37

“Is that so.”

She gave a calm nod, but her grip on the basket tightened. Nothing showed on the outside. She was as graceful and composed as ever.

Lena was still grinning as she eyed the basket with open curiosity.

“What’s in the basket? Is there food? Your sandwiches are so good.”

Lavian was about to say something to Lena, who looked ready to dig through the basket at any moment.

“Lena, this is……”

Lena didn’t seem particularly interested in what Lavian had to say. She kept her eyes fixed on the basket and kept talking.

“By the way, you must really like your husband.”

“……”

“You made everything in there so pretty and obvious it’s for him. Heart-shaped sandwiches. Oh my, that’s so cheesy.”

Lena stared at the basket with the focus of someone who hadn’t eaten in days, then shuddered and laughed at Lavian.

Lavian had simply done what she had been taught to do and hadn’t thought much of it, but having Lena point it out so bluntly made the back of her neck warm with embarrassment. She answered in a mumble that wasn’t like her at all.

“That’s just what you’re supposed to do.”

“Hmm. Really? You, who treats your dignity like your life, doing something like that. Marriage is something else. Oh, but you know what? I think your husband is kind of petty.”

“Pe, petty?”

Lena had been rattling on and Lavian had been struggling to keep up, but that word stopped her cold.

Petty. Of all the words to attach to that man. Who else is as generous as him. The money he sends to our household alone is…

Lavian couldn’t make sense of what Lena meant and stared at her sister, shifting the basket to her other hand.

“I mean, petty enough not to give me even one bite……”

“Oh! My lady! You should have let us know you were coming. We would have come out to meet you. I’m so sorry.”

Lena had been working herself up with great indignation, but a staff member came rushing out at the sight of Lavian and she never got to finish.

Lavian wanted to know why he was petty, but she couldn’t let an employee hear her speak poorly of the employer, so she set the topic aside for later.

“Hmph. No one came out to meet me.”

“How could you expect the same treatment! My lady, please come inside. The master is in his office.”

“Me too!”

“Don’t disturb the two of them. Go entertain yourself.”

The staff member shook Lena off efficiently and guided Lavian inside with great courtesy. But today, his polite manner felt oddly uncomfortable to Lavian. He seemed so easy and familiar with Lena in a way he wasn’t with her.

How often does she come here……

Lavian couldn’t push the thought away and followed the staff member in a daze, only coming back to herself when they reached the lift.

“I’m fine from here. I heard you’re busy. Go on.”

“Are you certain, my lady?”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

She gestured for him to go, and he bowed deeply and stepped back.

A moment later, the lift doors slid open and Lavian stepped in and pressed the button. The lift moved smoothly and without much noise, carrying her up to the floor where Klen’s office was.

Lavian gripped the basket firmly and walked down the hall, her footsteps neat and measured.

“Dear……”

She arrived at his office door and raised her hand to knock, then lowered it. Through the slightly open door, she could see Klen sitting at his desk and Amelia beside him.

She hesitated, wondering whether to go in, and took a step back. At that moment, Klen’s voice came through, clearly irritated.

“Tsk. Stupid paper.”

At the same time, Amelia startled and quickly took hold of his hand, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping it with care.

Lavian felt she shouldn’t watch any longer and turned back the way she had come. Her quiet, slow steps grew faster and faster until she was nearly running down the empty corridor.

Back in the office, Klen, who would normally have noticed even the faintest presence, had been too distracted by Amelia’s fussing to register Lavian at all.

“You know I hate being touched. What do you think you’re doing.”

“Oh! I’m sorry.”

He frowned and knocked her hand away sharply, pulling free.

“What’s gotten into you. This isn’t like you.”

“I’m sorry…… actually, no. This is entirely the fault of the all-nighter. Shouldn’t you take that into account?”

Amelia had started to apologize, then bristled.

She knew perfectly well that Klen despised being touched by other people. Even so, the effects of staying up all night had made her do something she would never normally do.

“You didn’t even draw blood, and you went in that deep. Do you have something against me?”

“Important documents meant for the Emperor cannot have blood on them. Last night’s disasters were more than enough. I have no desire to see these expensive papers contaminated and have to be rewritten.”

