The reason Ferris had stopped by this place was to pick up the flowers his mother had requested. Normally, such errands were the servants’ work, but Ferris had volunteered to come himself.

After all, he loved looking at flowers.

“They say there’s a large indoor garden in Romen. I keep thinking that if a place like that opened around here, I’d go often.”

“I know. I think I’d go see it often too.”

“Right? I knew Charlotte and I had the exact same taste.”

What do you mean, the same taste? If there were a place like that, everyone would go see it.

Raymond’s already displeased glare at Ferris grew even sharper.

Ferris, belatedly noticing that gaze, flinched in surprise and gave an awkward smile.

“Um. I’ll be going now, then. Charlotte, let’s talk again later!”

“Of course. Get home safely.”

Ferris gave a friendly farewell, but perhaps he felt reluctant inside, because he hesitated several times before finally moving his feet.

Watching Ferris’s retreating back with displeasure, Raymond asked, “How did you come to know that man?”

“Ah, he visits the Spencer family from time to time.”

“Is there any particular reason for him to visit from time to time?”

Hmm. How should she explain this?

Charlotte sorted through what she could say and what she should not say before opening her mouth.

“Um… do you know Eric?”

“I do. Mr. Spencer’s son.”

Several years ago, after Eric’s father passed away, Eric forgot how to speak.

Mrs. Spencer and Elena worked hard for Eric’s sake, but despite their efforts, Eric still could not speak and would not go outside.

Even if her grandson would not go outdoors, Mrs. Spencer wanted him to meet and interact with new people, so she put out a notice for a tutor.

The person who came then was Ferris.

That was how Ferris and Eric became connected, beginning with Ferris teaching Eric his studies.

Later, when Ferris learned that Eric had an unusually discerning eye for novels and began showing him his own drafts, it sometimes seemed as though their teacher-student relationship had reversed. Even so…

“Ferris is Eric’s teacher.”

Charlotte briefly explained the situation, leaving out the fact that Eric had lost his voice after his father died, as well as the part about Ferris having Eric review his drafts.

“A son of a count’s family is working as a tutor for a merchant family?”

“Yes. It’s surprising, isn’t it? But the members of House Noves don’t seem to think of it as a problem.”

“Or perhaps he’s an abandoned son, and they simply don’t care what he does?”

“What? No!”

Charlotte denied it in surprise.

“Have you actually met the members of House Noves?”

“No…”

“Then you don’t know the answer either, my lady.”

Raymond said it indifferently.

After hesitating, Charlotte let her voice slip out from between her lips.

“A-anyway, Ferris is a very good person.”

“…”

Raymond’s mouth opened in displeasure.

Not everyone kind is a good person.

He wanted to snap that at her right this instant.

And he has ulterior motives toward you!

When he had said they had been introduced by Elena, Raymond had wondered for a moment.

But after seeing Ferris’s face immediately turn pale, he became certain.

Raymond had no intention of making excuses to Ferris. Being misunderstood as having that sort of relationship with Charlotte was truly absurd.

But if it meant he could get rid of a man like him, Raymond was more than willing to accept a misunderstanding of that level.

Yet that bastard had not simply let the misunderstanding end there. Instead, he had asked Charlotte whether they were on a date.

Usually, it was proper etiquette to notice such things and keep them to oneself.

Was he simply tactless?

No.

He had known that Charlotte would tell him the proper truth, so he had deliberately asked so directly.

With that innocent face, he acted very calculatingly.

But why had Charlotte grown so flustered as she made excuses?

…Could Charlotte be fond of that bastard too?

A white shock spread across Raymond’s face.

What is wrong with him?

Charlotte found Raymond, who had been frowning in displeasure until just a moment ago and then turned pale in an instant, rather strange.

I truly can’t tell what he’s thinking.

Just then, Raymond stroked his chin and said, “You and that young lord are friends, right?”

Charlotte’s round blue eyes seemed to ask why he was asking such a thing, so Raymond added as if making an excuse.

“You two were calling each other by name.”

“Ah…”

Charlotte thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

Raymond’s heart dropped.

If they were not friends, then what were they?

Did she really have special feelings for that utterly unimpressive bastard?

Why on earth?

Had Charlotte’s judgment always been this poor?

Of course, her former fiancé had been a man worth less than the sand kicked underfoot, but that had not been Charlotte’s choice, so Raymond had never thought her eye for people was bad.

Why on earth did she like that sort of man?

Was it because he had treated her kindly when she was going through a difficult time?

Ha. People needed to be even more careful when they were suffering. Even cheap kindness could move them deeply.

D*mn it.

If I had been by Charlotte’s side, I would never have let that sort of bastard anywhere near her.

