Chapter 12
Chapter 012.
Orion looked quite flustered as he looked at me.
He didn't seem to know I had visited The Duke's Residence, unable to hide his wavering eyes.
"Are you on your way back from official duties?"
"Ah, yeah, that's right."
He stammered, then looked at me and asked curiously.
"What brings you here?"
I hesitated, considering his question, then decided to be honest.
"It's because of the exam. I came to use the materials in the study for a bit."
Using the study without the owner's knowledge.
I felt like I'd been caught doing something wrong.
But it was Lord Rune who brought me here.
Besides, I only found out now that Orion didn't even know about it, so it's not my fault.
"It's for my advancement exam. Lord Rune said he'd help me, so I stopped by the study for a bit."
He nodded as if remembering, then raised his eyebrows.
"Ah, the exam. Right, you said you were taking an exam. Wait, Lord Rune? Beihan Rune?"
"Yes."
"He said he was on sick leave because he was ill, that son of a—"
"Son?"
At my question, Orion quietly lowered his eyes, which had been blazing, and closed his mouth.
Seeing the wrinkles on his nose, I reflexively apologized to him.
"I'm sorry. I've been going in and out of the study without permission."
"No, it's okay. You can go in and out of anywhere, anytime."
I don't want to, though.
There was no reason to go in and out of The Duke's Residence without any business.
He blinked, looking at me with an almost desperate expression.
"It's humble, but we have rooms for you to stay, and we've hired a new chef."
"I'm not staying overnight."
No matter how much pressure I felt about my grades, I didn't want to stay up all night struggling in someone else's study.
He hesitated for a moment at my words, then glanced at the sky.
The sun had already set, and shadows were falling on the once-crimson surroundings.
He broke the awkward silence between us once more.
"Have you had dinner?"
"No."
"If you're willing, would you like to have a meal before you go?"
Each word was cautious.
Seeing his face frozen with tension, I felt strange.
I should be the one who's nervous.
Remembering Lord Rune's words that he hoped Orion would be kind to me, I nodded.
A smile bloomed on his face as he looked at me.
We slowly began to walk towards the dining room.
"The study is big and wonderful."
"I'm glad you think so. It's nothing much, but my ancestors put in some effort."
"The mansion is also luxurious."
"I'm so happy you say that. The main residence in the Dukedom is much bigger and more extravagant."
The conversation continued, boasting about the Duke's wealth.
The servants we passed in the hallway had faint, inexplicable smiles on their faces.
I felt awkward as I walked around the mansion, matching Orion's pace.
'I didn't expect this kind of atmosphere.'
In novels, high-ranking nobles usually grow up in a cutthroat and cold environment, amidst power struggles, right?
A world that values lineage and blood, where only the strong survive.
I was like a rolling stone that had stumbled into this Dukedom.
Yet, everyone in this mansion was sending me warm, fluffy gazes.
It felt like I was the one with the least emotion here.
'Please, just treat me coldly and professionally.'
The passionate voice of the chef could be heard from afar.
"A grand feast! A dish so delicious you'll never want to leave the mansion again!"
His words, which seemed to shake the mansion, made me regret my decision to have dinner.
* * *
The moment I entered the dining room, I sensed that something was wrong.
A large candle in the center, rose petals scattered on the table, and gleaming gold cutlery were waiting for us.
'It's dazzling.'
I stared blankly, then looked to my side.
Orion was smiling contentedly, and Lord Rune next to him avoided my gaze.
I calmed myself down.
I had said I would have dinner, so I had to take responsibility.
'Let's do our best.'
Let's try to finish the meal well, somehow.
Filled with pressure and embarrassment, I sat down, and the meal began.
As expected, the dishes the chef brought out boasted a splendor that was in no way inferior to the shining cutlery and burdensome flower petals.
The carefully prepared food melted the moment it touched my tongue.
Just as I was about to marvel at the taste, a luxurious performance began nearby, conducted by the orchestra leader.
The melody of the violin, which rang out every time I picked up my fork, enveloped my ears.
'I didn't know it could be this burdensome.'
If this was a talent, it was quite a talent.
I tried my best to focus on the meal.
At some point, I felt the burdensome music slowly fading away.
When I raised my head, I saw Lord Rune winking and leaving the dining room with the people holding the instruments.
The servants of the Dukedom slowly left, leaving Orion and me behind.
The last maid to leave gently closed the door.
"Actually, I."
