Chapter 21

‘When will His Majesty finally realize that people are not chess pieces. If there is one man in this country that child absolutely cannot marry, it would be the Prince.’

The Marquis had thought that if he himself pretended to dislike Hazel, the royal family would lose interest. Because what they needed included not only the Fitzroy name but active support as well.

But the Prince had not moved as the Marquis expected. Because of that, he could no longer delay Hazel’s marriage.

‘A lesser Strauss is a decent enough young man. He has ambition. I hear he and Hazel already know each other, and his relations with women are clean.’

Other people believed Marquis Fitzroy disliked Kyle because he was a commoner, but that was not true.

What he disliked was not commoners, but the sort of people like Eliya Strauss, who felt an inferiority complex toward nobles simply because they were commoners. The Marquis was convinced that it was that woman who had ruined Peter Strauss.

‘The lesser Strauss will need both that child and me.’

With a ticking sound, the minute hand came to rest on twelve. At the same moment, the secretary announced the visitor’s arrival.

“Marquis, Mr. Strauss has arrived.”

“Tell him to come in.”

He keeps time exactly, the Marquis thought with inward satisfaction, brushing down his waistcoat. By the time he lifted his eyes, Kyle was already prepared to meet his gaze.

The Marquis seated him opposite.

“Thank you for making time in your busy schedule. It has been a while.”

“It has indeed been a while. You are as vigorous as ever, and your complexion seems brighter too.”

He was not deceived by formal greetings. Soon the secretary brought in tea on a silver tray. Lifting his cup, the Marquis spoke bluntly.

“So then, what was it you wished to see me about?”

“You go straight to the point. You have not changed.”

“When both of us are busy men, what is the point of going in circles. It seems it may be difficult for you to say, so I shall raise the matter first. You have come because you are interested in my daughter.”

Kyle smiled faintly. Looking at that smile spreading across the handsome face, the Marquis thought for a moment.

‘This rascal has probably already bewitched Hazel.’

The young man did not waver. He even smiled as though he were an easygoing fellow.

“That is correct. I asked to see you because I wish to marry Miss Fitzroy, and because I need her.”

“Young people these days are remarkably at ease. Do you think I would give my daughter to someone intending to use her as a means?”

“I am only pretending to be at ease. It seemed like a better way to earn points.”

“……”

“Any young man who courts your daughter, myself included, will not be coming only because he is dazzled by her beauty. If there is something one wishes to gain anyway, should one not at least be bold enough to make oneself memorable?”

The young man, plainly saying he intended to use the Marquis’s daughter, remained calm throughout. The Marquis looked straight into Kyle’s eyes and asked,

“If I refuse to grant what you need, then what? Would your wish to marry her still remain valid?”

Kyle answered without hesitation.

“I will marry her.”

“You are not being honest.”

“I am speaking honestly. If another man marries your daughter, then your influence will also be used for that man’s sake. If fortune turns poorly, your decision could become poison to me. I have no intention of bearing such a risk.”

“I admit, that is a wise answer.”

The Marquis became certain his judgment had been correct. This man was clever. He knew that it was more important not to make enemies than to turn people into allies.

But he did not know the most important fact. Feeling somewhat heavy-hearted, the Marquis reached for his pipe.

“But you have chosen the wrong direction for persuasion.”

“Marquis.”

“Even if Bukata is a city where every value is exchanged for money, even on this asphalt floor there is romance and there is love. And all the more so for Hazel. Even I, who have not seen that child for more than a few months, can tell it, so how could you, who have known her for years, not know?”

“……”

For the first time, a ripple stirred in the young man’s eyes. His face had remained undisturbed even when told that his direction was wrong.

“Strauss, I wish for that child to be happy.”

“……”

“If you truly wanted to buy my heart, then even if it were a lie, you should have said that you had feelings for her.”

“Marquis,”

“You may go. I think this matter has been discussed enough. I will not accept any gift.”

