Chapter 23
‘His aura is overwhelming.’
Unlike Ares, who frequently visited the palace with their father, Aveline rarely had the chance to see the Emperor.
The Emperor she saw properly for the first time exuded a sharp presence that was hard to believe for a middle-aged man.
“…”
Aveline felt a gaze on her from behind the Emperor.
It was undoubtedly Theron.
Even from a distance, Theron’s gaze, unable to hide his status as the Empire’s most handsome face, was directed precisely at Aveline.
It was as if he was proving that he could recognize his jewel at a glance from anywhere.
‘It’s a bit burdensome.’
No matter how handsome someone was, being stared at so intensely made Aveline somewhat uncomfortable.
But upon closer inspection, Theron’s expression seemed a bit odd.
Rather than looking at a jewel, his expression was more like someone who had seen something shocking.
‘Did he not expect me to come?’
Well, Aveline hadn’t attended any social events for a long time.
Theron must have known this too, so from his perspective, Aveline, who he thought wouldn’t come, had appeared.
‘But is it really that surprising?’
Didn’t he boast that he would watch over her anytime, anywhere?
Just as Aveline was starting to feel slightly offended by Theron’s openly surprised expression, someone approached her.
“The Duke seems unable to take his eyes off Ares.”
It was a familiar voice.
“…Servell?”
“Hello.”
Servell, who had appeared nearby at some point, greeted her casually.
Her attitude was as if they had just said goodbye yesterday, despite the long period of no contact.
“I heard your conversation with Miss Sroon earlier. Your verbal skills have improved a lot in four years, haven’t they?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was worried that you might have forgotten how to speak due to the shock from your debut, since you never replied to my letters. But it seems that’s not the case, thankfully.”
Servell continued speaking while looking straight ahead, not meeting Aveline’s eyes.
It could have been taken as an offensive remark, but Aveline, already familiar with Servell’s way of speaking, grasped the main point.
“…You sent letters?”
Aveline hadn’t received any letters from Servell in the past four years.
She remembered feeling somewhat hurt by Servell because of this.
“Yes. I sent quite a few. Thanks to that, my handwriting improved. And my patience too. I’m very grateful for that.”
Servell showed off her usual sarcastic manner of speaking to the fullest.
Normally, Aveline would have become increasingly irritated and fired back, but now she was too confused by this new revelation to react properly.
“I didn’t receive any letters.”
“Oh my. But I sent them.”
“I’m not joking, I really didn’t receive any letters from you.”
“Then why didn’t you try sending some yourself?”
Servell retorted bluntly.
“I did.”
Aveline hadn’t just waited passively for contact.
As soon as her two-month house arrest was over, she immediately sent a letter to Servell.
However, no matter how long she waited, no reply came.
She sent a few more after that, but the result was the same.
At Aveline’s words, Servell finally turned her head to look at her.
“Hmm. That is strange.”
Servell lightly tapped her palm with the fan she had brought, her expression deep in thought.
“What are you two whispering about?”
Ares glared at Servell, who had suddenly appeared, with a wary expression.
“Oh, just some suspicious talk. By the way, isn’t Duke Ribes staring at you too much over there?”
Servell smoothly changed the subject.
Theron’s gaze was still directed this way.
Servell, firmly misunderstanding that the gaze was aimed at Ares, smiled contentedly.
“I guess it’s true that you can’t hide coughing and love.”
“What!? What do you mean?”
Having said her piece, Servell turned away before Ares could get angry.
“Oh, right. If what you’re saying is true, Aveline.”
Servell stopped as she was turning to leave.
“You might want to clean your mansion. It seems some goat has been eating all the letters.”
“Why would a goat suddenly eat letters?”
Ares, who had no idea about the flow of the conversation, interjected, and Servell shrugged.
“Maybe it likes the taste of ink. Well then, kids, see you next time?”
“Always saying whatever she wants and then…!”
Ares fumed, watching Servell’s retreating back as she ignored him and turned away.
“Calm down, Ares.”
Aveline soothed her brother while pondering their recent conversation.
‘Someone intentionally intercepted the letters?’
But why?
‘It’s not like anything important was written in them anyway.’
What would be the point of intercepting letters that only contained shared book reviews?
Although Aveline and Servell had different favorite genres, they respected each other’s tastes.
So, discussing books they had recently enjoyed was their form of entertainment.
If someone had intentionally intercepted the letters, they must have been quite peculiar.
