Chapter 10
“……Thank you.”
There’s no need to avoid my gaze like that. Ash suddenly felt a twinge of irritation.
She faces Dennis just fine and talks to him, so why does she only dodge him? But before he could open his mouth, Dennis spoke.
“I saw Hunter earlier. He’s going to be the guardian, right?”
Gail Hunter.
Ash and Seirena’s eyes turned outward at the same time. In the distance, Gail was sauntering around, greeting people.
Seirena said with an expressionless face.
“Probably.”
“You don’t look too thrilled about it.”
At Ash’s words, Seirena’s gaze shifted toward him before quickly moving to Dennis.
“There’s nothing to be thrilled or not about, is there? It’s happening regardless of my will.”
Her expression suggested that if it were up to her, she’d refuse it, and Ash and Dennis’s eyes met. So the rumors are true.
At that moment, Seirena’s face brightened. Her amethyst-like eyes softened, and the corners of her mouth gently lifted. The sudden change made Ash flinch without realizing it.
“Moana!”
At Seirena’s call, Ash and Dennis turned around instinctively. Moana Coolin, dressed in a black gown, was approaching them.
“Are you okay?”
Moana grabbed Seirena’s hand and asked without even greeting Dennis or Ash.
Seirena, holding hands with Moana, smiled warmly and nodded. Ash narrowed his eyes as he watched. So she can make that kind of expression too.
He was taken aback. It felt like casually drawing a sword only to find it was a legendary blade, one of a kind in the world.
The room, shrouded in melancholy from the memorial service, brightened in an instant. Seirena’s eyes, which had been so forlorn, began to sparkle, and his heart skipped a beat.
“Captain. And Vice-Captain.”
Moana, who had first checked on Seirena, finally turned to greet Ash and Dennis.
“Coolin.”
Ash nodded lightly, while Dennis crossed his arms and asked playfully.
“Are you two close?”
“Of course. We joined at the same time. We’re still in the same twelfth division.”
At Moana’s reply, Dennis scratched his head with an “Oh,” and asked.
“Did Hunter give up the test because she wanted to stay with her friend?”
“Give up?”
Seirena’s eyes widened.
Dennis tilted his head and said.
“She hasn’t shown up at the training grounds since the first day, so I thought she quit.”
“What are you talking about? Seirena trains so hard.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Every day…….”
“Moana.”
Embarrassed by her friend’s boasting, Seirena unintentionally cut Moana off. But Dennis and Ash’s eyes were already on her.
“Training every day?”
Dennis asked in surprise.
“Yeah, well. Just…….”
Seirena mumbled her response without meaning to. She was only doing it out of desperation. Because that’s all she had. She never expected to hear it described as impressive or to receive such looks.
“At the mansion’s training grounds?”
Ash asked.
Seirena glanced at him and nodded reluctantly.
“That’s impressive.”
At Dennis’s words, it was Moana who got excited. She linked arms with Seirena and boasted as if it were her own achievement.
“Do you know how cold the training grounds here are? One wall is open to the garden, so it might be nice in spring or summer, but in winter like now, it’s freezing. And she trains there every day.”
“You join her sometimes, Coolin?”
“A couple of times. Brr. I hate the cold that much.”
“But if Hunter gets promoted alone, you’ll be upset.”
“Hey, why would I be upset if my friend does well?”
As Dennis and Moana giggled while chatting about Seirena, the subject herself stood awkwardly beside Moana, unsure what to do. She felt embarrassed. And awkward. With their arms linked, she couldn’t even escape.
I’m seeing a lot of new sides to her today. Ash thought as he stared intently at the fidgeting Seirena.
“But where’s your cousin?”
Moana suddenly asked. She had seen Seirena’s uncle when she came in. But Adriana wasn’t beside him.
Seirena said calmly.
“Oh, yeah. Adriana doesn’t have a black dress, so she decided to skip the memorial.”
“What?”
Moana’s mouth dropped open, and at the same time, Dennis made a dumbfounded face.
One of Ash’s eyebrows rose and then fell back into place.
“Didn’t she come up for your parents’ funeral?”
“Yeah, well.”
In the past, she would have defended Adriana. Maybe she was in a rush. She must not have packed it in her haste to come. Something like that. But the current Seirena had no intention of defending her.
She didn’t feel like actively badmouthing Adriana either, so she mumbled a response that was neither yes nor no.
“She came up for the funeral but didn’t pack a single black dress? What was she doing?”
Seeing Moana burst out in frustration made Seirena chuckle. It was truly delightful to have someone get angry on her behalf. She had forgotten that feeling for far too long.
