Chapter 45
“As you can see, I was entertaining her well.”
Serio smiled, gesturing toward the well-laid refreshment table.
Everyone naturally shifted their gaze there, but the sunlight reflecting off a silver plate was painfully bright.
Serio casually positioned himself with his back to the reflected light and returned to his relaxed expression.
“You, on the other hand, have entered here without my permission or invitation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you display such emotion before.”
Despite Serio’s provocative tone, Theron remained unperturbed.
He seemed unaffected even by the conservatory’s harsh sunlight.
“You seem to have forgotten that Lady Herolds already had a prior engagement with me, as mentioned at the last banquet.”
“You didn’t even specify a date. Do you plan to claim prior engagements every time?”
Serio posed a reasonable question.
“Of course.”
Theron’s lips curved gently.
“Because I will be meeting with the lady whenever possible.”
“Are you serious?”
This time even Serio frowned in surprise.
“Can you still doubt my intentions after seeing me enter Your Highness’s palace of my own accord?”
After considering Theron’s response for a moment, Serio nodded in acknowledgment.
“True, you’ve never sought me out before.”
Serio smirked as if he’d discovered something amusing.
“So it really is because of that lady.”
Serio’s crimson eyes turned toward Aveline.
Startled by the Crown Prince’s gaze, Aveline quickly lowered her head.
However, she could feel his intense stare on her skin.
“I’m curious to see how far you’ll go. Then I suppose I should be serious as well.”
“How unexpected. To think you’d openly pursue my younger cousin’s courtship target…”
Theron raised the corner of his mouth with a cold expression.
“How unsightly.”
Only Aveline and Ares seemed surprised by Theron’s words.
Serio himself merely smiled as if thoroughly entertained.
“Haha. Let’s say the unsightliness comes from you and I being rivals in love.”
“…”
“People would find that much easier to understand, wouldn’t they? It would make for good gossip too.”
“It seems Your Highness’s objective has been sufficiently achieved just from today’s events.”
‘Objective?’
Aveline’s ears perked up at the suspicious word.
‘So the Crown Prince did have a hidden reason for summoning me?’
While Aveline was busy thinking, Serio shrugged and smiled.
“Objective? I simply wanted to see the lady’s face once more. Because…”
Serio’s smile widened further.
“I’m serious.”
Even as he spoke playfully, Serio’s face remained full of joy.
He seemed to have fully committed to the concept of being in love with Aveline.
“…I’ll be taking the lady with me.”
Theron turned around with Aveline, showing no intention of playing along with Serio’s act any longer.
Serio merely raised an eyebrow, neither objecting nor stopping them.
‘What exactly is going on here?’
Coming to this strange glass conservatory was confusing enough, and now the two men seemed to be creating a rather serious love triangle situation around her.
However, the biggest problem was that neither of them was actually sincere about Aveline.
Was this how a shrimp felt when caught between fighting whales?
While Aveline struggled to process the sudden turn of events, Ares, who had been equally dazed, quickly gathered his wits.
“Why are you deciding to take my sister away on your own!”
“If you truly care for your sister, leaving this place should be your priority.”
Theron cut off Ares’s words mercilessly and led Aveline out of the conservatory.
“Let’s get as far away as possible.”
Theron didn’t stop walking even after leaving the conservatory.
Like someone who believed poison had been released inside.
Fortunately, Serio didn’t follow. Ares too remained inside, apparently detained by Serio.
Once outside, it became much easier to open their eyes.
“What was all that about?”
Only after they were far from the conservatory did Aveline, freed from Theron’s grip, ask.
“Are you alright?”
However, what came back was a question rather than an explanation.
“Pardon?”
“Any headaches or nausea?”
Theron carefully examined Aveline’s expression as if genuinely checking her condition.
“I was fine, but after what just happened, I think I’m starting to get a headache and feel unwell.”
Despite Aveline’s sharp response, Theron’s face remained serious.
“You need to be more cautious.”
“I’m perfectly capable of looking after my own wellbeing.”
“Says the one who willingly walked into a space containing magic stones?”
