It was easy enough to surmise that more than simple house arrest had taken place, that there had been violence, and Emilio resolved that he needed to confirm what kind of danger she was in.

Liane stood looking down at the ground, cradling her bandaged wrist in her other hand, a smile on her lips that somehow felt sad.

“What will you do?”

“My brother has said he will escort me himself… so I don’t think I’ll need to trouble you at this banquet, Lord Emilio.”

“I wasn’t asking about the escort. I was asking about what comes next, my lady.”

Emilio wanted to know whether separating her from that worthless man was truly impossible.

Liane’s shoulders and arms, visible through her thin, flowing dress, looked so slight that he thought they might snap if someone grabbed them too hard.

It made no sense to him that a man who hadn’t even been born into nobility could be taken in as an adopted son and then lay hands on someone who had been born and raised as the daughter of a count’s family.

But Emilio had dealt with plenty of people who defied common sense through his family’s work. Arman was simply one more of that contemptible, lowly sort.

Dealing with and enduring vermin like this always required a great deal of patience.

“…I’m thinking it over.”

After a long pause, Liane finally spoke. She narrowed her eyes slightly and smiled at Emilio.

She reached into the folds of her skirt and drew something out, then held a white object out toward Emilio with both hands.

Emilio looked at the neatly folded handkerchief in Liane’s hands, embroidered with wildflowers, and then looked at her face.

“You’ve helped me so much in so many ways, and I have so little I can offer you in return. This is a handkerchief I embroidered myself, to give to you. I would be grateful if you would accept it.”

Emilio thanked her, took the handkerchief, and looked at the embroidery once more.

“As for the escort…”

The one who was truly frustrated by this situation wasn’t Emilio, but Liane.

Emilio pushed aside the uneasy feeling and spoke.

“I will be the one to escort you, not Arman Aspel. I will come to collect you at the proper time.”

***

Emilio leaned back in the large bathtub and drew his hand out to push his wet hair back. The still surface of the water rippled, and the clear sound it made echoed through the bathroom.

‘Liane Aspel…’

Right, she was undeniably beautiful, beautiful enough to become a tremendous topic of conversation among the men of noble society since the last banquet.

Was it her appearance that kept drawing his eye?

He walked out in his robe and spotted the handkerchief Liane had given him sitting carelessly on the table where he had left it. He dropped into the chair in front of the table.

It bothers me.

It nags at me.

It’s so obvious this will become a nuisance, so I’d rather not see her anymore. Haven’t I already gotten involved far more than is like me?

And yet…

He felt uneasy, as though the moment he looked away, she would fall apart in that brief instant.

He had left her at the count’s estate, her own home where she had always lived, and yet he couldn’t understand why he felt so restless, like someone who had left a child beside the water.

That wound.

The image of the bandage wrapped around the wrist Liane had been cradling came to mind, and without thinking, he clenched his back teeth and his jaw tightened.

He had witnessed countless violent incidents through his work. That was why he could recognize it at a glance. Liane’s arm bore injuries of a similar nature. If he held back and delayed any further without stepping in, something was going to happen.

It was with these tangled feelings that Emilio had volunteered to escort Liane a second time.

No matter how he thought about it, these messy feelings he got when he thought of Liane felt strange and made no sense to him.

A drop of water that had gathered at the tip of his silver hair fell onto the shoulder of his robe. Emilio slowly reached out and picked up the handkerchief from the table.

He brought the handkerchief to his lips, and first came the soft feel of the cloth, then the sweet, floral scent that followed.

It was the same scent that came from Liane.

Emilio slowly opened his closed eyes. His amber irises caught the moonlight coming through the window and shone a bright gold.

***

Leaning back in the chair at his desk, Tristan tapped the side of the paper he held with his index finger and read down the list of names.

‘Liane Aspel.’

Among the many names on the list, Tristan’s lips curved up ever so slightly when he found the name Liane.

‘Right, you’ll have to come and collect the hair ornament you were so fond of. Liane.’

