Raymond inclined his head slightly toward Elena and said,

“Good evening to you as well, Madam Spencer.”

“Oh my. Good evening. Goodness, if I had gone out sooner, the carriage could have come all the way in. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. We barely walked at all.”

“Hehe. Then I’ll leave Charlotte in your care today.”

Blushing like a young girl reading a romance novel, Elena hurried into the carriage.

Just then, Charlotte blinked and said,

“……You didn’t say anything, so I didn’t know you would come to pick me up.”

“This is only the most basic courtesy.”

Raymond gave her a smile so beautiful it seemed painted. It was strange. The place was terribly dark, yet his face seemed to sparkle with light.

“Thank you for being my partner today, Lady Prairie.”

Raymond bowed to Charlotte. It was a perfect greeting, entirely in keeping with proper etiquette. Flustered, Charlotte hesitated before bending her knees in return.

“The honor is mine.”

With a faint chuckle, he stepped aside as if telling Charlotte to go ahead.

It was around the time Charlotte came to stand beside him.

Raymond turned his head and looked beyond the second floor. It was too dark to see clearly, but he could definitely feel a gaze from the end of the corner.

Ah, so it’s that fellow.

Lowering his gaze closer to the floor than the ceiling, he saw the shape of a boy.

“What is it?”

Just as Charlotte asked Raymond, the boy quickly hid himself around the corner.

“Nothing. Just for a moment.”

Answering lightly, Raymond moved at a leisurely pace. Charlotte tilted her head, then followed after him.

* * *

It took about forty minutes by carriage from the Spencer residence to Count Noves’s estate. Today, however, the roads were so congested that it was expected to take far longer.

It was only natural. Most of the upper class in Glasko were all heading to Count Noves’s estate.

Inside the dark carriage moving slowly along, Charlotte could not find anywhere to rest her eyes. If it had been daytime, she could at least have amused herself by looking out the window, but since it was night, she could hardly see anything.

Even the man sitting across from her was in the darkness, so……

No. I can see him perfectly well.

This man shone even when trapped in darkness.

She knew he was handsome. She thought so every time they met. But right now, he looked like a work of art mentioned in history, alive and breathing.

Of course, Charlotte had never actually seen a work of art that magnificent.

“What’s wrong?” Raymond asked Charlotte, who seemed uncomfortable.

“Are you feeling carriage-sick?”

“No. It’s not that……”

Charlotte hesitated, then said,

“It’s just that you look especially handsome today, Mr. Bayen.”

“……Cough!”

Raymond choked and broke into a fit of rough coughing.

“Are you all right?”

After coughing for quite some time, he finally managed to calm down and said,

“……I’m all right.”

Charlotte was surprised by Raymond’s reaction.

The Raymond she knew seemed like the kind of person who would say, quite confidently, I have always been very handsome.

“There was, ahem, something caught in my throat, that’s all.”

Ah, so he hadn’t been startled because of what I said.

Charlotte felt relieved. Of course, she was still worried about his complexion, which seemed flushed bright red even in the darkness.

“You are exceptionally beautiful today as well, my lady.”

Raymond said it as if tossing the words out casually.

In truth, he had been thinking so from earlier. How startled he had been to see a woman standing in that dark mansion, sparkling like sunlight on rippling water.

Had that designer, who had been moving his mouth so busily, truly been this skilled?

No. This was the sort of dress that owed its beauty to the person wearing it.

In order to escort her with composure, Raymond had been forced to suppress an emotion close to reverence.

He had no idea how difficult it had been.

“Ah…… Thank you for seeing me so kindly.”

Thinking Raymond was only being polite, Charlotte gave an awkward smile as she spoke. Then she pressed her lips shut.

Her face looked somehow dispirited, and it bothered him enough that he asked,

“Is something worrying you?”

“Mm. I was thinking that I might cause trouble for you, Mr. Bayen. You receive so much attention from so many people, and if someone like me is beside you……”

“Someone like you?”

At those absurd words, one of Raymond’s brows rose sharply.

“Why would you say that? What is wrong with you, my lady? Ah, are you worried you might meet someone who knows about ‘what happened in the past’ again?”

“To be honest, it isn’t as if I’m not worried about that at all. People from other regions will be attending the party too.”

