Chapter 52
“If you need anemone flowers, I can buy them from the flower shop and place them in your room, my lady.”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
As I tried to walk away, the gardener cut a beautifully blooming flower beside him with scissors.
“Well then, how about this…”
What he presented was none other than a red rose. The rose is also a symbol of the Duke’s family. While the Grand Duke’s family uses a black dragon as their emblem, the Duke’s family uses a red rose.
I smiled as I looked at the flower.
“Thank you. It’s a beautiful flower. It seems your skills are quite good, seeing how well the flowers in the garden are maintained.”
The elderly gardener smiled happily.
“Thank you. I hope your day is filled with good things, my lady.”
I walked along the path, inhaling the fragrance of the flower the gardener had given me.
Just as I was about to enter the mansion after my walk, I ran into Hyperion. He was dressed impeccably in his knight’s uniform.
“Are you already heading to work? So early?”
Hyperion nodded as he adjusted his collar.
“I like to practice when no one is around in the training grounds. It’s an old habit.”
“That’s impressive! You’re really diligent, aren’t you?”
I circled around him, constantly exclaiming in admiration.
To come back at such a late hour yesterday and still manage to train in the morning—how diligent must one be to accomplish that? I was patting myself on the back just for waking up at this hour!
Perhaps his earlier words about not treating this as a test question I couldn’t afford to get wrong and about taking things a bit easier were some kind of elaborate scheme to make me let my guard down? Was he trying to become more capable than me?
While these absurd thoughts swirled in my mind, Hyperion suddenly stared intently at the rose in my hand.
“…What is that flower?”
I smirked and raised my chin.
“This? A very handsome man just gifted it to me.”
At my joke, Hyperion grabbed the stem of the rose with his fingers without replying.
In that moment, oddly, the fingers of the man I had seen in my dream came to mind. Although the man and Hyperion had completely different hands. The fingers of the man in my dream were smooth and soft, without any scars or calluses, unlike Hyperion’s.
“I never would have guessed your taste was for older men. How surprising!”
Unamused, he immediately figured out that the person who had given me this flower was the gardener.
Well, considering I had just come from the garden, it was likely only the gardener who could bravely cut flowers blooming in the Duke’s garden.
“That’s right. I’m planning to take the gardener with me when I return to the Grand Duchy. You’ll allow it, right?”
“Give it up. He already has a wife and rabbit-like children.”
“Hm, then there’s nothing I can do. I’ll have to give up entirely and find another man.”
As I made such trivial jokes, Hyperion gazed at my face intently. Whenever he looked at me like this, it seemed as if he wanted to say something.
But once again, he remained silent.
To break the silence, I changed the subject and asked a question.
“I have one question. Since your family is closely related to dragons, why didn’t the Duke’s family use a dragon as their emblem first?”
If the Duke’s family had used a dragon as their emblem, the Grand Duke’s family would have chosen a different emblem.
However, the Duke’s family had used the rose as their emblem for a long time, leading the Grand Duke’s family to use the dragon as their emblem to signify their protection of the North.
Hyperion’s gaze returned to the rose. After looking at the red petals for a moment, he spoke.
“Do you know how the Duke’s family inherited their magical power?”
“I’ve only heard that a dragon granted the first Duke his abilities a long time ago.”
“Actually, it’s not that. The first Duke hunted the last dragon remaining in the world and drank the blood from its heart. Since then, the Duke’s family has given birth to children with magical powers for generations.”
“What?”
I gasped in shock.
The legend passed down between dragons and the Duke of Acanthus was a tale of friendship that transcended species. But in an instant, it turned into horror.
“They say that from the blood that flowed from the dragon’s heart, a red rose bloomed. From that point on, the rose became the symbol of the Duke’s family.”
Hyperion handed me the rose again and added the following words.
“So this rose symbolizes life and resurrection.”
“…Life, resurrection?”
“It’s a secret story passed down only to the heirs of the Duke’s family. It also answers why heirs without magical powers are so rare in the Duke’s family.”
“Really?”
He looked at me and smiled a bit bitterly.
“More than that, I have something to tell you.”
He continued with a more serious expression.
