Chapter 38

“Duke, I have brought the interest confirmation from Jeltoa and the mining lease contract for the Kelton Mine.”

“Just leave it there.”

With the autumn festival and other matters overlapping, the Duke was handling a murderous schedule.

“Duke, you should take a break. You’ll harm your health at this rate.”

Duke Tereon seemed too busy reading documents to hear the words of Pedro, his secretary and longtime friend.

“Vivian asked me to take away your documents if you don’t consider your health and immerse yourself in work.”

Pedro snatched the document the Duke was reading and waved it around.

Duke Tereon looked at Pedro incredulously, but upon hearing that it was Vivian’s request, he got up from his chair and stretched.

“Shall we have some tea then?”

At Duke Tereon’s suggestion, Pedro seated himself with a teacup in front of him. The Duke savored the warm tea and then began pressing his tired eyes with his palms.

“If you fall ill, all of Vivian’s resentment will pour onto me.”

Duke Tereon chuckled with his eyes covered by his palms at Pedro’s words.

“What’s so funny?”

“The thought of Vivian nagging you makes me laugh.”

Pedro clicked his tongue and placed his teacup back on the saucer.

“Did His Highness the Crown Prince come to Raspol for Vivian and his marriage?”

“…I don’t think so. When I met His Majesty the Emperor a few months ago, there was no indication of that.”

“Then why did he come down?”

“It seems to be the Empress’s idea.”

Duke Tereon struggled to his feet and retrieved a letter from a drawer, handing it to Pedro.

“It’s from Her Majesty the Empress.”

“It seems the Empress is more urgent.”

The letter from the Empress expressed her longing for Daisy, her affection for Vivian, and her desire to see Ian if possible.

At the end of the letter, there was concern that it might be time to hasten Vivian and Crown Prince Louis’s marriage.

“Vivian should go to the capital. It would be good for her to adapt to the social scene before marriage. After all, there’s Countess Langdne.”

Pedro quietly looked at his old friend. Since the Duchess had passed away, the already sharp atmosphere had become even more intense.

Duke Tereon only changed his demeanor in front of Vivian and Ian, so Pedro hesitated before speaking.

“Will it be okay?”

“What?”

“I asked if it would be okay for Vivian to go to the capital.”

Duke Tereon smiled bitterly at his friend’s concern and leaned back on the sofa.

“Vivian is an adult now. She’s grown up well without her mother. If it weren’t for Vivian, this large mansion wouldn’t have run so smoothly.”

“Who doesn’t know that?”

“But if Daisy were to ask me later if Vivian grew up happily as an ordinary noble girl, I wouldn’t be able to confidently say yes.”

Duke Tereon looked up at the ceiling with a still bitter smile.

“Vivian likes the Crown Prince. You can tell just by looking at her eyes. They’ve been apart for six years, so now I want her to spend time with the person she likes, get married, and live happily.”

“It’s a union with the royal family. It’s different from just meeting a man and getting married.”

Pedro said, looking down at the letter from the Empress.

“But what can we do if Vivian likes him? She has high standards, just like someone else.”

“Not like the Duchess, it seems.”

“Haha. Right. I had high standards, which is why I met Daisy.”

Duke Tereon laughed heartily and walked over to his desk. Ignoring Pedro’s comment about how little rest he’d taken, he said he had rested enough and started to refill his pen with ink.

“What about Ian? He follows his sister everywhere.”

“Vivian shouldn’t sacrifice herself for Ian any longer. She’s done more than enough.”

Satisfied with the ink in his pen, Duke Tereon nodded and extended his hand to Pedro.

“Give me back the documents you took.”

Clicking his tongue, Pedro placed the documents back on the desk and bowed his head.

“You can review those documents slowly. I’ve instructed the knights to secretly guard Lady Vivian whenever she goes out, so you don’t need to worry about that either.”

“Understood.”

Pedro, who had quickly reverted from friend to secretary, left the Duke’s study to handle other pending tasks.

* * *

“Young Lady, are you really going out like that?”

“What’s wrong with this?”

Vivian stood in front of the mirror and spun around. Her braided brown hair floated up.

“Young Lady, you have so many other pretty clothes.”

Tia, looking at Vivian wearing her clothes, restrained herself from immediately taking them off her.

“Wearing pretty clothes while walking around the bustling streets will only draw attention and make it harder to enjoy.”

On the first day of the autumn festival, Vivian couldn’t enjoy it as she was helping the busy Duke. After finishing most of the busy work, the day of the Blessing Night arrived.

It was only on the festival’s last day that Vivian had the leisure to enjoy it. The weather was perfect for enjoying the festival.

The wind coming through the open window excited Vivian.

Vivian borrowed Tia’s clothes to blend in with the crowd and enjoy the festival. It was undoubtedly Tia’s favorite outfit. Grateful for Tia’s generosity, Vivian thought she should gift Tia a new dress after the festival. Just then, Tia’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Are you really not going with His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Tia asked, cutting a loose thread from the sleeve of her own clothes that Vivian was wearing.