Just then, Charlotte spoke quietly in a heavy voice.

“Ferris is a good person. Truly. But, um… ‘friends’ are difficult for me…”

Charles had been her friend before he was her fiancé, and Fiona, if one had to define it, had been her friend as well.

There had only been the two of them, and she had been betrayed by both.

After going through something like that, she was no longer sure whether friends were truly necessary. She was also afraid that a “friend” might do such a thing to her again.

Of course, she could not imagine Ferris ever doing anything to betray her.

“Ferris is a good neighbor to me. And he’s far too good a person to be friends with me.”

There was a saying that birds of a feather flocked together.

Charlotte had been friends with Charles and Fiona, so perhaps she was on a similar level as they were.

In contrast, Ferris was like someone out of a fairy tale—honest and sparkling.

As Charlotte continued speaking, she grew a little embarrassed. Raymond had probably asked lightly, but she had answered far too seriously.

The word “friend” brought back bad memories, and I just…

Thinking about it, Ferris probably thought of Charlotte as nothing more than someone he happened to meet from time to time, let alone a good neighbor.

Goodness, how embarrassing.

Just as Charlotte’s cheeks flushed slightly, Raymond said, “That kind of self-deprecating attitude is not good.”

At his firm voice, Charlotte flinched as though cold water had been poured over her.

“You are more than good enough, my lady.”

“…You don’t know me that well, do you?”

She knew she should simply say, Thank you for saying that.

But the sense of shame inside Charlotte made her answer that way instead.

Just as Charlotte realized her mistake and was about to apologize, Raymond said confidently, “I have an excellent eye for people. I possess judgment as remarkable as my eye for objects.”

“Is that so…”

“Yes. And as someone with that kind of eye, I can tell that you are a good enough person that many people would want to be friends with you, my lady. In contrast, I’m not so sure about that young lord. Being friends with him may be fine, but I don’t think it would be good for you to become too close.”

Charlotte tilted her head.

She had no idea what Raymond had seen in her and Ferris to make such a judgment.

More than anything, Ferris really is a good person.

She doesn’t seem to trust me.

After observing Charlotte’s expression—her lips pressed into a straight line, her eyes looking doubtful—Raymond could clearly see what was going through her mind.

In any case, they aren’t in any special relationship? That’s a relief, at least. Chasing away a fly like him is nothing…

With just a few words from Raymond, Ferris would surely be frightened and run off.

But what if Ferris told Charlotte about it?

Charlotte would definitely take Ferris’s side. Raymond did not want a future where those blue eyes glared at him. Just imagining that expression made his chest feel heavy.

Then Raymond’s eyes landed on the pin in Charlotte’s hand.

She accepted that pin quite gladly.

Raymond’s own gifts had made her so anxious to return them.

He knew there was nothing to be done about the fact that Charlotte valued him and Ferris differently. He knew it in his head.

But his heart would not follow.

Raymond began walking with firm strides. His steps were a little hurried, so Charlotte quickened her pace to keep up with him.

“You said earlier that it would be nice if there were a glass garden, didn’t you?”

“What? Um, I said something similar, yes.”

“Good. Then let’s make one.”

“What?”

“There happens to be an empty indoor garden at the mansion. I was wondering how to decorate it, but we may as well fill it entirely with flowers.”

Raymond found the representative of the flower market and immediately stated his intention.

“It is possible, but the flowers we have now won’t last beyond a single season.”

“That’s fine. We’ll tend to it each season.”

Raymond gave the invoice the representative held out with trembling hands only a rough glance, then smoothly signed it and handed over a check.

“Receive the money from the bank first, then begin the work.”

“Y-yes, yes, sir. Th-thank you for your consideration.”

“And give me one bouquet.”

Raymond took out several bills and handed them to the representative.

The representative flustered like a startled chicken and said, “No, a bouquet is the least I can offer as a gift of gratitude…”

“I don’t have a habit of accepting things for free. The prettiest and largest one.”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

Before long, the most skilled florist in the market brought over a large, pure-white bouquet.

Growing uneasy, Charlotte asked, “Mr. Bayen. I’m asking just in case, but that isn’t for me, is it?”

“Ha. Lady Prairie, you look as though you want me to say, ‘How could you possibly make such a misunderstanding?’ But yes, it is.”

After receiving the bouquet, Raymond handed it to Charlotte.

Charlotte accepted it in a daze.

Even in Raymond’s hands, the bouquet had possessed a powerful presence. But once Charlotte held it in her arms, somehow, she looked as if she had been buried in a flower field.

What in the world…

Just as Charlotte’s bewildered blue eyes wavered this way and that—

“Haha.”

Raymond let out a small laugh.