Chapter 42
“Who’s there?”
The warning voice rang out again.
‘Didn’t you have an audience? Why are you here again?’
The sudden appearance turned out to be Klein.
Aveline quickly let her hair fall forward to hide her face.
When Aveline didn’t answer, angry footsteps approached.
“Who dares to enter my palace…”
“Ah!”
A strong grip seized Aveline’s arm. At the same time, her hidden face was revealed to Klein.
“You…!”
Klein’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of Aveline’s face.
* * *
“My lady!”
When she came to her senses, someone was calling for Aveline.
“My lady!”
When she opened her eyes, Yoni’s worried face filled her vision.
‘What? Was I dreaming?’
She had just been face to face with Klein, but when she regained consciousness, she was in bed.
“What kind of dream made you sweat so much?”
Yoni asked while carefully wiping Aveline’s face with a damp cloth.
“Ah, I must have had a nightmare.”
“Well, you have been pushing yourself these past few days with all the outings.”
Yoni nodded as if understanding.
Even after Yoni left the room, Aveline couldn’t properly collect herself.
‘He definitely looked surprised when he saw my face.’
It was because of Klein’s expression just before she woke from the dream.
The man who was ruthless to everyone except his sister—his eyes had wavered upon seeing Aveline’s face in her original form.
‘He couldn’t have recognized me, right?’
Though brief, he had seen that Chloe had pink hair.
Given Klein’s sharp eye for detail, he might have realized that Aveline was the grown-up version of that pink-haired child.
‘No way.’
Maybe he was just surprised to see a crazy woman in nightclothes in the middle of the palace corridor.
Aveline tried hard to push away the unsettling feeling.
However, the more she tried, the more her anger toward Theron resurfaced.
‘Really, how could he just abandon someone like that and slip away by himself?’
Aveline grumbled, having no way of knowing what had suddenly upset Theron.
* * *
Unaware of what had happened to Aveline, Theron sat in his study.
“What’s with the flower?”
Barom asked, looking at Theron who was intensely staring at a single yellow rose in his hand.
“…”
However, Theron remained silent, maintaining his serious expression.
“You were reading so diligently earlier, did something not go well?”
Barom glanced at the numerous parenting books piled on Theron’s desk.
As soon as Theron had discovered where the lady who absorbed his magic was, he had obtained parenting books and studied them thoroughly.
He had left looking quite confident, but…
Why did he return looking so dejected?
Just as Barom was about to say something out of frustration, Theron placed the rose he was holding onto the desk with a thud and spoke.
“I’m not in a very good mood.”
“I can see that.”
Barom shrugged and responded to Theron’s statement.
“What does it mean that ‘the heart matters’?”
“…What?”
Barom doubted his ears.
He had even read parenting books before going—did he hit his head somewhere?
“She said she preferred this single small rose to the large flower basket I sent.”
“Ah.”
So that’s what wounded his pride.
Barom watched Theron’s furrowed brow while suppressing a laugh.
“Seems like the lady is more particular than expected?”
He knew that Theron had sent a flower basket to that lady recently.
He thought that with Theron, a man of exceptional beauty, taking the initiative, even an unusual lady would fall for him quickly, but it seemed it wasn’t so simple.
“You’ve met many women, so you would know. Why would someone prefer this over an extravagant and expensive flower basket?”
Theron was now demanding mind-reading abilities from Barom.
Though Barom wanted to protest that he couldn’t possibly know that lady’s inner thoughts, he swallowed his words and began a game of twenty questions.
“By any chance, was that yellow rose given by someone else?”
“Correct.”
One point scored.
Barom wracked his brain for the next question.
“And it’s a flower the lady likes?”
“Indeed. That’s also correct.”
Continuing his unexpected streak of correct answers, Barom spoke again.
“Then… could it be because someone remembered her favorite flower and gave it to her?”
“She did say something like that.”
Barom was dumbfounded watching Theron nod seriously.
What’s this? The lady had already kindly explained everything.
“If you already know, why are you asking again?”
