Leaving the Grand Ducal estate was my first time since the contact with that spy organization.
The streets here were very exotic.
Last time, it was night and I was focused only on sneaking out, so I hadn’t noticed—but seeing it in broad daylight felt different.
“Wow!”
It struck me anew that this place was another world.
Like a traveler visiting for the first time, I wandered here and there.
Only after I had even popped a snack into my mouth did I finally come to my senses.
“Ah, right.”
I’d come out to buy a gift for the Grand Duke!
Fortunately, there was still plenty of time before curfew.
I swallowed the snack I’d been chewing and focused on choosing a gift.
The problem arose here.
“I can’t decide……!”
No gift felt like quite the right fit.
Accessories like a watch or a brooch?
Those seemed out of reach on my salary.
He’s a Grand Duke, after all—he’d only wear ones studded with expensive jewels.
It also felt too much like a bribe.
Books or ink?
The Grand Ducal estate already overflowed with those.
As someone who had personally organized the study, this wasn’t a gift—it was luggage.
Or maybe something like a sword ornament?
I thought about it, but given the Grand Duke’s personality, he’d never use it even if he died.
Giving an ornament he wouldn’t even use as a gift felt a bit off.
‘This one’s like this, and that one’s like that…….’
Something the Grand Duke needed, that didn’t seem like a bribe, and that wasn’t expensive.
I’d already been to several places, but nothing like that existed.
In the end, I plopped down in front of a fountain.
My legs were starting to hurt.
‘Is this even right?’
This situation—where an employee tries to give a gift to get on the employer’s good side.
Even I thought it was ridiculous.
On top of that, the Grand Duke was far richer than me.
‘Didn’t he just receive some diamond mine from the Emperor recently?’
Ah, I’m jealous!
I stomped my feet on the ground for no reason.
And then, at that moment.
“Hm?”
For some reason, the back of my head felt ticklish.
Whoosh—
I reflexively turned around.
But there was nothing particularly strange.
Only ordinary citizens going about their business.
‘Was it my imagination?’
I awkwardly scratched my cheek.
And as I turned my gaze again—
“……!”
Something caught my eye.
It was a green signboard with cute drawings on it.
‘Yes, that’s it!’
I sprang up from my seat.
* * *
“Pardon?”
Having finished a satisfying shopping trip and returned, what awaited me was an unexpected message from my employer.
To come to his office for a moment.
‘No, why……?’
I haven’t done anything wrong today, have I?
Don’t tell me…… the shirt I burned and threw away was discovered?
Didn’t they say the Grand Duke isn’t such a petty person!
‘Was that just the adjutant flattering his own superior?’
Fellow employees shouldn’t be like this!
Dylan’s smooth face came to mind.
If this guess turned out to be true, I decided I’d go and sell his name out.
“Ah, then this too!”
I quickly grabbed the gift I had just bought and brought.
If the Grand Duke said anything, I planned to hold it out and use it to fend off the scolding.
I wasn’t sure if it would help, though.
‘This really does make it seem like a bribe.’
It wasn’t even that grand a thing.
Making excuses to myself that the timing was just impeccable, I quickly moved my feet.
Tap, tap—
Perhaps because I’d come this way so often, the path felt familiar.
I reached the main building in no time.
Going up to the second floor and standing before the office, I took a light deep breath and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
Soon the Grand Duke’s permission came.
I hid the gift behind my back and timidly stepped inside.
The office was unusually quiet.
Unlike usual, the Grand Duke was looking this way without even holding any documents.
“D-did you call for me?”
My voice shrank on its own.
The Grand Duke watched me quietly for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.
“I heard you went out today.”
“Yes, the head maid said those who became official maids this time have no afternoon duty, so…….”
At those words, the Grand Duke asked back in a strangely sharp voice.
“So, where did you go?”
“I just looked around here and there……?”
“In detail.”
Why is this man suddenly acting like this?
I blinked without thinking, then met the Grand Duke’s eyes.
I immediately lowered my gaze and recited today’s route.
“Um……. I looked around the streets, stopped by a bakery……. Ah, I also went to a draper’s shop and a store selling craft goods. And a clothing shop and a bookstore, too…….”
I continued speaking while tracing my hazy memories.
At that, I could feel his sharp gaze gradually softening.
What is this reaction?
His expression looked as though he’d heard the answer he wanted from me.
‘Could it be that the Grand Duke also wanted to go out?’
Well, he had been working too much.
No, but why ask so menacingly?
I got scared for nothing!
With the tension released, I finished speaking, adding my impressions from today’s outing and a few shops I personally recommended.
At that, the Grand Duke, who had been listening quietly, murmured without much meaning.
“You certainly got around thoroughly.”
Somehow, I felt sheepish.
I got excited by the unfamiliar otherworldly streets and ended up…….
Still, thanks to that, the atmosphere had eased considerably.
I decided to ride this flow and wrap up the conversation.
“Um, Your Highness.”
I held out the gift I had been hiding behind my back.
It was a small flowerpot with white flower buds forming.
“It’s a first-salary gift.”
“……”
The Grand Duke said nothing.
He simply stared intently at the flowerpot in my hands.
Feeling awkward, I began rambling without coherence.
“This one is jasmine. They say its scent is lovely and it has a calming effect. The flower shop owner said there’s nothing better for someone with sensitive nerves—”
Just then, the Grand Duke’s eyebrow twitched, and he immediately snapped at me.
“How did you know?”
It’s obvious just by looking at you.
—I barely swallowed the words and repeated what I had said to the adjutant yesterday.
“Because you often frown. Like this.”
Oops.
Without realizing it, I had even imitated that expression of the Grand Duke.
I hadn’t meant to go that far!
‘Will he think I’m mocking him?’
Hurriedly composing my expression, I watched our sensitive Grand Duke’s reaction—
“……!”
Suddenly, laughter burst from his mouth.
And quite a cheerful laugh, at that.
‘Wow…….’
His sharp eyes curved softly, and his stiff lips rose refreshingly.
It was as if life had been breathed into that unreal face in an instant.
As I stared blankly at the Grand Duke, he opened his mouth.
“I’ll take good care of it.”
It might have been my imagination, but…….
Just now, his voice sounded quite gentle.
* * *
After Lilian left.
Left alone, Raymond Pellium quietly sank into thought.
‘—So I kept my distance and observed, but there were no particular anomalies. However, the fact that the subject wandered around too many places without purpose is slightly suspicious.’
That was the report from the knight he had attached to tail her upon hearing of her outing.
In truth, the knight’s words were quite reasonable.
Moving irregularly was the easiest way to confuse a tail.
‘That’s why I called her in.’
Yet, in vain, when he had summoned Lilian and pressed her, she recited her route without hesitation.
Even adding details of little importance.
‘Because you often frown. Like this.’
When she held out the gift and mimicked his expression, his wariness finally melted away.
It was truly an act unlike her.
‘Is he suspicious, or does he not want to be suspicious…….’
Raymond lightly touched the flowerpot she had left behind.
The sight of flower buds just beginning to form kept reminding him of someone.
‘You’re always frowning! Like this!’
In his memory, a young girl made a rather fierce face with her fingers.
Small, young, and round.
“That much hasn’t changed.”
Muttering as if to himself, he gazed at the flowerpot for a long while after that.
The subtle jasmine scent lingered throughout the office.
It was the day a single small flowerpot came to rest on the desk of the Grand Duke’s once-desolate office.
