Chapter 25
“I didn’t know the Empire had such a beautiful young lady. If you don’t mind, would you like to walk through the garden with me?”
‘What’s this now?’
Aveline inwardly muttered as she saw the man who approached her after Melina Sroon had left.
The oily man with his hair slicked back completely smiled at Aveline, trying to look handsome.
At a glance, he might be considered good-looking, but for Aveline, who saw Ares—one of the Empire’s top three handsome men—every day, she felt no excitement at all.
Maybe if it were Theron, it would be different.
‘I should respond politely and then get away.’
Since she had just returned to high society, she planned to leave without being too rude.
However, the man didn’t seem likely to back down easily.
Just as Aveline was about to make an excuse about needing to find Ares, someone appeared from behind a tree.
“Personally, I think there should be a limit on the number of words ugly people are allowed to say. What do you think, my lady?”
The person who appeared saying something completely out of context was Theron.
‘How did he know to come here?’
As Aveline pondered this, she soon realized such a question was meaningless.
If he could follow her into her dreams, the imperial garden was nothing.
“L-Lord Ribes?”
However, the man who recognized Theron seemed quite surprised.
He apparently hadn’t expected to encounter Theron, the empire’s famous madman, here.
“Oh, you just said two words.”
Theron smiled as he counted the man’s words on his fingers.
However, it was a smile that felt somewhat chilling.
“So… then the ugly person you mentioned…”
Me?
The man swallowed hard at the unexpected truth that had flown in.
“Hmm. Seven words.”
As the man spoke more, Theron’s smile gradually disappeared.
“I’ll have you know, I’ve been told I’m handsome!”
“No doubt by your parents.”
“No!”
“Then perhaps by your grandmother.”
“Y-You’re the same, aren’t you, Lord Ribes!”
In his confusion, the man made a reckless attempt to drag Theron in.
“I lost my parents at such a young age that I don’t remember hearing such things. Same goes for my grandparents. Ah, and my aunt who was quite fond of me was poisoned early on.”
“…!”
The man’s face turned pale, having inadvertently stirred up Theron’s painful past.
“By the way, don’t you think you’ve been talking too much?”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Too long.”
“…Sorry!”
As Theron openly showed signs of fatigue, the man, sensing danger, quickly ran away.
“He’s finally gone.”
Left alone, Theron looked at Aveline as if expecting praise.
“Did you come looking for me?”
“Yes.”
Theron nodded with a proud expression.
“Why?”
“You didn’t appear in my dreams last night.”
‘Again!’
Theron casually said something that could be misunderstood if others heard. Aveline, startled, quickly looked around.
Fortunately, there was no one nearby.
“I had trouble sleeping last night. Are you now checking my dreams too?”
“It’s natural for me to be concerned about things made of my magic. But you couldn’t sleep well? Did something happen during the night?”
Aveline paused briefly at Theron’s words.
If something happened, there certainly was.
She had tried using magic and ended up scaring Ares, then tossed and turned all night. She attempted to faint in an awkward situation but accidentally made her father faint instead, leading to her unexpected attendance at this party.
“The light of my magic stone surrounding you increased tremendously in just one day. That’s why I asked.”
“Ah.”
Only after Theron provided this brief explanation did Aveline understand the intention behind his question.
If the light surrounding her had suddenly increased, it meant something had changed with his magic stone that she had absorbed.
Since it wasn’t something she could hide anyway, Aveline spoke honestly.
“It seems I used a bit of your magic power last night.”
“…My magic power?”
“Yes.”
Aveline nodded and explained the whole story.
“So, you used my magic power and the mark on your wrist disappeared as well?”
After hearing the full explanation, Theron wore a serious expression.
Aveline nodded and observed Theron, noticing his face was clean without a single scar.
“I healed this myself.”
Theron answered immediately, sensing Aveline’s gaze.
‘What? So he intentionally didn’t heal it all this time?’
Aveline felt incredulous as she recalled Theron lurking around her with a scarred face.
However, before she could question this, Theron quickly returned to the original topic.
“So you can use magic power, albeit still clumsily.”
