Chapter 1.8

Greta had been mooning over Duke Adantie for a month like a sunflower, so it made sense that she was dazed. But what on earth was Ragaen thinking, coming out looking like a male bird of paradise performing a courtship dance before a female? Richard found the situation amusing and cleared his throat to break the tension.

“Ahem, let me introduce you. Commander, this is my younger sister, Greta Lievo. Greta, this is His Grace, the Duke of Adantie, who saved you during the hunting competition.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ragaen.”

“Ah, it’s an… honor! I’m Greta Lievo!”

Greta, my dear sister. You’re putting too much force into your voice.

Richard clicked his tongue internally at his sister, who was acting like a malfunctioning cat wearing socks. But he didn’t care. After all, the clumsier the main characters are, the more entertaining it is to watch someone else’s love story! Ha ha! Richard chuckled evilly to himself, then suddenly clutched his stomach and groaned in pain.

“Ugh! Commander, I’m so sorry to ask this as soon as we’ve met, but may I step out for a moment?”

The startled gazes of the two newcomers turned to Richard.

Like this? Suddenly? Out of nowhere? Really? Leaving two people who were practically strangers alone?

Yes. Goodbye.

Richard mumbled something about urgently needing the restroom and left. Greta, realizing her brother’s devilish intentions, shot daggers at him with her eyes, but they didn’t reach him. In the end, only Ragaen and Greta were left in the awkward silence. It was the dreadful mishap that occurs when a matchmaker is incompetent. Richard walked away, struggling not to let his villainous laughter escape.

A terrible silence weighed on the two.

Ragaen was not a sociable person. He wasn’t eloquent. He was extremely shy.

Greta, on the other hand, felt as if her heart would leap out of her chest and start dancing in front of her eyes just from being in the presence of the man she liked. Her mind felt blank. But what was the purpose of this meeting if not for Greta to express her gratitude to the Duke of Adantie? It was only right, as a decent person, to first offer her thanks.

Gulp.

Greta swallowed and opened her mouth.

“Your Grace, the Duke of Adantie. Thank you!”

Ah…! I left out too much.

Greta despaired. She should have spoken gracefully and elegantly, but instead, she had made such a foolish mistake.

“For, um, saving me from the bear during the hunting competition. Thank you so much!”

She hurriedly tried to recover, but even to herself, she looked pathetic.

My friends, Lady So-and-So, spoke so elegantly and beautifully. Lady Such-and-Such was witty and entertaining. But as for me? If only I was as blindingly beautiful as Lady This-and-That! What did I have to offer? The Duke must think I was the biggest fool in the world! He must think I was someone who had never received etiquette training! He must know that I always ran away during etiquette lessons! He must have figured out that I failed my rhetoric courses at the academy! Aaaargh!

While Greta’s inner self was screaming and wailing, none of her emotions reached Ragaen.

‘Is the young lady nervous?’

Thanks to the unprecedented rudeness of their matchmaker, or rather, Richard, Ragaen, who was already quite shy, was feeling extremely tense and stressed. His large left hand was now slightly damp with sweat.

While Ragaen slowly shifted into “social mode,” Greta continued her floundering.

“I should have thanked you right away on the day of the bear incident, but I was so shocked by the bear—I mean, by what happened—that I was completely out of it. I’m so sorry for thanking you so late.”

Although she had been startled by the bear, what had truly left Greta dazed was the love that struck her like a comet, piercing her heart. While she was gasping for air, the situation had resolved itself, leaving her no chance to express her gratitude.

As Ragaen finally transitioned into social mode, he opened his mouth.

“I only did what I had to do. As the commander of the knight order responsible for the safety of the hunting competition, I can only apologize for allowing you to face such danger.”

“No! Please don’t apologize! I’m truly, truly so grateful!”

No matter how poor his social skills or how awkward he was in interpersonal relationships, Ragaen was no fool. In fact, even someone moderately dull would not fail to notice Greta’s feelings when faced with her. Ragaen immediately realized that Greta held a positive impression of him—one so overwhelmingly positive that it went beyond mere admiration to an almost excessive degree. There was no way he could not know.

‘Is she my fan?’

As Ragaen thought this, he searched for a way to describe Greta’s sparkling eyes, which were fixed on him with a mixture of nervousness and admiration. The look reminded him of a puppy eagerly eyeing a treat! Ragaen came to a conclusion. Yes, she must be a fan. A fan indeed!

‘She must have become my fan after the hunting competition.’

As a national hero, Ragaen had many fans. He was accustomed to receiving admiring and reverent gazes, often from the knights around him. However, since they were generally large and rugged men, their shining eyes felt more like those of the hellhound Cerberus, which he had encountered during the final battle of the Great Demon War. Thus, he had rarely experienced the kind of enthusiastic, tail-wagging puppy-like gaze that Greta was giving him.

‘A female… fan. This is my first time experiencing this.’

For some reason, his chest felt a little ticklish.

‘Ragaen, look at those young ladies who admire me! How beautiful they are! Their very existence brightens the world!’

At that moment, Ragaen felt he could somewhat understand the Crown Prince’s sentiment as he smiled at the young ladies cheering for him.

After a brief exchange of greetings, silence fell between them. Although the Crown Prince had shared his thoughts on female fans with Ragaen, he had never mentioned what kind of conversation to have when left alone with one.

In the absence of their fleeing matchmaker, the awkwardness and unfamiliarity between the two, who had barely managed to exchange greetings as human beings, created a social crisis of sorts.

When humans face a crisis, there are generally two responses: fight or flight. Sometimes, they fall into a mental stalemate, unable to choose either option. This was precisely the state Ragaen found himself in.

Hello, thank you for saving me.

No, I only did what I had to do.

The conversation between the two, who had no common ground, ended there. Realizing that the other person was a fan didn’t help Ragaen much in continuing the conversation. Most of the fans he had encountered before were muscular individuals who seemed to have muscles for brains. Conversations with them usually involved physical exchanges—he would spar with them using wooden swords, then say things like, “You still have a long way to go,” or “That was excellent,” or “Keep it up.” These brief words would often leave their eyes brimming with tears. Such experiences did little to improve Ragaen’s ability to handle social situations.

Meanwhile, Greta also sensed the crisis. She immediately regretted her lack of preparation.

Why hadn’t I prepared some conversation topics? How could I have trusted someone as devilishly cunning as Richard and come here without any plan?

But her regret didn’t last long. Greta’s motto was “Always move forward.” Thus, her response to the situation was to fight. However, it must be said that charging forward without a plan rarely leads to positive outcomes.

Greta opened her mouth.

“What happened to the bear from that time?”

“It was taxidermied.”

Ragaen quickly responded, breaking the awkward silence that had lasted for about five seconds.

“Oh, taxidermied. Now that I think about it, it was a very, um, large and impressive bear. Its fur was… beautiful, I think.”

“The taxidermist said the same thing. He mentioned that it had exceptionally fine fur. The taxidermied bear was presented by the Second Prince to His Majesty the Emperor.”

In truth, Greta had no memory of what the bear, which had lost its life a month ago, looked like. She had simply blurted out something to say.

“At that moment, I really thought I was going to die. It was so terrifying.”

“Pardon?”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, no. I mean, it must have been terrifying. But I saw you… bravely… standing your ground against the bear….”

“You, you saw me screaming?”

“…Yes.”

Her brown eyes trembled violently.

No, so he saw that? He saw me like that?

Greta suddenly wanted to disappear from the face of the earth. But regardless of her despair, her mouth moved on its own.