Chapter 2 (Part 6)

Marienne had lived in poverty. She married Baron Alengar, cared for her sick mother-in-law, and managed the household. Continuous business failures had left the Alengar family in financial difficulty. Naturally, it was hard for the Baroness of a failing house to attend tea parties.

She didn’t have a dress to wear to tea parties, and she had her mother-in-law to care for.

Moreover, people who knew the Alengar family’s situation didn’t send her tea party invitations.

But Meia invited her as the new baroness. However, Marienne declined several times because she didn’t have a dress to wear. Then one day, a letter and a gift box arrived.

The letter congratulated her on becoming the new baroness and came with an elegant dress, shoes, and a simple jewelry set.

And another tea party invitation arrived. Marienne couldn’t refuse.

Meia did not look down on the failing Alengar family. She treated Marienne strictly as the Baronss. Marienne was very grateful for that.

Later, she learned that Meia was the fiancée of the Crown Prince and would become the Crown Princess after her coming-of-age ceremony.

Her heart pounded, and her whole body tingled.

She dreamed of serving by Meia’s side when she became Empress. Just thinking about it thrilled her.

After that, she used every means to earn money, expand her connections, and revive the failing Baron family. She began to walk confidently in social circles.

<I look forward to Baroness Marienne’s future.>

<Lady Meia…>

Others envied and criticized Marienne, calling her a ruthless woman who made her husband seem incompetent, but Meia trusted and valued her abilities.

Meia was her muse and the lady she respected and the future Empress.

Though her life had been marred by poverty, low self-esteem, and feelings of inadequacy, Marienne learned to value herself because of Meia.

But now, a broken engagement…

“I was so happy to run into you at Elrn Port, Lady Meia. Sob, but now you tell me this shocking news. Please, tell me it’s a joke. Please, tell me it’s not true.”

Meia patted Marienne’s back as she cried bitterly and apologized to Theodore.

“I’m sorry, Grand Duke Florence. Could you please leave us for now? I’ll buy you dinner tonight. Let’s meet at the restaurant at 7.”

Theodore, sensing the gravity of the situation, nodded and stood up.

“Then, I’ll wait in the lobby.”

“Understood.”

*   *   *

Theodore sat in a chair in the hotel lobby, waiting for her to return.

Aethon, watching Theodore, sighed. No matter how he looked at it, it was clear that the Grand Duke had taken an interest in Lady Hatzbellua.

“Your Grace…”

They needed to go to the Mage Tower and return to the Grand Duchy quickly, but the Grand Duke he served was unmoving.

Even now, waiting for Meia, he looked pitiful.

“Your Grace.”

“I’ll wait here. You go up.”

“How long do you plan to stay here?”

“…Until she comes.”

“But waiting in the lobby until she comes…”

“Stop talking and go. I understand what you’re saying.”

Though Aethon’s words were not wrong, Theodore didn’t want to hear them. He turned his head away from Aethon and stared endlessly at the entrance where people were coming and going.

He looked like a dog waiting for its owner.

“When will she come?”

Thump, thump.

“She’ll come through that entrance, right?”

Thud, thud.

‘My heart keeps pounding. What is this feeling? Thump, thump, thud, thud.’

Theodore placed his hand on his left chest.

He had never felt his heart pound like this in his life.

The ticklish sensation in his heart, making him feel excited, wasn’t unpleasant.

“Are you really only interested in her because she’s a mage, Your Grace?”

“Probably. Yes, I think so.”

He didn’t know why he answered, “I think so.”

But he felt he had to answer Aethon that way.

“I’ve heard rumors that the Grand Mage Puring is at the Mage Tower. He might help with the disappearances and pirate problems in Florence.”

The Mage Tower has a Tower Master chosen by the will of the tower and Grand Mages who assist them.

Grand Mages assist the Tower Master with internal and external matters and have their personal tasks.

Grand Mages are respected by all mages.

To be titled a Grand Mage, one must be at least a 6th-circle mage and have a certain number of disciples or be involved in the Mage Tower or wars. The decision is made through a meeting with the Tower Master and existing Grand Mages.

“Will he really come to the Grand Duke’s house?”

“We have to persuade him well. Aethon, go up first. Good job. And the dessert was delicious. You found such a place in a short time.”

“I’m glad you liked it. That cafe is famous around here. Then, Your Grace, I’ll take my leave. Enjoy your meal with the lady.”

“Okay.”

Even after Aethon went upstairs, Theodore sat like a statue in the chair, staring at the entrance.