Amelia held out the handkerchief with the air of someone who would tolerate no imperfection.

“You’re deflecting. You clearly have something against me.”

“I am simply doing my job to the best of my ability. I don’t want any more incidents here, large or small…… Oh?!”

“Why did you stop mid-sentence?”

Amelia had been hoping fervently that no further unnecessary problems would arise. On top of the incidents that had been erupting for days, hadn’t word come just last night that a merchant vessel had been seized.

One more small thing going wrong and she felt she might lose her mind entirely.

Amelia had been speaking with genuine feeling, then stopped as a thought struck her and turned to Klen.

“Sir. Have you sent word home?”

She clutched the handkerchief in both hands and asked with a serious expression.

“……No.”

“Then the lady has been waiting this whole time, hasn’t she.”

Klen had taken a moment before answering curtly, his brow creasing at the dull, unpleasant ache in his hand. He was in the middle of standing when Amelia’s follow-up question made him pause for just a fraction of a second.

But he straightened up immediately and moved toward the door as though nothing had happened.

“She wouldn’t. She’s not foolish enough for that. Even if she did wait, there’s nothing to be done about it. That’s her job.”

“You’re not going home after saying that, are you? Going home is fine, but whatever else you have to say, finish this first.”

“I’m going to wash my hands. I’m not waiting around for the documents to be redone. If any more work comes up, I’ll take it out on you first.”

“I do appreciate clarity. Go quickly, then.”

Klen left Amelia behind and reached for the door handle.

“Fix this.”

“Why did you break it in the first place.”

“Because the work was done badly.”

“……”

Klen yanked the door open and shot her a sharp look, and Amelia pressed her lips together. There was nothing to say in her defense.

Strictly speaking, it hadn’t been her fault, but there was no point adding fuel to his temper.

He had become considerably more even-tempered since the marriage, but the edge was still there.

“I’ll have it made sturdier.”

Klen heard her confirmation and stepped into the corridor, heading toward the bathroom, then stopped.

Rose scent. Something else mixed in with it.

It wasn’t the artificial smell of perfume. It was the faint, natural fragrance that came from spending time in a garden full of roses.

But there was another scent layered beneath it.

Lavian.

The name came to him clearly without any effort, and Klen looked around. He spotted a familiar figure stepping into the lift not far away.

“Lavian?”

It wasn’t a great distance, but the appearance was unexpected, and he narrowed his eyes.

He confirmed who it was and lengthened his already long stride, moving toward the lift. Lavian had been about to press the button for the first floor, was debating what to do, and stopped.

“What are you doing here?”

Klen stopped the closing lift doors and pulled Lavian out.

“I thought you might need a change of clothes. I wasn’t sure if you’d be coming home tonight either.”

Lavian held the basket out slightly and looked much the same as usual.

The unpleasantness from last night hadn’t fully disappeared, but she acted as though she had forgotten it entirely.

“No, I’m going home.”

Her composure was unchanged, and Klen felt a vague, hollow sense of something missing. He decided to match her mood. He was already tired, and there was no reason to go looking for trouble.

The exchange was dry, but a kind of peace settled between them, and neither of them brought up anything that might disturb it.

He offered no explanation for not sending word, and she didn’t press him for one.

“Did you just arrive?”

Klen drew her to his side as they walked and asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It isn’t.”

“You weren’t arriving. You were leaving. If you’d just arrived, the doors would be opening, not closing.”

“……”

“Wouldn’t they?”

He stepped into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and washed his hands, glancing at Lavian for the first time.

Lavian hadn’t followed him inside and stood at the doorway, offering her excuse.

“I came up, but then I thought I might be interrupting, so I was going to leave the basket and go. It was more or less the same as just arriving.”

“……”

He dried his hands on the provided towel and looked at his wife for a moment before moving.

“I cut my hand.”

“That must hurt.”

Klen held out his hand, then tucked it under his arm and looked Lavian over. Her reaction was strangely different from usual.

She wasn’t someone who took things lightly, so she would normally have tried to check even the smallest cut. But today, for some reason, she didn’t.

“That’s why I’m going home.”