TSIMG 23

Chapter 23

As soon as the prince finished speaking, Hystein opened his mouth with a rigidly hardened face.

“Unfortunately for His Highness the Prince, I am this young lady’s guardian and legal protector. If you wish to marry her, you would need my consent, but regrettably, I have no intention of agreeing to His Highness’s proposal.”

With Rodia behind him, his demeanor as he faced the prince was eerily quiet yet filled with rage.

Overwhelmed by his momentum, the Prince of Chellda unconsciously took a step back.

Hystein was so angry at this situation he felt like he was going crazy.

If he hadn’t asked her to be his partner, Rodia wouldn’t have had to go through this. It was no one else but himself who had made her experience something unnecessary, something that should have been absent from her life, and Hystein was so furious with himself he couldn’t bear it. He clenched his teeth.

“Uh, anyway! I’m not doing this marriage! Let’s pretend the royal marriage never happened!”

Realizing he had been cowed by Hystein’s presence, the prince, his face flushed bright red, stammered and then ran straight out of the banquet hall.

Chellda’s knights chased after the prince, and Duke Philemer, letting out a strangled “Ugh—!”, clutched the back of his neck and collapsed backwards.

“Your Excellency!”

The attendants following the duke also, pale-faced, supported the fainted man.

As three or four adult men hoisted up the gaunt, stick-like man, he fluttered like a sheet of paper—a sight that was pathetically amusing.

The atmosphere of the banquet hall had become so chaotic that it was impossible to continue the event.

One by one, the people watching the situation slipped out of the banquet hall.

Hystein, who had been watching everything from inside, turned around and looked at Rodia.

“You’ve had a very hard time today.”

“Hah…”

At Hystein’s words, Rodia let out a heavy sigh and leaned her back against the wall as if collapsing. Seeing her struggling, Hystein looked around.

Alisis was seeing off the departing guests as Chancellor. Hystein grabbed a passing servant.

“Could you tell Her Excellency the Chancellor that I’ll be stepping out for a moment?”

“Ah, yes. Understood, Lord Roart.”

After sending the man to Alisis, Hystein took the wrist of Rodia, who was standing with her eyes closed, and gently tugged. Her eyelids opened, and Rodia’s blue eyes slowly appeared.

“Are you very tired?”

“Ah… A little. I think I’ll be fine if I go home and rest soon.”

Rodia waved her hand. She wanted to go home, soak in warm water, and then dive into bed.

“Then I’ll call for a carriage, and while we wait—it might take a while because of the crowd—could you spare me some time?”

“Yes, sure.”

Rodia smiled faintly.

Worried that Rodia might trip on the stairs in the dark, Hystein took her hand and led her to the garden. Her drooping hand looked pitiful. Hystein’s feeling of guilt towards her swelled even more. Just then, a cool breeze blew. He wished that the breeze would carry away all of Rodia’s bad mood and fatigue.

“Ugh… It’s still chilly at night, isn’t it?”

“Of course.”

Hystein replied lightly, then took off his formal jacket and placed it over Rodia’s shoulders. The jacket, warmed by his body heat, wrapped around Rodia comfortably.

The scent of Hystein’s cologne, carried by the wind, lingered at the tip of her nose before fading, repeating again and again.

Rodia felt the heat rising to her cheeks.

“Oh, it’s fine…!”

“Just stay still. I already feel bad that you went through something you shouldn’t have because of my request, so I feel I should at least do this.”

He spoke with a frown.

It could have sounded rather gruff to some ears. But Rodia let out a soft, deflated laugh.

In her eyes, Hystein truly seemed to be feeling sorry.

“This way. Here.”

Hystein took a handkerchief from the chest area of the jacket draped over Rodia and spread it on a nearby bench. Then he guided her to sit on it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

As soon as she sat down, Rodia rubbed her slightly swollen calves with her hands. The muscles ached, and she frowned involuntarily.

“Is something uncomfortable?”

“Wearing high heels for a long time always makes my calves swell. Don’t worry about it, it’ll be fine once I rest at home.”

Rodia’s voice was cheerful. But Hystein’s furrowed brow wouldn’t relax.

“I’m truly sorry about today.”

“Pardon?”

As he finally spoke after carefully choosing his words, Rodia’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Why do you keep apologizing?”

“Everything that happened today was something you didn’t have to go through. If it weren’t for my request, you wouldn’t have attended this banquet, and if so, you’d probably be at home now, reading a book you like and spending a peaceful time. It’s my fault.”

Hystein’s face darkened.

“Hmm.”