Strangely, he thought waiting for someone would be boring, but waiting for Meia wasn’t boring at all. He actually liked it.

And finally, he saw her at the entrance.

‘It’s like a flower is walking in.’

Seeing Meia walking in, Theodore felt dazed.

Then he came to his senses, stood up, and called out to her.

“Lady Hatzbellua!”

Meia smiled and looked at Theodore running towards her.

He looked like a cheerful puppy running under a clear blue sky. Yes, a dog. Barking woof, woof.

“My Lady.”

He approached her cheerfully but then suddenly blushed and looked shy…

“Did you know I would come and wait for me?”

At Meia’s words, Theodore looked at her with drooping eyebrows and eyes and said.

“I’m sorry.”

‘No, why is a Grand Duke apologizing for something that isn’t his fault!’

Meia was rather taken aback by Theodore’s apology.

“I didn’t say that to hear an apology.”

“But you’re not upset that I waited, are you?”

Meia was bewildered by Theodore’s words.

She didn’t understand why he was looking at her so cautiously.

‘Why?’

“No, I’m not upset. It’s just dinner, but please forgive my earlier rudeness.”

At Meia’s words, Theodore replied in a voice full of kindness.

“It’s not just a dinner to me. It’s a meal with you, My Lady.”

Theodore looked at Meia as he spoke but couldn’t maintain eye contact.

Just meeting her clear eyes made him feel embarrassed, and he instinctively turned his gaze away.

He liked looking at her so much, so he avoided her gaze when their eyes met!

Whether he avoided her gaze or not, his left chest kept pounding. He felt like his heart would jump out of his chest.

Theodore stared blankly at Meia, who continued to show impeccable dining etiquette.

Just like it’s natural for people to think flowers are beautiful, Theodore thought the same. She reminded him of a beautiful flower.

‘…She’s a flower.’

Meia’s dining manner was like a beautiful lily of the valley sitting quietly and playing the violin.

Theodore shook his head and looked at Meia again, but she still looked like a lily of the valley.

“Your Grace, you know it’s against etiquette to stare so intently while eating, right? Or is something on my face?”

“Oh… I’m sorry. There’s nothing on your face. It’s just that the way you eat…”

‘Is so beautiful.’

“Pardon?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m sorry for staring too much.”

Scratching his slightly reddened cheek with his finger, Theodore looked away from Meia and pretended to focus on his meal. They ate in silence for a while.

Theodore was the one who broke the silence.

“Did Baroness Marienne return safely from the cafe? She cried a lot.”

Meia sighed slightly at Theodore’s question.

She knew Marienne liked her, but she didn’t realize how much Marienne admired her.

She had only shown Marienne a small kindness.

<I work so hard because I want to serve by Lady Meia’s side when she becomes Empress.>

<Baroness Marienne…>

<I don’t know if you remember, but you were the first to invite me to a tea party as the Baronness… and the first to send me a congratulatory gift when I had my child. You treated me as a person, no, as a noble. So… so… sob.>

<Please stop crying…>

<How can they cast you out, Lady Meia, you who has served by His Highness’s side for ten years!>

The once small and shabby Marienne Alengar had changed after meeting Meia.

She grew into a responsible hostess of her household, building connections and becoming an important figure in the social scene.

She had grown into someone who would surely become a great ally when Meia became Empress.

<I worked hard to serve by your side, Lady Meia, when you became Empress. But… how can such misfortune keep happening… Sob.>

<Baroness Marienne, I won’t consider myself unfortunate.>

<Milady, my heart is breaking.>

<Do you think it is unfortunate that I broke off my engagement with His Highness the Crown Prince?  Or is it because my parents passed away? Such things don’t determine my misfortune. I decide my own misfortune.>

Thinking about the earlier conversation, Meia spoke to the questioning Theodore in a gentle voice.

“She returned safely. You were quite surprised earlier, weren’t you?”

“I was more worried about you, My Lady.”

Meia stopped speaking and fixed her gaze on Theodore. She wondered what could a person she had only known for two days possibly see in her to make him say he was worried.

“You were worried about me?”

“Yes, it seemed like you had gone through many difficult things.”

“Well… it’s not something I’m hiding. My parents suddenly passed away, and since I haven’t had my coming-of-age ceremony yet, my uncle inherited the dukedom.”

Meia continued to speak while looking at Theodore.

“I was originally engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince. It was a common political marriage. But after my parents passed away and my uncle became the Duke, my cousin Meryl became the fiancée of His Highness the Crown Prince instead. It’s a common story…”

“Is that why you left on a journey? With only a member of the Shadow Clan?”