* * *

Rain struck the automobile even more harshly than when he had come to meet the Marquis. To make matters worse, lightning flashed and thunder followed after it.

Kyle stared fixedly through the window, though little could be seen. Because of the streaming water, the whole world, including the trees and the iron streetlamps, wavered.

“The weather is in a foul temper.”

Today, Marquis Fitzroy had made it clear that he did not think well of Kyle.

Even more than Kyle had thought, the Marquis had been sincere toward Hazel. For Hazel to have won the Marquis’s heart in that short time, it seemed she still had a talent for drawing people in.

To the weathered old Marquis, his own agitation must have been plainly visible. A faint smile brushed Kyle’s mouth.

‘That landed well.’

He had thought a clumsy lie would not work. That was why he had judged it better to confront the matter honestly rather than talk of love, but this time it seemed he had been wrong.

Kyle had always thought love was a luxury granted only to those with too much leisure. The meaningless questions that begin the moment one says I love you—for example, what is love, why do you love me, and is this love eternal—required leisure if one wished to discuss them.

Also, one had to want nothing apart from love. A human body is one, and time and energy are limited. If what one must care about doubles, efficiency naturally falls by half.

He had assumed that Marquis Fitzroy, who had reached the summit in one field, would not idly speak of love, yet perhaps because he was old, he had shown an unexpected reaction.

‘Do I need to change strategies.’

The storm went on. While they were stopped at a signal, even the streetlight finally went out. With no pedestrians at all on the road in such rough weather, it looked like a ruined city.

Kyle, who had been staring expressionlessly outside, straightened from where he had been half reclining at that moment.

“Stop the car.”

“Sir?”

“Wait here a moment. It won’t take long.”

“Sir!”

The driver, suddenly left behind, blinked. His question was directed toward the secretary, who had spent longer with the boss than he had.

“Tommy, what is going on?”

“I don’t know.”

The secretary stared into the darkness. The blackness swallowed the man with the black umbrella without leaving a trace.

* * *

It had been three months since Hazel came to this house.

The season, which had been in the middle of spring, was running toward the height of summer. The sharpness that had once ridden on the wind had disappeared without a trace, and in its place the passionate sun poured down over all of Bukata.

Today, perhaps intending to cool the heat a little, the rain came down in sheets. On a day like this, if one went out, one was bound to ruin one’s clothes. Perhaps Alice had thought the same, because a few hours earlier she had telephoned to say she thought she should cancel their dinner engagement.

Since Hazel had secretly been worried about going out with her body feeling unwell these past few days, she gladly accepted Alice’s suggestion.

The Marquis had also said he would be coming home late today. Hazel tried not to realize that the reason for his late return was a meeting with Kyle.

Her attention scattered with an unexpected incident. There was commotion in front of the east staircase.

“I’m sorry, Miss. I think you’ll have to use the central staircase this evening.”

“What happened?”

“Wax to be applied to the floor was spilled. It would be dangerous to walk there—it’s slippery.”

Just as the maid said. Shattered white fragments were scattered all around the stairs. A young maid, presumed to have caused the accident, was crying with her face bright red. She must have just been scolded by Madam Agatha.

Hazel felt sorry for her. With pity in her heart, she answered,

“All right. Be careful not to fall.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

Hazel, stepping lightly down the central staircase, stopped in place. What caught her eye was a waist-high console table, or more precisely, the small frame resting on top of it.

In the frame, Jane Fitzroy was a woman with a proud impression. Her belly was swollen, so perhaps it was a photograph taken while she was pregnant. The man beside her smiling brightly must have been her husband, who was said to have died in the same car accident.

Hazel had heard that Jane died while pregnant. Then this photograph must have been taken at most a month or two before their deaths. Smiling brightly, unaware at all of the tragedy that was about to befall them.

Hazel quietly gazed at the couple, who looked nothing but happy.