* * *

“Is this all you’ve learned in a week.”

She had been inwardly cheering herself up while waiting for today.

Unfortunately, the Duke of Vicheravali had been accumulating bad karma even before Reibella arrived at the training ground.

When Reibella arrived at the training ground, he was already drilling harsh words into Royan’s ears, enough that it wouldn’t be strange if he got a knife in his back today.

It was only natural that Royan glared at his father with the face of a young predator, as if he wanted to kill him.

Reibella, turning pale, stepped between the two.

“First! Take a break while practicing.”

After shouting loudly and clapping her hands, Charlotte approached as if she had been waiting and offered water and towels. Reibella handed them to the Duke first.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Not yet……”

“You mean that since Royan is still young, he needs to take frequent breaks, right?”

“……Reibella.”

“Royan. Did you hear that?”

Ignoring the Duke of Vicheravali calling her name, Reibella looked at Royan. She handed him water and a towel as well, and Royan stared at her with sulky eyes. His face was full of discontent.

‘What is it?’

Puzzled, she questioned him with her eyes, and he responded with a look of disbelief and betrayal.

Staring at him in confusion, Reibella suddenly widened her eyes.

‘Right. The princess.’

Yesterday she had promised to tell him about the Princess and had learned about his circumstances, but they had parted without actually telling the story. He seemed to be upset about that.

Giggle. With a suppressed smile, Reibella offered him the water and towel again. As if saying she would tell him if he accepted.

He sighed and took the items. To be this compliant was unprecedented.

She wanted to laugh again, but fearing that Royan might get embarrassed and throw the towel away, she had to bite the inside of her mouth to hold it in.

‘Is this what it feels like to tame a wild wolf cub……’

As he obediently took the water and looked at her, Reibella couldn’t help but open her mouth.

Wondering what to talk about, she decided to start with something mild. If it was too stimulating from the beginning, the later stories would seem boring.

“Do you know about todoria grass?”

“What’s that.”

“It’s an herb that causes stomachaches in children. I found it in Her Highness the Princess’s food. It was the first thing I did for Her Highness after becoming a food taster.”

Royan’s eyes widened. As if asking how anyone would dare put such a thing in the princess’s food.

“Fortunately, it was a misunderstanding. That herb also has skin beauty benefits. It’s a popular herb in the capital recently, but people probably didn’t know about the side effects.”

Royan looked at her with relieved eyes. As if asking if that was all.

Reibella shrugged.

“I’ll tell you more after you drink your water. Aren’t you curious about what Her Highness said when she wrote you a letter?”

Watching him pretend not to care while gulping down the water, even that small silver head that had been so annoying looked round and cute.

Her hand itched to pat his head, but she restrained her hand that wanted to move on its own. It wasn’t time yet.

Reibella looked at the Duke again and said,

“Royan’s skills have improved since last week, right? Sir Jeranov said that the young master’s skills are getting better day by day.”

While saying this, Reibella gave the Duke of Vicheravali a meaningful look.

Praise him! Right now! Hurry!

“Not only have you grown older, but you’ve also gotten better at flattery.”

But the Duke of Vicheravali only accumulated another bad deed.

No, this villain, really.

Suppressing her boiling feelings, Reibella smiled brightly.

“It’s not flattery but sincerity. You think so deep down too, don’t you, Duke?”

This was practically spoon-feeding him the answer.

‘Hurry up and say the right answer and get closer.’

But who was our Duke of Vicheravali? He was a man who didn’t know how to make empty compliments.

He seemed to ponder for a moment, then said coldly and decisively.

“No. It’s sincere.”

This is maddening.

It was only natural that Royan’s eyes became as sharp as an ax. When Royan glared at her as if asking why she would ask such a question, she suddenly thought:

These two might already be beyond the point of no return.

* * *

Although there were moments when she wanted to give up, Reibella quickly regained her composure each time.

Her desire to reconcile the two was still stronger than her desire to give up. She wanted to save them from the damned Emperor’s grasp as soon as possible.

‘But I need to change my approach.’

Reibella shook her head, recalling the Duke’s destructive way of speaking.

She knew he was generally blunt, but to be so merciless to his own son…

……Why was he acting like this?

It was like he was openly performing a ritual to make his son fall out of love with him.

‘Yes, the problem is the Duke of Vicheravali.’

When a son hides his feelings, he should coax them out, not try to change him by hitting him with words.

Especially since he was a child already hurt by ‘words.’

‘But I can’t exactly give him language lessons.’

Though she had come here under the pretext of adoption, she hadn’t yet gone through the formal procedures of the family, so her current position was merely that of a slave, or somewhere around the child of a traitor.

In such a position, she couldn’t teach the Duke to ‘watch your words!’

‘First, for them to get close, the Duke needs to keep his mouth shut.’

The training ground wouldn’t work. They also needed to be without swords.

A walk or art appreciation would be just right. They wouldn’t need to talk, and it would create a gentle atmosphere.

‘Maybe they’ll want to talk after a while.’

Good.

Having made her decision, Reibella secretly sought out Henan. She wanted to ask about the Duke of Vicheravali’s schedule and request his help.

“You’re asking me to help the Duke leave his office?”

“More precisely, I want him to eat in the dining room and take walks in the garden when he rests. And please contact me each time.”

Although it was a somewhat abrupt request for him, Henan nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

“Alright. I’ll do as you say, Miss.”

“You’re not going to ask why?”

“It must be because of the Duke and the young master. The issue between those two is a headache for us servants as well.”

From what she heard, it seemed everyone was aware of the problem between the two.

“Then why haven’t you intervened?”

“It’s exactly as you’ve felt, Miss.”

Ah. It seemed they had chosen to stand back and watch, since whatever they tried, the two would only drift further apart.

It seemed that while Reibella hadn’t paid much attention to the two, the servants had tried in their own way to bring them together.

“I’m not going to act as a bridge between them either.”

That had already failed.

She had tried and failed once, realizing that trying to relay messages between people who had no desire to talk to each other was like fanning a burning house.

Rather, it seemed more effective to make them encounter each other frequently. So Reibella planned to sacrifice herself to create opportunities for the two to be in the same space.

If at some point they became comfortable and familiar with each other, perhaps their stiffened lips would loosen a bit.

Henan smiled as he watched Reibella deep in thought.

“I’ll help as much as I can. I’m counting on you, Miss.”

“Thank you. I’m trusting you, Henan.”

Now that she had the Duke of Vicheravali’s every movement in her grasp. What remained was…

“Royan! Let’s eat!”

Just chasing after Royan, who hated her so much!

* * *

“……You’re really tiresome.”

Royan was grinding his teeth as he cut his meat. His eyes were still filled with hostility.

But Reibella smiled brightly. Whatever complaints he had, she was pleased just to be having a meal with him now.

However, even Reibella’s smile seemed terribly disgusting to him. The boy’s eyes were filled with anger as he stabbed his meat and put it in his mouth.

‘He eats neatly.’

Although the movements of his fork were somewhat rough, his overall dining etiquette was impeccable for a nobleman.

It was hard to believe that he had lived a life where, under his uncle’s oppression, he couldn’t have proper meals and had to eat sausages on the floor without dishes, let alone at a table.

Perhaps he noticed her staring gaze.

Royan, who had been eating with his eyes lowered as if annoyed, said,

“Today is the last day. Stop doing useless things.”

“What things?”

“You’re trying to put me and that guy together.”

The ‘that guy’ he referred to was the Duke of Vicheravali. He seemed to guess that her chasing after him to eat together was an attempt to make him meet the Duke.

And that was correct.

In fact, over the past week, Reibella had faithfully brought the two together, just as she had told Henan.