Chapter 70. For the Sake of Interest

“This is, well…….”

I could have just told the truth, so why was I stammering? While I hesitated, Enoch took the jacket off my shoulders. Without waiting for my response, he threw it carelessly.

And the direction he threw it was, of all places, where Felix was standing. Felix barely caught it before it hit the ground.

Enoch’s eyebrow raised slightly as he watched the scene. His sneer became even more crooked, as if he had figured out whose jacket it was.

“Whose is this?”

“……It belongs to Felix Werner, the eldest son of the Werner family, Your Highness.”

In response to Enoch’s rather arrogant question, Felix bowed his head and answered politely. Felix’s manners were impeccable, but Enoch’s gaze remained as cold as midwinter.

I wondered what about Felix displeased Enoch so much. Had the Werner family wronged Enoch in some way? No, I never heard of such a thing…….

“The Werner family, huh…….”

“…….”

“The owner of Rusvel Insurance, I hear. They’ve become quite famous lately.”

“Your praise is too generous. We are still a fledgling company.”

At Felix’s humble response, Enoch chuckled and draped his own jacket over my shoulders. I blinked in confusion and muttered a small thank you. The jacket, imbued with his high body temperature, was warm and cozy.

“How do you know my fiancée?”

“We were childhood friends. We used to play together when we were young…….”

“Hmm…….”

Enoch let out a meaningful hum and scrutinized Felix sharply. This wasn’t surprising, Enoch Bayern often intimidated others.

What was surprising was Felix’s reaction. He maintained a composed expression, smiling gentlemanly, as if Enoch didn’t scare him at all.

In my memory, Felix was a sensitive and tearful boy…… When did he become so dignified?

As I stared at him in amazement, Felix suddenly looked my way. When our eyes met, his smile grew even brighter. I couldn’t help but smile back.

The warm moment was interrupted by Enoch’s cold, sharp voice.

“Felix Werner, you may leave now. I’ll take care of my fiancée.”

“…….”

Felix smiled silently. It was a smile that felt oddly cold. His following words were extremely polite.

“Understood. Please take good care of my childhood friend.”

Enoch’s eyebrow shot up as if to say, ‘Really now?’ But Felix, unfazed, bowed perfectly and added, glancing at me.

“See you later, Elle. It was nice meeting you today.”

“Oh……! Yes, me too. And thank you for saving me earlier.”

Felix smiled and turned away. As I watched his retreating figure, Enoch’s irritated voice came from beside me.

“What’s with that audacious brat? And…… ‘Elle’?”

I blinked rapidly, wondering why he was picking on that, of all things. And calling Felix audacious? He had been nothing but polite……

“Elle is my nickname. Felix and I are childhood friends, so……”

“How many nicknames do you have?”

“Let’s see, maybe about five?”

Elle, Ellen, Ella, Lena, Leni……. There could be more. Mostly, I was called Ellen.

Enoch clicked his tongue and pulled out a handkerchief to press against my wet hair. The handkerchief was black too. I let him do as he pleased, and his curt question came flying at me.

“That audacious brat saved you?”

I was inwardly annoyed by his constant derogatory remarks about Felix. But I answered in a neutral tone.

“He saved me when I fell into the waterway. He’s my lifesaver. I can’t swim.”

“You can’t swim?”

“More people can’t swim than you’d think……!”

I retorted without thinking, and he chuckled softly. I felt my face heat up and glanced around nervously. Countess Haywood and others were giving us curious looks.

“What are you good at, Ellen?”

“……Staying alive.”

Enoch burst into loud laughter at my sarcastic joke. By now, I had a pretty good idea of what my specialty was. Entertaining Enoch Bayern with my ridiculous antics. Given his apparent satisfaction with this service, I could consider it a specialized skill.

“What happened with the waterway incident? Did Iris Philoan really push you?”

“Well…….”

I could see people perking up their ears to listen. I moved closer to Enoch, almost hugging him. For some reason, Enoch’s body seemed to stiffen, but I ignored it and whispered in his ear.

“Iris made a mistake. But I turned it into her weakness.”

Enoch let out a long hum and tilted his head, looking at me. We were so close that our lips were almost touching.

“You’ve grown up, my fiancée. Not that you were ever completely innocent.”

“……I was quite reckless with Iris.”

“You? How?”

His voice held a hint of amusement. He effortlessly lifted me into his arms, and though I was mortified, he didn’t seem to care at all about the curious stares from others.

“My fiancée and I will be leaving now, Countess Haywood.”

“Oh……! Yes, Your Highness! Please take care…….”

Enoch chuckled softly, as if her words were a joke.

As he carried me out of the garden, I could feel the curious gazes piercing me, but I covered my face with my hands and tried to ignore them. I resolved to voice my protest once we were alone in the carriage……

But Enoch Bayern was not someone you could reason with.

“What’s the big deal? If I carry you around, it adds credibility to our lie about falling in love, doesn’t it?”

“…….”

I gave up trying to convince him and instead decided to study how to become as shameless as Enoch Bayern. It seemed better for my mental health than engaging in a futile argument.

Back at the Winter Palace, I detailed to Enoch everything that had happened with Iris and how reckless I had been. Enoch found my story highly amusing.

He also showed an unusual interest in Felix, persistently asking about him. His curiosity about Felix’s personal details and his relationship with me made me defensive.

“Is that brat really that important to you?”

“He’s my only childhood friend, so of course…….”

“I’m your only fiancé.”

“……Our relationship is more like business partners.”

“Can’t business partners have friendship?”

……Friendship? I was surprised that he even used that word. Apparently, he did see me as an equal. I had thought he saw me as nothing more than an expensive weather forecast he had invested in.

“……Do you consider me a friend?”

“Well, we are business partners, aren’t we? And you’re interesting. You don’t bore me easily.”

“Ah.”

So he enjoyed observing me like a guinea pig. I wondered how dull his life must have been to find someone like me entertaining……

‘Julian Bernstein was right about Enoch’s interest in me being purely for amusement.’

I chuckled and shook my head. Enoch continued to question me about Felix, but I feigned fatigue and retreated to my room.

I hoped I wouldn’t catch a cold. I felt a bit chilly……

‘……It must be my imagination.’

* * *

It wasn’t just my imagination.

I ended up catching a cold and was bedridden for three days, with a lingering cough for over a week.

Summer colds are indeed frightening.

When I returned to social events after fully recovering, I noticed that people’s gazes had subtly changed.

It didn’t seem like Iris had spread rumors about me being crazy…… Perhaps Enoch had done something.

In any case, Iris remained quiet. Surprisingly, Marquis Philoan sent me a letter of apology regarding the ‘incident in the waterway,’ though it felt formal and insincere.

But the fact that Marquis Philoan personally apologized was surprising enough—at least to me—so the stiff tone of the letter didn’t bother me much.

Along with the letter, Marquis Philoan sent a gift as a token of apology: a top-quality emerald.

The emerald, which seemed well over 10 carats, was quite a rare collectible…… but it didn’t particularly make me feel grateful.

I didn’t know what Marquis Philoan was thinking, but he didn’t seem interested in uncovering the truth about the waterway incident. Contrary to my worries about it causing a fuss, the matter seemed to quietly fade away.

About ten days passed, and it was now the 25th.

The weather, which had been sunny, turned gray and rainy today, as if it were a lie.

The rain, which started pouring from early morning, was so heavy it seemed like the sky had a hole in it, and the air was cold and damp.

And today was the anniversary of Theresia Rubel’s death, Enoch’s biological mother—a fact that could bring nothing good.