Reibella finally succeeded in getting Duke Vicheravali out of his office.

“The greenhouse would be nice.”

“I just…….”

“Let’s have tea in the greenhouse.”

She had only come to get permission to go out. Yet Duke Vicheravali suddenly suggested having tea in the greenhouse.

The person most delighted by the news of him leaving his post was none other than his aide Henan. When he tightly grasped Reibella’s hand while muttering that he could finally rest, his expression was filled with emotion as if he had met a savior.

Thanks to this, the vassals were given a brief rest, and Reibella received Duke Vicheravali and headed to the greenhouse.

“Aren’t you sleepy?”

“I’m fine. What about you?”

“I slept well!”

Perhaps it was because they had spent the past week together.

Though his words were still blunt, they didn’t feel as awkward as before, perhaps because she had grown used to them. Maybe things had become a bit more comfortable.

‘Is it okay to feel this close to a villain?’

When she first met him, she trembled in fear.

As these thoughts of their first meeting suddenly surfaced, Reibella asked,

“Come to think of it, Duke, that first time at the imperial palace……”

But she couldn’t finish that question. Duke Vicheravali had suddenly stopped walking.

When she looked up, she saw him staring straight ahead. At the end of his gaze was a boy who looked very much like him.

The two stared at each other silently. There were no words, no actions. They simply kept staring.

Royan was the first to look away. After alternating his hate-filled gaze between his father and Reibella, he turned away with a sneer. It was an incredibly cold response.

Duke Vicheravali just watched. Until the child disappeared around the corner. After watching with emotionless eyes, he shifted his gaze.

“Let’s go.”

His face showed truly no emotion at all.

As if passing by a stranger.

So Reibella didn’t say anything either. She just acted as if she hadn’t seen what had happened, as if nothing was wrong. 

 * * *

 “You want to look around outside the castle?”

Inside the greenhouse full of blooming flowers, Duke Vicheravali asked as he carelessly lifted his cup of black tea while sitting across the table.

Reibella nodded her head vigorously.

“Yes! I’m curious about the Louvindisi territory. Since it’s where I’ll be living from now on, I thought I’d like to look around once.”

“Yes, that’s not a bad idea.”

Duke Vicheravali slowly nodded at Reibella’s spirited answer. As he lowered his gaze thoughtfully, his figure looked like a painting drawn with a soft brush.

‘Is it because of all the flowers around?’

Reibella’s gaze slipped past his shoulder. At the end of her gaze were countless purple flowers. The purple roses that could only be seen at the Vicheravali mansion filled this greenhouse.

She wondered why he had insisted on having tea time in this greenhouse.

‘A daughter should always be surrounded by flowers,’ he had said.

He had brought her here with those incomprehensible words.

“Then before going out, stop by the knights’ quarters to choose your guard.”

“……Me?”

“Yes. Since they’ll be accompanying you from now on, it would be better for you to choose someone you like rather than having me choose.”

“Yes, thank you.”

For Reibella, it wasn’t a bad proposal. If she wanted to hide what she was preparing, it would be good to choose someone dull and oblivious.

When Reibella smiled brightly and expressed her gratitude, he looked at her with a strange expression and asked.

“Are you doing alright?”

“Yes. Charlotte is kind, and the bedroom is perfect.”

“Good. I’m glad. If you need anything, tell me anytime.”

“Thank you for your concern, Duke.”

“Is there nothing else you need?”

It seemed like a customary question asked before ending the conversation, but somehow it felt more like ‘Don’t you have something else you should tell me?’

Reibella thought carefully about what he wanted to hear, then noticed where Duke Vicheravali’s gaze was directed. She awkwardly smiled while gently covering her injured ear with one hand.

“I got hurt. Yesterday I couldn’t sleep so I went outside and tripped over a rock. Then the tree……”

“A tree…… We must remove all the trees from the annex immediately.”

The Duke apologized politely, saying he hadn’t thought they would be dangerous for the child.

“……What?”

“Henan. Right now……”

“Um, Duke!”

No, why remove the precious trees!

“I like trees, couldn’t we just leave them?”

When a startled Reibella hurriedly stopped him, Duke Vicheravali responded with a serious face.

“The trees?”

“Yes!”

Honestly, removing a few trees wouldn’t be a big problem, but if she caused such a thing right after arriving here, it could be seen as unnecessary trouble.

For Reibella, who wanted to stay quiet and escape without drawing attention, this was something she really wanted to decline.

At Reibella’s words, Duke Vicheravali made a somewhat displeased expression but nodded slightly. It meant he would withdraw his previous order.

‘……I really don’t get it. Why does this person end up getting stabbed to death by his son?’

Though he seemed not to know much about children, his effort was still admirable. If he could treat someone else’s daughter this well, shouldn’t he dote on his own son even more?

But the scene she had witnessed earlier between Royan and Duke Vicheravali showed a relationship worse than strangers.

What could have happened between those two? 

 * * *

 “Miss, you must choose Sir Dwayne.”

When told she would be selecting her own guard knight, Charlotte began reciting knights’ names from that moment.

The problem was…….

“No, Sir Jason might be better. Sir Jason is young but his abilities are said to be outstanding. He’s the rising star of the Silver Wolf Knight Order.”

Charlotte was as changeable as a swaying reed. New knights’ names poured endlessly from her mouth.

Thanks to this, though about ten names were mentioned on their way from the main building to the knights’ quarters, who among them was ‘really’ substantial remained unclear.

“Ah, no. If he’s too young he might develop feelings for Miss……”

“So who’s the most sensitive among them?”

“If you’re looking for someone sensitive, that would be Sir Aiden Clopenta, the Commander of the Second Knight Order.”

Aiden was the knight who had accompanied them from the capital to Vicheravali, no, all the way to this annex. He had taken care of her throughout and was also the one who had given Charlotte the ridiculous preconception that Reibella was a ‘glass artwork.’

‘Though he was a good person, let’s exclude him.’

Besides, since he was the Commander of the Second Knight Order, she couldn’t take him as a guard anyway.

As she walked while pondering who to choose, the sound of swords clashing rang out loudly. Reibella quietly went to observe the training ground so as not to disturb them.

In the center of the spacious indoor training ground, a small silver-haired boy and an adult about three times his size were crossing swords.

“Your stepping speed is slow, young master.”

“……”

“Your wrist bent. In a real fight, your wrist would break.”

The knight’s words were uniformly dry. There was no detailed explanation, no consideration for the listener.

But before him was a genius swordsman acknowledged by the novel, the swordsman of the century. Royan quickly absorbed what he said and changed his posture moment by moment.

The blade elegantly left a silver path as it cut through the air. The following noise was sharp.

Clearly, it was an amazing sight. Though it was an amazing sparring match, something felt a bit strange. Did Royan seem to hesitate slightly?

After watching for quite a while, it really was so. Every time the sparring knight said something, Royan tensed up.

‘Ah, is it because his opponent is an adult?’

Royan had a setting where he was abused by his maternal uncle from a very young age.

Though it wasn’t covered in detail in the novel, there seemed to have been a brief mention of him being afraid of adults bigger than himself.

The aftereffects still seemed severe.