Chapter 31
She had no idea why he had brought up such an old memory. She had liked lemon sherbet only for a brief period before she was even ten years old. Whether her taste had changed or not, after that it had been far too sour for her, and she had barely touched it.
No matter how generously she estimated it, the first time she had met Adrian Oberon had been at the military academy’s entrance ceremony, so there was no way he had ever personally seen her eating lemon sherbet.
Perhaps Elisa had told him herself. Back then, when she had been hopelessly infatuated with Adrian Oberon, whenever there was a lull in their conversation, she would ramble about anything that came to mind. She had been anxious that he might find the time they spent together boring.
Or perhaps he had mistaken her for one of the countless women who had crossed paths with the young Duke Oberon.
The latter was probably more likely, wasn’t it?
As Elisa merely stared at Adrian with cold, emotionless eyes, Adrian slowly set down his spoon and asked, “So this isn’t it?”
“Then how about this?”
It was a pound cake filled to the brim with cream, so much that rich chocolate mousse was spilling out.
Adrian gently slid the small plate holding the pound cake toward Elisa.
The rich sweetness of chocolate tickled her nose. The soft cake filled with chocolate mousse was Elisa’s favorite dessert. Careful not to let Adrian notice, Elisa slowly lifted her fork.
The moment she took a bite, the rich flavor of chocolate spread throughout her mouth.
“So you still like this.”
Despite Elisa’s efforts, Adrian was already convinced that she liked it. Elisa’s expression twisted instantly.
At that moment, the loud sound of trumpets echoed from outside. It was followed by the pounding of horses’ hooves and the rumbling of carriage wheels. Beyond Odyssey’s enormous panoramic windows, Sepia’s diplomats were proceeding together with the Shulid delegation.
That was precisely why the two of them had chosen Odyssey as today’s meeting place. The wide-open road overlooking the sea was spacious enough to accommodate the large Shulid delegation. The Queen’s very first order had been for them to spend the entire day appearing to be on a date along the route the Shulid envoys would travel.
“Elisa, give me some of that too.”
“There’s a fork right in front of you.”
“You haven’t forgotten, have you? The Curran Lake.”
“…”
“Just like I did for you earlier. Now it’s your turn.”
With a playful smile, Adrian stared directly at Elisa.
Reluctantly, Elisa scooped up a piece of tart with her fork. She was practically just holding it still. Even so, Adrian casually leaned forward and took the tart into his mouth.
The sharp eyes that held crimson irises curved into crescents. Every time he chewed and swallowed the tart, his long white throat bobbed noticeably.
Feeling as though she was seeing something she should not, Elisa awkwardly turned her eyes away.
Just then, the most luxurious carriage in the delegation was passing right beside them. The carriage door, which had been open moments earlier, slowly slid shut.
Since it was the most extravagant carriage, there was a high chance Schultz Tugrahan was inside.
Elisa sincerely hoped he had seen the two of them.
She wanted all of this tiresome business to end today.
She wanted to restore her relationship with Adrian to what it had once been as quickly as possible.
The kind of relationship where she neither cared nor paid any attention to what he did or where he went.
This was, after all, the marriage of the young Duke Oberon. The place where the two of them would live together would be, at the very least, a grand mansion, while Elisa would once again be busy reporting for duty in the navy.
Then, no matter where Adrian Oberon went or what he did, she would know nothing about it.
Even if he brought another woman into the very house they were supposed to share.
Elisa decided that such a marriage would be enough for her.
She knew better than anyone how love between people of unequal status always ended.
She had seen her own mother’s corpse washed ashore by the sea.
The body of the woman who had once been called the most beautiful in Roserica had swollen so badly in the water that even her own daughter could no longer recognize her final face.
That was why there must never be love in this marriage.
At that moment, rough fingertips hardened with calluses gently grasped Elisa’s chin.
Adrian turned her face until those golden eyes were forced to look only at him.
“Your fiancé is courting you this passionately, so what exactly are you paying more attention to?”
As he spoke, he wondered where he should touch Elisa next.
“I’m not that unattractive, am I?”
At Adrian’s words, Elisa almost frowned instinctively.
She barely managed to keep her expression under control, but Adrian had already noticed the subtle change.
He lightly pressed the wrinkle between her brows with his index finger and whispered,
“Wrong, Elisa. You already know what you’re supposed to say, don’t you?”
Raising one eyebrow, Adrian urged her to answer his question affirmatively.
Elisa reached out and placed her hand on Adrian’s face.
His face resembled the icy snowflakes of the north.
Even at the military academy, Elisa had never seen another man with skin as pale and smooth as Adrian’s.
Even so, his sharply defined jawline and high, prominent nose were more than enough to give him a masculine charm.
Elisa brought her fingers to the end of his neatly shaped eyebrow.
She stroked near his brow bone, naturally brushed across his cheek, and lightly grazed the tip of his ear.
“How did you find a place like this? Thanks, I really enjoyed it. Shall we move on to the next place now?”
After saying that, Elisa rose from her seat.
She pushed open the glass door of the dessert shop and walked outside.
Leaving the frozen Adrian exactly where he was.
Only after coming back to his senses did Adrian realize that, in response to his question about whether he was unattractive, Elisa had never answered him until the very end.
☆☆☆
The next destination Queen Anne Marie had chosen was a jeweler.
Whenever noble customers visited Kosia Jewelry, the owner would lower all the blinds covering the shop’s windows.
It was one of his strategies to create a private atmosphere while elevating Kosia’s luxurious image in the eyes of his customers.
Then, if other customers later asked why the shop had been closed at that time, he would casually mention which distinguished guests had visited, subtly spreading the rumor.
At last, today, the very protagonists of the gossip that had turned Roserica’s high society upside down for nearly a month had come to his shop.
Naturally, he intended to lower the blinds once again to completely conceal the shop’s interior.
Then he planned to quietly let it slip to Young Master Deloa—the man with the loosest tongue in all of Roserica—that the young Duke Oberon and his fiancée, the naval admiral, had visited.
However, as though he had seen straight through those intentions, the moment the owner reached for the blinds, the young Duke Oberon shook his head and said with an annoyed expression,
“There’s no need for that. Leave the shop brightly lit. That way, everyone in Roserica will know that my fiancée and I stopped by here.”
From that moment alone, the owner was already terrified.
How was a mere merchant supposed to make a living in these southern lands after being caught between the heir to the Grand House of Oberon and the daughter of the Duke of Roserica—even if she had been born out of wedlock?
Determined to win their favor somehow, he opened a catalog containing only the most expensive items in the shop.
Yet even those seemed unsatisfactory, as the young Duke of Oberon simply folded his arms and looked down at the dazzling collection with obvious displeasure.
“Is this everything?”
At Adrian’s dissatisfied remark, Elisa turned to look at him.
Her eyes were already filled with exhaustion.
“Are you planning to choose our wedding gifts right now?”
“If they’re wedding gifts, shouldn’t they be far more valuable than these?”
“…”
“This is just a present.”
As he spoke, Adrian Oberon gently caressed a necklace set with a deep crimson ruby that perfectly matched Elisa’s hair color.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
