TGDWDS 25

Chapter 25

The shopkeeper was puzzled, but he didn’t show it and answered,

“We’re giving away handmade cards as a complimentary gift. Would you like one?”

The two of them spoke as though they had never met before.

Everything that had happened in the basement moments ago was treated as though it had never happened at all.

The shopkeeper held out several neatly decorated cards that he had made by hand.

“We have these three designs prepared. Please choose whichever one you like.”

Without hesitation, Diego picked up a piece of pale lavender-colored paper.

“This one.”

He took a pen from inside his coat and carefully wrote something on the card.

“I’ll package it together for you.”

The shopkeeper took the card Diego had written on and handed him the wrapped package.

After paying, Diego quickly left the building.

The shopkeeper watched the Grand Duke walking toward his carriage.

Adjusting his glasses, he muttered,

“He’s buying the same thing as last time. I could have sworn I heard that he doesn’t even eat things like this.”

He tilted his head, causing his curly hair to sway.

But only for a moment.

Ding.

The chime above the coffeehouse door rang as a customer entered.

The shopkeeper immediately erased his doubts and put on his professional smile.

Diego hurried back into the carriage.

Fortunately, unlike before, he was able to put on a natural smile.

“Did I keep you waiting long?”

“No.”

Anais had expected him to ask more, but she merely gave him a faint smile.

The worried look she had worn before he left the carriage was already gone.

Diego paused, then handed her what he had brought.

“A gift.”

“What is it?”

Anais tilted her head and, following the Grand Duke’s gaze, opened the box.

The moment she saw the familiar wrapping paper inside, her hand stopped.

Her violet eyes trembled slightly as they turned toward Diego.

He answered with a smile, as though deliberately showing it off.

“Chocolate. You seemed to like it last time.”

At that moment, the night of the final day at the Viscount’s estate flashed through Anais’s mind.

The Grand Duke walking with her through the garden beneath the moonlight.

The chocolate he had given her.

His sweet words of comfort.

The warm kindness she had felt from another person for the first time.

It had been a night that nearly became the worst night of her life after she discovered her family’s secrets.

The Grand Duke had filled that pitch-black night with a different color.

“……”

Anais narrowed her unfocused gaze and looked back at the Grand Duke.

His face, which had been pale earlier, now looked calm and relaxed.

Noticing the difference, Anais asked,

“You went there to buy this?”

The Grand Duke answered with a smooth smile.

“I promised I’d give you some whenever you wanted it. They only sell it there.”

Anais realized that he was hiding something behind those sweet words.

But she didn’t ask any further.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

She gave him a faint smile and closed the open box of chocolates.

Then her head turned toward the opposite window.

Meanwhile, Diego’s eyes, watching her, shook restlessly as though they had lost their way.

“……”

He couldn’t bring himself to say anything more in response to Anais’s cold attitude.

In the end, he simply ordered the carriage to continue.

Diego’s red eyes looked out the window Anais was watching before turning to study her reflection in the glass.

Her words and actions were quite different from how she had been before he got out of the carriage.

She seemed colder.

Or perhaps she was keeping more distance between them.

With a hardened expression, Diego tried to find what he had missed in Anais’s face.

Unfortunately, the scenery rushing past outside the window changed too quickly for him to discover anything.

Before long, the sun had risen high into the sky.

The streets were filled with lively activity as people began their day’s work.

Inside the black carriage traveling through the noisy downtown streets, however, silence still reigned.

Eventually, the carriage entered the Grand Duke’s townhouse.

Diego spoke.

“We’ll leave for the north immediately.”

“I understand.”

Her answer sounded strangely cold.

Diego’s lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but he spoke again only after a moment.

“……There’s something I need to check before we leave.”

“……?”

Anais’s violet eyes turned toward Diego in confusion.

In that instant, Diego tried desperately to read whatever he was missing.

But there was nothing in her clear lilac eyes.

No emotion at all.