Dennis subtly stepped back with Ash. People’s eyes were starting to turn toward Seirena and Moana.
Hearing the whispers of ‘What’s going on?’ Dennis said to Ash from a slight distance.
“I heard an interesting rumor anyway.”
“What?”
Ash’s black eyes turned toward Dennis.
He hesitated for a moment whether to tell or not, then opened his mouth.
“It sounded too gossipy, so I wasn’t going to say.”
That’s funny. Dennis can’t resist jumping into anything entertaining. At Ash’s openly mocking expression, Dennis feigned hurt before speaking again.
“It’s about Hunter and his daughter. I heard they rushed straight to the dressmaker as soon as they arrived.”
One of Ash’s eyebrows rose. He looked over at Seirena and Moana in the distance. A country girl coming to the capital to get fitted for trendy dresses wasn’t particularly unusual in itself.
But just recently, he had seen Seirena Hunter, the heir, worrying about finances. And as Moana said, Adriana Hunter’s reason for coming to the capital was solely because of the count couple’s death.
“I think I understand why Hunter doesn’t want her uncle as guardian.”
Ash turned and looked at Gail, murmuring softly. He’d be worried too if he were Seirena. An uncle nibbling away at her father’s money and a cousin charging to the dressmaker right upon arrival.
“I wondered why she suddenly changed.”
Dennis ran a hand through his hair, saying it pitifully. Ash nodded in agreement. Now he understood why Seirena had suddenly grown up. At this rate, the Hunter count family might go completely bankrupt.
“But there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Ash said a bit coldly as he started walking. Unless there were special circumstances, the guardian role goes to the closest relative.
Seirena and Gail had no such special circumstances.
“Where are you going?”
Dennis asked as Ash walked away. Without looking back, Ash replied while continuing on.
“The training grounds. To see how cold it is.”
He sure gets curious when it comes to swords. Dennis muttered to himself as he headed toward the refreshments.
Even though it was a memorial, the refreshments were excellent. From simple sandwiches to bite-sized ham and biscuits.
It was the best memorial Dennis had ever attended.
“Indeed.”
Ash peered into the dim training grounds and let out a groan-like sound. It was so cold it might as well be an ice rink. And she trained here every day? He walked to the center of the grounds, spotted the brazier, and looked down at it.
It held the remnants of burned ash. But a brazier this size was woefully inadequate to warm the training grounds.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the state of the training grounds came into view.
It was old. And worn. He tapped the stone floor with the toe of his shoe and examined the walls.
The size of the training grounds itself was quite large.
Probably one of the previous Hunter counts had a strong interest in swordsmanship.
But somewhere down the line, someone found it stuffy and tore down the wall adjoining the garden, allowing a view of it.
“Not good.”
He muttered as he walked from one end of the training grounds to the other. It was cold. When it snowed, it would be unbearably so.
Seirena’s small frame flashed in Ash’s mind.
If it was this cold for him, it would be even colder for her.
Too much cold could lead to illness or be bad for the muscles. And that wasn’t good for training. Seirena needed to train somewhere else, not here.
It was as Ash was thinking this and stepping out toward the garden.
“Are you okay?”
Someone’s voice reached him. Before Ash could place the owner of the voice, the woman spoke.
“I’m fine. It’s my responsibility.”
Hunter.
In Ash’s mind, the woman’s name came before the man’s. Seirena Hunter.
And the one who spoke first was Gail Hunter. Gail had waited for the people around Seirena to leave before approaching her. He intended to persuade her.
“You can go inside and rest. I’ll handle the rest.”
At his words, like a kind uncle, Seirena twisted her lips before quickly composing her expression.
“It’s my responsibility, so I should see it through to the end. You should go inside, Uncle. Adriana will be waiting.”
Gail cleared his throat at the mention of Adriana’s name. His daughter should have been here. He inwardly clicked his tongue, thinking of the decent noblemen he wanted to introduce her to.
“Alright. Then I’ll head in.”
Gail’s hand lightly patted Seirena’s shoulder before he turned away. He continued kindly.
“Everything will be fine. Don’t worry. Once I become your and Ezra’s guardian, you won’t have to concern yourself with things like this.”
Seirena said nothing. There was no need to deny it. But she didn’t want to affirm it either.
She watched Gail wave and walk away, forcing a smile on her face.
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary conversation between uncle and niece.
Ash waited for Seirena to leave. He didn’t want to reveal himself and admit he’d overheard their conversation.
After Gail was completely gone, Seirena brushed off the shoulder where his hand had touched, as if dusting off dirt. And she muttered.
“Disgusting.”
So she knew it wasn’t intentional.
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