“That day, Romer had prepared everything and was all set to go to the meeting place. And just as he was about to step out the door,”

“Mercenaries hired by Count Armetia came bursting in, I imagine.”

“How did you know, clever Adel! Just like you said, Romer was kidnapped by a group of unknown men and held captive for two whole days. He barely managed to escape with his life, but by then I had already…”

“Heard that you’d entered a convent and given up?”

“That’s right, Adel. Romer didn’t break his promise. He fought desperately to get to me, but it was simply that I despaired too quickly, and the timing didn’t align.”

Adelaide thought back on whether her truly seventeen-year-old self had been that foolish.

Somewhat, it seemed. Not over a man like Violet, but she had let her emotions rule her and failed to think clearly, making no effort to hide her hostility toward Lionel.

Noble marriages were contracts between families, not matters of love. For that reason, minor transgressions were easily forgiven so long as no fatal clause was broken. Just as the saying went that showing off was a sign of lack, couples who boasted of happy marriages often kept separate lovers behind closed doors.

Occasionally, a soul too pure for its own good, like Violet, encountered too many such cautionary examples and threw her life into the mud chasing the fantasy of true love.

“Violet.”

“Yes, Adel.”

“I guarantee you that man took money from Count Armetia.”

“That can’t be! I won’t pretend the thought never crossed my mind. But Adel, think about it. If Romer had taken money from my father, why would he still be working as a postman?”

“He behaved exactly like someone who came into a large sum of money all at once. Men like that, when they get their hands on money they never had before, either waste it all on entertainment or lose every last coin to a swindle trying their hand at some business they know nothing about.”

During the ten years she spent after being driven out of the Berthier estate, Adelaide had witnessed countless cases like that. Amusingly enough, the affliction Adelaide had named “business fever” struck almost exclusively men.

It was hardly surprising, given that women were never afforded the opportunity to handle large sums of money in the first place.

“Romer is not the kind of person who lies. I know him. You’ve never even met Romer, Adel. He said he never stopped missing me, but he simply couldn’t find the courage to come and find me.”

“And you believe every word of that nonsense is the truth?”

Focus returned to Violet’s hazy eyes. Adelaide was the first true friend she had ever had.

Even if her words were harsh, Adelaide always looked out for Violet with a kind heart, and Violet could not understand why she was so eager to condemn Romer.

“You’re engaged to a man you love, so you can’t understand how I feel.”

“I’ve told you, Lionel is not my fiancé.”

“I don’t want to marry some man my father chose for me, someone I barely know, and spend the rest of my life with him. Romer is my one and only love, and we met again like fate, so I won’t let him go a second time.”

Adelaide rang the bell and had cold water brought over. She was burning up inside.

‘This is exactly why I never wanted anything like a friend.’

She didn’t consider Violet a true friend, but Adelaide’s character wasn’t warped enough to stand by and watch a fool throw herself into a fire she could plainly see.

The nickname reckless young lady had come partly from Adelaide’s habit of refusing to look the other way or speak in roundabout terms when she saw something frustrating, and instead pinching it head-on without mercy.

“So you’ve already made plans to run away again?”

“Yes.”

Adelaide gulped down the cold water. She rang the bell for another glass, then grabbed the maid who was about to leave after pouring just one cup, snatched the pitcher right out of her hands, and drank straight from the spout.

“Adel!”

She ignored Violet’s startled cry and wiped her dripping mouth with the back of her hand. Violet’s heart fluttered at Adelaide’s behavior, which was utterly without manners and yet somehow looked so free.

A memory surfaced of how, as a child, she had always wanted to try drinking from a long-spouted pitcher like that at least once.

“Listen carefully, Violet.”

She had clearly drunk only water, but Adelaide grabbed Violet’s wrist and pulled her close with the energy of someone drunk.

Violet’s cheeks flushed without meaning to at the proximity of Adelaide’s face. Even after they had bathed together, Adelaide was a beauty who made her heart flutter on its own.

“You’re not going anywhere until I meet your cousin.”

“P, pardon?”

“If you want to run away with that worthless Romer or Rudolf or whatever his name is, bring me your cousin from the Mage Tower first. Until then, you’re not leaving my side.”

Adelaide’s threat passed through Violet’s romantic filter and came out interpreted like this.

‘She knows my cousin can’t leave the Mage Tower, and yet she says I can’t leave her until then. This, this is…! This must mean Adel is afraid of losing me to Romer!’

Violet was certain that the grip Adelaide had on her hand, tight enough to leave a red mark, was the strength of friendship.

