Derek, the ends of his brows drooping, gave a small laugh and asked, “Why not?”

“As I said earlier, it hasn’t been that long since she was hurt by that madman. Is there any need to touch a wound that hasn’t even scabbed over yet?”

“Who said anything about making her meet someone now? I’m saying we should prepare in advance.”

“Prepare, my foot…”

At Raymond’s displeased face as he crossed his arms and glared at him with narrowed eyes, Derek laughed in disbelief, then waved a hand as if telling him to do whatever he wanted.

“Fine. Honestly, this isn’t the time to worry about the young lady. You should worry about yourself first. At this rate, the great House Earlister is going to close its doors.”

“Do you have nothing better to do?”

Raymond asked, pressing down on his throbbing temple.

“Nope. My superior is on vacation, so I ended up on vacation too.”

With an annoyingly smug smile, Derek quickly rose from his seat. If he kept fooling around here, he had a feeling he would get dragged into something troublesome.

Left alone, Raymond leaned all the way back against his chair and let out a deep sigh.

Honestly, that bastard is all talk.

Whether someone else married or not, Derek should worry about taking care of himself first.

Marriage isn’t urgent for Charlotte.

Although Charlotte had once intended to marry, that did not mean she was at an age where she needed to rush into wedding preparations. In the first place, when Raymond had first heard the news of Charlotte’s marriage, he had asked, Why is she getting married so quickly?

What matters more right now is that she enjoys each day.

If she lived comfortably, a good man would appear eventually. There was no need to make a pointless fuss.

Raymond stared blankly at the documents Derek had left behind.

That pathetic bastard. He left these here?

He’s still far from being able to get in my way…

Just then, his hand, which had been reaching for the documents, paused.

Now that I think about it, where should I take Charlotte next?

He wanted to choose only the very best things and show them to her. Even when he saw beautiful or magnificent scenery, all he ever thought was, How can I use this to make money? But most people said such things helped refresh the mind.

Instead of wandering around so vaguely like this, I should make a proper plan.

Raymond instructed the butler to bring him a map of Glasko, along with a guidebook introducing its famous sights.

“Make sure they’re the latest editions. And while you’re at it, bring travel guidebooks for the surrounding areas as well.”

“Understood.”

An hour later, the guidebooks arrived before him. The moment Raymond turned the cover, his eyes gleamed at the place introduced inside.

This place seemed like somewhere Charlotte would like.

* * *

As has been said many times, the current season was late autumn.

And yet, right now, Charlotte felt dizzy from the scent of flowers.

It was even hot.

“I didn’t know there was a place like this in Glasko.”

This was a large indoor flower market. The ceiling was relatively low, but the space was so wide that the end was hard to see, and all sorts of flowers were cultivated directly there and sold on the spot.

“It’s the largest flower market nearby. But perhaps because of the season, even though it’s indoors, there aren’t any flowers that really catch the eye.”

Charlotte could not agree.

She, for one, felt as though her eyes were about to spin from looking around.

How could such a variety of beautiful flowers be blooming so abundantly?

There are so many flowers I’ve never seen before.

Thinking about it, there were not many flowers she actually knew. At most, roses, lilies, marguerites…

Oh, and clover.

Raymond glanced at Charlotte, who was looking around beside him with bright, sparkling eyes.

She’s excited.

A small laugh escaped him.

She had liked flowers in the past too. He still vividly remembered the days when she had woven clumsy flower rings for him with her tiny, fern-like hands.

Still, I didn’t know she would like them this much.

Now that she had grown older, he had wondered whether she might prefer something other than flowers.

This was a good choice.

Raymond did his best to hide his satisfaction as he watched to see what Charlotte looked at with the most interest.

It seemed their proud and satisfying outing was about to come to an end.

“No way?!”

But then, a man carrying an armful of flowers suddenly stared at him with a startled expression.

What is this horse-tail-haired bastard?

To be precise, the man’s light blond hair, which fell to his shoulder blades, was loosely tied back, but to Raymond’s eyes, it looked like nothing more than a messy horse’s tail.

Even his clothes were untidy. Walking around with everything hanging open in this season, of all things.

“Wow, I didn’t expect to run into you here!”

The man approached the two of them with a broad, easy grin.

