TPMBHSW 07

Chapter 07

I answered through gritted teeth.

“It was exactly ten years ago. Isn’t that right, Count Winston?”

“I wonder. I can see that the breakup I remember and the breakup the Duke remembers are different.”

“Can you even remember it differently?”

“Depending on how you think about it, it’s possible.”

“No!”

How can you think about it differently!

“Goodness!”

Just as I was about to shout something, an excited exclamation rang through the corridor. Now everyone, including me, was looking at Sasha, whose cheeks were flushed red with excitement.

“Could it be that ten years ago, the midnight escape that shook the capital…!”

“Enough.”

Just as a clichéd romance story was about to begin, Damon cut in, looking thoroughly displeased.

“Why are you bringing up things from so long ago, Sasha. What matters isn’t the past but the present. No matter who she dated before, what matters is that Bella is dating me now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And I am the most noble man in the Empire, and among women of marriageable age, Bella has the best qualifications, so we will soon marry and become a perfect pair.”

Sasha tilted her head with an expression that suggested she didn’t quite understand. She seemed to think she didn’t understand Damon’s words because she had been away from the capital for so long.

No, Sasha. That’s not it. It’s not that you don’t understand—it’s just that he’s strange.

Fortunately, Sasha didn’t press the matter further.

“Then at the banquet next week, will the Duke be your partner as well, Brother? I don’t remember clearly, but at a grand banquet like that, you give your partner a corsage, don’t you?”

Hm?

I turned to look at Sasha for a moment, then shifted my gaze to Damon, who was grinning shamelessly.

‘What on earth are you saying to a cousin you haven’t seen in ages?’

Corsages are for fresh young lovers who’ve just started dating. And neither Damon nor I had ever shown up to a banquet wearing flowers on our wrists, even at the first banquet we attended as partners.

Why?

‘Where did the guy who said he had no intention of doing such childish things go?’

He definitely told me he had no intention of copying what kids do, so isn’t he embarrassed, really.

Damon replied shamelessly, without a trace of embarrassment.

“Of course. I’ve had the corsage prepared since the banquet was mentioned. Ah, Bella. I’ve also picked out a few dresses to gift you, actually. Since you’re here, why don’t you take a look?”

You’re giving me what?

“…A dress?”

‘Surely not.’

This, surely not, that? No, even so, surely not? Twenty-eight years old and being childish, surely not?

“I’ve always taken care of your dresses, Bella. Why are you acting like this is new?”

…They say “surely not” kills a person.

So he really is showing off.

I don’t know why exactly, but Damon was right now doing his utmost to appeal to Richard.

To make clear that he was my lover.

…Surely he hasn’t forgotten that we’re not actually lovers?

Somehow, I was starting to get a premonition that breaking up with Damon would not go smoothly.

—

* * *

—

“You’ve finally come out! I thought I’d die of boredom waiting. With the identification I have, they wouldn’t even let me inside the palace.”

The knight leaning against the imperial palace wall brightened and stood up the moment he saw Richard. Even upon finding Phillip, who had been stuck to his side like a second body back in the North, Richard’s expression was not particularly bright.

“Why is a guy who should have followed Noah here?”

“Ah, if you’re worried about the young master of the Bellua Dukedom, don’t be. Asta went after him enthusiastically.”

At those words, Richard swallowed a sigh. So he still hadn’t given up on Noah.

Well. I suppose I can’t blame anyone but myself. Richard struggled to suppress the urge to turn around and run straight back to where Isabella was.

It’s not time yet. Even knowing that, he couldn’t bear how pathetic he looked, having rushed here like a madman at a single word from Noah.

‘Bella hates Damon?’

He wouldn’t deny that he’d been swayed by Noah’s words. But even so, that didn’t mean Damon had to flaunt his love for her right in front of him.

How many times had he had to hold back his fist while watching Damon strut? What made it worse was that the two of them looked terribly good together.

