Chapter 38
As You Get to Know Me
If it hadn't been for Lyndon Kleinfelter, it might have been a pretty good time. The food would have been delicious, and I would have looked good in my favorite dress. Black might have even said I was too pretty again. ...Yeah, it would have been really nice. Liene cut a small piece of the roast and put it in her mouth, chewing. It was definitely a great dish, but she couldn't taste anything. But I guess it can't be good. That man and I. There's so much tangled up between us. It didn't just feel tasteless, but gradually bitter.
“……”
I can't eat anymore. Liene, who had been forcing herself to swallow the food she was chewing, put down her fork with a clink. Bang! The restaurant door burst open and hurried footsteps entered. It was Black.
“……? How did you get…… here?”
Liene, who hadn't expected him to come, turned her head back. She blinked blankly. Black approached and abruptly turned the chair Liene was sitting on. The movement was rough.
“Why are you here?”
“……Pardon?”
So, she thought he was upset after hearing about what happened today. Well, it would be stranger if he wasn't upset. Black had found out that Liene was once again involved in Laffite Kleinfelter's affairs, that she had bargained with the Kleinfelter Family over his release, and even that she had been asked to arrange his death. Even if she had no intention of doing so, he would have no choice but to think the same thing as her. That this relationship, couldn't be good. That he could never trust her again.
“I asked why you're here. Why specifically here. As if nothing happened.”
“That's…… I didn't want to break our promise.”
Because there probably wouldn't be something like this again.
“Did you think I would do something if you didn't keep our dinner appointment?”
“No. That's not what I meant……”
“Are you still just afraid of me?”
She had heard that question several times already. Black asked the same question in completely different situations. It was getting to the point where she wondered if there was another meaning to the question.
“No. That's not it.”
“Then why are you here? As if something terrible would happen if you didn't keep the promise.”
“I kept it because I wanted to. I didn't expect Lord Tiwakan to keep his place either. I just wanted to be here, even if it was just me.”
“Why here?”
That was even stranger.
“Then where else would I be?”
“I mean, not in a place like this……”
Black stopped talking and suddenly grabbed Liene's arm.
“Shouldn't you be lying down?”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because you're hurt.”
The finger-shaped bruise on her wrist was clearly visible. It was also swollen.
“It's nothing.”
“Doesn't it hurt?”
“It hurts, but not that much……”
Liene's lips parted as Black ran his finger over the bruise. Black didn't take his hand away as he spoke.
“It hurts.”
“……”
That probably meant it was hurting enough, but by omitting the subject, it became unclear who was hurting.
“But it's not like it hurts so much that I have to lie down.”
“I'm not just talking about your wrist.”
“Um…… If you're asking if I'm hurt anywhere else, no. I'm really okay.”
“It was a rough thing for the princess to go through alone.”
“I'm okay……”
“You shouldn't be talking about appointments and things with a perfectly fine face.”
“……”
So, she lost her words. She felt a hot lump rising up in her throat. It was such a sudden feeling that she didn't even fully understand why she was reacting this way. She only knew one thing. That Black was worried about her right now, that was all.
“Don't you think it's…… strange?”
Liene opened her mouth. Her voice, mixed with the lump, was not smooth.
“I didn't hear you correctly.”
“Isn't it strange that Lord Tiwakan is worried about me? That I'm glad for that worry.”
“……Why is that strange?”
Liene swallowed the lump of emotion that had hardened inside her and said.
“You heard what happened. Who was hiding in the royal office just now. I heard that I have to kill Lord Tiwakan.”
“I also heard that you didn't allow it.”
That kind of 'that's enough' answer couldn't be the right one.
“That's not all. I heard that Lord Tiwakan plans to kill me if he gets the Nauk.”
“I was dumbfounded when I heard that story too.”
“Does that mean it's not true?”
“I think I've said this before, but if I had wanted the Nauk, there would have been many faster ways than proposing.”
“Then what about revenge?”
“Revenge, you say?”
“I heard that Lord Tiwakan is trying to get revenge. That someone from Nauk killed Lord Tiwakan's blood relative.”
“……”
Black's brow furrowed at those words. Seeing that made my heart feel like it was twisting. So, he's not saying it's not true. So, that was the truth.
“So, it's strange. Things like this.”
Liene, who spoke in a voice so small it was almost inaudible, pushed Black's hand away.
“Let go. I'm going to leave now.”
But Black didn't budge.
“It's not strange. Not to me.”
“……Why?”
He was still carefully holding Liene's wrist, and he reached out with his other hand to tuck the disheveled hair behind her ear.
That gesture was also as careful as a butterfly.
“Everything the princess said came from the mouths of other people, and I'm not interested in other people.”
“……”
“Are you in a lot of debt?”
“……? …….”
“Have you ever fulfilled unreasonable requests because of debt?”
“…….”
Liene didn't open her mouth, but her expression revealed everything.
“How long has this been going on?”
“……Stop it. Stop asking these questions.”
It would sound too pathetic for the ruler of a nation to use debt as an excuse. Besides, Liene didn't want him to know about her poverty. He probably already noticed, but it was still different from having it revealed in front of her. Black held Liene's cheek as she tried to turn her head away. He was different from last night again. The feeling of being gentle but coercive had changed. The hand holding her cheek was firm, but it didn't feel like he was forcing her, but rather like he was feeling sorry for her.
