Chapter 28
“Your Grace?”
Bolton froze when he saw the maid enter.
A petite maid with short black hair stood there, holding a tray with a teapot of hot water and a teacup.
She was a servant he had never seen before.
“Ugh, wh-who are you?”
“I am Coco. I started working here just a few days ago.”
“Started recently?”
Bolton asked, his voice thick with suspicion.
He wasn’t unaware of the current situation where his servants were packing their bags and fleeing.
Yet someone had come here to work?
It was suspicious, but…
‘Coco… Hmm, quite a pretty little thing.’
Facing a young woman for the first time in a while, Bolton’s wretched nature reared its head again.
Bolton spoke with a forced air of dignity.
“Who provided your letter of recommendation?”
“My father wrote it for me. He works as a butler for another noble family.”
Bolton’s lips curled into a smirk at the maid’s clear, hesitant-free response.
‘A sly little fox. She’s looking me straight in the eye; she must want something.’
Though his reputation had hit rock bottom, Bolton still possessed the wealth of a dukedom.
He was certain this tiny woman had come looking for a piece of it.
‘I can just toss her some coin and enjoy myself, can’t I?’
A bit of intoxication would help with that.
With a sinister grin, Bolton set down the bottle he had been holding.
“Right, snort , you are a pretty one. Since you’re here, go fetch some wine from the cellar. Snort , the most expensive one, about a hundred years old.”
However, the maid didn’t budge.
Seeing her just standing there blankly, Bolton felt his anger flare up again.
“Ugh, are you deaf? I told you to go right now!”
“Um, Your Grace…”
Bolton slammed his hand on the desk and shouted, but the maid didn’t seem frightened in the slightest.
Instead, she stepped even closer to him.
Approaching the edge of the desk, the maid held out a hand that had been tightly balled into a fist.
“Your Grace, you seem to be having a difficult time lately.”
The maid carefully placed what she was holding onto the desk.
Bolton’s gaze naturally followed her hand.
It was a plant he had never seen before in his life.
“…What is this?”
Deep red stems held up vibrant purple flowers.
“It’s a tea that’s popular abroad. It helps with a gloomy mood. I’ll brew it for you right here.”
The maid replied briskly to Bolton’s question.
She immediately began steeping the tea in the teapot she had brought.
“Fine, I suppose I’ll try whatever it is you’ve brought.”
Bolton’s lips curled up obscenely.
“But if it tastes bad, be prepared for a very harsh punishment. Ugh .”
Bolton chuckled unpleasantly.
Meanwhile, the maid handed him a steaming teacup.
“Here, drink it while it’s hot, Your Grace.”
“Hmm.”
Bolton’s puffy eyes widened at the unfamiliar aroma of the tea.
“What is this?”
“The scent is unique, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s a taste I’ve never experienced… More importantly, if it’s an import, it must be quite rare.”
At Bolton’s words, the maid grinned.
“My friends have plenty of it, so don’t worry about that. If you like it, I can give you as much as you want.”
Finally, the Spring Festival that the entire empire had been waiting for began.
Centering around the central plaza of the capital, Centerfield, the festival spanned various streets and was filled with the excitement of welcoming spring after a long winter.
Among the cherry blossom trees in full bloom like a sea, there was an abundance of sights to see, food to eat, and things to do.
“Ah, I’m late! I wonder what kind of scolding I’ll get this time!”
However, as Lobelin headed toward the festival, her heart was filled with urgency rather than excitement.
‘Of all things, why did the public carriage have to be full!’
After watching three carriages pass her by in vain, Lobelin had eventually decided to walk to the meeting place.
As the clock tower bell tolled six o’clock—their appointed time—her anxiety spiked.
Lobelin hurried her pace, praying that Ian would be even later than she was.
‘Ugh.’
Contrary to her hopes, Ian was already at the meeting spot.
He stood with his back to her, looking up at the clock tower.
He was undoubtedly watching the clock and counting every second she was late.
‘He’s the Crown Prince; he could afford to be a little lazy. He’s strangely diligent about things like this.’
