Chapter 6 – Change (Part 12)

As Elysia headed towards the garden, she worried whether Millie might have been offended because she called her by the wrong name. However, what concerned her more was that she had spoken carelessly while thinking of Daisy. 

‘I hear that nobles who particularly value etiquette never lower their speech to servants of other families to maintain their dignity. What if they think I grew up terribly spoiled at the Serenze estate? It only takes a moment for the servants to gossip and find fault at me.’

Reaching the now-not-so-secret garden, Elysia picked up a cushion from a chair at the tea table. Made of weatherproof and dustproof fabric, it was fine to leave outside and handle roughly. Elysia tossed the cushion under a tree and sat down, leaning against the trunk.

As the breeze gently blew under the tree’s shade, she gradually felt at ease. In retrospect, her family might only be quasi-Baron, but they were still a noble family, and it was true that she grew up quite freely thanks to her parents. 

‘Ronan Hass immediately noticed our family’s atmosphere from my demeanor. He might have vaguely known from visiting the Serenze estate for business with my father. What if our family had been a merchant family without a title like the Haas Trading Company? Then I wouldn’t have been dragged to bothersome noble gatherings, wouldn’t have to worry about attending royal balls, and most importantly, there wouldn’t have been any marriage proposals from the Duke’s family.’

When she thought of marriage proposals, Cassius’s face, which she had seen by the moonlit lakeside, suddenly came to mind again. Remembering the look in his eyes and the sensation of him gently holding her hand made Elysia’s face flush once more. It was not a good sign. 

She reminded herself that she could not survive here if she couldn’t maintain composure and calmness, and leaned back against the tree to collect her thoughts.

***

Cassius, sitting in his office, sighed and stood up. Unlike usual, he couldn’t concentrate at all, because he couldn’t stop thinking about Elysia. 

He had thought about it several times, but the most important criterion when choosing a bride was that she should not be special. He wanted someone who would quietly fulfill the duties of a hostess in the Duke’s family, and at most, they would respect each other. In the worst case, he chose a woman from a family who couldn’t protest even if he neglected her. 

Contrary to his intention of choosing the most unremarkable woman because he didn’t want to deeply involve himself with family matters, he found himself constantly thinking of Elysia, which was not pleasant. Cassius decided that moving his body might help dispel his distracting thoughts and left the office. 

It was also an opportunity to make up for the time he hadn’t been able to visit the training ground due to being overwhelmed with paperwork for several days.

Cassius, who had been a playmate of King Clois since childhood, underwent rigorous martial arts training to protect the Crown Prince in case of emergencies. Even now, he did not neglect practice to prepare for any mishaps that might occur during meetings with envoys from other countries or ministers alongside the King. However, recently, he had been too busy to engage in proper sparring.

When Cassius appeared at the training ground and took off his coat, one of the knights resting there picked up a sword and entered the sparring area. Since it was customary for the Duke to train there, whenever he appeared, someone would naturally step forward to be his sparring partner without needing any special instructions. 

Since Cassius was far more skilled than most knights, it was natural for him to win even in light sparring, so the other knights usually focused on watching and learning from his techniques. But today, something was different. The knights watching began to feel uneasy at the Duke’s unusual demeanor.

“Uh, the Duke seems a bit…”

“Is he angry about something? He’s really pushing hard.”

“I thought he’d just do some light warm-up since he came in casual attire…”

As the knights murmured, Cassius, unable to shake off his persistent distracting thoughts despite moving his body, showed a distinctly different movement than usual during sparring. It was as if he was facing a lifelong enemy, harshly attacking the opposing knight.

Normally, Cassius would match his opponent’s skill level or stop at a suitable point to allow the knights to improve their skills. Winning one-sidedly would only lower the knight’s morale. If he wanted a real challenge, he’d have to spar with the King’s closest guard or Georg Lance, the Minister of Defense. 

Therefore, the knight facing Cassius’s full strength today was desperately defending himself to survive. Aaron, who arrived late at the training ground after hearing that the Duke was sparring, was appalled at the sight.

‘What on earth is he doing! At this rate, a perfectly fine knight will die!’

Aaron wondered why the surrounding knights weren’t stopping him and looked around. The other knights were so overwhelmed by the Duke’s fearsome skill that they were only watching his movements, ignoring their comrade who was being severely beaten.

‘This is why those obsessed with power are no good!’

Even though Aaron himself was a skilled swordsman as he served as both the Duke’s guard and secretary, he was furious seeing the seemingly deranged knights of the Ducal household.

“Duke!”

Unable to hold back, Aaron’s shout made Cassius flinch and stop his movements. Only then did he properly grasp the situation before him. The opposing knight had been knocked to the ground by the recent strike. Cassius, with his sword raised high, had almost struck down the opponent but managed to stop just in time.

