Chapter 20

Prillance rose from her seat and got dressed. After hiding in her room without eating properly for several days, her face had become very thin.

Seeing her face, Mindy became heartbroken. But today at least she ate soup and nutritious juice by herself. Finally, it seemed like she had figured things out.

“Please check to see if we have Jasmine tea.”

“Yes, milady.”

Mindy replied, gently stroking Prillance’s head.

“If not, please prepare something else. I’m going to have Lady Royne as a guest today.”

“Yes, milady.”

Since Prillance had no plans to go out, Mindy simply combed her hair and tied it neatly.

“Milady.”

Derek knocked on the door in a hurry and came in before he even heard an answer. His face seemed to indicate an urgent matter. Then, before Prillance could ask, he swiftly spoke,

“Duke Tonz is here.”

“What?”

Even Mindy stopped her movement. As she looked in the mirror, she saw a startled Prillance. His visit seemed to be unexpected.

“He is in the reception room at the moment.”

“In our mansion?”

“Yes.”

It was a sudden visit. Moreover, he even came to visit in person.

“You really mean to say…he’s here at the moment…in the Marquis estate?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, Mindy’s hand, which had been slowly combing Prillance’s hair, became more active. It was Duke Tonz. It was the Duke that her lady liked so much.

He must have come to the mansion after learning that Prillance was sick. Even her lady had a look of disbelief.

Finally, it was time to show off her skills.

It didn’t take long for Prillance to arrive in the reception room. She simply viewed it as an additional person to see today.

“I greet the Duke.”

Prillance greeted Roman and sat down.

“What brings you here today?” she immediately asked. With the way their last conversation ended, there’s no way he came for no reason.

Roman thought she would already know the reason but decided not to wear an obvious impression. So instead, he brought out the flowers he prepared.

“I heard you were sick. Is my visit a bit too much for someone who hasn’t been to a hospital?”

He gave her a bouquet of lilies. He ended up buying these flowers after much deliberation. The flowers reminded him of Prillance…although that thought itself didn’t make sense. Roman thought it was strange for him to be buying flowers for her.

‘A lily, huh…In the past, I would have thought it was a rose with thorns. ’

As Roman was lost in his own thoughts, Prillance received the flowers and smelled them. Seeing this, he felt he had made the right choice. The flowers suited her.

“Thank you. Although you came after I am all better.”

“I was busy.”

“I know. You are always busy.”

Prillance replied insignificantly. After all, it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to it. Roman’s excuses for her had always been the same. Roman also knew himself well, so he didn’t say more.

Roman drank the tea in front of him. It had been a while since he last saw her face. It looked like it wasn’t a lie that she was sick. Even though she was covered with makeup, her pale face could not hide the fact that she had lost weight. Her hands that raised and sipped the tea looked thinner. Not that he would remember what they previously looked like.

“Are you here because of Lady Royne?”

Prillance, who had a sip of tea, looked at him and spoke first. And her guess seemed right.

“You said you attached someone to me. You probably know that I haven’t come out in a while, and heard where the letter I wrote to was sent.”

Prillance was right. A feigned laughter came from Roman, as he remembered the time when he talked about himself.

“You won’t have to worry anymore. I will no longer do the same things I did before.” (Prillance)

“……Is that so.”

Roman decided to accept without a hitch.

“It looks like you don’t believe me.”

She replied in a nonchalant manner.

“But I can’t tell you why I asked to meet her. As you know, it’s a woman’s secret. Hence, I have no obligation to tell you about it.”

Prillance tried to smile gracefully. Roman scrutinized her. He thought he had figured out all of Prillance’s intentions, but suddenly she pointed her arrow towards Lady Royne.

He wondered what this was about this time.

“Are you planning on tormenting Lady Royne?”

There was no reason to straightforwardly ask. He had already found out Prillance’s ulterior motive for using Ver. So if Cecia would be oppressed by Prillance, it would be purely because of that.

He didn’t want that to happen.

“I have no intention of harassing anyone.”

“Then you shouldn’t meet Lady Royne.”

At Roman’s words, Prillance’s movement halted. Was this also close to crossing the line? She remembered Ver’s face a few days ago. Perhaps Roman was not wrong.

Should she just give up and do nothing? But what would happen to Ver if she left the story unchanged? Perhaps he’ll be angry, just like Roman.

Roman watched as Prillance formed a smile that was sad around the edges. The moment he saw the emotions defenselessly exposed on her face, it dawned on him that perhaps he had made a mistake.

When he heard that she hadn’t been out for days, he thought he would have an interesting visit, but strangely it wasn’t. Not today, at least. Looking at her pale, sickly face prickled at his conscience, as perhaps it was him who made her this way.

“If I don’t meet Lady Royne……Will you agree to be engaged to me?” she muttered.

It took time for Roman to understand what the woman in front of her said. She gave a remark that was not different from before, yet there was a different impression on her face.

“……Why are you still so insistent on this?”

She swallowed a story that she would never tell him – she just wanted Ver to be happy with the person that he loved. Instead, she replaced her answer with a bitter smile.

Instead of being angry or disgusted as before, Roman was more concerned with the resignation contained in her voice.

She lowered her gaze. She seemed to have no intention of answering his question, instead, her dry fingers swept through the handle of the teacup. These series of actions caught his eye. To be exact, it made him unable to take his eyes off her. He could feel it. Something within her had changed.

“Thank you for the flowers. I’m not feeling well, so I will excuse myself first.”

She put away the improper feelings that were about to rise up within her once more. Prillance got up as soon as she finished speaking, but Roman’s hands were faster. He could feel the slimmer wrist brought by the weight loss. Were her hands always this dry?

She felt vastly different from the garden party from a while ago. It was strange. Moreover, he thought she would be crying, but she was not.

However, it felt no different from a tearful visage.

At the moment, Roman realized that seeing her face like this did not please him as he thought it would. Roman swept through her cheek once with his thumb. It was an instinctive action. Then he looked at her for a few seconds and put a handkerchief in her hand.

“I better get going for today.”

As soon as Roman finished speaking, he left the reception room. For the first time in his life, Prillance felt small and thin. The Prillance Weiand that he had always hated.

As strange thoughts surfaced in his mind, Roman hastened to leave the Weiand estate.

And Prillance, who was left alone in the reception room, swept her eyes with her fingers as she looked at the handkerchief Roman had given her.

Tears did not come out. But she felt as if her desire to cry had been exposed.