“It seems so.”
“Hmm. Then I understand why the amount of light increased. The problem is…”
Theron paused and tilted his head slightly as he looked at Aveline.
For a moment, his blue eyes flashed like a predator before its prey.
“Now I can never find my magic stone again.”
“What? Why?”
“Well…”
Theron bent down and brought his face close to Aveline’s.
“Because you’ve absorbed it all.”
‘What?’
Aveline’s mind, momentarily blank from the shock of the handsome face suddenly approaching, quickly snapped back.
Absorbing the magic stone?
She was deeply worried about how Theron, who had once threatened to cut open her stomach to retrieve the stone, would react to this situation.
“I-Isn’t that a big problem?”
“It is a big deal, but not too serious.”
Theron smiled gently, as if painted.
However, this expression somehow seemed unhinged, making Aveline’s small heart beat rapidly.
“Except that from now on, you can never be separated from my side.”
* * *
“Where on earth did she go?”
Ares, having finished his audience, entered the garden, avoiding people trying to catch him.
No matter how much he searched the garden, he couldn’t see Aveline.
“I told her not to go in too deep.”
She didn’t even know the way well, how far could she have gone?
Just as Ares was about to enter deeper into the garden while grumbling, someone called out to him from behind.
“There you are.”
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince?”
The person who stopped Ares was Serio.
“I thought you’d come looking for me after the audience with Father, so I waited.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Well, there’s no need to apologize. Anyway, where are you rushing off to?”
After hesitating for a moment at Serio’s question, Ares opened his mouth.
“…I was looking for my sister.”
“Your twin?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Serio, who had been pondering with his chin in his hand at Ares’ answer, clapped as if he had figured something out.
“Alright. I’ll help you.”
“…You will, Your Highness?”
“Yes. I wanted to see your twin sister more closely anyway. I think I saw her from afar earlier, but I couldn’t get a good look. A woman who looks exactly like you, I can hardly imagine it.”
“We’re fraternal twins.”
“Haha. Let’s go.”
Serio lightly ignored Ares’ response and walked ahead.
“By the way, I didn’t know you had gotten so close to Theron.”
Serio suddenly spoke to Ares as they had been walking for a while.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t be coy. Theron himself told me earlier. He said the rumor about him visiting the Herolds mansion to see you was true.”
“…”
At Serio’s words, Ares’ expression crumpled unpleasantly.
It was clear he wanted to curse but couldn’t in front of the Crown Prince.
“Haha. Don’t worry. I’m generally open-minded about anything as long as it’s interesting.”
Just as Ares was about to make some defense with his deeply furrowed brow, something burst out from the bushes.
“Aah!”
“Are you alright?”
Serio stepped in front of the frightened Ares and asked.
The roles seemed reversed, but Serio paid no mind and checked on Ares.
“You’ve always been a scaredy-cat since you were young.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. I have no intention of being protected by someone younger than me. Besides, I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Knights, after all.”
Serio shrugged and joked after confirming Ares was okay.
Serio held the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Knights alongside being the Crown Prince.
It was partly because he was the most skilled in martial arts, but also a ploy to keep military power within the imperial family’s grasp.
Serio turned to check what had jumped out in front of them.
“Hmm. You’re… Young Master Olbert, aren’t you?”
The man called Young Master Olbert was rolling on the ground, clutching his leg as if he had been hit by something.
“I kicked him reflexively when he suddenly jumped out. Can you stand?”
Serio extended his hand to help him up.
“You’re in quite a state. Why did you suddenly jump out like that?”
“…Sorry!”
However, Young Master Olbert’s condition seemed a bit strange.
As if he had received some shock, his eyes were unfocused, and for someone addressing the Crown Prince, his words were unusually short.
“You’re being quite disrespectful in front of the Crown Prince.”
When Ares pointed this out, Young Master Olbert mumbled with an almost tearful face.
“Sob, sor-sorry, for-forgive…”
However, he couldn’t correct his strange way of speaking until the end.
“What on earth…”
Just as Ares was about to say something again, two figures appeared from deeper in the garden.
