Chapter 84
Noticing Isabel’s bored expression, one young lady brought up a topic.
“Ah, by the way, I heard that Young Lord Vincent stopped by a jewelry store recently. Could he be preparing for a proposal?”
“Well, they’ve been engaged for quite a while, so it’s about time for marriage talks.”
Kyaa.
Isabel held back her words with a smile amid the ensuing fuss.
That alone was as good as implying that they were preparing for marriage.
Last year, Isabel got engaged to Eric, the young lord of the Vincent Marquis family, through Siegfried’s arrangement.
As the most eligible bachelor in the Lunin capital, he was on par with Duke Crencia.
“Oh my, I’m so envious.”
Receiving everyone’s envy all at once, Isabel’s unpleasant mood lifted.
Yes. She would hold a wedding more splendid than ever before.
Not like someone who had a secret marriage.
A victor’s smile filled Isabel’s face.
* * *
While Kaiden was attending the grand nobles’ meeting, invitations poured in for Reina.
In the past, she would have rejected them all, but as Duchess Crencia, she had to set an example to some extent.
To establish a foothold in the capital soon, she couldn’t neglect the social scene entirely.
While scanning the invitations to attend gatherings hosted by suitable families.
She blinked upon discovering an unexpected invitation.
“This is…….”
[The Helio Cultural Foundation invites you to an opera performance.]
Reina blinked at the familiar family name.
The Helio Duke family was renowned for sponsoring arts and culture through generations.
A grand noble with fertile lands in the west. Especially, they were also the head of the aristocratic faction opposing the emperor.
‘Unexpected.’
The family she had been planning to contact had come rolling in like this.
The invitation included not only Reina but also Kaiden.
Since a banquet for VIPs was prepared after the opera performance, there was no reason not to go.
Reina set aside that invitation separately and then examined the rest one by one.
Then, upon seeing the [Lavender] invitation, she frowned.
She already knew through Ben’s investigation of social gatherings that the host of Lavender was Isabel Julid Mernie.
‘It’s said to be the most promising gathering among young ladies recently…….’
But with Isabel as the host, Reina lost interest.
She had caused such a commotion before leaving Lunin. To send an invitation so shamelessly.
A gathering that wouldn’t be good to attend anyway, Reina casually tossed the invitation away.
Around the time she had roughly selected the worthwhile gatherings, Kaiden arrived at the mansion.
“What’s all this?”
Kaiden made a disgusted expression upon seeing the baskets lined up on the table.
“Did you check all of these one by one?”
“There wasn’t much else to do at the mansion anyway.”
Reina replied nonchalantly and showed the invitations she had set aside.
“I’ve selected a few places worth going to for now. I really want to go to this one.”
What she held out was the Helio family’s invitation.
“The young duke of Helio is your academy alumnus, right?”
“How did you know that?”
“I know almost everything about you.”
In her past life, she had studied everything about him. The more the emperor checked him, the more Reina exerted effort to rival him unreasonably.
Of course, she meant from that time.
“Well. You didn’t know the most important thing.”
“Huh?”
Reina turned her head and blinked. With his upper body close, he looked down at her steadily.
“Reina, do you really think you know everything about me?”
His purple eyes held a subtle gleam. The smile spreading at his lips particularly captured her attention.
Kaiden had been a bit strange since right after arriving in the capital.
She wasn’t sure exactly what part had changed.
She thought she knew Kaiden, but in fact, she had only experienced him directly for a mere year.
The Kaiden Crencia she had chased for 10 years and the current Kaiden Crencia were different.
So she couldn’t say she knew him completely. Yet, was it arrogance or wishful thinking to be confident that she did?
Reina wanted to know anything about him.
Was that really because of past habits?
Or was there another reason?
Unable to withstand the swirling emotions, Reina averted her gaze.
“I, I don’t know.”
She didn’t know what he was thinking.
She also didn’t know what that expression meant right now.
Because of that uncertainty, Reina’s heart kept trembling.
Kaiden cupped Reina’s cheek and asked softly.
“Do you want to know?”
“Huh?”
“If you do, I could tell you step by step.”
“…….”
“Do you want to know about me, Reina?”
There was no playfulness in his smiling eyes.
She would have laughed it off normally, but with him bringing it up so persistently, Reina was at a loss for words.
Indeed, something had changed.
With a flustered heart, as Reina stepped back, Kaiden also withdrew his hand.
“I’m always open, Reina. So when you’re ready, give me a signal.”
His gaze was still directed at her.
Receiving that gaze fully, her face heated up as if on fire. Reina changed the subject.
“H-how was the meeting?”
* * *
Hook Trading Company’s Lunin headquarters office.
Rose, who had come to the office on Reina’s errand, waited for the person who wasn’t arriving.
Shortly after, Arteon appeared in the office.
“I’m sorry for making you wait. There was a sudden issue at the warehouse, so I was late checking it.”
Seeing him covered in dust, Rose frowned.
“You certainly look like it.”
As she took out a handkerchief afterward, Arteon extended his hand.
“Thank…….”
But the handkerchief was directed toward Rose’s mouth.
Rose, covering her nose with the handkerchief, looked at Arteon as if to say what are you doing.
He withdrew his embarrassed hand and took out a handkerchief from his inner pocket to dust himself off.
“Don’t people usually offer it out of courtesy?”
“This is the only one I have right now.”
With an expression like ‘I don’t even have one for myself, why would I give it to you?’, Arteon let out a hollow laugh.
If she weren’t Reina’s close maid, she would be a woman he had no business with.
Unfortunately, the bridge between the two was Rose Daily.
He had wondered why she sent such a bad-tempered woman as a proxy.
Not long after, he learned why Reina had her as proxy.
Rose was skilled in disguise, and her combat ability was on par with most knights.
Arteon glanced at Rose disguised as an old lady.
Who would know the person in front of him was a young lady in her 20s?
He glanced at her wrinkled hand and admired it.
“It’s amazing every time I see it. How did you make those skin wrinkles?”
“It’s a family secret, so it’s difficult to tell you.”
“That’s a shame. I was going to pay a proper price.”
“I’ll decline. I have a policy not to deal with merchants.”
Rose replied primly while elegantly holding her teacup.
Reacting so coldly even to a joke, she was a type that was hard to get close to.
‘She’s really picky.’
But strangely attractive, his gaze kept going to her.
“So, the information?”
As Rose cut to the chase without preamble, Arteon handed a note from his bosom.
As she reached for the note, he suddenly pulled it back playfully.
“What are you doing?”
“If I give this, you’ll leave right away.”
“Then besides this, what business do we have?”
As Rose frowned, Arteon propped his chin and smiled with his eyes.
“Do you have time this weekend?”
“Huh?”
“I happened to get tickets to a nice opera performance, so if you have time…….”
“I’ve already seen it.”
As soon as Arteon’s words ended, Rose rejected it sharply. He muttered awkwardly.
“I haven’t even said what performance it is yet.”
