EDTATO 45

Chapter 45

“Ian, I have a favor to ask.”

By then, we had naturally returned to the 모습 of a loving couple, walking through the garden hand in hand.

It was the clear, beautiful rear garden of the Grand Ducal Residence, bathed in brilliant sunlight in anticipation of summer.

Ian answered in a clear voice, like a breeze slipping through the leaves.

“Anything.”

“It’s about… Duke Biente.”

The moment I mentioned Dekiel’s name, a conspicuous question mark appeared in Ian’s blue eyes.

I found it difficult to speak while looking into those innocent-looking eyes.

I merely maintained a faint smile, slowly stopped walking, and lowered my gaze.

It was time to become the pitiful young lady once again.

“I find him very frightening and difficult to deal with.”

Perhaps Ian had expected me to say something a normal young lady might say—such as how grateful I was that the duke had saved me and how I should return his jacket and thank him properly.

Instead, he quietly studied me, apparently surprised by my unexpected complaint.

I tightly clasped his hand as though I couldn’t bear the anxiety and nervousness.

“I feel like he really doesn’t like me.”

“Dekiel?”

“Yes… It feels as though he wants me to disappear from your side.”

“……”

“He has even deliberately put me in uncomfortable situations before.”

I placed my hand on the shoulder where Dekiel had once so openly rested his hand at the muffin shop.

There was no way Ian had forgotten how Dekiel had deliberately pretended to be having a secret rendezvous with me, turning his stomach and teasing him without the slightest concern.

“I find Duke Biente extremely uncomfortable. I don’t know what he’s thinking, either.”

I knew all too well that the two men were exceptionally close friends. I had heard it enough times to be sick of it.

So revealing my hostility toward Dekiel might have been a gamble.

A very advantageous gamble.

Ian’s judgment had become clouded because of me, hadn’t it?

I could afford to be a little demanding.

“I… don’t ever want to see him again.”

I made my request pitifully, like a rabbit backed into a corner.

Ian carefully nodded, clearly concerned for me.

“Heine, I understand perfectly well what you’re trying to say.”

My kind fiancé generously accepted my aversion to his own friend.

And he readily agreed to my request.

“Unless it’s an official occasion, I won’t force you to spend time with him. So don’t worry too much about it.”

“Thank you, Ian.”

I threw my arms around him without hiding my joy, just like an immature young lady.

His hands were momentarily startled, but soon he gently stroked my silver hair again and again.

“You’re welcome, Heine.”

His voice was gentle, yet filled with unmistakable satisfaction.

Only today, I felt as though I had finally seized Ian’s heart completely.

Heine, who had promised to have dinner with Ian, headed back to her room, saying she wanted to freshen up first.

While his lovely fiancée was away for a moment, Ian sat on the garden bench where they had walked together and caught his breath.

He was almost dizzy from how particularly adorable Heine had been today.

It feels like I’m dreaming.

He couldn’t stop smiling.

Just yesterday, he had been consumed by anxiety, and yet now he was this happy and excited.

After struggling to suppress his laughter for a long while, Ian finally cleared his throat several times and managed to return to a composed expression.

She’s changed a little.

Until now, Heine had been a beautiful yet anxious and fragile fiancée who seemed to secretly keep her thorns raised.

There was a cold wall that made him hesitate even when all he wanted was to approach her and embrace her.

Sometimes he thought that if he waited for that wall to collapse, he might collapse first.

She seemed within reach, yet I could never quite grasp her…

Even though he thought he had finally kept her by his side, Heine always seemed as though part of her existed somewhere else.

Every day had been filled with anxiety.

But today was different.

She looked so happy.

As though she had finally set down the enormous burden weighing on her chest, she had smiled with an almost carefree expression.

And every time she opened her mouth, nothing but captivating words came out, each one striking his heart mercilessly.

“Young Master.”

Hubert, who was equally cheerful from Ian’s buoyant mood, politely addressed him.