He picked up the white flower-shaped hair ornament from the desk and held it up to the light, studying the way it sparkled. Then a knock came at the door.

“Your Grace, Lady Bartori has come to call. She is waiting in the sitting room.”

“……”

Tristan opened the first drawer of his desk.

He found Liane’s written pledge, folded in half inside the drawer, and gave a small smile.

He set the hair ornament on top of Liane’s pledge and closed the drawer again.

When he opened the office door, the head steward, who had been about to knock again after receiving no answer from inside, startled and took a step back.

“Pardon me.”

Tristan began making his unhurried way toward the sitting room where his fiancée, Adel Bartori, was waiting.

***

Something was off.

Tristan took his watch from his pocket and checked the time.

An hour had already passed since the banquet began.

And yet the woman was nowhere to be seen.

She had only just made her debut, so it might have seemed reasonable to think she had tucked herself away somewhere the moment she arrived, being unaccustomed to this kind of event. But the surroundings were far too quiet for that.

Liane Aspel had become someone that all of noble society, men and women alike, had their eyes on since the last banquet.

If she had come, there would surely have been a stir, and he would have known.

‘With that striking golden hair, hoping to go unnoticed would be the harder thing to ask.’

Come to think of it, another striking figure was also absent. Emilio was nowhere to be seen either.

‘Is he escorting her again? But the two of them are late together… that…’

Tristan took a sip of the champagne in his hand and swept his gaze around the banquet hall once more.

***

“Lord Emilio, I’m so sorry. You’re late to the banquet because of me…”

Liane sat in the carriage clutching the hem of her dress, apologizing without meeting his eyes, and Emilio let out a small sigh with his arms crossed.

“It wasn’t your fault, so why are you apologizing? It’s been sorted out either way, so let’s put it behind us.”

When he had arrived at the Aspel count’s estate to pick her up, Liane had met him in a plain dress, her face pale.

“The dress… the dress I was going to wear to the banquet today… someone had torn it.”

Seeing Liane bow her head deeply in apology for making him come out for nothing, Emilio immediately instructed his aide to find a shop where a dress could be purchased right away.

It was obviously Arman Aspel’s doing.

Liane, who had never attended social gatherings, couldn’t possibly have had several formal gowns on hand.

Arman must have thought that if he tore the dress she had prepared for this banquet, Liane would simply give up and stay home.

Well, it wasn’t an entirely wrong calculation…

Emilio glanced at Liane sitting across from him in the pale emerald dress he had bought for her and gave a small smile.

‘In the end, I’ve gone and sent her to the banquet dressed in clothes bought by the very person he despises. A fine opportunity for me, but…’

Arriving late to the banquet, Emilio and Liane ended up drawing even more attention from the nobles precisely because of their delayed entrance.

As Liane stood awkwardly beside Emilio, someone approached and spoke to her.

“Lady Liane Aspel. How do you do? My name is Camilla Howell. I’m the eldest daughter of Baron Howell’s family.”

“Oh, hello. Lady Camilla. How do you do? I’m Liane Aspel.”

Liane greeted her in a fluster, and Emilio, standing beside her, watched the two of them at a slight angle.

“Lord Emilio, might I borrow Lady Liane Aspel for a moment? There are quite a number of people who would like to speak with her.”

Camilla felt his gaze and looked up at him with a bright smile.

‘Camilla Howell. A woman whose influence in social circles can’t be overlooked. The fact that she came herself rather than sending one of the lower-ranking ladies she keeps at her beck and call means she put some thought into this.’

Emilio put on his polished public smile and replied.

“Of course, my lady. Liane, I’ll be waiting for you then.”

“Yes.”

Liane followed Camilla toward the wide open space adjoining the hall.

She stepped into the room behind Camilla, and the gazes of the noble women standing in clusters struck her like arrows.

“Welcome, my lady. We’ve finally had the chance to meet.”

Liane looked up to meet the eyes of the person who had greeted her first in a bright voice.

Dark brown hair and fair skin. The embellishments on the pale pink dress she wore were exceptionally fine.