Richard let out a deep sigh, hoo, and began walking. Phillip stuck close behind him and chattered.

“So, what did the young master of Bellua say that made you rush out? Seeing as you went to the imperial palace, it must be related to Her Highness the Princess… no, to Duke Bellua. Of course.”

At that moment, Phillip, who had been watching a carriage exiting through the main gate, changed the subject. Richard, about to smack him, spotted the carriage and froze on the spot.

Phillip, seeing Richard blankly following the carriage with his eyes, clicked his tongue inwardly.

“Ahh, our knight order is full of nothing but lovesick fools. The Commander, Asta, everyone—why is everyone so hung up on just one person?”

Phillip grumbled that Richard should at least try dating, and that he had no idea what Asta was thinking, then soon shook his head.

“Commander, do you think the carriage will stop just because you do that? Huh?”

No answer came to the sarcastic remark. Phillip could have bet money that Richard hadn’t been affected by his words at all.

Why?

Because his entire attention was clearly fixed on the carriage slowly heading down the central road, and he obviously hadn’t heard a word Phillip said.

“Asta is like that, and the Commander is like that—I really don’t understand. Why do people cling so desperately to someone who says they don’t want them?”

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, you can leave for the Bellua territory too.”

“Come on. Having two senior knights attached to just a territory inspection is a waste of manpower.”

“Is following me around like a lost duckling not a waste?”

“This is escort duty. You never know when a monster might pop out, so shouldn’t the adjutant stay by the Commander’s side?”

Richard looked at Phillip in disbelief. Even under that sharp gaze, Phillip didn’t flinch. It was a moment when the fortitude he’d built up through staring contests with monsters that had bird heads where their heads should be truly shone.

“Even if it’s the capital, you never know when or where a monster might appear.”

“You just said with your own mouth that this is the capital.”

“Commander, you’re the one who said there’s no safe zone on this land as long as we don’t know why monsters appear.”

Seeing that no matter what he said, the man wasn’t going to listen, Richard gave up arguing further. Shaking his head lightly, he began walking toward his destination. Of course, Phillip was not the type to give up just because of that.

“Are you running away, Commander!”

“…”

“You don’t have to. I understand everything. First love is scary, isn’t it. I still can’t forget the little kid who handed me a warm potato when I was eight.”

Just now, the feelings he had harbored for years had become equivalent to a snot-nosed kid’s potato.

“…”

“Ah. So are you breaking things off with Her Highness the Princess? The gossip rags say the two of you are about to marry tomorrow.”

There was no need to ask what gossip rag Phillip was blabbing about.

Damn Trouble-Love.

It had tormented him ten years ago and five years ago, and it still hadn’t gone under. Far from going under, it was thriving, even building a headquarters despite meddling with the imperial family.

The more Trouble-Love thrived, the better it was for him, but making money and his feelings were separate matters.

“Anyway, you’re attending the welcome banquet, right? I can attend as your escort too, right? You’ll lend me formal attire? Huh? You’ll lend it to me? If you say something different later, I’ll charge you for the cost, got it?”

Phillip, who had been stuck to Richard’s side chattering away while Richard didn’t even look at him, much less reply, suddenly shut his mouth.

Why?

Because they had entered one of the few spaces that could make even a man who was shameless in front of the imperial palace cower.

Even if he had brought up formal attire, this wasn’t what he meant. Phillip asked in a voice gone pale.

“…Commander, surely you’re not really going in here?”

Only then did Richard turn to look at Phillip. Under his gaze, which seemed to ask what the problem was, Phillip found himself at a loss for words.

What could he say?

That right now, behind you, all kinds of dresses with splendid lace are spread out in a dazzling display?

“…It’s nothing.”

Dragging the terrified, silenced Phillip behind him, Richard confidently entered the finest shop in the Empire.

It was the moment when the next day’s main headline of Trouble-Love was decided.