Chapter 4 – His and Her Affection (Which Was) (10)

Right, sister? 

After Marianne snapped at Jeremy, she turned her gaze to Chloe, seeking agreement. Chloe nodded with a sympathetic expression.

It was probably said with good intentions… While Marianne’s firmness might have seemed cold, it was understandable.

‘Even if we evaluate princes we’ve never met, it won’t have any impact on actual engagements.’

Though she felt a bit sorry for the youngest prince’s gloomy expression, she had nothing to say when thinking of her future, where she would have to go to Scandar regardless of her will.

Instead, Chloe chose to change the atmosphere.

“Oh, Mia, Your Highness. I brought gifts.”

When Chloe gestured to the maids standing nearby, they handed over a handbag that had been kept while they played tennis. From it, two small, elongated velvet boxes emerged.

“A gift? It’s not my birthday yet.”

“I happened to come across a pair of sapphires, and both of your guardian apostles are Piresa, right? So I made them into bookmarks. I asked a mage I know to add a little magic that’s good for preserving books.”

Chloe was careful with her tone, hoping Mirabelle wouldn’t smirk at the mention of a ‘mage I know.’

“Oh my, are they magical items then?”

“They’re beautiful. Thank you, Miss.”

The two velvet boxes contained bookmarks adorned with sapphires.

Recently, Chloe had acquired a pair of sapphire earrings from a pawnshop in the Handlung district. When she thought of purifying and selling them, she realized the stones were too small to yield much profit, and she remembered her two friends in the palace. Their guardian apostle, Piresa, symbolized by sapphires, had been born on Water Day.

“They’re too precious to just put in a book. I should place them in a vase or something.”

“What are you talking about? Since they were a gift from you, Miss, they should be used well.”

Marianne and Jeremy couldn’t take their eyes off the bookmarks they received as gifts, bickering as if competing to see who was more touched by the gift.

Even while watching this pleasant scene, a corner of Chloe’s heart was uneasy. Her confusion over the tennis rules was undoubtedly partly due to this discomfort.

‘Dinner with the 2nd Prince…’

***

On her way there, 2nd Prince Daniel had suddenly suggested having dinner together.

Though Chloe had interacted with both Frederick and Daniel since childhood, there was an inevitable sense of distance due to the succession structure involved. With Frederick, she could treat him like a social acquaintance, but Daniel, always precise, somehow felt awkward.

‘Even though he’s close to Etienne both personally and as a supporter, with me… What if I had really been engaged to the 2nd Prince? Especially since he’s close to Demi…’

Thinking about it, meeting Demetrian was the root of the problem. Somehow, he had known she was arriving and was running toward her from afar as she got off the carriage.

It was nearly two weeks since she last saw him on the day she visited the Crevelle estate. Considering how he had been appearing unusually often lately, it had been quite a while.

Half suspicious of how he knew she was coming to the palace, and half thrilled to see him, Chloe accepted his escort with mixed feelings.

‘What could he be planning this time?’

As she discreetly observed his complexion, his face looked rough, and there were dark circles under his eyes…

“Have you been very busy lately…?”

She couldn’t ignore the worry that subtly rose.

‘It must be the relief fund issue.’

There was no way she couldn’t know. Etienne was also working late every day for the same reason. The police department was searching the merchant groups passing through Gotiue, assuming something might have happened during their interactions on the way up from the provinces.

The other day, Noel Wensley, whom she met in the Handlung district, was probably also inquiring about the merchant groups as part of that effort.

‘After the festival week, a new problem arises…’

Sometimes, when she encountered Etienne with a pale face staggering in the hallway at night, it reminded her of the sickly young master from her childhood.

‘It would be nice if I could help somehow.’

This incident, which troubled the young bureaucrats around her, including Demetrian and Etienne, ultimately remained unsolved, and Chloe, having heard nothing about it, was left without even a clue, feeling only regret.

“I think I might catch my breath by next week.”

“Should we postpone our meeting for a week then?”

“No.”

The immediate response, as if asking what nonsense she was talking, left Chloe feeling the familiar awkwardness once again.

Thinking back, Chloe, feeling prematurely sorry while watching Etienne becoming a mess every day, had been the one to first suggest postponing their meeting.

‘Did Demi also regret it when I suggested postponing back then? No, if he had, he would have sent a reply saying not to…’

She was awkwardly smiling while thinking about such things when it happened.

“Young Duke, Miss!”

From the Senate entrance, Daniel was running out.

“I greet His Imperial Highness the 2nd Prince.”