Raymond did not know him, but he assumed the man must have been one of the guests invited to the party. Even if Glasko was a resort city, how could anyone walk around looking like that? He was a man who ought to be removed at once from before the eyes of a quiet and lovely viscount’s daughter like Charlotte.

Raymond decided he would give him a perfunctory greeting and send him away.

But then—

“Hello!”

Charlotte smiled brightly and waved at the man.

Raymond’s eyes, filled with shock, turned toward Charlotte. His gaze was intense, yet Charlotte did not notice it at all. Her cheeks flushed pink as she busied herself welcoming the man.

“Really, wow. It’s so nice to see you! My goodness. So now it’s all right for you to come outside—oh, dear…”

Ferris belatedly realized she had a companion and clapped a hand over his mouth. Worried that he might have exposed Charlotte’s painful circumstances in front of someone else, he looked uneasy.

Charlotte said to him, “It’s all right. He knows about my situation too.”

“Oh, really?”

Ferris smiled as brightly as spring sunlight and held out his hand to Raymond.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ferris Noves.”

Noves meant a count’s family.

It was not a house with particularly great political influence, power, or wealth… but that was only in relative terms. Within this region, it was quite a solid family.

But there was someone from a count’s house who went around looking like this?

And why did he not know him?

There should not have been a single young person in the area who had not attended Raymond’s party.

Raymond hid his displeasure and lightly took his hand.

“Yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Raymond… Bayen.”

For a moment, he had nearly said Earlister, and only attached his surname a little late.

It would not have been strange for Ferris to find that odd, but instead, Ferris focused on the surname Bayen.

“Ah! So you’re the one from the rumors. It’s very fascinating to meet you like this.”

Fascinating?

One of Raymond’s eyebrows twitched.

In the current situation, Ferris was a noble, while Raymond was a commoner, so saying it was an “honor” would have been excessive. But what did he mean, fascinating?

“Charlotte, how did you come to know him?”

Raymond’s eyes widened.

Charlotte?

Why was he calling her by her name as he pleased?

In this country, there were not many relationships where grown adults—especially members of the opposite s*x—could call each other by name.

While Raymond was glaring, Charlotte had fallen into thought.

How should she explain it?

Hmm…

There was no need to use the same excuse she had given Baron Ziave’s daughter, was there? This was Ferris, after all, not someone else.

The moment Charlotte opened her mouth wide to answer, Raymond spoke.

“…We became acquainted through Mr. Spencer’s introduction.”

Charlotte blinked rapidly.

Ferris asked blankly, “Introduction?”

“Yes. An introduction.”

Raymond smiled, his eyes curving gently.

If Derek saw him, he would have scolded him for wearing such a fake smile, but to Ferris’s eyes, it only looked like a splendid, picture-perfect one.

Ferris subtly turned his gaze toward Charlotte and asked with his eyes whether that was true.

Charlotte did not mind telling Ferris everything, but she thought Raymond might not want the truth revealed. So she nodded. It was not entirely a lie either, so there was nothing to feel guilty about.

“That’s… right. An introduction. Hmm…”

Ferris muttered quietly, his face suddenly drained of energy, then gave a bitter smile.

“Then that means you came here on a date.”

What? A date?

Startled, Charlotte hurriedly waved her hands.

“What? No! What are you suddenly saying? It’s just, well, um… Ah! He’s only helping with my rehabilitation!”

Ferris, who knew very well that Charlotte had been living in seclusion, quickly understood what she meant by “rehabilitation” and smiled brightly.

“Oh, is that what it was? Then you should have asked me to help!”

“Mr. Fe-Ferris, you’re busy writing.”

“Busy? Hardly. I’m busy lazing around every day, if anything. Anyway…”

Ferris took a small pin out of his pocket.

“Here. I was actually planning to visit your estate to give this to you, but I ended up giving it to you here.”

“Oh my, what’s this pin for?”

“You’re always helping me. It’s a small token of thanks.”

Oh my, how much had she really helped him?

If anything, Ferris had helped her. He had no idea how much she had recovered after meeting him.

Charlotte considered refusing, but when she saw his nervous face, as if he were waiting for Eric’s evaluation, she smiled and accepted the pin.

“Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

“Hehe.”

Charlotte and Ferris looked at each other and smiled warmly.

Raymond clenched his fists so tightly they trembled, glaring at the sight with great displeasure.

Ha!