“…… You like it?”

“Yes. When they speak gently, their voices sound exactly like reciting poetry.”

At her brightly smiling face, Pehiard felt the chilling sensation that had swept through him earlier return and hit the back of his head.

This woman was just saying she liked Rosellern-style pronunciation, but strangely his mouth became parched. Even though rain was pouring like this.

“If my rash guess offended you, I’ll apologize. But should I not tell you about the bookstores and shops?”

“……”

“If you don’t need them and I was being meddlesome, I’m sorry for that too……”

“…… No. Tell me.”

Pehiard answered while clenching his fist that had become damp from moisture flowing down his sleeve.

Elia, as if she had been waiting, carefully explained the locations of Uncle Percy’s bookstore and Aunt Estel’s shop and lightly clapped her palms.

“The bookstore closes every Sunday, so if you’re going to visit, please avoid that day.”

“…… You remember all sorts of things.”

“It’s a place I visit often, so I ended up remembering even the closing days.”

Elia waved her hand with a sheepish smile, saying she didn’t remember it on purpose, and spoke to Pehiard.

“The distance from Rosellern to Aprion’s capital is quite far, but to encounter such weather when you happened to come must be disappointing.”

Elia added that the port was lively and had much to see when the sun was bright, so he should visit on another day.

“If you came for tourism, the area near the port is good too, and temples are nice in this season. Most temples maintain their gardens beautifully, so there’s much to see in this season.”

“I didn’t particularly come here for tourism.”

“Ah, tourism isn’t your purpose? Then academic or something like that……”

“No.”

Pehiard cut short and looked at Elia with a crooked posture.

“The man who made my father die of anger-induced illness is here, so I came to meet him once.”

It was a statement with somewhat grave content.

Since it was too weighty a remark to brush off lightly, Elia unconsciously stepped back slightly. Watching Elia’s expression stiffen, the beautiful man sneered.

“I didn’t come thinking of revenge or anything. Rather, I might give thanks. Thanks to him, all the troublesome matters that were bothering me got resolved.”

“Pardon?”

Though she questioned the incomprehensible story, Pehiard didn’t seem inclined to explain it.

“But why are you, who was at the library yesterday, getting rained on here today?”

To him asking in return, Elia sighed deeply and answered.

“It turned out that way. Yesterday and today, both because of work.”

“What kind of work is so scattered all over the place?”

“I just do what I’m told from above and go where I’m told to go. Isn’t that what all low-level civil servants do?”

“Getting rained on in this weather can’t be official business.”

“That’s…… I ended up waiting for someone……”

“Waiting for someone? …… A man?”

“…… Pardon?”

Of course, she was waiting for a man.

But Elia hesitated to answer because Pehiard’s voice, which had been particularly pleasant to hear with its clear pronunciation, suddenly became cold.

“…… So that’s how it is.”

“Ah…… It’s true I’m waiting for a man, but……”

“Why wait for a man who leaves a woman standing endlessly on a rainy day like this?”

It wasn’t like she had been waiting “endlessly” for that long……

Since his tone seemed to be disparaging Casiel as a terrible person without knowing anything properly, Elia felt slightly offended.

“He didn’t tell me to wait indefinitely, but just to wait while he went to call a carriage.”

“If it were me, I’d go together rather than leave you standing in a place where rain beats in like this.”

Elia stared at the man speaking sharply while blinking to shake off the moisture on her eyelashes.

Why did this person speak so emotionally and harshly about something trivial, as if mentioning the worst trash in the world?

Did he have a family member who died with a grudge against carriages?

“Why wait for such a terrible man who makes women suffer unnecessarily?”

It was a sudden leap in logic.

Elia, who was about to retort in disbelief, however, soon found her intention to argue checked.

A terrible man who makes women suffer…… that’s actually right?

“What’s there to gain by throwing yourself at trash?”

Elia stared at the man who remained extremely beautiful even soaked in rain as he spat harsh words.

Though she hadn’t thrown herself at him, it was true that Casiel had made things difficult for her.

However, the difference in status between emperor and a mere administrator, the position of being the master of an empire versus the daughter of a humble family, made it impossible to even carelessly mention that it was difficult.

Even though everyone knew what Elia was suffering from, no one could step forward. Even Lilias, who had an extremely caring personality and cherished Elia deeply.