There wouldn’t be any valuable information to gain, just lots of thoughts on recently read books.
‘At least I found out there was a misunderstanding with Servell.’
Although Servell had spoken in a confrontational manner, Aveline, her childhood friend, could tell.
That the proud Servell had, in her own way, extended a hand first.
While the possibility that someone had intercepted their letters was unsettling, Aveline was happy to have conversed with her childhood friend after so long.
However, she couldn’t just be excited about it.
‘Still, when I get home, I should look into what happened.’
Even if the letters didn’t contain anything important, it was clearly something to be cautious about.
“Want something to drink?”
Ares, who had calmed down by now, asked Aveline.
He was stopping a passing servant carrying drinks.
“Thanks.”
Aveline received the glass from Ares and quickly drained the champagne inside.
She had been tense throughout her rare outing, and with so many people around, she was starting to feel a bit suffocated.
“I wonder if I could go for a short walk outside?”
At Aveline’s question, Ares briefly looked around.
“It seems like the audience with His Majesty is about to start… I’ll quickly pay my respects to His Majesty and come back, so you can take a short walk in the meantime.”
Leaving those words, Ares was about to turn around but opened his mouth once more, looking worried.
“But stay just in front, okay? The garden is so big you might get lost.”
“Am I a child? Just hurry and go.”
Ares turned away reluctantly, still looking uneasy and furrowing his brow.
Aveline also turned and headed towards the garden.
Many people sent curious glances at Aveline’s retreating figure.
Everyone seemed eager to get a closer look at Liliana’s collection that Aveline was wearing.
As she passed through the people and came out into the garden, cool air enveloped her body.
Several others who had come out for fresh air like Aveline were visible.
The champagne she had drunk after so long was starting to make her feel a bit tipsy, and wanting to rest alone, Aveline moved her feet a bit further to a less crowded area.
“Ah. This is nice.”
Finding a bench next to a large tree, Aveline sat down and took off her shoes.
Her feet were tired from walking with tension due to the slightly loose shoes.
After being tense among people all this time, being alone like this felt incredibly comfortable.
“I think I’ll live.”
“That won’t do.”
Suddenly, someone revealed themselves from behind the tree.
It was Melina Sroon, who had run away earlier.
“Did you think it would be okay after humiliating me like that?”
Melina Sroon’s eyes were red, as if she had been crying behind the tree.
It seemed she had been hiding here ever since running out of the ballroom.
Normally, Aveline might have been a bit flustered by Melina Sroon’s sudden appearance, but with the slight tipsiness, she just found it annoying.
“I don’t understand who you’re blaming when you brought that humiliation upon yourself.”
At Aveline’s retort, Melina Sroon’s face turned red.
“D-Don’t be ridiculous! It’s all because of you. It’s all your fault that Lord Ares doesn’t like me!”
Aveline carefully examined Melina Sroon standing before her.
With her aqua-colored hair and matching aqua eyes, Melina Sroon’s appearance was quite cute.
So much so that her rough speech and tendency to slander others seemed completely out of place.
As she quietly observed Melina Sroon, Aveline voiced something she had been curious about for a while.
“But why do you like Ares?”
“…What?”
Melina Sroon asked back blankly, as if it was a completely unexpected question.
“I’m curious. What exactly is so great about him that you’re causing such a fuss even with innocent me?”
Aveline knew Ares was popular, but seeing someone who liked her own flesh and blood right in front of her was a different matter.
“In case you don’t know, let me tell you, he’s got a severe prince complex.”
“Hmph. For someone like Lord Ares, it’s not a complex, it’s all true.”
“He’s extremely scared and can’t sleep alone if he hears ghost stories.”
“A reverse charm! So cute!”
“He even does daily beauty routines? He’s especially sensitive about dark circles, so he makes sure to eat broccoli and salmon regularly.”
“Good looks and self-care too? Perfect.”
Melina Sroon immediately countered each point Aveline listed.
“It’s only natural to like Lord Ares! You’re the strange one for not understanding that!”
“Then think about this.”
“W-What?”
“What if I said I liked your younger brother?”
“Are you crazy?”
Melina Sroon screamed, furrowing her brow.
Then she carefully examined Aveline’s face with a worried expression.
“…Is your head okay? Did I upset you so much that you’re shocked and hurt?”
“Actually, it was a lie. So, how does it feel to indirectly experience my position?”
“Ah…”
