Chapter 33

Round tables were all over the place. Only tiny lights were placed in a few places.

People were focused at each table, and loud shouts could be heard everywhere.

Ralph was the only one who looked sober.

He blended in with his disheveled hair and worn clothes. His hair color and eyes were so common that he was not very noticeable. After observing the situation around him, he opened the door set aside inside for him.

The interior was an enclosed space, with only a small bed and a table. There, a man was in a position where his head was on the wall and his body on the bed with his legs sticking out. It looked like he was neither sitting nor lying down.

The man’s slightly cloudy eyes had no focus. The area around the man’s mouth appeared white, but in fact, the foam from the lying man’s mouth was a solid mark.

At first glance, he looked dead. But Ralph knew he was only drunk and had just briefly passed out.

“Tsk Tsk. It may be expensive drugs, but you shouldn’t have taken it recklessly.”

However, unlike the words he spoke, his face looked pleased.

“If you want to receive more drugs tomorrow, you can look at the memo.”

He tapped the man’s cheeks, and inserted the paper he brought with him in the man’s pocket.

“Ugh…”

The man could not answer properly. But for the sake of getting those drugs, the man would likely bring up memories he didn’t know he had inside him.

Ralph clicked his tongue and left.

“To the outskirts.”

Even though there was no specific reference, the coachman, familiar with Ralph’s usual routine, started to run the carriage right away. Watching the landscape gradually changing through the window, he took out the drugs rolled on a small piece of paper from his pocket and put it in his mouth. The figure looked like a child eating candy.

“I wonder if they found one today.”

Anticipation was explicit on his face as they headed towards the destination.

***

Sigh.

Within Prillance’s line of sight, she could see Ver practicing in the field. He had always made time to practice on his own.

Fortunately, the location was clearly visible from her room, so she was able to observe him at ease. This had now become her routine.

Today was only one of the days when she observed him like that.

Prillance leaned against the window and watched Ver practice. For several days she had tried to meet him, but he had been avoiding her. Hence, this was the only time she was able to get a glimpse of him. At least this way, she was free to observe him away from other people’s eyes.

“The new commander of the Marquis of Weiand’s Second Order of Knights – Ver Grant.”

Prillance muttered under her breath. In just a few days, Ver had taken up a position within the Order of the Knights.

It was only natural. Even within the Arceo empire, he had the best of skills. But she realized what had changed from the original. Ver Grant had become a knight of Marquis Weiand, not Duke Tonz. And Roman Tonz had became Prillance Weiand’s partner for the imperial ball, not Cecia Royne.

Yet why was Ver still not able to find happiness with the person he loved?

When she first came here, she had tried to change the original course of the novel because she had wanted him to live happily with his beloved. She believed he would find happiness as long as things don’t go as the original. But now, she wasn’t sure.

Will he be happy?

Prillance wanted to know as he watched Ver wipe his sweat.

Brushing off his sweat, Ver tried his best not to turn his head to the side. It was because of Prillance, who had been looking at himself from the window. It had not been one or two times that he had wanted to see how she was looking at him.

Nevertheless, she was unaware that he knew.

Ver lay down the sword to tidy up. Then, as he slowly turned his head towards Prillance, he saw her quickly hide in a fit of surprise. Her small hands lay by the window, as if to show a trace of her hasty concealment.

She was so cute. Ver burst into laughter – quietly, so she wouldn’t know.

He had been dodging her for days. Then, he had tried to get a position in the Order within the shortest time possible. Finally, tomorrow he would officially be appointed a formal position within the Marquis of Weiand’s Order of Knights.

As soon as he received his position, he wanted to run to her. He wanted to immediately let her know about his appointment and receive her approval. That him – whom she had needed when she gave her proposal to Duke Tonz – had become a knight of their house.

So every day, he worked hard to warm up his stiffened body. After a while, he had felt someone’s gaze. The moment he realized that the direction was toward Prillance’s room, he was caught between his desire to look back at her and the desire to not let her run away. He stopped his sword practice and for a while just stood in agony.

As she kept observing him during each of his practices, his desire to look at Prillance reached to the point where he could no longer suppress it. So all he could do was to tease her like this.

The time when he tried to hold back, but no longer could, and finally turned around – wanting to see her – what he saw was her hand, smaller than his.

He recalled the time when he had wanted to meet Prillance but couldn’t; he had not known where he could meet her. Next time, he decided to go to her first, unconditionally. Prillance, who had come to meet himself, but whom he had cold-heartedly sent away.

Ver looked down at his hand. Then clenched his fist tightly.

Had he pushed her hand away? No, he had let it go.

She, who had come to meet himself. That Prillance.

So he had no choice but to approach her little by little, not wanting her to run away any further. Even if he could only see her hands. For now, that was enough for him.

Smiling, Ver turned his head. He shook his hair wet with sweat and began to walk away from the field.

Prillance carefully poked her head out the window. Thinking his practice was over, she saw him deep in thought.

After practicing, he always stood motionless for a long time. What was he thinking? What was he worried about? Did his practice not go well?

She became concerned as Ver stood unmoving.

With her chin leaning against her hands, she watched as his figure faded in the distance. She hoped that the breeze would blow his sweat and worries away.

Music flowed. Their bodies moved along a song that was neither fast nor slow. A man and a woman, dancing while looking at the same direction, holding their hands together, letting go of one hand, and then turning around to meet again. After finishing his practice, this was the sight that Ver was watching.

The main character was Prillance.

Ver had a habit that Prillance didn’t know about. She didn’t know that at the end of his morning practice, he would sit by a tree and watch her.

The tree’s verdant leaves concealed Ver, as he sat between its thick branches. In this way, he was able to watch Prillance’s dance to his heart’s content.

When a pulsing beat came out, he could see Prillance smiling beautifully. He remained there until her class ended.