Unedited
Not only at Fitzsimmons Academy but even across the continent, it was rare to have a chest—no, a build as huge as Jaden Spencer’s. He was mistaken in thinking that his helmet and cloak would be able to hide it. Lowering my eyes, I shook my head, and Brianna laughed silently again before sinking back into her sadness.
‘Is something wrong with Mosley?’ Jaden must have been bothered by the extremely quiet Bree that he gently pulled my sleeve with his thumb and index finger and whispered in my ear.
“Something I can’t talk about.”
I told only the truth.
“Get a healer to look at her later.”
Jaden’s expression darkened, clearly imagining something far worse than reality, and he agreed to arrange for a healer.
The carriage ran without stopping, even after passing a huge stone arch. There were rows of cultivated flower trees, and I could see something resembling a greenhouse in the distance, so I quickly realized that the arch we just passed was the entrance to the estate. Dalton Manor has a small garden, no greenhouse, and it takes less than 5 minutes to get to my room, but the highest-ranking nobles living in the capital were certainly very different.
Soon, a building closer in size to a castle than a mansion came into view. My heart was beating fast. Actually, I was going to Jaden’s house at his invitation. Visiting a friend’s house usually meant meeting their family, and Jaden’s family was…
Suddenly, I was very curious about the mission I’d been bribed to accomplish. When I asked him about it, Jaden looked quite perplexed.
“You… you know… my parents were kind of…”
His thick eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes grew intense, with deep wrinkles forming on his forehead and nose. Back when I didn’t really know how Jaden Spencer actually smiled—that is, for the past four years and five nine months—he seemed very intimidating and frightening.
These days, though, I found something completely different in his stern expressions. In my opinion, discovering his cuteness was a much easier task than mining a black crystal. Even if it wasn’t Brennan Stokes holding the pickaxe, but a gnome miner.
“I know. I heard there will be a contest next week for selecting your girlfriend. So how can I help you?”
‘Hosting? That’s Kyle Villard’s specialty. When the marshmallow animal race was held, he did the broadcasting while I’d usually hype things up.’ As I was fluttering the newspaper around and giggling, Jaden quickly snatched it up and crumpled it. The poor paper became impossibly small in Jaden’s grasp.
“Well, because of that… after arguing with my mother… .”
“What?”
“I lied and said I had a girlfriend at the academy.”
“Oh my God, Jaden! How could you lie about something like that?”
I pressed my palms to my cheeks and crushed the raised corners of my mouth together, hoping it would make me look like I was freaking out. I feel sorry for Jaden, but if the dragon-riding hero of Milua suddenly dug his grave with his own hands, it would be difficult for anyone to bear it without laughing.
Wait a minute. While I was enjoying his misfortune, a question suddenly crossed my mind. Where do I fit into this hilarious story?
Then I realized that I was the one in trouble. This is because I could never find a connection between Ariel Dalton having to attend the Duke of Spencer’s banquet in a dress with sheer fabric sewn into the skirt and Jaden Spencer creating a fake girlfriend. Except for one hopeless possibility.
“Who… who did you say it was?”
I asked as calmly as possible. Jaden didn’t answer and just looked at me. I also looked at Jaden blankly. We did this for what felt like an unnaturally long time, and then I looked at Bree, and she was staring at me as well. I got goosebumps and looked behind me, but there was no one there.
“Oh my God, Jaden! How could you lie about something like that?”
I repeated what I said earlier. This time it was sincere, without a hint of playfulness.
Brianna couldn’t hold it any longer, so she finally opened her mouth and laughed. Her forked purple tongue flicked out in the air.
***
The only time I’d ever seen Duke Spencer was at a banquet. And even then, I thought he was too short to be Jaden’s father. Of course, I was practically dust compared to him, but I mean, Jaden Spencer was huge.
The mystery was only solved today. Madame Spencer was benevolent, beautiful, and had the elegance typical of someone who had lived a noble life all her life, but she was quite tall. Sometimes, when I stand in front of Jaden, I feel like I’m facing a mountain, and it’s the same with her.
