19.
“Strange. My Isaac would never do such a thing. Isn’t that right?”
A smile that seemed fabricated.
Yet her eyes were not smiling in the slightest.
Perhaps it was a feeling of *look at this guy*.
It was a gaze like that of someone looking at a boyfriend caught cheating.
“…Um, Lady Chloe?”
“Yes.”
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding.”
Her eyes narrowed.
She asked with an icy chill.
“May I ask what kind of misunderstanding?”
Normally, she had felt polite yet eager to somehow take one step closer.
But now, she had taken one step back.
“The letter was just from someone I know.”
“Someone you know.”
She repeated the words precisely.
“So you have a lady acquaintance whom you call by name. Besides me.”
“…….”
The reason she was angry.
I roughly understood.
The process of getting me to call her by name had been arduous.
And lately, she had been making all sorts of appeals to me, so to her, we must have been at least deeply involved.
Of course, from my standpoint, it was unfair.
Veronica was just family. That was why I called her by name.
But trying to explain that was, well, rather difficult….
To say that, I would have to start by explaining that I was the fourth son of the Sinclair Ducal family.
Whether it was acceptable to reveal that while I was in a state of exile.
How she would take it.
Whether I should say this when I didn’t know what would happen if it spread through high society.
Moreover, while Veronica was still settling the matter?
…I had no choice but to put it on hold.
“It’s because she’s someone I’ve known for a long time.”
“A long time.”
“It’s true.”
“…How long?”
“Quite a long time.”
“May I ask specifically how long ‘quite a long time’ is?”
It felt like I was being interrogated.
It was clear this would go on forever if I kept this up, so I changed course.
This wasn’t what she actually wanted to confirm.
“Lady Chloe.”
“Yes.”
“My calling you by name and my calling someone else by name are fundamentally different.”
She made a puzzled expression.
As I had done with Veronica, I shifted the direction toward providing the ‘grounds’ needed to steady her heart.
“It’s true that I might comfortably call others by name.”
I glanced at her with a profound gaze.
“But you are different, Lady Chloe. I was so conscious of even the act of calling your name that it was incredibly difficult to do so.”
It was the truth.
It was the first time in my life that my blood had run cold over something as simple as a form of address.
“……You were conscious of it?”
“Indeed.”
“It meant nothing with anyone else, but with me alone?”
“Of course.”
“…….”
Before I knew it, the icy chill in her eyes had been replaced by warmth.
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
She looked like she was on the verge of humming.
This was it.
“So please don’t misunderstand. I can call anyone’s name comfortably, but you are not just anyone, Lady Chloe.”
After all, you are my one and only Chloe.
A magic phrase I was using for the first time in a while.
It was a bit cringeworthy, but it worked.
She fidgeted with her hands, her face bright red.
However, it seemed things weren’t completely settled yet.
She entered her second phase.
“…What about the letter?”
“Which part are you referring to….”
“I had to ask Helen to even get a reply.”
A quiet, murmuring voice.
This felt like she was finally voicing a grievance she had long kept suppressed.
“I saw you writing just now. A reply to Veroni… ca. Without anyone asking you to, all on your own.”
“…….”
It was hard to make excuses.
Embarrassingly, it was true.
When it came to a letter for her, Helen would come and check, and only after hearing repeated comments like ‘your expression is lacking’ would it finally be sent.
She had seen me scribbling a reply to Veronica all by myself.
But it was too difficult to explain why.
‘The letters to you need to contain romantic content, but honestly, I’m not very good at that.’
‘They say the tone can’t be too light, but honestly, I don’t really know about that either.’
…I couldn’t say that!
Letters to Veronica were easy because I could just write them roughly.
“……The thing is.”
“It’s fine.”
I was cut off while pondering over what to say.
“I suppose I’m the strange one for asking. There’s no problem at all.”
She said this with an expression that clearly showed there was a problem.
The smile that had bloomed earlier had already vanished.
*Ha, I’m going crazy.*
What I needed now probably wasn’t a logical explanation.
Reassurance to soothe her heart.
That was what was needed.
I rose from my seat and took her hand.
“Lady Chloe, will you listen to me?”
Eyes looked up at me.
I whispered quietly into that blueness, as if making a solemn confession.
“I cannot tell you everything yet.”
I said this honestly.
It wasn’t an act; the situation truly was like that.
“There are circumstances that make it difficult for me to explain.”
“…….”
“But this one thing I promise you. In this counseling office, there is no one who can take your place, Lady Chloe.”
“…….”
“Because you are the one most firmly rooted here.”
I wasn’t lying in the slightest.
She paid eight silver coins each visit, so financially, her importance accounted for more than half.
Each and every visit was my monthly rent.
Once again, I worship you, House Levantia.
Since this fact was a more certain truth than any flowery words, I could say it without wavering.
“So will you wait just a little longer?”
She was silent for a while.
Various emotions flickered through her eyes as she looked up at me.
Doubt, anxiety.
