41.
And only after a long while did she finally answer like this.
“More importantly, why are you so naturally speaking casually to me?”
“You’re speaking casually too.”
“That’s! That’s because.”
“…….”
Daena seemed unable to come up with a plausible excuse and fell quiet again.
But after taking a sip of alcohol, she apparently couldn’t stand it and began interrogating me again.
“More importantly, as far as I know, even four years ago, there were a lot of parties here and plenty of people visited, weren’t there?”
“Do you think those people came because they were interested in me? It was all because of Rohwinas.”
“…….”
“All they ever asked me about was Rohwinas. Whenever I talked about anything else, they didn’t seem interested, so I just…”
“…….”
“After that, I just… told them what they wanted to hear.”
Daena had been leaning crookedly against the sofa, but then she lay down on it entirely and asked.
“What kind of things were those?”
“Nothing special. I’m honored that someone as lacking as I am could become the count’s lover, thank you for congratulating me, I’ll speak well to Rohwinas about the proposal you just made, I don’t know much, so I’ll discuss it with Rohwinas…”
“…….”
“Things like that.”
Something suddenly occurred to me, so I asked.
“But what kind of relationship did Rohwinas and Meriana originally have?”
“What do you mean, what kind of relationship?”
“Before he dated me.”
“Well, they weren’t anything to each other, were they?”
“Really?”
I tilted my head to the side.
“That’s strange. I thought the two of them liked each other. So I thought I had gotten in the way…”
“I’m a third party, so I can’t guarantee anything, but have you ever seen Count Kanesion let anyone close to him? He’s a cold and indifferent man, isn’t he?”
“…….”
“He was the same with Meriana Peregrine. Like a sheet of ice.”
Suddenly, Daena punched the air and burst out angrily.
“So who could have known? That Rohwinas Kanesion would end up chasing after a woman like that, completely at her mercy!”
“He’s chasing after her at her mercy?”
When I gave a faint laugh, Daena flared up again.
“What’s so good about that that you’re laughing? The count was, if anything, when he was with you… more like a real lover…”
“…….”
Daena lowered her half-raised upper body back down and began taking back the words she had already spilled.
“Well, that’s just a figure of speech, you know. Anyway, I’m saying Meriana’s already uniquely towering pride has thanks to that started splitting the sky. Naturally, the count beside her has become unbearable to look at too…”
“What he did with me was all fake.”
“…….”
“It was all fake, Daena.”
Even though the alcohol had made me feel languid and loose, I couldn’t hold it back in the end and murmured.
“This is what’s real.”
Daena said nothing for a long while.
I drained the last of my glass cleanly.
My insides burned, and my head felt hot.
I couldn’t tell whether it was because of the alcohol or because of my weak mind.
As my consciousness grew hazy, Daena’s voice reached me.
“If… Then who do you think fed you the potion?”
“…….”
“Is there really no one you suspect? Not a single person?”
In that ambiguous gap where I could not tell whether it was dream or reality,
“Hey. Hello? Are you sleeping?”
Daena’s voice was fading.
And then everything went black.
* * *
“Ughhh……”
“Guhhup.”
The duet of two people suffering from hangovers filled the silent dining room.
It was Jaka who clicked his tongue as he set down something for us to sober up with in front of the two of us, both limp and boneless.
“Drink this first.”
With my eyes only half open, I accepted the honey water and said.
“Ugh, keep it a secret from Julie…”
“Do you think she won’t know just because I don’t tell her?”
Across from me, Daena, who had already downed her honey water in one go, wiped her mouth and asked.
“Julie? Who is she that you’re so scared of her?”
“She exists. The person who holds the real power in our manor.”
“Isn’t the one with real power you? You’re the baron.”
“Talking about it makes my head hurt. Let’s discuss it later.”
“Yeah, I think I’d prefer that too.”
As I clutched my forehead and groaned, Daena did not object.
As if she had been waiting for the chance, she sank deep into the back of her chair, her complexion yellowed.
When I lay sprawled with my cheek buried against the cold table, Jaka came over and placed a hand on my forehead.
“Didn’t you drink too much yesterday?”