Rodia looked at him. A faint light flickered in his turquoise eyes. She thought that it might be his emotions overflowing.

“You’re right.”

“……”

“Maybe so. No, probably so. If I hadn’t come here, I might have just fallen asleep while reading.”

Rodia chuckled softly.

“But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have learned that it’s okay to run away.”

“……”

“I wouldn’t have learned that running away when you’re scared or having a hard time isn’t wrong, and I wouldn’t have known that there’s someone who can be your place to run to because you’re not alone.”

Hystein flinched at Rodia’s words. Because he recognized them as his own.

“Not everything about today was good. But still, there were definitely good things.”

Looking directly at Hystein’s face, Rodia smiled brightly.

It was true. He would probably never know. What kind of comfort she had received from him, or what this banquet hall in this castle meant to her.

“So I’d like you to stop apologizing now. I’m fine.”

“……”

“Besides, I have a question.”

Rodia quickly changed the subject.

“You don’t seem to drink alcohol, is that right?”

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“Just curious.”

Rodia replied, pushing a fallen leaf at her feet with the toe of her shoe.

It wasn’t intentional, but she had observed him from afar and learned a few things about him.

He never touched alcohol the entire time. When thirsty, he called for water. Occasionally, someone offered him champagne or wine, but even if he took the glass, he barely moistened his lips.

Before graduation, Rodia used to enjoy drinking beer with friends at pubs near school, so she found Hystein’s behavior intriguing.

So as she kept watching him, she became curious about what he liked and disliked.

“Do you like this kind of woody scent?”

Rodia asked, lifting the jacket draped over her shoulder.

“I suppose so. Though it depends on the season, of course.”

“Then what about food? What’s your favorite?”

“…I don’t have any particularly favorite foods.”

“As you probably know, I like meat. And I think I enjoy the atmosphere of drinking more than the alcohol itself.”

“Right. You also like coffee.”

“Exactly.”

Rodia laughed merrily.

“I didn’t know, but I like woody scents too. Thanks to you, Lord Roart, I’ve discovered a new preference.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I don’t know much about perfumes. If you don’t mind, could you recommend one for me next time?”

At her words, one of Hystein’s eyebrows twitched.

“You’re asking me? I don’t know much about women’s perfumes…”

“They say it’s more accurate for the opposite sex to judge what suits someone best.”

Rodia said, scrunching her nose. Thinking about it, her words made sense. Hystein nodded with a reluctant expression.

—

* * *

—

“Why, not going back? Don’t tell me you sent your partner home alone?”

Alisis said to Hystein, who had returned to the banquet hall alone.

“I sent her in my carriage, so she’ll arrive safely.”

“……”

She sighed at her foolish aide and handed him a glass of non-alcoholic champagne.

“…Ah, it’s non-alcoholic. It’s not alcohol.”

“……”

Having been tricked by Alisis once before, suspicion hadn’t fully left Hystein’s eyes.

“Still, it ended more quietly than I expected.”

“……”

Hystein, who had just spent a long time apologizing to his partner outside, did not agree with that statement.

‘Quietly’—it was a word far removed from what had just transpired in this banquet hall. But Alisis, seemingly not very interested in his thoughts, continued in a calm tone.

“Now that they know they’ve embarrassed themselves, Chellda will leave on their own. And I wonder what scheme the Lady of House Chester, who failed to make her purse, will come up with next.”

“She probably won’t be able to think about anything else for a while.”

“Probably. No, more importantly.”

She suddenly approached Hystein with eyes sparkling with vitality.

“I’m not just saying this, but Miss Prokheite is quite cute, isn’t she? She has a spirited personality, and she’s sharp. This whole affair was largely thanks to Miss Prokheite. I never expected her to so readily apologize to that Prince of Chellda!”

Alisis said, recalling Rodia’s squirrel-like features. Those round eyes, and her cheeks that would occasionally flush red. There wasn’t a single unappealing thing about her.

“That’s right.”

Hystein surprisingly agreed. Alisis looked at him as if she’d seen something unbelievable.

“What’s this? Who are you? You’re not the Hystein Roart I know!”

“…?”

“Good heavens, Roart is praising someone? You, who are stingier with praise than anyone?”

At her outburst, Hystein’s brow furrowed instantly.

“I’m not praising her, I’m stating a fact.”

Hystein replied in a flat tone. But Alisis’s gaze at him was strange.

‘This idiot, could it be… he doesn’t realize he’s smiling?’

Indeed, Hystein, bringing the champagne to his lips, had a very faint smile on his face.

‘Oh ho…?’