And relief beginning to spread.
“Haa….”
She let out a long breath and looked away from me.
“You really are something, sir.”
“Yes?”
“If you put it that way, what am I supposed to do?”
Though she pouted her lips, her ears were red.
Perhaps it was settled for now.
She rose from her seat.
Instead of the stomping from earlier, she walked toward the door with modest steps.
As she did, she naturally brushed against the tea box on the table.
Her gaze lingered on the lock for a moment.
Then, as if clutching something precious to her chest, she hesitated briefly before opening the door.
Ding-a-ling—
Her brilliant blonde hair swayed.
The black ribbon decorating its ends fluttered as she took a step outside.
She turned around briefly and said with a bright smile.
“…Please send my regards to Lady Sinclair, sir.”
“Ah, yes….”
I stared at the closed door, troubled.
She asked me to send her regards.
I could do it if she asked, but honestly….
“I’m scared.”
Who knows what would happen if those two met.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem like that would happen anytime soon.
***
Sinclair Ducal Estate, Annex.
“My lady, a reply has arrived.”
Listening to the attendant’s businesslike report, I sat at the desk in the study.
A pile of spread-out documents.
I was carefully examining a list placed atop them.
*Those who were in front of the counseling office that day.*
Their names, families, and titles, of course, as well as what business they had done recently and what their weaknesses were.
The work of checking them one by one and writing letters.
*It’s been a week today….*
It hadn’t been easy.
The rumor that the eldest daughter of the Ducal family had knelt had spread faster than expected.
I had already given up on completely stopping it.
Instead, I had shifted its course.
So that the meaning contained in the rumor would change.
*Lady Sinclair expressed her gratitude to a long-time benefactor.*
That she had knelt was an exaggeration.
The name of the Ducal family and my own position in high society made this level of manipulation entirely possible.
Of course, staying silent while knowing the truth and truly believing it were different matters….
“That can’t be helped.”
Trying to handle even the unavoidable would only lead to more gossip.
That wasn’t what I had to do.
What mattered above all was that no harm came to him.
“This is enough for today.”
I handed the letters containing explanations for the scandal and subtle warnings to the attendant.
They would know that digging any further meant turning me into an enemy.
“More importantly, that letter quickly—….”
My moving lips stopped.
Because I realized that even that process was a waste.
“Where did you put it?”
“In my lady’s room….”
Before the attendant even finished speaking, I headed to my room.
A small table in the room.
On it was a plain envelope with no ornate coat of arms or wax seal.
My hand trembled unconsciously as I picked up the envelope.
I locked the door and leaned against the window.
So that his handwriting would sparkle in the sunlight.
*I suppose the outside matters are being handled well?*
“Huhu.”
A laugh escaped me unconsciously.
Of course.
Just who do you think your big sister is?
*Strangers haven’t come asking about anything. It must be because you’re doing well.*
“Huhu.”
It felt somewhat blunt and nonchalant, but….
Still, the phrase *it must be because you’re doing well* put me in a good mood.
The confirmation that I was being helpful to my younger brother.
I was newly amazed that a sensation I was feeling for the first time could be this warm.
My gaze moved to the next part.
*Ah, right. Come to think of it, Lady Levantia asked after you.*
And then the letter ended.
My heart, warmed by the afternoon sun, felt like it was turning cold.
I read it again.
*Lady Levantia asked after you.*
At the conclusion, a strange name was written instead of regards for me.
The corners of my mouth slowly drooped.
Chloe Levantia.
I had heard that name several times while settling the rumors.
I hadn’t seen her while I was waiting in line, but she was already known as a rumor for being a core client of the counseling office.
For some reason, her visits had been infrequent lately, but before that, she had gone in and out of the counseling office almost daily.
“Asking after me….”
…Why?
What reason could there be?
In high society, we were already sickeningly familiar faces.
But that was only because we were in positions where we had to act that way toward each other.
We were not close in the slightest.
And such a person asks after me?
At my younger brother’s counseling office?
Daring to occupy the final part of the letter?
“The nerve.”
A low voice echoed through the room.
I had even warned my younger brother.
I had clearly warned him that there were many things slinking around that shop without knowing their place.
It seemed my kind younger brother hadn’t grasped my meaning.
He had allowed such a filthy thing to approach him again.
I organized my thoughts and called for the attendant.
“Prepare the carriage.”
“Do you mean right now, my lady?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Which outdoor clothes shall I prepare….”
I paused briefly.
A plain coat and hood.
The disguise I had often worn when visiting the counseling office until now.
…There was no need for it anymore.
“As usual.”
I added one more thing to the attendant who was bowing and about to leave.
“Prepare one more outfit bearing the Ducal coat of arms.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The aftermath of that incident was essentially in its final stages.
Which meant it was now fine to go and handle things personally.
The management of him.
My younger brother, who had become quite the handful because of the wicked thing I had done.
Anyway.
I suppose I’ll have to go myself.
Before more strange things latched onto him.