Episode 5.
The pier-side tavern was boisterous as always. Foreign trade merchants excitedly spitting out unfamiliar languages, captains of merchant ships looking for sailors.
People who had just arrived at the port
today, gulping down rum until their noses turned bright red.
A place smelling of the pungent stench of alcohol along with the salty fishiness embedded in the bodies of seafaring men.
The reason Elisa dragged Adrian Oberon to this place out of so many was simple.
Because she thought it would be a place that he, who grew up refined as the heir of the North, would loathe and find unbearable.
If he grew to find the South terrible enough to leave this place on his own and break off the engagement, she could ask for nothing more.
When Elisa pulled the wooden door of the tavern, a cheerful bell rang.
“Welcome!”
She naturally took a seat among the crowd. Then she looked up at Adrian, who was standing awkwardly, acting like an outsider and failing to blend into the noisy scenery.
She thought Adrian, who came wearing whatever discarded clothes other sailors had left behind because he couldn’t keep wearing soaking wet clothes, would look quite ridiculous and shabby, but as expected, the son of a Grand Duke was different.
The red eyes scanning the tavern shone sharply, and the jawline that revealed itself clearly every time he turned his head was as sharp as a precipice.
Even a look that would make an ordinary person seem like a country bumpkin was elegant; it was a beautiful and unrealistic
appearance that seemed detached from reality.
‘So annoying.’
However, Elisa was not one to be bewitched by that beautiful shell. Adrian’s appearance, which had captivated not only the North but also the social circles of the royal capital, was useless as far as Elisa was concerned.
To be dazzled by a mere outward appearance like that, Elisa knew the real Adrian Oberon hidden inside that handsome mask all too well.
Just then, the tavern owner set down two large mugs of dark beer in front of Elisa and Adrian.
Elisa lifted her mug first and brought it to her lips. Adrian also began to drink the beer, following Elisa. However, as soon as he took a mouthful of the dark beer, Adrian’s brow furrowed slightly.
He set the beer mug down and pushed it a little far away. Then he glanced over at Elisa’s mug, which was already quite empty.
“In my memory, I thought the Admiral liked wine more than beer, was I wrong?”
In an instant, Elisa felt as if she had been doused with cold water. While the tips of her fingers turned cold, something hot seemed to surge up inside her. However, Elisa immediately regained her senses the next moment and composed her expression.
She absolutely did not want to show it. She did not want to let him know that she still kept what happened in that garden vividly in her heart. At least not in front of Adrian Oberon, who brought up the past so casually as if he had forgotten everything.
That was the final bit of pride for Elisa Shooter.
“It seems the precious heir of a ducal house finds a place like this uncomfortable?”
Despite Elisa’s sarcastic words, Adrian gave a relaxed, thin smile.
“It is fine. However, it seems to be an unsuitable place to deliver Her Majesty the Queen’s letter.”
“A letter from Her Majesty? I haven’t heard of one?”
“That is only natural. Did the Admiral not throw the marriage proposal into the sea and kick me out of the unit before I could even mention it?”
A faint smile lingered around Adrian’s mouth as he spoke.
It was as Adrian said. Elisa had kicked him out of the unit entirely. She had issued a stern warning that Adrian Oberon was not to set foot anywhere—not the battleships, the shooting range, nor the training grounds—during military hours today.
Nevertheless, Adrian was staring quietly at Elisa with a smooth expression, as if such a thing couldn’t leave even a single scratch on him.
Because that calm smile hanging on his lips felt exactly as if he were mocking her. Elisa struggled to suppress the urge to storm out of her seat right then.
“Show me the letter.”
Adrian obediently held out a piece of paper stamped with the Queen’s seal from his breast pocket.
Elisa skipped over the tedious greetings and words of praise for her service and read straight from the main point.
[Since this is an already decided marriage, I appoint him as the Vice Admiral of the Sepian Navy so that the two of you can become accustomed to each other as quickly as possible; I hope you will proceed with the engagement process promptly. Furthermore, I look forward to the active performance the two of you will display together at sea.]