Meia gave a bitter smile.

“If you call it a journey, then yes. I wanted to see the sea. That’s why I came to Elrn Port.”

The woman in front of him had experienced sad events, yet she spoke calmly as if it was nothing.

“You have a strong heart.”

“Do I seem strong?”

“My parents died when I was young. It took time to accept their deaths, and I cried a lot alone because I was sad. As the heir to the Grand Duke’s family, I had to take responsibility and become strong for the vassals and servants who relied on me.”

After his parents’ death, Theodore lost his smile.

He distanced himself from others, making only cold judgments.

“It must have been hard for you. But you seem to have overcome it well.”

No, he hadn’t overcome it at all. He was just pretending.

Meia looked into Theodore’s earnest black eyes. Though they hadn’t known each other long, his eyes seemed sincere.

When Theodore met her gaze, he kept shifting his eyes left and right, avoiding her stare.

This seemed very cute to Meia, making her smile.

“Could you do me a favor?”

“What kind of favor? I can’t take a job as the Grand Duke’s mage.”

“Could you call me by my name… Theodore?”

“By your name?”

“Yes.”

Using a nickname is allowed between couples, close friends, or family, but calling someone by their name indicates closeness.

By asking her to call him by his name, he was expressing a desire to become closer.

“Do you want to become close to me?”

Seeing her smile as she asked if he wanted to become close, Theodore’s shoulders twitched. He felt his heart drop with a thud.

“Yes, even though we’ve only known each other for a short time, I want to become close. And I want to call you Meia as well.”

Though it was only their second day of meeting, Meia thought.

‘It wouldn’t be bad to build a friendship with the Grand Duke of the Sirius Empire.’

Quickly organizing her thoughts, Meia narrowed her eyes and looked at Theodore’s face.

Feeling embarrassed by her blatant gaze, Theodore slightly lowered his head and stared at the food on the table.

“Just calling you by your name, right?”

“…Yes.”

Having her call his name made his heart pound harder than when he ran 100 laps around the training ground.

“Grand Duke Theodore, like this?”

At the moment she called his name, Theodore, who had been staring at the food on the table, raised his head.

His lips moved, forming a big smile.

His face and ears were still flushed red.

“Please call my name often, Lady Meia.”

When Meia called his name and he called hers, it felt like his heart would stop.

Just hearing his name once made Theodore unable to stop his lips from curling up.

‘Why does it feel so good? And why is my heart pounding painfully?’

What was clear was that both calling her name and hearing her call his name made him feel incredibly happy.

Theodore gave up trying to lower his lips and smiled brightly at Meia, shyly calling her name again.

“Lady Meia.”

Just calling her name once made Theodore’s face turn red again, and he rubbed his hot cheeks and neck. 

‘Why does my face keep turning red?’

“Your face is getting redder.”

“It’s because you called my name, Lady Meia…”

“Grand Duke Theodore?”

When Meia called his name again, Theodore’s face turned even redder, and he eventually covered his eyes with both hands and lowered his head.

After finishing dinner and returning to her room, Meia thought of Theodore, whose face kept turning red whenever he saw her, and laughed.

Just calling his name a few times made him blush like a well-ripened apple, which she found very cute.

Though covering his red face with his hands didn’t hide it, his efforts to do so made her lips curl up.

<Don’t cover your face, Grand Duke Theodore.>

<…Ah, yes.>

The sight of the big man looking at her cautiously, rolling his eyes, reminded her of a big puppy anxiously seeking its owner’s attention.

“Pfft.”

The more she thought about it, the more she laughed. It had been a long time since she laughed like this.

No, she thought if she ever laughed like this before.

Meia felt satisfied, thinking she had built a good connection with a good person.

“The more I think about it, the cuter he seems.”

If she had raised a big dog, she thought she would have felt this way. Cute and ticklish.

After changing into her pajamas, Meia opened the window and sat on the floor in a cross-legged position to practice mana for a while, taking deep breaths and focusing.

But she kept thinking of Theodore, who blushed and avoided her gaze.

“Pfft.”

She ended up laughing again. In the end, she couldn’t even start her mana practice and lay down on the bed.

It had been a pleasant meeting and a joyful day.

“Let’s sleep quickly.”

Lying on the cozy bed, she looked at the window.

The moonlight shining through the crack in the window looked dreamy.

As she closed her eyes, her mother’s lullaby echoed in her ears, and she drifted off to sleep.

She hoped to see her mother, even in her dreams…