Orion raised his head as I spoke.
"I don't really understand why the Vice Duke is going to such lengths to care for me."
He stopped the hand holding his fork.
His blue eyes stared at me.
Orion was a truly strange person.
Whether good or bad, he always overturned my expectations and made me feel bewildered.
Perhaps that's why I felt like I was constantly being swept away.
The usual me would never have rashly revealed my inner thoughts like this.
Unlike myself, the words popped out, sooner than I thought.
"Until now, Mom's marriages have been her own business. A form of union between two people's love."
"When Mom's relationship with someone ends, my relationship with them naturally disappears as well."
That's why I didn't pay much attention to Mom's partners.
It was enough to show the minimum amount of courtesy.
But Orion kept talking to me.
As if to make me aware that he was on the other side, to imprint his presence.
Asking what I liked.
Asking what I was thinking.
And saying he wanted to spend time together.
It was all so unfamiliar to me.
"I thought that the relationship between a wife and a father wasn't everything, but I."
"Just as it wasn't my choice to become my father's son, it's not a choice for you and me to become family. It's not that we became family because we chose to, but that we've become family, so let's get to know each other."
I was momentarily taken aback by his surprisingly reasonable words.
Orion continued to speak with a serious expression.
Orion with a serious expression felt a little unfamiliar.
He continued.
"So I think the relationship created by my father's remarriage naturally has something to do with me too."
I was silent at his persuasive words, and Orion said quietly.
"You may not know it, but I've already seen you once."
"Really?"
"At His Majesty's New Year's banquet."
"Ah."
I remember that time too.
Mom was excited to be invited to a big banquet for the first time in a while, and she was dazzlingly beautiful that day.
As I watched her flowing red hair, I suddenly wanted to go to the banquet.
Mom readily granted my wish.
'Okay, let's do that.'
It was the first day I wore a dress, got dressed up, and put on makeup.
I wore thin lace gloves on my small hands and a pink flower hairpin in my hair.
That was my first banquet.
Mom, holding my hand, entered the banquet hall and sang more beautifully than anyone else on the stage.
In my vivid memory, I don't remember meeting anyone.
"I remember a child clapping alone for the wife who was singing. In the midst of everyone being silent to save face, even after seeing such a great performance."
"My Mom's performances are always fantastic, but that day was really amazing."
"Throughout the banquet, I was fascinated by the small girl who didn't care about people's gazes, ate the food that was served deliciously, and busily wandered around the hall."
He leaned his chin on his hand and recalled the memory.
"So I liked it."
The conversation suddenly took a sharp turn in a different direction.
Suddenly from fascination?
"It seemed amazing that you knew how to enjoy the banquet in your own way, rather than acting as we were taught to at the banquet."
"That's just because I've never learned how to act at a banquet."
"When we met, you didn't have any expectations of me, didn't want anything from me, and didn't judge me in advance based on rumors."
"I don't tend to believe rumors."
Rumors can be manipulated as they flow from mouth to mouth.
Very trivial things can be exaggerated, and shocking things can be covered up without a trace.
As the daughter of a Mom with countless rumors, I knew how meaningless it was.
He nodded.
"So it was much easier."
The conversation flowed naturally.
I could feel that the atmosphere was more comfortable than when we first started the meal.
Of course, the Vice Duke in front of me was still an unpredictable person, but what should I say.
'But he wasn't just a weird person.'
He was a strange person with his own clear thoughts.
Perhaps gaining a little confidence from the long conversation, Orion suggested to me again.
"So, I think we can be a little more honest with each other from now on."
"Really?"
"Don't treat me like the Vice Duke and feel free to tell me what's bothering you, and I'll try my best too."
This time, I didn't refuse.
I answered his words sincerely and honestly.
"It's burdensome."
He froze at my honest words.
At the same time, the maid who was bringing out the dessert also froze.
Orion, as if barely regaining his senses, took a deep breath and asked.
"What's burdensome?"
"It's burdensome when the Vice Duke contacts me."
What was certain was that the two of us were still walking parallel lines.
Lord Rune, who had returned, was smiling bitterly as he looked at Orion, who was out of his mind, and me, who was cautiously eating a piece of cake while watching his reaction.
'I think I made another mistake.'
The deep silence continued until I finished the rest of my studying.
On the way home, the servants and guards who came out to see me off all had teary eyes.
It seems that there is an epidemic of pinkeye in the Dukedom.