Realizing he had lost his composure and hadn’t matched the knight’s skill level, Cassius immediately lowered his sword and apologized to the knight.

“I was trying to clear my mind of complicated thoughts, and ended up taking it out on you. Are you hurt?”

The knight shook his head vigorously in denial.

“No! I’m just grateful that the Duke took our sparring seriously.”

However, the knight’s shaky legs and trembling voice as he barely stood up somehow diminished the credibility of his words. Cassius returned the training sword to its place and spoke to Aaron, who approached to follow him.

“Let’s call it a day.”

Aaron wanted to offer to escort him to the office, but the Duke’s tone left no room for objection. So Aaron decided he might as well head back to the Haas estate for dinner. As Aaron left the training grounds, he heard the knight who had just been severely beaten complaining quietly to his comrades.

“I almost got killed by the Duke, and not one of you tried to stop him?”

“With the Duke’s incredible skill, do you really think he’d kill someone just because he couldn’t control himself?”

“You haven’t sparred with him, so you don’t get it. He was different today. When he knocked me down and raised his sword, oh. His eyes were on me, but it felt like he wasn’t really seeing me… Do you get what I mean? Anyway, that’s how it was. It seemed like he forgot he was sparring. I might have actually died.”

“Yes, yes. We’ve heard your exaggeration. We were too busy being amazed by the spectacle to focus on your weak performance.”

“Some friends you are…”

Unaware that the Duke’s sharp ears had caught all this, the knights continued to chatter about what was different about the Duke today and which parts were particularly impressive.

***

Cassius left the training ground and returned to the mansion. After washing up, he still had some time before dinner. 

To clear his complicated mind, Cassius slowly walked along the tree-lined path outside the mansion and eventually found himself near his mother’s garden. Thinking he might run into Elysia, he was about to turn back but became annoyed with himself for such thoughts. 

He couldn’t understand why he had to be mindful of someone else in his own home. Moreover, he hadn’t done anything wrong that warranted avoiding the other person. Driven by a strange sense of defiance, Cassius stubbornly stepped into his mother’s garden, despite his reluctance. 

As expected, Elysia was sitting under the shade of a large tree in the garden. From Cassius’s angle, only a slight profile of her face was visible as she looked away, so he couldn’t see her expression clearly. This time, sensing his presence in time, Elysia turned her head inadvertently.

Seeing Elysia’s face, Cassius froze on the spot. 

Tears were welling up in Elysia’s eyes as she looked back at him. 

Seeing Elysia with tears in her eyes, Cassius felt a shock as if a large rock had fallen on his chest. However, a headache that swept over him shortly after made him forget that shock. 

Elysia, seeing the Duke standing at the garden entrance, hastily wiped her tears and stood to greet him.

“Duke, are you out for a walk? Ah… Is it already dinner time?”

Elysia noticed that he was dressed more casually than usual. Cassius, having washed up after an intense sparring session at the training ground, was dressed simply in a shirt without an outer garment to cool down. However, his face was two to three times more stern than usual, and seeing this, Elysia couldn’t think he looked comfortable.

‘His attire is different from usual, and his expression is very… It looks like he’s heard some bad news. Is something wrong?’

Then, a sudden question popped into Elysia’s mind. How long has it been since the previous Duke passed away? Although she didn’t know the exact date, she vaguely remembered hearing about the previous Duke’s death around the time of the Spring Ball, which seemed to be about a year ago.

‘Could it be that the anniversary of the previous Duke’s death is approaching?’

Elysia felt her heart sink at the thought, but concluded that if it were such an important matter, the head butler would have informed her. Nevertheless, since it was certain that the anniversary of the late Duke’s death was approaching, she decided to check the date and find out what needed to be done once she returned to the mansion.

Cassius unconsciously reached out to wipe the still-damp eyes of his fiancée, but quickly withdrew his hand as he regained his senses. Being near Elysia made him feel like a completely different person from his usual self.

“I just came out for some fresh air. I hope I’m not late for dinner today.”

With only those words, Cassius turned around and quickly disappeared in the direction of the mansion.

‘He’s giving me such a hard time, even though I’m not late every time.’

Elysia grumbled inwardly and stretched again. She recalled the moment just before she noticed Cassius’s presence.

She had woken up from a nap and stretched, causing a cracking sound, possibly from leaning against the tree for too long. She had yawned so widely that tears welled up, and she wondered if the Duke had seen her clumsy appearance and that was why he was so curt.

Since he usually moved without making any noise, she couldn’t tell when he had started observing her. Worried that he might have seen her disheveled state, Elysia headed towards the mansion to ensure she wouldn’t be late for dinner.