“Answer me.”
“……I don't want to.”
“Why don't you want to?”
……Because I'm ashamed. Because it feels like you're saying I'm such a pathetic and weak person.
“I won't answer. You didn't answer my question about whether Lord Tiwakan is really trying to get revenge.”
For some reason, Black smiled faintly, running his thumb over her cheek.
“Where did you hear such a story?”
“Don't laugh…… I was told that such rumors are circulating on the continent. That everyone knows except for the Nauk.”
“That's a strange thing. How can someone know something that I don't?”
“……You don't know?”
“It’s true that a blood relative died. They died in this land. A very long time ago.”
“But…”
The expression he wore while talking about the death of his kin was excessively calm. It was not the expression someone who had been sharpening a knife for revenge should wear.
“I was a child then, and though I felt anger at the death of my relative, I forgot it as I grew up. It was more important for me to survive. The reason I proposed to the princess was, as I said then, because I didn’t want to lose you to another.”
The simplicity of his answer only confused Liene more.
“Then the revenge… is it just a rumor?”
“I didn’t even know there was such a rumor.”
“How could you… No, and it doesn’t make sense. Lord Tiwakan has had no connection to me until now, so why do you say you don’t want to lose me?”
“Do you think so?”
“Is that… not the case?”
“I lived here until I lost my relative. You may not know me, Princess, but I know you.”
“H-How… could that be…”
Something was all too strange.
“If it was a long time ago… when was it?”
“About twenty years ago.”
“Twenty years?”
It was understandable that she wouldn't remember. Liene would have been only about six years old then.
“Did I know Lord Tiwakan back then?”
“Probably not. You would have been too young.”
“Then how did Lord Tiwakan know me?”
“I only knew your name.”
“Pardon?”
“My late father wanted an engagement. With the Arsak Family.”
“Ah…”
Liene’s eyes widened. She had no idea. Her father, the late King of Nauk, had never mentioned a childhood engagement.
“Was it a formal engagement…?”
“I don’t believe so. If it were, there would be some token left.”
It meant there was nothing but a memory.
“Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning?”
“It wasn’t that important.”
“Why isn’t it important? That’s why you proposed to me.”
“It was just talk of an engagement from when we were young. It might have been my late father’s decision alone. I’m the only one who remembers it.”
So, even if he had said it, she wouldn’t have believed him or taken it seriously. It was irrelevant whether she had a lover or not. If a man proposed for that reason, Liene would have either laughed it off or considered it an unpleasant joke.
“...You should have told me anyway.”
But that was before he was Black. Liene reached out and tightly grasped Black’s sleeve.
“If you had….”
She wouldn’t have doubted, wavered, or worried so much until now. He had a reason to propose to her. She felt like she could believe it now.
“I….”
“Princess.”
If he had told her sooner, she wouldn’t have had to make up difficult lies every time.
“I….”
“I’m listening.”
She would have been honest from the start.
“I… a little sooner….”
That was all she could bring herself to say. Liene couldn’t finish her sentence and closed her mouth there. Black didn’t force her. Instead, he said something else. The touch of his hand stroking her cheek was so tender that she felt like her body was melting.
“So, you thought of me as that kind of person, Princess. That I proposed to take Nauk, that I was planning to kill you someday, and that I was even trying to get revenge on top of that.”
“...It’s not that I believed it for sure….”
“But you didn’t want to postpone the marriage, and you weren’t planning to kill me before that either.”
“I said I didn’t believe it….”
“You undressed me to wipe me down when I was hurt, and when I said I would sleep next to you, you didn’t kick me out but took out a blanket to cover me.”
“That’s because we were… engaged….”
The tender gesture stopped. Black leaned down, bringing his face closer. It was a distance where she couldn’t look away unless she closed her eyes.
“Do you like me? Even a little.”
Liene’s eyes widened at the sudden question, and she swallowed hard.
“Even if it’s just a little, if there’s something you like about me, say so.”
“……”
“You can just nod.”
“……”
Liene looked into Black’s eyes, which were as clear and cold as water, and slowly moved her head. Black watched her every move without blinking once as Liene nodded her head up and down slightly.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Unlike the simple words that flowed out, Black stretched his lips into a smile.
“I won’t listen if you say anything different later.”
“……”
She wanted to say something, but Liene couldn’t open her mouth in the end. As if to replace her words, the hand holding Black’s sleeve only grew stronger. I would have liked you a little sooner if you had. That was what Liene couldn’t say. * * *
“I’m fine.”
Liene was pushed onto the bed as if she had no choice. She wondered if it was the first time she had been back in bed so soon after getting up.
“It’s just a bruise on my wrist. That’s all it is.”
Liene continued to shake her head even as she lay on the bed. Black sat on the edge of the bed, watching her. Every time Liene shook her head, he shook his head too.
“You may not feel it now, but it could be difficult later.”
“There’s no such thing. I’m telling you, it really wasn’t a big deal. Kleinfelter is just naturally like that….”
“Are you saying this has happened often before?”
Black interrupted Liene.
“His personality is….”
“It’s not the first time, and you’re used to it, so you’re okay.”
“That’s….”
If she had to say it, that was the case, but why did this man’s expression seem to be getting worse?