“Ah, it’s been a while. Did you come to see the Young Duke?”

“Of course not. I have an appointment with His Imperial Highness the 3rd Prince and Princess Kendalwood.”

With ‘of course not,’ implying he wouldn’t be so tactless during this busy time, Demetrian couldn’t hide his slightly wounded expression.

“Oh, those guys…”

Daniel took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat beading between his neatly combed hair, glancing at Demetrian’s face. Manage your expression, kid…

“Miss, do you have any plans for dinner today?”

“No, I was planning to return home right away.”

Chloe replied, slightly tensing at the unexpected question. Knowing that a lady from a high-ranking noble family in Gotiue wouldn’t have more than one engagement in a day, he asked knowing the answer. Of course, Chloe had been busy lately, but she couldn’t visit places related to her business dressed as she was for the capital.

“I appreciate you being kind to my siblings, so I’d like to treat you to a meal.”

Daniel’s gaze was directed at the Young Duke, who couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘What kind of nonsense is this?’

Daniel of Arthuzen’s 2nd Prince was dying of laughter at the situation unfolding before his eyes.

The atmosphere between Young Duke Crevelle and Lady Lacroix, sitting across from each other, barely touching their food and seemingly reserved… He had sensed it from his friend’s demeanor before, but the atmosphere between them had clearly changed.

If the previous atmosphere was like close siblings with occasional strange vibes, now…

‘I want to tell them to pick up their gazes.’

Demetrian, barely eating a bite of the chickpea salad served as an appetizer, couldn’t take his eyes off Chloe across from him. As if he would catch anything she might spill. Chloe had emptied more plates with perfect etiquette than would fill the Riviera River.

‘It’s like seeing a lover I thought was dead come back to life after ten years.’

Regretting he couldn’t tease them out loud, Daniel silently raised one corner of his mouth.

Originally, he had been heading to the Senate to lament the state of affairs with Demetrian. Due to the relief fund issue, even the outer city guarded by the 3rd Knights, which he belonged to, was affected, and he was having a hard time. The outer city was both a portal assembly point and served as Gotiue’s checkpoint.

After spending several busy days due to the flood of cooperation requests, he finally visited on his day off to get a detailed update, only to find that his diligent friend was absent for non-work-related reasons.

“Perhaps he went to meet Lady Lacroix?”

“Lady Lacroix, at this time?”

“She must be coming for something else. The Young Duke has been acting strange lately, but he’s not that tactless. It was too obvious when he said he was going to the restroom and headed towards the stairs.”

Indeed, it was a sharp analysis from a colleague who had been in sync with him for nearly a year. Her tone dripping with sarcasm, Nous seemed to view the Young Duke’s transformation with a similar attitude.

Daniel felt as if he had returned to his days as a young soldier a decade ago. Those days when he expressed camaraderie by teasing that earnest kid. As Daniel headed towards the capital’s main gate, a smile reminiscent of those times kept creeping onto his face.

As expected, his friend was found escorting Lady Lacroix near the palace entrance.

‘Look at him pretending to be mature, how cute.’

His face was visibly worn out for the same reason as Daniel’s. Even now, as the silent Young Duke admired by many ladies, to Daniel, Demetrian hadn’t strayed far from the precocious young gentleman he used to be.

“I want to treat you to a meal.”

The words, spoken half impulsively, might have startled Lady Lacroix, but Demetrian’s expression was even more intriguing.

‘If they were alone, he might have cursed, even though he’s not good at it.’

The expression of glaring with eyes soaked in fatigue. Those who didn’t know this side of him praised him in social circles as someone ‘unperturbed by anything.’ Daniel silently felt sympathy for his people.

***

“Hey, Young Duke, did you escort her well?”

It was when Demetrian returned to the office after seeing Chloe off at the inner palace. Seeing Daniel’s sly face as he flipped through documents on the guest sofa, Demetrian clenched his trembling fists tightly.

He wanted to ask what kind of trick this was, but seeing the faint curiosity on Pujali Nous’s face, he had to suppress that impulse.

The prince, who had been asking a few questions about the relief fund loss incident with a cold leader’s face until just a moment ago, now showed the face of a mischievous boy, and supporter Pujali clutched her heart. Was this his appeal with great contrast?

“You, this guy…”

“Come for dinner later. You’re working late anyway, right?”

As if that was the only reason he had come, Daniel chuckled and patted Demetrian’s shoulder before leaving the office. Demetrian’s blue eyes were cold as he glared at Daniel’s retreating figure.

‘If I hit a prince, would I be arrested by national law…?’