Elisa had no choice but to clutch the letter with trembling hands, unable even to crumple it. Then Elisa’s gaze eventually headed toward the final part of the letter.
[Along with the young Duke of Oberon, the Sepian Royal Family sends the ring embedded with the ‘Tear of the Goddess’ as a sign of blessing for this marriage, so please accept the young Duke along with that ring.]
“The ring?”
“It is the ring the Admiral threw into the sea earlier today.”
As soon as Adrian finished speaking, a look of contemplation appeared on Elisa’s face.
What did that ring look like?
She didn’t even remember.
It was only natural. Because she had thrown it into the sea with her own two hands without even checking what kind of gem was embedded or what metal it was made of.
So, Adrian was now saying that Elisa Shooter had dropped an item of the Sepian Royal Family into the sea.
Adrian spoke as if he had read all of her worries.
“Do not worry too much, Admiral. I have retrieved it.”
The moment Elisa raised her head and looked at him, Adrian smiled, his ruby-sparkling red eyes curving like crescent moons.
And he showed her his palm, opening his fist before Elisa’s eyes. Resting quietly on Adrian’s palm was that glittering diamond ring she had seen earlier, without a single scratch.
“Did you not kick me out of the unit today? During that time, I retrieved this ring that fell into the sea. It is quite fortunate I was able to find it before the sun set completely….”
She couldn’t stand it any longer. She couldn’t sit quietly and listen to Adrian Oberon’s brazen words.
He was acting as if he were truly serious about this marriage. That he would, very sincerely and in accordance with the command given by the Queen, marry an illegitimate child whom he once regarded as lowlier than anyone.
“You have quite a strong stomach, young Duke.”
Elisa abruptly cut Adrian off. As a desolate silence hung between the two, the smile that looked painted on Adrian’s mouth gradually faded.
“How can you smile like that while proposing to this filthy and disgusting illegitimate child?”
“…….”
“Just what and how much did you receive from Her Majesty the Queen as a condition for marrying me, that you can smile so brightly?”
‘What would you do if your noble friends found out?’
Petty words rose to the tip of her throat, but Elisa barely endured it by biting the inside of her mouth. To avoid being caught as a petty person who was digging up matters that had already passed years ago by herself.
If it were confirmed that he had forgotten everything while she alone was still chewing and chewing over it again, Elisa felt like she would want to die even if she had to bury her nose in a beer mug right here.
However, even though she was blatantly sarcastic, Adrian showed no reaction. Even under the dim, yellowish candlelight inside the tavern, the contrast between his red eyes and skin as white as the cold snow covering the North was vivid, and his high nose bridge and sharp jawline were merely distinct.
It was a face the entirety of Sepia praised. But Elisa wanted to break that handsome mask somehow.
But Adrian Oberon was, as expected, not an easy opponent. He just stared quietly at Elisa, who was flushed and excited with irritation.
With a very indifferent gaze. As if looking at a pathetic person.
But Elisa could not stop her mouth.
During her academy days, when the person who made her exert all her strength to press down that high nose bridge, only to realize the reality that she could do nothing and fled, appeared before her eyes, the anger she had mistaken as having been discarded surged up.
“Is it a mine? I heard that a gold vein was discovered in Tierra, which was recently incorporated into the royal lands. Ah, a mere thing like that wouldn’t be enough for the noble young Duke to promise a future with an illegitimate child. Then, is it a territory? Or perhaps another title?”
“……It is none of those.”
At the unexpected answer, Elisa, who had been pushing Adrian for a while, raised her head. Adrian’s expression filled her golden eyes. His bitten lips were not red as usual.
They were white, as if all the blood had drained out. The corners of his eyes were flushed red, looking somewhat haggard.
Just as if he were hurt.
However, that was only for a split second, and since Adrian soon returned to his usual expressionless and chilling masked face, Elisa dismissed it, believing she had certainly been mistaken.
“Then? What did you receive. If it wasn’t a mine, another territory, or a title, just what kind of great thing did you receive that—”
Adrian cut Elisa off as if he could no longer
listen.
“Nothing.”
“?”
“I received nothing.”
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