Chapter 94
Chapter 94. Welcome Banquet for the Envoys
As he spoke, Adrian’s eyes glowed warmly as he took in Henelone. Was it because of the setting sun? There was a subtle affection and longing in his golden eyes that made Henelone unable to look him directly in the eye.
“Did you have a good summer vacation?”
“Oh, yes… Um, how were you?”
“Well, I guess our young lady completely forgot about this poor man, so I spent every day in tears.”
“Ugh, don’t play around!”
When the flustered Henelone became serious, Adrian, who had been sniffling and wiping his dry eyes with an exaggerated attitude, smiled mischievously.
“It’s not a complete lie. I was really upset. It seemed like Henelone had forgotten me.”
“I, I’m sorry.”
The corners of his drooping eyes looked quite pitiful, so Henelone hurriedly apologized. Adrian was right. Henelone had completely forgotten about him because of the sweet time she had with Heinz. She felt incredibly sorry about that.
“Then, would you give me the honor of escorting you tonight?”
So she simply nodded. The setting sun had already dipped below the horizon, and the evening was turning purple.
***
“Wow, there’s a place like this in the capital? It’s so beautiful!”
The place they went to with Adrian’s escort was Fryusken, a hotel restaurant located a little away from the city. Situated in a secluded and elevated spot, it offered a panoramic view of the entire city. The restaurant room they were guided to had a wide-open balcony, from which they could see the Imperial Palace, brightly lit beyond the city.
There was nothing she disliked: the faint hum of the city, the cool summer night breeze, or the sparkling night view beneath the darkening purple sky.
She also liked the room itself, which was so fancy it was hard to believe it was a restaurant. The brick fireplace and the sofa embroidered with red roses that gently supported her blended together, creating an old-fashioned atmosphere.
Above the round table, decorated with red velour, hung a gorgeous ceiling chandelier that looked like it belonged in a small mansion’s lobby. It seemed to be lit by about twenty candles.
As Henelone exclaimed in admiration at the overwhelming splendor, Adrian smiled happily.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Now Adrian seems more like a capital resident than me!”
“Haha, I still have a long way to go, so please show me around often.”
“Ahaha…”
Henelone looked away awkwardly at his rather pointed words and laughed. Fortunately, Adrian just smiled and didn’t say anything else. Instead, he pointed to the book from the Eastern Continent that she had coincidentally brought to the restaurant and asked,
“What book is this? It’s a script I’ve never seen before…”
“Ah! It’s a book from the Eastern Continent! I heard a trade ship came in from there recently.”
Henelone, delighted by Adrian’s question, lifted the book she had placed on the table, her eyes sparkling. Excited to see Adrian leaning closer as if genuinely interested, she flipped through the pages and pointed to the illustration that the clerk had been squinting at for a long time.
“But the illustration was so creepy that we debated for a long time whether it was a medical book or an ancient document! What do you think, Adrian?”
“Did he put a needle in his chest? The drawing certainly looks a bit creepy.”
“Right? Oh! This word means ‘fake,’ and this means ‘death.’ What do you think?”
“Hmm, fake and death…”
Adrian muttered, holding his chin as he looked at the two characters Henelone had pointed out.
Adrian smiled as her expectant blue eyes stared at him, then snapped his fingers and replied,
“I’m leaning toward it being a medical book.”
“Huh? Why?”
“There’s a story in old classical literature about a young lover who took a drug that faked death and ended up in a tragic ending. Maybe she could fake death with this needle? Well, that’s just my opinion.”
“You could see it that way!”
Henelone nodded in admiration at this new interpretation combined with classical literature. The heart is a vital point, so if a needle had been stuck there, it would normally mean death. But since the words referring to it included “fake” and “death,” Adrian’s interpretation seemed plausible.
“Maybe this book really is a medical book from the Eastern Continent. I wish trade with the Eastern Continent would become active soon! It’s so frustrating not being able to read it. At first, I was confused by the number of strokes in the characters. But when I looked closely, I saw that many of them had a specific, repeated shape. Maybe if you combine basic characters, you can make different ones! If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be so hard to learn them…”
Henelone, who had been chattering away, bit her lips as Adrian looked at her with a smile. Her face turned red because she seemed to be the only one talking so animatedly.
“That… Did I go too far?”
“No. It’s nice to see you exploring knowledge. It’s just… I feel like I haven’t seen you in such a long time that I’m at a loss for words.”
“I, really? It doesn’t seem that long ago…”
“But Henelone.”
“Huh?”
“When are we going to the lake?”
