TPMBHSW 06

Chapter 06

I snapped to my senses as if waking from a dream and stepped back briskly.

Richard’s gaze followed me.

Without even noticing it, I pressed hard against my pounding heart. What have I just done?

‘Even if there haven’t been any proper scandals in high society these past few years, four days straight on the front page is a bit much, isn’t it?’

I had to salvage this situation somehow. Gripped solely by that thought, I barely managed to recall what Richard had said.

“A promise! Of course I’ll keep a promise! If you let me know a convenient time, I’ll send an invitation to the Winston estate.”

I let go of your hand. I let go, I said! I even stepped back! So why do you keep glaring at my hand like that! Stop glaring and just play along!

Perhaps my desperate prayer worked, because Richard, who seemed to be holding back a sigh, soon replied in a flat tone.

“Everyone here heard what the Duke said, so that promise will have to be kept.”

“I said I’d keep it?”

Now I was starting to feel a little wronged. When exactly had I ever broken a promise?

“I wonder. As for whether the Duke is a trustworthy partner, I believe some reconsideration is in order.”

“You’re saying you don’t trust me?”

“It’s not quite that, but… the fact that even now you only say we should have tea without giving a specific date does make you somewhat suspect.”

Do you really want to sit across from me and drink tea? Seriously? Do you still hate me that much?

“If the Count sends me a convenient date, I’ll try to match my schedule.”

I forced a smile with that meaning, and the corners of my mouth twitched as if spasming. The dark red gaze quietly watched me, then let out a soft laugh. And then, with a stride, he closed the distance I had retreated.

The backs of our hands brushed carelessly. As if by accident.

At the accidental contact, I had to strain not to flinch like a fool. As if mocking my efforts to naturally pull away, Richard’s hand slowly leaned over the back of mine.

No, or perhaps even that was my imagination?

‘Why?’

When I lifted my head, our eyes met immediately. At the gaze I couldn’t read, I swallowed dryly.

What on earth are you thinking, Rihit?

“In that case.”

Richard bowed his upper body politely. Amid the gazes sparkling with interest, I had no choice but to look at him, who was both polite and rude.

“Should I, trust you, one more time?”

The voice whispering by my ear was dreadfully low.

Trust what?

The words I wanted to ask were swallowed the moment I met Richard’s two eyes.

I could tell instinctively. If I asked what he meant, I was certain that this time, that man would despise me. And also that he had taken my silence as affirmation.

For the first time, a faint smile brushed the corner of Richard’s mouth.

“Then let’s do it today.”

“What…”

“I happened to have time today, so I said I would accept the Duke’s invitation.”

Even if I had said I’d match his schedule, wasn’t this too sudden?

As I stared at him with a blank face, Richard drove the nail in.

“I trust you won’t try to run away again, Duke.”

They say even mountains and rivers change in ten years, but even so, isn’t this too much of a change for a person?

More than that, you really want to drink tea with me? Sitting across from each other? What are you going to say?

For the first time, amusement flickered in Richard’s gaze as he looked at me.

Everyone was pricking up their ears, waiting for my answer. Just as I parted my lips as if pushed to the edge of a cliff—

“I waited and you never came, so I came out to see what on earth this mess is.”

A familiar, irritation-laced voice came from behind me.

Damon Pilliad.

It was the moment the Crown Prince of the Empire appeared in a swaggering manner and put the finishing touch on the chaos.

“I sent an invitation and you said you’d visit right away, so I wondered what was going on, and…”

Damon’s head tilted askew as he trailed off.

“You’re not telling me you’ve decided to pick up that mutt you threw away long ago, are you, Bella?”

“I’ve never raised a dog, abandoned a dog, or picked up a dog, Your Highness.”

“Uwahahaha! Oh dear. Oh dear. Sorry, Bella. I keep forgetting you’re weak with figurative expressions.”

As if I really didn’t understand.

I smiled awkwardly. Fortunately, Damon didn’t press Richard further. Still, judging by how he kept glancing over, he seemed to be bothered by it.

‘That’s really surprising.’

Why? Because I didn’t know he was the kind of person with that level of situational awareness.

Damon Pilliad.

Twenty-eight this year. The Crown Prince, the same age as me, had nothing but a glossy face—from ability to personality, there wasn’t a single thing worth noting. If I had to name a merit, it would be that he was the Empire’s sole heir?

‘The sole heir, that is.’