“But it’s just one flower. The flower basket I sent probably had a yellow rose mixed in too. I don’t quite understand what makes them different.”
“Ah…”
A sigh escaped Barom’s lips.
He was at a loss for where to begin explaining to his friend who was an expert in matters of the imperial family and magic but completely clueless about these things.
“Listen carefully.”
Barom steeled himself.
“The yellow rose in your flower basket has no meaning. Why? Because you didn’t know she liked that flower when you sent it.”
“…”
“But there’s meaning in remembering and giving her the flower after learning she likes it. It shows you were trying to give something that ‘she’ specifically likes.”
“…”
“So the point isn’t about the ‘flower.’ It’s about ‘remembering’ that she likes this flower.”
Theron slowly nodded at Barom’s words.
“So you’re saying I should give things she likes.”
“Exactly.”
Barom felt relieved when Theron finally understood his meaning.
“By the way, why does it matter who gives her flowers?”
After all, Theron only needed to focus on the magic within Lady Herolds’ body.
“Because I’m courting her.”
“Pfft!”
Barom, who was about to take a sip of tea, ended up spitting it out.
“Why are you surprised? Didn’t you already know?”
Theron asked calmly while maintaining a barrier in front of himself.
“You didn’t tell her that too, did you?”
Barom became anxious.
No way, no way.
Even Theron wouldn’t have told everything to the lady he was trying to win over…
“Of course.”
Theron nodded, and Barom felt relieved.
Right, even Theron wouldn’t…
“I told her.”
“…?”
However, Barom couldn’t believe what he heard next.
“You told her?”
He actually declared his intention to court her and even revealed his reasons to the lady herself?
“What did she say?”
“Well…”
Theron remained silent for a while, as if lost in thought.
Seeing his expression, it was clear he hadn’t received a positive response.
“Just give up.”
A sigh escaped from Barom’s lips.
* * *
Meanwhile, Aveline was facing Count Herolds.
“You’re saying I need to go where?”
Count Herolds frowned uncomfortably at Aveline’s question.
“An invitation came from the imperial palace.”
“For me?”
“…Yes.”
Isn’t this too sudden?
The banquet hosted by Duke Nor just ended yesterday, and now they’re calling her in like this.
“Perhaps the person inviting is…”
“The Crown Prince.”
Count Herolds answered with undisguised displeasure.
“Though only your name is on the guest list, send Ares with you. They can’t object if he says he came along worried about his sister who’s new to social circles.”
It would be somewhat reassuring if Ares came along.
‘Besides, it would definitely be suffocating to be alone with the Crown Prince.’
Whatever the ulterior motive for this sudden invitation might be, having to face Serio again was troubling for Aveline.
“By the way, who was this invitation addressed to?”
Having roughly grasped the situation, Aveline brought up the point that had been bothering her.
From her father’s words, it was clear that only Aveline was being invited.
But why did the invitation come to her father instead of her?
‘Something’s definitely odd.’
Aveline still hadn’t dismissed her suspicions about Lisa, who handled correspondence in the mansion.
“I received it.”
Count Herolds answered.
“Though it was addressed to you. It probably got sent to me by mistake because it bore the imperial seal.”
“I see.”
‘Something smells fishy.’
She had been too preoccupied with other matters to pay attention to this issue, but it seemed she couldn’t leave it alone any longer.
“Then I’ll prepare for the palace visit as quickly as possible. I’ll tell Ares myself.”
“Do that.”
After leaving Count Herolds’ study, Aveline hurried to find Ares.
“Ares!”
Ares was training in the practice yard.
He was sparring with a knight when he heard his sister’s voice and turned around.
“What is it?”
Ares stopped the match and approached her.
Aveline held out the imperial invitation in her hand to him.
“You need to come too. As my guardian.”
“What? Today?”
“Yes.”
Aveline nodded while quickly scanning their surroundings.
The servants’ quarters were close to the practice yard.
And all important correspondence and items came into the mansion through the servants’ quarters.
In other words, there was a high chance that Lisa, who handled correspondence, was nearby.
After confirming her surroundings, Aveline raised her voice.