Lobelin approached Ian hesitantly.
When she tapped his shoulder with one finger, Ian finally turned around.
“Lobelin?”
“Um, I’m sorry I’m late… Huh?”
Lobelin, who had been shrinking back in anticipation of a lecture, widened her eyes at the sight of something suddenly thrust in front of her.
What Ian held out was a bouquet filled with purple violets.
“Take it.”
“…What’s with the flowers?”
“I heard you received something from the Marquis before.”
Lobelin’s eyes went wide with surprise at Ian’s words.
“How did you know about that?”
“I have my ways. Just take it for now.”
At the morning’s administrative meeting, he had overheard the nobles who had visited Cedric’s estate gossiping about it.
After the meeting ended, Ian had gone straight to a florist to order a bouquet.
The bouquet was packed with so many small violets that it was an armful, requiring both arms to hold.
Its massive size obscured half of her vision.
“I told them to make it as large as possible, though I’m not sure how it compares to the Marquis’s.”
‘What on earth…’
Why was he suddenly competing with Cedric over the size of a bouquet?
“Oh my, is it a special day today?”
“Did you get a proposal? Congratulations!”
“Whew-whit!”
Perhaps because of the festival excitement, high-spirited passersby each tossed a word of commentary at Lobelin as she held the flowers.
Since she wasn’t the type to enjoy attention, Lobelin felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole.
“Excuse me! Over here!”
In the end, Lobelin called out to a passing errand boy.
The festival season was a peak time for errand boys who earned wages by helping people with various small tasks.
“Please deliver this to the Dines Viscounty. Look for a maid named Sarah and give it to her; she’ll know what it is.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The errand boy expertly took the bouquet and the coin Lobelin offered before quickly disappearing into the crowd.
Only then did Lobelin shake out her free hands and let out a sigh of relief.
Ian watched her with a somewhat sulky expression.
“If it was heavy, you could have just asked me to carry it.”
“It’s not that it was heavy, it’s just cumbersome while walking around the festival.”
“Isn’t ‘cumbersome’ a bit harsh?”
Ian grumbled, chewing over her words.
However, due to the surrounding noise, his complaint didn’t reach Lobelin’s ears this time.
Now that her hands and vision were free, the surroundings were filled with fascinating sights.
Lobelin mindlessly grabbed Ian’s arm as she looked around frantically.
“…!”
Ian flinched for a moment.
But Lobelin, failing to notice, simply looked up at him with innocent eyes and spoke.
“Come on, don’t just stand there. We’re at the festival, so let’s have some fun today. Okay?”
Before she knew it, Lobelin had been swept up in the boisterous atmosphere.
She seemed completely unaware that she was holding Ian’s arm as if they were linked.
Unlike Lobelin, who was looking back and forth with flushed cheeks, Ian felt like all his senses were concentrated on his captured arm.
‘…Well, maybe this is better.’
If she had been holding that bouquet, this wouldn’t have happened.
Ian’s cheeks flushed for a slightly different reason than Lobelin’s.
Lobelin, who had been scanning the area intently, looked up at Ian.
“Your Highness, what should we do first? Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“The fireworks.”
Ian answered without hesitation.
He had always watched the fireworks from the Crown Prince’s Palace.
He was looking forward to seeing what they were like from the heart of the festival itself.
He also wanted to watch them with Lobelin.
“Oh…”
However, Lobelin made a slightly troubled face at Ian’s words.
“Those don’t start for another three hours.”
“…What?”
“Didn’t you check beforehand?”
At Lobelin’s question, Ian raised a hand to his forehead.
He had naturally assumed that coming to the festival meant seeing the fireworks, but he hadn’t checked the schedule.
To be honest, he had been too excited to even think about it.
“…I see. How foolish of me.”
“It—it’s okay, Your Highness! There are things to do everywhere! We can do anything!”
As Ian’s expression turned rapidly dejected, Lobelin hurriedly patted him on the back.
Just then, a sign caught Lobelin’s eye.
「I Will Tell You Your Destiny.」
