Chapter 37

37

“You don’t mean…”

“If you won’t tell me, then at least help me pick the flowers. I’ve been unable to decide.”

Jenis rose from her seat and gestured to several pots she had already set aside.

“I asked them to bring me everything with a silvery shimmer, but honestly, none of them are really silver, are they? This one looks too metallic.”

Tapping a flower with glossy, gleaming leaves, Jenis let out a short sigh.

Watching her examine the flowers with such a serious look, Leonard couldn’t hide his astonishment.

Honestly, how long had it been since she’d met that escort knight?

“Have you already reached the point of giving that man flowers?”

“That man?”

Jenis’s pretty face twisted into something rather unbecoming. It was a clearer answer than any words, and Leonard realized he had misunderstood something.

While he groaned to himself, Jenis, too, worked out at the same moment who the silver-haired man was.

“Oh, Brother, honestly! Why would I give flowers to Sir Hawk?”

“Thompson told me. He said you received help from that knight.”

“I thanked him plenty for the help. And you know what Sir Hawk said? He said he’d only done what his master ordered, so if I wanted to thank anyone, I should thank the Marchioness.”

“Ah.”

At that, Leonard nodded.

‘Now that I think about it, Lin had silver hair too.’

Why had the knight named Hawk been the first to come to mind as the person Jenis wanted to give flowers to?

It was all because of Hawk, who kept showing up in his dreams, calling him Brother, Brother, and acting all friendly, Leonard thought, clicking his tongue.

‘So she wanted to give the flowers to Lin.’

He had nearly misjudged his innocent little sister. As if to prove it, Jenis explained clearly, so that he’d understand properly.

“The person I want to give flowers to is the Angel. So please help me choose something cute and dainty that suits her, Brother.”

“The Angel?”

“Huh? You don’t know?”

Jenis’s question meant: had he not yet been introduced to Charlotte Blair? But Leonard, who didn’t yet know of that child’s existence, magnificently misunderstood her.

“Of course I know. She’s as pretty as an angel.”

“Right? I’ve never seen anyone so pretty and lovable… If only Mother had given birth to just one little sister like that.”

Jenis cupped her face in both hands and let out a wistful breath. At that, Leonard slightly furrowed his brow.

“A little sister? Not an older one?”

“Hm? However cute and adorable Charlot may be, she can’t be an older sister, can she?”

“Charlot?”

“You… don’t know who Charlot is?”

It seemed like a situation in which he shouldn’t ask “Who?”

Watching Leonard’s pupils waver violently, Jenis clapped a hand over her mouth. It was to hold back the laughter about to burst out.

Apart from Charlot, there was only one person in House Blair with silver hair.

“Oh my goodness! He says she’s as pretty as an angel!”

“No, you were the one who said that.”

“I never said she was pretty! That came out of your mouth!”

“…”

Did it?

It did. The word “pretty” had come from his mouth first.

Well, it was true that she was pretty.

“Right! The Marchioness is so pretty! Oh my goodness, you fell for her because she’s pretty! That’s why you made your move!”

“Made a… Jeni, shouldn’t a refined lady not talk like that? If the Countess were here, she’d have rapped your knuckles with a fan…”

“Madam Sara! Madam Sara! Listen, you won’t believe what Brother said!”

Having failed to catch Jenis as she shot off like an arrow past the arched door, Leonard could only cover his face with his hand.

He had no way of knowing.

That Jenis’s loose tongue would reach not only Madam Sara but also the Blair knights who were with her, and that by the time he returned to the Blair mansion, it would already have reached Irenea’s ears as well.

* * *

“The Marchioness is waiting for you. Please, go inside.”

The corners of Daymond’s mouth twitched as though he might burst out laughing at any moment as he politely gestured toward the study door.

And it wasn’t only him. On the way to Irenea’s study, every servant he had passed on the stairs and in the corridors had looked at him with the same face.

‘I hear you’ve fallen hard for our Marchioness.’

It was exactly as if they were saying that.

Thanks to that, Leonard realized that the commotion at the flower shop had already spread through the mansion.

What on earth had gone on in this mansion while he washed and changed clothes after returning to the Blair estate?

It seemed the servants here took a great interest in their mistress’s romance with him, Leonard thought as he stepped into the study.

“Excuse me.”

Generally, the place where the master of a house receives guests is the drawing room, and the place where she receives guests of a closer relationship is the study.

That was because, unlike the drawing room, which is decorated to match the atmosphere of the mansion, the study is decorated entirely according to its owner’s taste.

In other words, it was a place where one could learn the homeowner’s personal tastes.

Stepping into Irenea’s study for the first time as her fiancé, Leonard first noticed the large round rug spread over the floor, patterned like lace.

Then the wall, hung with drawings that seemed to be a child’s handiwork and a well-dried rose wreath. A flat music box and a basket of yarn sat on the mantel as though decorating it.

Irenea was sitting in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace. The armrests of the chair, which must once have been pure white, had faded in color, so it seemed to be an old piece.

“Welcome back, Ray?”

In that space brimming with the feel of daily life, Irenea greeted him with an affectionate smile, as though welcoming someone who had gone out that morning.

That greeting made him feel as if he had lived in this house for a very long time… and also as if he had truly become her family.

Because he felt his cheeks might flush if he stayed still, Leonard answered Irenea with a face set hard.

“Yes, I’m back.”

“Then come give me a reunion kiss, quickly. Why are you just standing there?”