The feeling of hearing words that scratched an itch from a complete stranger was strange.

Perhaps because she heard words that touched her heart from someone she met in an unfamiliar place, someone she would never meet again, Elia’s lips opened without her realizing it.

“Human hearts…… aren’t something that can be cut cleanly like with a knife.”

“…… What?”

Not expecting such a bitter monologue in return, Pehiard frowned. Elia smiled bitterly.

“Throwing myself…… in a way, that expression seems right. But.”

“……”

“That’s how it is. I know in my head that the treatment I’m receiving now is unfair. But a heart that has had unrequited love for five years doesn’t easily fold even after being treated so harshly.”

Thud. Thu-thud.

Looking at the rain falling with force that seemed ready to tear through the thick cloth-lined awning, Elia brought out stories from deep in her heart that she had kept tightly hidden, one by one.

“Despite knowing that he wants to grab and shake me because I’m an easy card to use, do you understand the feeling of wanting to just let myself be used for that person’s sake?”

Of course, Pehiard couldn’t understand at all.

Instead of forcing himself to understand what he couldn’t, he asked something else.

“What aspects of you make you an easy card to use?”

“Hmm, in various ways?”

Elia calmly counted on her fingers.

“First, I’m the daughter of a humble baron family. And I’m an only daughter with no brothers. Don’t you think the daughter of a minor noble without strong backing is exactly like a toy that’s fun to play with?”

“……”

“Second, I’m terrible at politics. I might manage set tasks or systematic work, but I could never creatively devise schemes even if I died and came back to life.”

She wasn’t dazzlingly beautiful, nor was she from a powerful family with strong influence. She wasn’t skilled in scheming, so there was no chance of colluding with maternal relatives or sycophants.

She was exactly the right person to adequately fill the position of empress and use without lacking.

Though Elia had harbored unrequited love for Casiel for five years, she knew he could never become a loving husband even if he died and came back to life.

A decent card to silence the ministers singing for a royal marriage, a woman who wouldn’t run wild backed by maternal relatives, a talent who could be reasonably helpful in running state affairs. That would be how Casiel viewed Elia Weiss.

Watching Elia talk about her utility with a calm face, Pehiard asked a question after a beat.

“…… Five years. Then does that man know your feelings too?”

“…… Well. Probably not. There’s no way he’d know. But actually, even if he knew my feelings, it probably wouldn’t matter much. To that person.”

At the bitter response, deep wrinkles formed on Pehiard’s fine brow.

“What a piece of trash.”

“Pardon? That……”

At the extremely harsh evaluation, Elia was about to argue that it wasn’t that bad, but closed her mouth again.

Thinking about what Casiel had done to her so far, he was trash, wasn’t he?

Watching the hesitating Elia quietly, Pehiard suddenly opened his mouth.

“Pehiard.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s my name. Pehiard.”

“Ah……”

“I’m telling you because we’ll probably see each other again. But why do you look like that?”

“It’s just…… you’re from Rosellern but your name is southern-style?”

“……!”

The emerald eyes that had been subdued all along wavered with a different light.

“I remember seeing such a name in a poetry collection I read and liked when I was young…… Ah, excuse me, did I make another mistake?”

Noticing that Pehiard’s face in the rain had visibly stiffened, Elia asked hesitantly.

“…… No.”

His face didn’t look like it was nothing.

“…… It’s nothing. I’ll excuse myself now.”

Pehiard naturally lifted Elia’s fingertips like flowing water.

“We’ll meet again soon.”

Though his expression and tone were blunt, his eyes as he kissed her fingertips didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

Perhaps it was because of his delicate and beautiful appearance that couldn’t easily be found among Aprion men.

He, who appeared suddenly in the rain and vanished back into it, felt like a rain fairy.

How long had she stood there blankly, watching the man who left a kiss on her fingertips?

At a stinging sensation on one cheek—different from the rain hitting her face—Elia turned her gaze from where Pehiard had disappeared to the opposite direction.

There stood Casiel, standing like a stone statue in the pouring rain with a sword in one hand, glaring at where Pehiard had disappeared with murderous intent.

The ominous killing intent felt even from a distance made her heart sink.

When Casiel took a large step forward, Elia ran desperately toward him without thinking long.

An instinctive premonition that she had to stop him swept through her entire body.

If she couldn’t stop him, it would be murder at minimum.