Now that the princess thought dead has returned, the past tense is appropriate.

Anyway, Damon was arrogant and haughty, befitting a Crown Prince who had lived his whole life without a competitor. Being the sole heir, he had no one to read the room for, and he was a specimen of a wastrel who had lived however he pleased since childhood.

Even though it was a contract based on mutual need, the fact that he didn’t even try to hide meeting courtesans while being officially my lover showed just how bad he was. He was such a wreck that the Emperor wouldn’t hand over the throne despite his long illness.

‘Though even so, the useful nobles are all on Damon’s side.’

Since my father’s death, there had been changes in what had been an ironclad hierarchy. Marquis Frost, who had been eyeing my father’s vacant seat, was gnashing his teeth after being pushed out by Count Kindel.

But that’s not what’s important right now. I subtly looked around.

How should I handle this awkward situation?

‘Damon and Richard aside…’

Why is Her Highness the Princess walking around so amicably with Damon?

Perhaps sensing the strange atmosphere, Sasha, who had been clasping her hands together, lifted her head sharply. Something like determination flashed in her eyes.

No. Wait a moment. That doesn’t seem like a good idea…

“It’s so nice that all the people I like are gathered here!”

Ahh.

Why is it that bad premonitions never fail? Sasha, who had never experienced high society, didn’t seem to know what mistake she had just made.

If this had been a salon or banquet hall, she would have drawn the ridicule of madams and ladies. The gentlemen would have smiled awkwardly or averted their gazes.

‘Damon is… as expected.’

Just as I was about to help Sasha—

“Yes, that’s right.”

Richard picked up Sasha’s words. My mood sank instantly.

“That’s right, Sasha. I’m always kind to you.”

As he said, Richard was smiling kindly at Sasha.

Sting.

‘Ah, no.’

My heart, which had been expecting something without knowing its place, tormented me wildly, saying, Look at this.

I realized just how absurdly mistaken I had been in the corridor earlier.

The tender Richard had that kind of face. Not the cold, indifferent face from the corridor. So don’t misunderstand.

‘I’m the one who threw him away. Don’t expect anything.’

Damon, who had been watching us alternately with his arms crossed, spoke with a mischievous face.

“Hmph. I don’t like it one bit. Just seeing the man Bella used to date nearby irritates me.”

“Oh my. Goodness! Duke Bellua and Rihit used to date each other?”

“What. You didn’t know?”

“Well, no one told me.”

“It’s already been several days since you returned to the capital. Haven’t you made a single friend in that time?”

Good heavens.

Damon’s rudeness snapped me awake as if cold water had been thrown over me.

What on earth is this madman saying? I hurriedly inserted myself between them to salvage the situation.

“Damon is worried about Her Highness the Princess like this. He said he’s very concerned because she’s a cousin he hasn’t seen in a long time. Right, Damon?”

At my question, Damon raised one eyebrow. His expression said, What nonsense is this?

The nonsense wasn’t mine, it was yours.

“And Damon. Her Highness the Princess has many friends. Right here, Count Winston is also Her Highness’s friend.”

“…Friends between a man and a woman.”

Don’t trail off meaningfully like that.

Damon, who had let out a scoff, soon nodded toward Sasha and apologized.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize you had such a good friend.”

“Oh. No. I just learned something I didn’t know either.”

Sasha blushed and hesitated. Somehow I had a bad feeling about this.

It seemed safer to move away from the topic of who was whose friend and talk about something else.

‘But what should I say?’

While I was worrying, Sasha mustered her courage first again.

“But were you and Rihit dating, Duke?”

Her eyes were sparkling so much that rather than mustering courage, it seemed more accurate to say she was thoroughly enjoying this.

“It was a long time ago.”

I answered reflexively. Then, with a feeling of Oh no, I checked Richard’s expression.

‘This, somehow, I said, something, wrong…’

“It was about five or six years ago.”

I, who had been slowly averting my gaze, whipped my head around as soon as I heard Richard’s answer. Richard, who had been sitting crookedly at the end of the sofa, twisted his lips as if answering my gaze.

It was as if he was asking, What, what is it?

‘Why on earth is he doing that?’

Hating me is one thing, fine. But why does he keep cutting the time we’ve been broken up in half? I couldn’t understand it at all.

It’s not like the time we’ve been apart actually shrinks because of it. Or else, is this what they call a battle of nerves?