“I drank less than usual.”
“You call that an excuse?”
“Yeah. It’s an excuse. Anyway, it’s an excuse.”
When I made a face like I was about to throw up, Jaka, who had been about to speak, closed his mouth again.
Then he carefully supported me and asked.
“How about going up to your room and resting now? I’ll see the guest out myself.”
When I raised my head, Daena was staring intently at Jaka and me.
Without even blinking. Truly, intently.
I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say and opened my mouth, but Daena was one step faster.
“Lover? Attendant?”
“…The latter.”
“You mean lover slash attendant?”
“Attendant.”
As I answered while being hauled to my feet with Jaka’s support, one of Daena’s eyebrows shot high upward.
“But he’s handsome?”
At that questioning remark, I was at a loss for words. Then I started laughing.
As I giggled while being half-dragged away by Jaka, Jaka looked me over with a doubtful expression.
“You’re not still drunk, are you?”
“No. It seems you really do look handsome in other people’s eyes too.”
“…….”
“While working as an attendant, has no one ever flirted with you?”
Jaka answered bluntly.
“There have been.”
“And among them, there was no one you liked?”
“If I say there was, are you going to send me there?”
“You caught me.”
“There wasn’t anyone like that.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Strange. I feel like everyone would have liked you…”
“…….”
“Next time, try opening your heart. There might have been a good person among them.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But… wouldn’t being alone be lonely after all?”
“I have you, Baron.”
“Yes, you have me too. Though I don’t know how long that will last…”
“Don’t you need anyone, Baron? …Won’t you be lonely alone?”
“Why would I be alone? I have Julie too…”
As I walked across the silent hallway, I answered.
“I don’t need anyone else.”
“…….”
Just then, from far away, came the sound of footsteps thudding down over the carpet laid on the stairs.
As if she had been waiting, Julie appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Who is it?”
After that, the first thing Julie said as she immediately came so close to me it felt burdensome was that.
Julie was ignoring the stale smell of alcohol that must have been coming from my body!
“What is?”
“A night visitor!”
“Ah, Daena? Well, you see……”
“Is she a friend?”
Julie’s eyes sparkled as she thrust her face toward me.
A friend?
Well, I don’t think so at all.
……But is there really any need to correct her?
For the sake of my mental and physical health, that is.
“Uh, well, ……more or less.”
Julie stared at me as if verifying the truth of my words, then soon nodded with a very benevolent smile.
“In most cases, drinking does far more harm than good,”
For an instant, her sharpened gaze swept over me.
“But in special cases like this, I suppose I should be understanding as your subordinate…….”
Her tone didn’t sound the least bit subordinate, but it hardly mattered.
I shrugged.
* * *
Daena was standing before the wall she had climbed over last night.
Since she was leaving, she thought she could just be careful and go out through the front gate…….
But a young man with a strangely unfriendly expression was standing there as if blocking her path.
“Then please take care on your way.”
“…….”
The young man had even graciously propped a ladder in front of her.
She had clearly seen that sharp, prickly face soften to its utmost limit in front of Anastasia Roxanne.
Well, compared to Rohwinas Kanesion, he fell far short in everything from family and wealth to refinement…….
But at least, if it was sincere,
perhaps it didn’t matter.
Daena reached that conclusion to suit herself and climbed the ladder with determination.
When she reached the top of the wall and glanced down, the man was standing there indifferently, leaning at an angle against the wall.
In any case, he really was extraordinarily handsome.
Though he wasn’t Daena’s type.
It was then.
The moment Daena checked that there was no one beyond the wall and jumped down.
A low, cynical voice of warning came from behind her.
“Be careful.”
Hadn’t he already told her to be careful earlier?
But something was different.
“……if you do, I won’t let you off.”
His voice, swept away by the wind, did not reach her in full, but
Daena felt her hair stand on end.
What?
That man…….
Did he just threaten me?
Daena glared beyond the wall, though he could no longer be seen, but
when she sensed someone at the end of the alley, she jumped in fright and hurriedly ran off in the opposite direction.
In any case, she had no intention of ever setting foot here again.
……Though whether things would go as she intended was another matter.