“From today, you will receive numerous invitations. Every noble family will try to befriend you, so it’s best for the lady to be cautious.”
“What do you mean?”
“The princess is different from Persis. She is skilled at hiding her expressions, and you can’t know what schemes she might be plotting behind the scenes. I recommend not getting too entangled with her.”
Thus, Derek’s words were proven to be true. Hyperion seemed to think poorly of the princess. Derek had always been sharp about strange things at times.
“The same goes for Persis. Don’t get too deeply involved with royalty on either side. You probably already know that.”
“I never intended to be deeply involved in royal affairs from the beginning. My father said the same. Does the Duke’s family think the same way?”
“Yes, we also don’t welcome involvement in the power struggles for the throne. We’ve had enough of that from the past.”
When he mentioned the past, was he referring to my grandfather’s affairs?
I nodded my head.
“Got it. Anyway, thanks for the advice.”
Hyperion looked down at me and said,
“I should get going now. What about you?”
“I’ve finished my walk, so I should head inside. I need to go have breakfast…”
Then I noticed that the fabric of the collar he had just touched was slightly crumpled.
If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have known, but now that I had, it really bothered me. If I don’t fix it properly now, I might not be able to eat breakfast.
“…What’s wrong?”
When I suddenly frowned and stared, Hyperion looked confused. I gestured for him to come closer.
“…Huh?”
“Bend your head down a bit.”
Hyperion obediently lowered his body as I instructed. I reached out and adjusted his collar. I pulled out the fabric that was tucked in and smoothed it out neatly.
“Done! It was so distracting…”
Then I realized just how close our faces were. I could see the fine hairs on his face clearly. Moreover, I could smell the faint scent of roses mingled with his skin.
Did boys my age usually smell this good? No, not really. Luca and Derek had only smelled like sweat and nothing else…
At that moment, Hyperion’s head, which had been stiff, slowly turned towards me.
“Gah!”
I jumped back in surprise. What did I just do? Did I really just lean in and smell his neck?
I deliberately lifted my chin.
“Y-You can go now. I just fixed your collar because it was crumpled. And you should be able to do this much on your own in the future. My hands went through unnecessary trouble!”
After blabbering out those words, I nodded my head.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
Before he could say anything, I quickly entered the mansion and closed the door. Fortunately, after a while, I heard the sound of footsteps fading away.
I leaned against the door and thought. When I tied Derek’s cravat yesterday, I felt nothing, but why did I act that way with Hyperion?
Could it be that I was feeling sensitive because I hadn’t eaten breakfast? Yes, people get irritable when their blood sugar drops.
After reaching a somewhat reasonable conclusion, I headed to the second floor.
Part 6: The Master of the Information Guild
As Hyperion had said, from that day on, I received an enormous amount of mail. It was filled with invitations from various noble families. Among them were numerous letters from suitors.
“It seems this is the most important invitation you should prioritize.”
The Duchess quickly sorted through the invitations and ranked them.
The very first was, of course, the Queen’s invitation. Following that were invitations from Baroness Kaz, the mother of the prince, as well as various gatherings involving influential families and important figures.
“You also need to be mindful of the timing. For example, with the Queen and Baroness Kaz, it would be better not to linger too long with one side. Otherwise, the other side might think you have special intentions.”
Thus, I had narrowed down the events I needed to attend.
“The Duke’s residence is also planning to hold a party soon. If there’s anyone you want to meet separately, let me know. I’ll bring whoever it is right in front of you.”
The Duchess said confidently.
Indeed, it was a statement befitting someone with the widest network in Rosen.
“Thank you, Duchess. I can’t express how reassuring it is to have you here.”
I kissed her cheek, and her face lit up immediately.
“Ar, can’t you just stay here with me? Do you really have to go back to the Grand Duchy? Can’t you stay just a little longer? A month is too short!”
“If I don’t return after a month, then you’ll have to deal with my father.”
The Duchess let out a deep sigh.
“Right. Karim wouldn’t stay quiet about that. He’d storm into the Duke’s residence demanding his daughter back. Your father’s temperament is quite… ahem.”
I hugged the Duchess tightly. Even as she aged, she remained bright and adorable like a girl. How could anyone not love someone like her?
