Why aren’t you denying it……Is that why you asked me to be one of your family’s knights? ’

However, he could not utter his last question. He knew it would be something unbearable if he heard a confirmation straight from her mouth. Ver clasped her soft touch, as if he didn’t want to miss it.

All night long he tried to reassure himself that it wasn’t like that. She wasn’t like that. As the negative thoughts surged through his mind, he recalled her pure expressions and knew they were sincere.

It was probably not all lies, he guessed. Nevertheless, the things he suspected were not false.

Ver released her hand.

“Why you came to me, why you made that offer, and why you say you believe in my family – I finally understand.”

“Viscount. That’s……”

Just like how Ver’s rough but warm hands, worn from wielding the sword for a long time, fell away from Prillance, her heart ached as if a part of it was torn off. Prillance unconsciously thrust her hands out to try and clasp his hand again. However, his hand was already out of reach.

“Ah……”

She looked alternately at his face and his hands, which had drifted away from her hand. Even though Ver was in right front of her, he felt so far away.

The sudden sense of distance made tears rise in her eyes. She knew she had to say no, but she couldn’t say anything.

There was nothing that Prillance could say.

She couldn’t say that his beloved was not his destiny…that she knew everything…and that she wanted him to be happy, so she did it to change his fate.

And that the Weiand family was the cause of his misfortune.

She didn’t know how to explain the truth.

“In the future, I hope not to see you anymore.”

As Ver watched Prillance, who opened her mouth but said nothing, he began to raise his hand to wipe away her tears. But his hand stopped. If he stayed any longer, he would waver again. He didn’t know whether he could keep the act of being indifferent around her. So he quickly turned his back and began to walk away.

Prillance couldn’t even see his frigid back properly because her eyes were now filled with tears. Nevertheless, she stood there until his figure disappeared.

He knew she was an untrustworthy person, but thinking of the last expression on her face, it clung to his steps. With great difficulty, he took a steady step.

He had always followed his father’s teaching that a knight’s strides should be full of strength and confidence. But his steps which had always been vigorous were now slow and helpless. The thought of wanting to look back and the feelings of betrayal intertwined and confused his mind and heart.

Just like that day when he slowed down his pace in his consideration of her. He walked like that.