If Charlotte attended alone, she would hardly attract any attention, so as long as she moved quietly, there likely would not be any major problem. But if she was beside someone as conspicuous as Raymond, she would naturally draw the attention of many people as well.

If one wanted to call that dangerous, then it was dangerous.

“You won’t meet anyone who knows your past. Shall we make another bet?”

Charlotte shook her head and smiled faintly.

“I said I was worried, but I only meant that there was a very small chance it could happen.”

“Then that means your face isn’t dark because of that. In that case, what could it possibly be? I’m becoming terribly curious.”

Raymond narrowed his eyes.

Avoiding his gaze, Charlotte said,

“Mm. First of all……”

First of all? That means there’s more than one or two, doesn’t it?

Raymond folded his arms and nodded.

“I’ve never been to a party before. I might make a terribly countrified mistake.”

She had never been to a party.

Raymond’s brow furrowed.

When he had heard that Charlotte did not participate in society, he had thought she was doing well, so he had assumed she had simply escaped the tiresome sacrifice of managing connections because House Roman treated her dearly.

But in truth, it had been nothing more than an attempt to isolate Charlotte.

In any case, he already knew that parties felt unfamiliar to Charlotte. That was precisely why he had wanted to accompany her even more.

After all, first experiences were terribly important.

“I wondered what you were going to say. It’s all right.”

“I’m also truly terrible at dancing. I’ve never danced before.”

“How do you know you are terrible at it when you have never tried?”

“Well, because I’ve never done it……”

Raymond shrugged and laughed faintly.

“Who knows? You might have an extraordinary talent for it.”

Charlotte smiled along with him.

“Mm, I suppose that could be true. Though the possibility seems slim.”

“Then what is your second worry?”

“I was wondering what I should do if people misunderstand things for no reason, like Mr. Ferris did before.”

“……”

Because of Charlotte’s offhand remark, Raymond nearly choked again.

“I suppose we draw that kind of misunderstanding because we’re a man and a woman. I’m worried I might cause trouble for you for no reason, Mr. Bayen.”

“Ahem. You needn’t worry about that either. As I said before, I have no desire to find a match here.”

After clearing his throat, Raymond answered smoothly.

“Does the ‘misunderstanding’ itself not displease you?”

Charlotte asked, the ends of her brows drooping.

Raymond, who had been about to deny it, frowned at the thought that suddenly came to mind.

“……By any chance, does it displease you, my lady?”

“Of course not.”

“For someone who says that, you were quite flustered as you explained yourself to Count Noves’s young lord.”

“That was because I was embarrassed by an unexpected misunderstanding……”

Charlotte’s face ripened red as she made her excuse.

Raymond thought sullenly,

Either way, it means she didn’t like it.

It had not been long since he had worried that Charlotte might misunderstand and think he liked her—or, even worse, that she might develop special feelings for him.

So he should have felt relieved by Charlotte’s reaction.

Hm?

Suddenly, something felt strange inside him.

It felt as if something were lodged there, as if it were pricking at him, as if something unpleasant was……

“What is it?”

Charlotte looked at Raymond strangely as he placed a hand over his solar plexus and asked.

At that, Raymond lowered his hand.

“No. It’s nothing.”

He answered that way, thinking perhaps he was getting carriage-sick.

Even though he had never once suffered from motion sickness in his entire life.

Today is a little strange. Why today of all days?

I need to get a hold of myself.

On a day like today, he could not afford to be strange.

Raymond urged himself to pull himself together, but that did not make his stomach feel any better.

* * *

On the day Charles and Fiona visited Charlotte’s mansion, they returned to the Roman viscountcy and continued arguing.

[How could you do that to me……?]

Fiona shed pitiful tears.

Charles let out a deep sigh and answered,

[Don’t say it like that. I was only worried about Charlotte.]

[Liar! You went because you wanted to see Charlotte!]

Fiona shook her head in small, quick motions and continued,

[You’ve changed. How could you change like this? Is it because my stomach is big now, so I look ugly to you? Do you know who is inside this belly? It’s your child!]

Fiona kept spilling self-deprecating words as she cried.

In the end, Charles embraced her to soothe her, but inwardly, he thought,

She’s truly bothersome.