Chapter 104
Because Alice’s face reflected in the mirror looked quite strange.
Or more precisely, rather than strange, she looked dazed.
Her golden eyes, usually bright, were unfocused, and her pink lips were slightly parted.
“My lady…?”
Aileen called out again, but Alice still didn’t move at all.
As if she had turned to stone.
Aileen tilted her head in confusion, then remembered something. Come to think of it, she had seemed odd since getting out of the carriage.
She had walked to her bedroom like a puppet being controlled by the Duke.
“…Could she be unwell? I should call the doctor…”
Aileen berated herself for not checking her mistress’s condition sooner, fussing anxiously.
“My lady, I’ll go fetch the doctor right away!”
At Aileen’s shout, the haziness cleared from Alice’s golden eyes.
She had come to her senses at the loud voice.
Alice blinked once and looked in the mirror. There she saw Aileen fidgeting like a puppy that needed to relieve itself.
“Aileen, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Are you alright, my lady? Are you feeling ill or unwell?”
“Huh?”
As Alice tilted her head in confusion, Aileen continued urgently.
“You didn’t respond when I kept calling you, and your eyes were unfocused. I thought you had lost consciousness with your eyes open.”
“Oh, I’m fine. I’m not sick.”
“Thank goodness you’re not ill.”
Aileen stroked her chest as if she’d aged ten years, then continued.
“Then what were you thinking about so deeply… When you have deep concerns, herbal tea has a calming effect. Shall I prepare some right away?”
Deep concerns…
As Aileen said, Alice had been lost in deep thought.
But rather than concerns, she had been thinking about… someone.
Herbal tea wouldn’t help with… this.
“Hmm, no. It’s getting late, so you should go to bed. I should sleep too.”
“Then let me prepare your bed…”
“No, Aileen. I want to be alone for a while.”
When Alice dismissed her in an unusually low voice, concern flashed across Aileen’s face.
But being perceptive as always, Aileen didn’t press further and quietly withdrew.
Click—
After the sound of the door closing, a serene silence settled in the bedroom.
Alice noticed that her face reflected in the mirror was slightly rigid, unlike usual.
With her mind in such turmoil, it couldn’t be helped.
It was bound to show on her face.
Alice rose from her seat with a small sigh.
Then she headed not to her bed but to the window.
Opening the window slightly, the cool night breeze embraced her body.
She had deliberately let in the cold air to calm her turbulent feelings.
But it had little effect.
No, rather, it made her think even more about the person she didn’t want to think about.
“…Of all nights, there aren’t even any stars.”
The cloudy sky obscured the stars, and the moon was just a crescent.
Perhaps that’s why tonight the dark veil of night covered the sky like its master.
Just like the head of the Dearrut duchy.
The person Alice thought of while looking at the night sky was, of course, Kylus.
A man with a beautiful and overwhelming presence like the god of night.
He was enough to make her heart flutter just by being still. But today, he had greatly shaken her heart.
Right there at the walnut pie shop.
Kylus’s sharp gaze that Alice had dismissed as her imagination.
Unfortunately, it hadn’t been her imagination.
He knew she was hiding something.
‘Alice, I know there are things you’re not telling me. And I suspect those secrets are far from trivial.’
Kylus had said that while looking directly at her.
She had thought she’d been deceiving Kylus well all this time. But that had been her delusion.
She didn’t know when it started, but it seemed he had been watching her for quite some time.
Her heart had shrunk upon hearing those words, but what truly shook her wasn’t his suspicion.
It was what Kylus said afterward.
‘But I didn’t bring this up to interrogate you about that secret.’
‘Then why…’
‘There’s something I really wanted to tell you, Alice. Whatever secret you have, if you can’t tell me, you don’t have to. But I want you to know that I’m prepared to believe whatever you say. That’s all I want you to know.’
‘…’
‘Also, whatever you do in the future, I will always be behind you. I will always protect you and always help you on your path.’
‘…’
‘So Alice, don’t forget. That I am always by your side. When you need me, you just have to reach out your hand. I will handle everything.’
Kylus had spoken with unwavering eyes.
Saying he would always be by her side, ready to help her whenever.
The moment she heard those words, Alice’s heart pounded loudly.
How could she not tremble?
Kylus was someone who could shake her heart simply by being still.
And that person had sincerely said he would be there for her.
Even someone with exceptional self-control would have been shaken in that situation.
Especially if they were already swayed by the other person.
Alice still remembered that moment vividly.
His gaze toward her, his voice—everything.
All her senses had been directed solely at Kylus.
Alice hadn’t felt anything else but Kylus.
As if they were the only two left in the world.
She couldn’t even remember what expression she had when she nodded at his words, or how many more bites of cherry tart she had taken.
She had returned home led by Kylus like a doll.
Yes, as Aileen had said, thinking she had fainted with her eyes open, she had been in a daze.
She couldn’t make rational judgments with her pounding heart.
“With that face… saying such things is really unfair…”
Alice let out a small sigh as she looked at the night sky that resembled Kylus.
He was still circling in her mind.
Along with her still-throbbing heart.
Even if his words today were merely showing trust as a collaborator, Alice couldn’t take it so simply.
A feeling beyond trust.
The moment she faced his unwavering sincerity, the dam of emotions she had been suppressing finally burst.
Alice had to admit it.
That she had come to like Kylus.
That she was no longer just swayed by his appearance.
I like Kylus.
She had grown to like him—this man who was occasionally overflowing with annoyingly abundant abilities, cold but infinitely delicate to those he cared about.
So much that she couldn’t control her trembling heart.
“…I’m crazy. What am I going to do now, really…”
Alice buried her face in her hands as if hiding her reddened cheeks.
But unbeknownst to Alice and her feelings, the clouds in the night sky had disappeared, and twinkling stars were now shining brightly.
Dong—
The clock chime announcing midnight rang through the lobby of the Dearrut ducal residence.
In the quiet dawn where only the footsteps of the night patrol echoed—
Sienna, who had been reading a magic book until late, looked up from her book at the faintly heard chiming.
It was a sound others wouldn’t hear, but Sienna could hear it with her sensitive hearing.
Especially at night, her senses became even sharper.
Sienna put the book down on the table and sprawled out on the sofa.
It was quite undignified behavior for a noble lady, but there were no maids in the room now, so it didn’t matter.
As Sienna stretched out her legs, she felt her aching soles.
“Ah… did I overdo it today?”
Her feet ached because of dance practice with the Third Prince.
Today in particular, she had practiced dancing longer than usual.
Because the hunting competition was right around the corner.
The imperial family had announced that after the hunting competition, there would be a banquet at the palace.
And the Third Prince was scheduled to attend both the hunting competition and the banquet.
Since the Third Prince had never attended any events or parties before, this banquet would essentially be his debut.
Now that news of Duke Kylus becoming his mentor had spread everywhere, the nobles would have high expectations for the Third Prince.
They would wonder just how remarkable the Third Prince must be to have been chosen by the Duke of Dearrut.
With the major nobles of the empire watching him intently, the Third Prince absolutely could not make any mistakes.
For his own sake as well as for the Dearrut ducal family.
That’s why Sienna was diligently helping the Third Prince practice.
“…Diligently.”
Sienna felt a twinge of guilt at the word “diligently.”
If Alice had heard this, she would have shaken her head saying, “You were diligent all right—at stepping on the Third Prince’s feet.”
That was because Sienna had been deliberately stepping on the Third Prince’s feet quite often.
