Chapter 47

Countess Bedwig’s scheming made Catherine angry, but the encounter with Rael was enjoyable.

“I feel the same, Catherine. I want to go out.”

Rael felt the same. However, Rael’s interest was in running far away to the garden outside.

Catherine let out a laugh that was like a sigh.

Marrying Rael, who saw her as just another tree in the garden, was definitely not right, no matter how much she thought about it.

“I want to go, Catherine.”

Rael liked Catherine.

But he also liked the trees in the garden, almond chocolates, and treehouses.

Rael’s feelings for Catherine were just about that much.

“Goodbye, Rael. It was nice meeting you today.”

She worried whether Rael would get into trouble in the garden or fall while running, but that wasn’t Catherine’s responsibility.

Rael was not a child for Catherine to protect. He was there to find a bride as a gentleman.

The worries she had were acceptable as a friend, but beyond that, she shouldn’t be involved.

She wasn’t going to take responsibility for him for life.

“Yes, Catherine. Me too.”

Rael barely waved his hand and quickly left the ballroom.

Catherine watched Rael’s back as he walked away and apologized internally.

It was an apology she couldn’t directly convey to her friend, who had gone through unnecessary trouble because of Countess Bedwig.

“Is it alright to let that friend go alone?”

Hugo, who instantly recognized that Rael wasn’t in normal mind, asked Catherine.

“There is someone responsible for him even without me.”

Catherine gestured with her chin. Countess Bedwig was following Rael.

Hugo frowned.

He guessed why Rael was sticking so closely to Catherine.

He was angry that Countess Bedwig hadn’t given up on Catherine despite their engagement announcement.

He wondered if he should follow and say something, or should he warn the Tigris family to act properly.

It seemed better to warn the Tigris family, who could be reasoned with.

What would be the best way?

While Hugo was thinking of about ten types of warnings, Catherine asked him.

“Hugo, what happened to your leg?”

There were no crutches, no bandages. And Hugo danced. With Lillie, at that.

Without a single painful groan, even giving advice to Catherine.

“Thanks to your devoted care, I am healed.”

It was unbelievable, but it was silly to question someone who said they weren’t in pain.

“Let’s say that’s the case. You must be very grateful to me, Hugo.”

It was certain Hugo had been up to something, yet it was strange she wasn’t angry.

“Very much so. That’s why I rushed over when I heard you were in trouble.”

“What? You heard about me?”

“Brian is an excellent informant.”

Hugo pointed to Brian, who was surrounded by women.

Feeling Catherine’s gaze, Brian looked up. His eyes met Catherine’s, and his eyes curved like a crescent moon.

“Brian informed me that Countess Bedwig came to the ball. I couldn’t stay still, remembering how she treated you so rudely at the last ball. Did I come for nothing?”

Hugo brought a refreshing lemonade from the table where drinks were placed and handed it to Catherine.

She was thirsty, so it was perfect timing. Catherine drank the lemonade refreshingly.

Though she hadn’t shown it, she had been tense throughout the dance.

She was worried about ruining the dance, ending the ball poorly, her reputation falling, Rael being ridiculed, and the repercussions affecting the ladies of Catherine House.

The harm would inevitably affect Hugo as well.

If Hugo hadn’t appeared in time to help, the worst Catherine imagined might have unfolded.

In that sense, Hugo’s appearance was very timely, and his intervention deserved applause.

So, even if Hugo’s sudden recovery seemed unbelievable, and even if the fact that he was in pain felt like a lie, Catherine decided to forget it very neatly.

In an engagement, even cheeky lies are sometimes necessary.

***

“To waste the opportunity I created like that!”

Waiting for Hugo, who returned from the ball, was John’s nagging.

“It was an opportunity for you two to become closer!”

John had imagined the two getting married within the year when Catherine offered to personally wash Hugo’s body.

If Hugo hadn’t missed this opportunity and pushed forward strongly, it would have been 100% possible.

Hugo wasted that opportunity.

As a result, the day when Hugo’s party would return to the estate was delayed.