“……”

A sense of helplessness appeared in Diego’s red eyes.

As the silence stretched on, Anais’s brows narrowed slightly.

Tilting her head, she said,

“I don’t know what it is, but…… go ahead and check.”

“Ah. Have you ever used an artifact?”

Diego erased the heavy emotions that had settled over his face.

He gently lifted the corners of his lips and spoke as he normally would.

“If there is anything uncomfortable, such as mana incompatibility, or anything I should be aware of, please tell me beforehand so I can take it into account during the journey.”

Anais lowered her head and remained silent for a moment.

She looked like someone deep in thought.

Diego followed her lowered gaze with his eyes but waited patiently.

After a while, Anais raised her head as though she had made a decision.

“I’ve used artifacts before. I’ve never been diagnosed with mana incompatibility.”

“That’s a relief.”

“And…… there is a medicine I need to take regularly.”

“……”

At that moment, Diego’s eyes sharpened.

Holding his breath, he listened intently to Anais.

“Sometimes I collapse for no reason, but when I take the medicine, I get better.”

It was something he had never expected to hear.

Hearing it for the first time, Diego’s red eyes sank into deep thought.

The Grand Duke’s expression grew increasingly serious.

Anais, flustered, quickly said,

“Um. It’s not that dangerous.”

But the Grand Duke asked carefully, his face filled with concern,

“Are you sick?”

“No! It’s just that they said I might have been born with an incurable illness because I take after my mother, so I’ve been taking preventative medicine since I was young.”

“Then are you all right now?”

“Yes! Of course. I’m only telling you in advance just in case. I heard it’s an incurable illness passed down through the royal family, so everyone takes medicine for it.”

Anais nodded as though it were nothing serious.

Her straight silver hair swayed lightly with the movement.

Only then did the Grand Duke let out a relieved breath.

“What kind of medicine is it? If it’s something like that, I think it would be better for me to have some as well.”

He asked quite seriously.

Anais blinked and took out the small medicine bottle she always carried with her.

Inside the glass bottle were numerous tiny white pills.

“Oh. This is it. I have plenty in my luggage, so I’ll give you some later.”

Anais put the bottle back inside her clothes and casually added,

“It’s really nothing, so if I happen to collapse during the journey, you just need to make sure I take the medicine.”

Anais straightened her posture.

Then, in a firm voice meant to reassure him, she said,

“I’ll be more careful so it won’t interfere with our journey to the north.”

However, after hearing those words, the Grand Duke became dazed, as though turning something over in his mind.

“……”

“……?”

Just then, the carriage, which had been moving slowly, finally came to a stop.

Anais looked out the window again in confusion.

“We’ve arrived at the townhouse. I’ll go get my luggage.”

She stood up to get out of the carriage.

The hem of her white dress, which resembled her, smoothly fell downward as the wrinkles disappeared, as though she had never been sitting there at all.

The Grand Duke, who had been quietly watching her, stood as well.

“Let’s get out together.”

His red eyes seemed somehow deeper than before.

He quickly stepped out of the carriage and held out his hand.

“……”

Standing on the carriage step, Anais looked at the Grand Duke’s hand below her.

Then she raised her gaze to meet his eyes.

As though he had been waiting for that moment, the Grand Duke spoke slowly.

“Anais, your health is more important than getting to the north.”

It was an unexpected thing to hear.

Anais stared at him without even blinking.

“There’s no way you collapsing would be an inconvenience, so you don’t need to say things like that. I’ll take good care of you.”

After those gentle words, a sad-looking smile appeared at the corners of the Grand Duke’s lips.

“……”

At that moment, a passing breeze scattered Anais’s beautiful silver hair.

The rising morning sunlight gradually warmed the Grand Duke’s red eyes.

Anais quietly looked at him.

Her clear violet eyes slowly blinked twice.

“So trust me and take my hand.”

The Grand Duke extended his hand a little closer.

A firm smile settled upon his face.