We ended up retracing our steps. In the meantime, the people seemed to have had a great time, as they were all quite drunk.
“Ha ha! Magic is a gift from the gods!”
We took a spot in the corner and decided to fill our stomachs first.
“Sigh, that was a complete waste of time.”
Simon expressed his regret but focused on eating.
Make up your mind!
Just then, Marcol stood up with a hiccup.
“Shall we toast to the prosperity of magic!”
At his words, everyone raised their glasses toward the ceiling. I wanted to raise mine too, but at some point, my glass had been filled with juice.
Just as I raised the juice with a sigh.
Bang!
The door burst open and Elliott’s mischievous voice rang out.
“We’re a bit late!”
As I turned my trembling eyes, I spotted Ricardo.
“Your Grace!”
Marcol, apparently sobered up by Ricardo’s appearance, rushed toward him in a hurry. The reaction of the seated mages wasn’t much different.
‘……I didn’t want Erkishian to come, but that didn’t mean I wanted Ricardo!’
My hand holding the glass momentarily faltered.
“Careful.”
Peril, seeming displeased with my reaction, took the glass from me.
“Duke Hessen, it’s been a while!”
Lily also awkwardly got up and approached him.
To think she looked that flustered. I thought only Simon could manage that!
“If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve come with you from the Empire.”
Among the tense atmosphere, only Ricardo’s group remained composed.
“I heard His Highness prepared a welcome ceremony. What brings you here…….”
Marcol was sweating profusely.
“Oh dear, why is our lieutenant so nervous! I had something to ask Lady Lily, and I wanted to see the lieutenant again after so long.”
Did things not go well with Orphen?
It didn’t seem like he had attended the welcome ceremony…….
“Are, are you speaking to me?”
Lily asked, unable to hide her bewilderment.
“Well then, since you must be tired, let’s save the detailed talk for later.”
“Would you mind if we joined you?”
Ricardo’s commanding tone echoed.
……Was that supposed to be a request?
“Of, of course, it would be our honor.”
Marcol, drenched in nervous sweat, gave instructions to the attendants. Meanwhile, Ricardo’s knights began taking their seats one by one.
The atmosphere quickly became noisy.
“Ah, so that’s the Duke of Hessen.”
Simon mumbled, unable to take his eyes off Ricardo.
“……You knew?”
“Of course. He’s quite famous.”
“Then why didn’t I know?”
“Well…….”
Simon looked at me with pity. But then he held his tongue.
What, why stop halfway through?
“I think it’d hurt Anne if I said it, so I’ll stop here.”
“That’s more hurtful!”
I scowled deeply.
More than that, I hadn’t expected to meet Ricardo here.
‘Good thing I’m in disguise.’
After mentally thanking Peril, I decided to avoid Ricardo as much as possible.
But I couldn’t help having all my attention drawn to him.
As I poked at my salad aimlessly, Simon carefully spoke up.
“By the way Anne, your face is pale as a corpse. Are you alright?”
“Not really.”
At that moment, Peril cut Simon off and took the salad away.
“W-why are you taking that!”
“Eat some meat.”
I had no idea what had made him angry, but Peril’s expression was grim.
“Eat. Unless you want to draw attention.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Right. You’ve had a rough day, so let’s just do as Thomas said.”
Simon chimed in, quietly placing a tomato on my plate.
“……Thomas said to eat meat though?”
“You should have a balanced diet.”
“Just admit you hate tomatoes.”
He tried to smooth things over with a smile.
I forced down the tomato, trying my best to divert my focus from Ricardo. But at some point, I realized my gaze had drifted toward him again.
“…….”
Something seemed different.
In fact, it was my first time facing Ricardo as the head of House Hessen.
When we were together, he was always just my fiancé.
How should I put it? He seemed unapproachable.
A sharp jawline as if carved by a blade, icy blue eyes like winter frost.
Even a single indifferent glance carried a chilling pressure. The people seated around him were all holding their breath.
‘……That’s how he used to be.’
At least, that’s how the Ricardo I once knew had been.
But there was a strange sense of incongruity.
Outwardly, he was the dignified, composed duke. But his unusually pale fingertips trembled slightly as he buttoned his coat.
His eyes, unreadable in depth, remained sunken as he held his glass for an unusually long time.
A fleeting hollow gaze. He rarely faltered, but this time he did. And it felt unfamiliar.
Ricardo wasn’t good at hiding his expressions.
He had been the same when he couldn’t save me, and even the last time I saw him, he couldn’t control his emotions and revealed everything to me.
Ricardo, the duke, was different, but as my fiancé, he had been like that.
So compared to last time, his complexion now seemed better.
……Should I be relieved?
I had always regretted hurting him unnecessarily.
‘What the, I worried for nothing.’
That sense of incongruity bothered me, but it must’ve been because I didn’t know Ricardo as a duke.
Besides, both Elliott and Rose were treating him the same as always, weren’t they?
I was just starting to feel a wave of relief when my eyes met Ricardo’s.
“……!”
Since when had he been looking at me……?
I panicked. I wanted to turn my head away immediately, but instead, I bit the inside of my cheek hard.
A proper young lady wouldn’t avert her eyes so quickly, right?
Ju-just act normal…….
I greeted him with a slight nod of my head. Then I turned away.
As I exhaled a sigh of relief, Peril, who had been staring at me, narrowed her eyes.
“……W-why?”
“Because I’m offended.”
“What? Why all of a sudden? Is it because I took your meat? Here, have some.”
Without time to sort out my feelings, I quickly placed the meat onto his plate.
“There. Happy now?”
Peril let out a hollow laugh as if he had nothing more to say.
Just then, I heard Lily’s voice coming from Ricardo’s side.
“You’re saying you need a mage?”
“Yes. I’m meeting Seiren tomorrow, and I was told a mage must accompany me.”
It was a chilling expression I had never seen on Elliott before.
“But, there are no mages in the kingdom……”
Elliott rolled his eyes.
“You didn’t give any notice, so this sudden request has put us in an awkward position too.”
Lily let out a sigh.
Ah, so Ricardo had come to inspect Seiren’s tomb.
Well, Seiren was the only suspected ringleader who was assumed to be alive.
From the sound of things, the kingdom wasn’t too eager to let Ricardo meet Seiren easily.
Marcol, caught between Lily and Ricardo, looked flustered.
“But since the Tower just happened to be visiting Orphen, it’s a fortunate coincidence.”
“Of course. I’m just glad I can help.”
Lily added that it would be a great honor for any mage.
“Then is there a specific mage Your Grace prefers? Fortunately, all the mages who came with us are quite capable. You can choose anyone.”
“That’s fortunate.”
Elliott gave a hollow laugh and glanced at Ricardo.
Well, they probably wouldn’t take Lily.
Aside from Peril, she had the best skills among us.
Thinking that, I turned to Simon.
“Shall we head back? We have plans tomorrow.”
At my words, Simon nodded in agreement, but then his eyes widened as he spotted something behind me.
“A-Anne?”
He urgently tapped my arm.
For some reason, a shadow seemed to fall over me, and I had a bad feeling.
Trying to ignore it, I turned around—Ricardo was staring at me intently.
……Wait, me?