John wanted to return to the estate as soon as possible. While helping with Hugo’s romance, John’s own romance was heading towards a crisis.

“Sorry, John. I’m too conscientious to do it. I couldn’t lie when I saw Catherine’s pure eyes.”

If it was because of conscience, Hugo should have confessed before Catherine started taking off his shirt.

He enjoyed the atmosphere and now says this!

John wanted to argue more but held back.

He disliked Hugo’s wayward behavior, but he also liked it in a way.

To explain that ambivalent feeling, one would have to talk about Hugo’s past life.

Hugo had lived enduring everything unconditionally.

Enduring pain, enduring hardship, enduring loneliness.

All for the sake of the estate’s people.

John was one of the residents of the estate that Hugo had cultivated with patience.

He lived with gratitude towards Hugo and felt a sense of responsibility for his life.

He respected the man who sacrificed for the estate, but as a friend, he felt sorry for him.

So he didn’t stop Hugo from staying in the capital for a while after the war ended and receiving the Duke title, and he devised a cute scheme he wouldn’t normally do.

If Hugo wanted, John was willing to kidnap Catherine. So he could endure this much stubbornness.

‘Still, it’s a bit disappointing.’

He wanted to fulfill Hugo’s personal wish quickly, but maybe he was too hasty.

“Now that my leg is better, let’s catch up on the backlog, John. Did you find any information about the Clan of Love or whatever those scammers are?”

“Oh, that.”

Hugo had received an order from Regencia to find the Clan of Love.

Although it was the top priority amidst all the work piling up, Hugo had been delaying the Queen’s order.

Then, he received a letter from Regencia urging him yesterday.

She said she wouldn’t ask him to find them quickly, just to start.

As soon as he received the letter, Hugo ordered John to investigate information about the Clan of Love.

He felt that if he delayed any longer, Regencia might take some action.

If that action was to send Hugo somewhere other than the capital, it would be a disaster, so Hugo had to at least pretend to carry out her order.

Hugo didn’t have high expectations when he ordered John.

Because he thought all the talk related to the Clan of Love was fictional.

Even if John brought some information, he thought it would be like grasping at clouds.

“I found it. In the library. It’s a record that’s hundreds of years old, but it had preservation magic on it.”

“Hmm?”

Hugo, who was sitting slouched, planning to listen half-heartedly, straightened his posture.

A document with preservation magic was hard to ignore.

It meant it was an important document worthy of preservation magic.

There was no case of binding false information or mere rumors into a book and even applying preservation magic.

Hugo casually picked up the report on the Clan of Love laid out on the desk.

‘Is it real?’

A mysterious clan that brings love.

If it really existed, it wasn’t something to find for Regencia.

‘I should ask them myself.’

To fulfill love with Catherine, that is.

“Can you access that material?”

Hugo’s eyes changed.

Seeing Hugo’s enthusiastic eyes, John completely abandoned the thought that he liked Hugo’s wayward behavior.

***

“Lillie.”

Catherine went to find Lillie, who had locked herself in her room all day.

After returning from the ball where Rael had appeared, Lillie had sunk into deep depression.

Because Brian hadn’t even glanced at Lillie at the ball.

Following Riena, now Lillie too.

Catherine felt apologetic as it seemed like the residents of Catherine House were only facing rejection this year.

“Lillie, I’m coming in.”

Catherine knocked on Lillie’s door and opened it before hearing a response from inside.

Lillie was sitting by the window.

She glanced at Catherine as she entered the room, then turned her gaze back outside the window.

A Lillie without expression felt unfamiliar to Catherine.

Lillie was someone who had no hesitation in expressing her emotions. She was also someone whose feelings were entirely visible on her face.

Being unable to hide what she liked and disliked was a trait that made surviving in social circles difficult, but her pretty appearance, charming way of speaking, and a pure heart that saw most things positively made Lillie an attractive woman.

To not be able to read an expression on Lillie’s face.

It was something Catherine had never experienced in her previous life or this one.