Her eyes curving into crescents, Irenea tilted her head slightly and said in a voice laced with laughter.

“Could it be that she’s so much like an angel that you find it sacrilegious to touch her?”

“…Just how fast do rumors travel in this mansion?”

Seeing Leonard groan, Irenea burst into delighted laughter.

“Oh my, so you really said that? It wasn’t a misunderstanding? You even called her cute and lovable?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Right? I thought so too. That’s how rumors always are.”

Her agreeing so easily left Leonard, if anything, at a loss for words. Besides those, the word “pretty” had definitely come out of his own mouth.

Before his lips, hesitating on the verge of saying so, could even open, Irenea pointed to the seat across the table and beckoned him.

“More importantly, what are you hiding behind your back?”

Irenea’s gaze flicked to the space behind Leonard’s back. Leonard swallowed the words he hadn’t managed to say and approached her.

“I don’t know if this is the right moment to give you this…”

What Leonard handed to Irenea was a bouquet.

A bouquet of lily of the valley, tied with a pure white ribbon.

“Between what you did for Jeni and how well you’ve looked after my household, I felt that for someone who is nominally your fiancé, I haven’t done anything at all for my fiancée.”

“Oh my…”

Irenea looked down at the bouquet with an unreadable expression. In her water-blue eyes, countless emotions surged as though overflowing.

Could she be putting up with something she disliked?

‘I thought she’d like it.’

Brushing the bouquet’s ribbon with his fingertips, Leonard said:

“If you tell me your tastes, I’ll try harder from now on.”

“No…”

Whether it was his imagination or not, her slightly trembling voice sounded as if she were holding back tears.

“It’s my favorite flower.”

“…Is it?”

“Yes, thank you. I’m truly happy.”

As if to show it wasn’t a lie, Irenea hugged the bouquet and smiled so radiantly. She smiled so brightly that the surroundings seemed to light up.

Thanks to that, Leonard, relieved of a worry, let out a sigh of relief without meaning to.

“But why did you choose this flower? Is there a special reason?”

Irenea’s voice, asking as though it meant nothing, carried a faint expectation. But Leonard, busy thinking of how to answer, didn’t notice it.

“I chose it because of its name, silver bells.”

“What about the name?”

“Your hair is…”

“Because it’s silver?”

Maybe this is a bit too much of a stretch?

Irenea was laughing so happily that Leonard felt sheepish for no reason.

“I also liked the meaning the florist told me. Do you know it?”

“Of course I do. You will surely be happy.”

Irenea brought the lily of the valley to the tip of her nose and breathed in its scent.

The bouquet, packed with tiny blossoms clustered together, suited her flawless smile very well.

Seeing that sight, which looked as though it belonged on a canvas, Leonard recalled a scene from his dream.

‘…What is this?’

‘Can’t you tell? It’s a flower.’

‘I know it’s a flower. What I mean is, why are you giving it to me?’

‘Does a man need a reason to give a woman flowers?’

She had seemed to need that reason.

Perhaps that was why the man in the dream, wearing a thoroughly reluctant expression, had tossed out a single remark.

‘Just… because it’s pretty.’

Even now he was no great talker, but the man in the dream had been far shorter on words.

So Leonard couldn’t guess at all. Whether what he’d called pretty was the flower, or the woman who had stared blankly down at a single sprig of lily of the valley and smiled faintly.

“Are you prepared?”

“Pardon?”

“You knew its meaning and still gave me this flower. Are you certain you gave it prepared to make me happy?”

Unlike the faint woman who had seemed likely to drift away and vanish like a dandelion seed if left alone, the Irenea before him brimmed with vitality.

As though, if she needed happiness, she would go out and seize it herself.

‘Why me, of all people? Why on earth?’

The question he still hadn’t found an answer to rose once more.

She had risked the Empress’s displeasure, helped Jenis, and even treated lowly mercenaries as guests. Was there any reason to bring me to this position for all that?

As though there had been no other choice.

“…How.”

“Hm?”

As Irenea tilted her head, as if she couldn’t hear well, Leonard lowered his head.

Thinking he meant to whisper in her ear, Irenea turned her head slightly to the other side and offered her ear.

But past the earlobe with its earring, the place his lips arrived at was her soft cheek.

As though making sure she wouldn’t fail to notice, he pressed his lips firmly against her cheek, and Irenea’s eyes went wide.

Watching her be startled now, after having so boldly demanded a reunion kiss, Leonard laughed shortly.

“I think I’m the one who should ask that. If I told you I’d make you happy, would you be prepared to be happy?”

“O-of course I would!”

“I don’t think so.”

At Leonard’s tilted head, Irenea cleared her throat briefly.

“No, I am. I’m completely prepared. So do it again.”

“Here,” she said, lifting her chin slightly and gently closing her eyes. Her still-flushed face was full of anticipation and excitement.

Leonard looked at her face quietly, then lowered his head once more.

‘How can you be so certain that I can make you happy?’

His broad back curved, and his two hands gripped the armrests of the chair she sat in, as though enclosing Irenea.

At the same moment, Irenea’s arms wrapped around his neck. Desperately, as though she would never let go.

She always embraced him like this. Could there be a reason behind even this embrace?

‘I wonder.’

What was the reason for all these things you do for me? Am I really the one you want to hold like this?

Would a moment ever come when he could learn the answer?

Swallowing all those questions, Leonard pressed his lips to Irenea’s.