“If Adel goes that far…”

Adelaide had mustered this much courage, so Violet felt she ought to respond in kind.

“Then I’ll give it careful thought…!”

Violet let the overwhelming feeling pour out of her. She pulled Adelaide into a hug. Adelaide found herself caught in Violet’s arms, completely bewildered.

“Did you hear what I actually said?”

“Of course! I had been worried myself that if I left with Romer, I might never see you again, Adel. Unlike back then, I have you now, so I’ll think it over carefully and make sure we reach an outcome that makes everyone happy.”

Adelaide decided to leave Violet to her misunderstanding. The process had been strange, but the end result was that Violet would not be running away immediately, so she had arrived at the destination she wanted.

“On that note, shall we take a bath together?”

Violet asked with enthusiasm.

“My business here is done, so go home now.”

Adelaide coolly sent Violet on her way. As she watched Violet leave with reluctance, a large shadow fell over Adelaide from behind.

“My lady! I got it!”

It was Lionel. He came running over, vigorously waving what was unmistakably a freshly dug sweet potato.

“Amy gave me a sweet potato! She wouldn’t even acknowledge my greetings for four days, and she gave me a sweet potato! This is definitely proof of forgiveness, ugh!”

He had been so excited that he missed the ground and tripped. Adelaide took a step toward him to help him up.

Lionel was back on his feet before she even reached him. He brushed off the dirt without a care and beamed.

“Amy forgave me, my lady!”

The ambush of someone with no calculation or hidden motive had grown from one to two. Adelaide decided this was a matter that warranted serious consideration as to whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

In the span of a few days, Lionel had transformed from an overgrown branch into something more like a tree with solid roots.

“I only gave it to him because Viscount Lavota looked hungry.”

“Thank you for forgiving me, Amy. If it weren’t for you, my life would have ended right there in endless darkness.”

No, a tree that had been fed some strange fertilizer at the roots might be a more fitting description.

“My lady, something is wrong with Viscount Lavota…”

“Master Henry always said that a person must constantly grow and change. I’ve decided to shed my old self, just as my teacher taught me, and above all, just as you showed me, my lady.”

“You’re scaring me, stop it! I’ll count it as forgiven, so can you please go back to normal?”

“Amy, I’ve only just realized how ill-mannered a brat I used to be. I won’t treat you carelessly again, and I’ll show my lady my sincere heart as well.”

“My lady!”

To be honest, Adelaide was a little startled too. Lionel no longer clung to her. He kept a reasonable distance, asked in advance for permission to visit, arrived at the agreed time, sat quietly over tea, and left.

“Lionel, did you eat something strange?”

“The food at the Berthier estate is wonderful. I’ve never eaten this well in my life. But now that you show me attention, my lady, I find myself wanting to make something up just to have you worry about me.”

“No, you definitely ate something strange. You picked up something odd, didn’t you? Amy, where did that sweet potato come from?”

“There’s nothing wrong with the sweet potato! The Duke finished a whole basket of them and said they were delicious!”

“If not the sweet potato, then what? Go fetch Benjamin. I need to know what this boy has been eating behind my back.”

Lionel lifted his teacup without a sound and savored it with a composed air. It was hard to believe this was the same person who not long ago hadn’t known how to drink tea properly, the very one Adelaide had let scald himself on hot tea water in his place.

“Benjamin!”

“So you’re genuinely curious about what I’ve been eating, my lady! I thought you were only saying it to be polite. Where should I start?

This morning I had buttered bread and vegetable soup, and for lunch I had a simple sandwich at the training grounds. Oh, and when I went to change after training, someone had left a candy in my coat pocket. So I ate that too before coming to see you.”

“It’s the candy.”

“It has to be the candy, my lady.”

“Amy, search the estate right now and find whoever put that candy in Lionel’s coat pocket.”

“Yes, my lady!”

Amy shot out of the room. Adelaide regretted it immediately. She was now alone with a slightly unsettling Lionel.

“My lady. Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“You’re giving me the creeps right now.”

Adelaide said it as plainly as ever. Lionel laughed softly. Even that gave her the creeps.

“Lionel. Think carefully. Besides the candy, was there anything else?”

“Well, I’ve always been happily taking in your warm attention and affection, my lady.”

The answer that came back was not just unsettling but downright slick. And yet something about it gave Adelaide a sense of deja vu. She was certain she had been in a situation exactly like this somewhere before.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

That was it. At twenty-seven, Adelaide had met a boy just about Lionel’s age. He had been a delivery boy who brought laundry to the washhouse.