“Yes. I told you I would go out with you, Tia.”

Vivian had been avoiding Louis lately. Even during the unavoidable dinner times, she didn’t look in his direction.

Except for Tereon and Ian, everyone in the mansion was wary of Vivian’s cold demeanor.

“But you’re going to get married soon…”

Tia muttered, pouting, but Vivian pretended not to hear and grabbed the doorknob to leave.

“I need to leave without Ian knowing, so hurry up, Tia.”

If Ian found out that she was going to the bustling streets, he would undoubtedly make a fuss and insist on following her. Vivian headed to the back gate of the main building, usually used by the servants, to leave the mansion without Ian noticing.

“The carriage is at the back gate, right?”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

Tia, following behind, replied.

Vivian nodded and opened the back gate. Seeing the person standing there, she glared at Tia, who was following her.

Tia shifted her eyes, avoiding Vivian’s sharp gaze.

“Where are you going?”

Louis, dressed in commoner’s clothes like Vivian, asked.

“……I have some errands to run.”

“In those clothes?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Then I’ll come with you.”

Louis opened the door of the prepared carriage.

“What are you doing? Get in.”

Vivian walked over to him and closed the carriage door he had opened. Looking around, she searched for Rayden but couldn’t see him.

“Do you even know where I’m going to say you’ll come with me?”

“It’s not dangerous if you’re going. Or is it?”

“No! It’s not a dangerous place, but…”

Vivian squinted her eyes and glared at Tia standing behind her again.

The promise to buy her new clothes is canceled.

It was clear that Tia had told him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be standing there dressed like that. Although she couldn’t take him with her, she couldn’t think of a way to leave him behind either.

In the end, it meant she had to give up this outing.

Vivian relaxed her glare at Tia and slumped her shoulders.

“Never mind. It’s not something I have to do today. I’ll go back inside.”

Vivian turned her back and headed towards the back gate again. At that moment, Louis grabbed her wrist.

“Why? Didn’t you say you were eagerly waiting for the festival day?”

It was clear that Tia had told him this as well. Vivian twisted her wrist slightly to free it from his grasp.

“Yes, I was eagerly waiting, but I can’t go there with you, Louis.”

“Why not?”

Louis tilted his head to one side, genuinely puzzled.

“No matter how much you’re dressed as a commoner, I can’t go out with you without any guards.”

“Is that really the only reason?”

Vivian looked up at him quietly.

Is that really the only reason?

Vivian sighed and nodded weakly, as if resigned.

As she nodded, Louis’s stern face relaxed, and he opened the carriage door again.

“Even if it’s not me, would the Duke have let you go to the bustling streets alone?”

Vivian whipped her head around to glare at Tia again. Tia, who had been looking at the ground, raised her head and smiled sheepishly at Vivian.

If what Louis said was true, her father must have secretly assigned guards to her. She looked around, but she couldn’t see anything with her eyes.

Now, there was no reason left for Vivian not to go to the bustling streets with him.

“Rayden stepped away for a moment, and other knights will guard us, so don’t worry. Shall we go now?”

Whether he knew her feelings or not, Louis’s smile was still dazzling.

* * *

Inside the carriage heading to the bustling streets. As the day went on, more and more people gathered near the bustling streets. As the crowd grew, the carriage gradually slowed down.

In the quiet carriage, Vivian was the first to speak.

“What about Arnold Bynes?”

“I don’t know.”

Vivian clicked her tongue inwardly at Louis’s answer, feeling sympathy for Arnold, who would be searching for Louis in the mansion.

“Won’t you tell me why you’re angry?”

Vivian, who had turned her gaze to the window feeling sympathy for Arnold, felt a pang at Louis’s words.

Indeed, she was angry at Louis.

“If you don’t tell me, I won’t know. Vivian, are you angry because of me? That seems likely, but…”

Louis trailed off, as if he wasn’t even sure about that. He glanced at Vivian with his arms crossed.

“If the reason you’re angry is because of me, I want to apologize first.”

Watching him apologize absentmindedly, Vivian recalled why she had been angry at him.

When Louis asked her to go to the festival together, she wondered if he had feelings for her.

Realizing it was a complete misunderstanding, a small spark of disappointment grew into a mountain of resentment. That resentment was the cause of her anger towards Louis.

She couldn’t stand how nonchalantly he pointed out her mistake, so she avoided him.

“We’re here.”

Regardless of Vivian’s confused feelings, the carriage arrived at the center of the bustling streets, and Louis stepped out, opening the door.

“Vivian?”

Louis called her name when she didn’t seem to have any intention of getting off and remained seated.

When Louis called her name, Vivian snapped back to reality. She stood up and was about to get off when a familiar but slightly different hand suddenly appeared before her eyes.

“Take my hand.”

Louis said.

Vivian stared at Louis’s hand for a moment, then slowly extended her hand, which had been clutching her bag tightly.

His hand was still firm and warm.