The old butler was holding a large wine-colored box.

“It is Young Master Dekiel’s jacket. How should I deliver it?”

At Hubert’s question, Ian fell into thought for a moment.

He knew that, as the person who had received help, it was only proper for Heine herself to return the jacket and offer her thanks.

But hadn’t his beloved fiancée finally gathered the courage to personally ask him not to make her meet Dekiel?

Since Ian and Dekiel were close friends, he saw no difficulty in handling Heine’s matter himself.

Dekiel will understand.

With a fresh smile befitting the approaching summer, Ian rose from the bench.

Then he answered the old butler, who stood patiently waiting for his instructions, with a voice as clear as a cloudless sky.

“I’ll deliver it myself.”

A week later.

The Central Council, where the Grand Duke’s office was located.

It was a solemn place where numerous nobles regularly came and went to assist the Grand Duke with his duties.

Within it, a duke occupying an office nearly as large as the Grand Duke’s was complaining of exhaustion, tilting his neck from side to side.

“At this rate, I’ll work myself to death.”

The Grand Duke himself had asked him to help, and he had no objection to remaining in the duchy for his friend.

But being so busy that he felt as though he were the actual ruler of the duchy was another matter entirely.

“I thought the Hunting Festival was finally over, and now there’s preparations for a banquet.”

The blond duke leaned back leisurely.

He seemed ready to rest after finishing a long stretch of work, but the moment he closed his eyes, another envelope of documents arrived on his desk.

His eyelids slowly lifted, revealing red eyes beneath them.

He stared pointedly at the person who had brought him the envelope.

“Do you think I brought it because I wanted to?”

Unable to withstand his master’s sharp gaze, the man carrying the envelope let out a thin sigh.

Then, without showing the slightest sign of intimidation, he held out the thick envelope with an immaculate expression.

“These are documents you need to examine, not my face.”

At the man’s words, the duke lowered his gaze again.

The envelope was sealed with an elaborate seal that looked as though it demanded to be opened before anything else.

The duke frowned for a moment, then shrugged playfully.

“Raul, you can throw things like this away when you think they’re unnecessary.”

“It’s fortunate that I have enough judgment to know better. What would you do if I took that joke seriously and actually threw it away?”

“I was serious.”

“……Haa.”

The attendant sighed again.

He possessed strangely noble movements for an ordinary servant.

Not only was he dressed entirely in black, he also had black hair and distinctly dark-toned skin.

He was the sort of person who would stand out anywhere, yet at the same time possessed an uncanny ability to blend into anything colorless and conceal his presence.

Without hesitation, he pushed the envelope Dekiel had set aside back in front of him.

The movement was mechanical and impossibly fast.

“Lord Dekiel.”

Raul addressed him in his usual expressionless manner, his voice flat and emotionless, yet his concern was sincere.

“I believe those are important documents.”

“Hmm. No one would know if I tore them up or burned them.”

“The Grand Duke’s seal is on them. Destroying them in such a manner would be problematic.”

“Ah, my butler who doesn’t understand jokes.”

“Yes. So please examine them now.”

Raul’s utterly serious eyes urged him to pick up the envelope.

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of amusement in them despite Dekiel’s casual jokes.

Looking at Raul, whose youthful appearance still remained faintly visible, Dekiel sighed as though he had no choice and reached toward the documents.

Click—

At that very moment, the office door opened.

Using the opportunity, Dekiel swiftly threw the documents aside.

Raul barely restrained the urge to grab the back of his own neck and bit down hard on his lip.

Then he turned around to greet the unexpected visitor who had arrived without an appointment.

Blue eyes and a clear, handsome face.

That alone was enough to change the atmosphere, as though a spring breeze had entered the room.

“Don’t torment Raul too much.”

As far as Raul knew, there was only one person who would greet him with such gentle words.

Dekiel’s exhausted butler sincerely composed himself and bowed deeply.

“Welcome, Lord Ian.”