“That’s…”
This time Aveline was at a loss for words.
‘I was surprised.’
When she heard the conservatory was maintained with magic stones, she had momentarily lost control of her expression.
“Even though you absorbed magic well, it’s still unstable.”
Theron continued.
“If I hadn’t noticed your magic light while passing by, you would have remained exposed to other magic.”
“…”
“Even if that hadn’t happened, the magic stones planted in the conservatory might have reacted.”
That would have been tantamount to openly announcing to the imperial family that Aveline possessed magic.
Seeing Aveline’s face as she finally grasped the gravity of the situation, Theron let out a small sigh.
“Do you now understand why I suggested spreading rumors about us being lovers?”
“What does that have to do with…”
“It has everything to do with it.”
Theron cut off Aveline’s words and lowered his head to meet her eyes.
Their faces suddenly drew close.
Aveline momentarily held her breath as his unrealistically handsome face filled her vision.
Theron’s blue eyes followed her every movement as if determined not to miss anything.
Then his pink lips slowly parted.
“Because it makes it easier for me to protect you.”
It might have sounded incredibly romantic to anyone who overheard.
But the person actually hearing these words didn’t see it that way.
“…You mean protect your magic, don’t you?”
Aveline’s green eyes met Theron’s gaze directly.
She knew that Theron was being unusually patient with her, given his notorious temperament.
Even now.
He had appeared with disheveled appearance as soon as he learned she was at the Crown Prince’s palace, and even declared his affection for her in front of the Crown Prince.
Now he was even saying he would protect her.
But that was only because she possessed part of his magic.
‘Still…’
Her deficient desire to be important to someone kept raising its head thoughtlessly.
‘Get it together.’
Originally, she would never have had any occasion to meet or speak with Theron.
So there was no reason to feel disappointed or hurt even knowing that Theron wasn’t being sincere about her.
As Aveline collected herself, Theron’s firmly closed lips finally opened.
“Never again… I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.”
‘Never again?’
What did that mean?
“Sister!”
Just as Aveline was questioning Theron’s words, Ares appeared from behind.
“I was worried when I couldn’t see you. Why did you come so far?”
Ares grumbled as he approached.
“His Highness said we could leave now, as he doesn’t want to cause more commotion.”
“Just leave like that?”
As she turned her head, her eyes immediately met Serio’s, who was leaning against the conservatory entrance.
Serio waved at Aveline with a more relaxed expression than when he was in the sun-scorched conservatory.
“He said to leave quickly before he changes his mind.”
Ares added, apparently anxious that Serio might detain them again.
‘Understandable.’
Considering how suffocating it had been between Theron and Serio, Ares’s current reaction wasn’t unreasonable.
Despite her immediate desire to leave, proper courtesy to the Crown Prince was necessary.
Aveline curtsied according to protocol, then turned her back on the conservatory.
“And just to warn you, don’t try anything like offering to escort us.”
Ares glared at Theron, attempting to deliver a threatening warning.
“…”
Theron stepped back obligingly, as if he had no such intention.
“Hmph. Sister, let’s go!”
“Oh? Okay.”
Aveline looked back as Ares pulled her along.
However, Theron had already disappeared from sight.
* * *
“My lady, I’ve completed the investigation you requested.”
When Aveline returned to the mansion, the butler approached with a bundle of documents.
After isolating Lisa in an empty room, she had ordered the butler to investigate Lisa’s background.
“I’ve brought the list of the orphanage where Lisa’s siblings are, along with its operating and sponsoring families. And this is Lisa’s letter of recommendation.”
“Letter of recommendation?”
“It’s from her previous workplace, before coming here.”
“She came here quite young, so she must have started working very young indeed.”
It was heartbreaking to think of a child having to support themselves.
Apart from Lisa’s wrongdoings, it was a pitiful situation.
“I’ll take my leave.”
After the butler left, Aveline leaned back comfortably on the sofa to review the documents, but quickly sat up straight.
Surprisingly, the name written on Lisa’s letter of recommendation was from an entirely unexpected family.