“Miss Dalton! It’s a pleasure to meet you! If I had known in advance, I would have invited you to St. Amina’s Day and Unicorn Hoof Day as well. .”
Madam Spencer spoke warmly. Unlike the duchesses in my prejudiced mind, she was not harsh toward the daughter of a viscount who was in an unsuitable relationship. She wasn’t rude at all, but was very welcoming instead.
You don’t have to live in Talon to know that the Duchess of Spencer is rumored to have a heart of gold. She was particularly interested in alleviating the poor, and it was said that most of the banquets she hosted were charity events. That’s how the Jaden Spencer girlfriend contest, a talent show ostensibly to raise money, came to be.
“Jay said you’re very shy.”
“Yes… .”
Apparently, Jaden found an excuse why he had been hiding his love life from his overly introverted ‘girlfriend’. Mimicking Mia, I clasped my hands together and shook them lightly, as she often did. Gaze was directed towards the floor. The corners of the mouth were raised only slightly. Barely noticeable. Perfect.
Internally though, I was fuming. Jaden Spencer, if you’re going to lie, at least do a better job. She’s bright, pretty, and smart. She has a lot of friends. She was nominated as queen at the Love Month banquet—couldn’t you just describe me as such? Jaden glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and swallowed nervously. His Adam’s apple is bobbing.
“I’m sorry to have made you come here despite your frail health. I knew I was being unreasonable, but I really wanted to meet you… .”
And now I was sick too? I coughed as if I were going to vomit my lungs out and clenched my fists. While pretending to stumble, I pulled Jaden’s collar. ‘We’ll talk later.’ As I pressed my clenched teeth against his ear, I could see his shoulders, which were covered with fancy epaulets*, trembling slightly.
*(an ornamental shoulder piece on an item of clothing, especially on the coat or jacket of a military uniform.)
Ariel Dalton, as Jaden had described her to his mother, was a lady who could be hurt even by the wind. She also suffered from a terrible distrust of people. To maintain this persona, I boldly chose to stay in my quarters. This was because I was not confident that I could keep my true colors in front of the Duke and Duchess.
The only time I went out was to take a walk in the garden with Jaden, which was enjoyable in its own way. Even though Jaden wasn’t good at telling jokes, I had fun teasing him, and the Spencer family’s garden was so large that we couldn’t even get halfway through it yet.
The fact that I took all my meals in my assigned room drove the first-class handmaiden mad. In the capital city of Talon, Bree had grand plans, as she has in Sancreek. Obtaining <The Adventures of Nivea: Historical Hotties of Milua> from the Corntho Bookstore was one of her most important goals, highlighted with six underlines and three stars. It was a book containing portraits and descriptions of the handsome men the adventurer Nivea met while wandering around Milua, and to Brianna Mosley, the self-professed boy-crazy, it was no different from scripture.
But the first-class handmaiden couldn’t leave the guest wing of the Spencer Mansion without her mistress, who was dying at the slightest breath. That would be the case… Unless her mistress is actually healthy enough to jump out of a window two stories high and has mastered the art of dressing up her pillow in a chemise to make it look like a convincing patient!
Our clothes, brought from Dalton, were so shabby that they resembled those worn by the servants of the Duke of Spencer. We ended up disguising ourselves with only dresses that we could comfortably wear indoors.
Talon was completely different from Fitzsimmons Academy or Dalton Estate. This meant that it didn’t have the same kind of structure where everyone congregated on the small, narrow, and only main street. The place where Brianna’s treasured book, the travel guide about handsome men, was sold was in the area of Belcana, adjacent to the city hall, and there was also a bakery listed in most Milua tourist books. We decided to take a look at Milua’s historical hotties while eating the famous ‘Lady Gallegos’ tart’.
However, there was an extremely minor problem. ‘Lady Gallegos’ tart’ was so famous that someone had to wait in line to buy it. Usually, nobles had a specialty for passing on such tedious tasks to their servants. However, Brianna and I sneaked out without an attendant. We looked at each other for a moment and then decided to play a simple game.
Brianna, who lost after a fierce battle, gave me an extremely important mission instead of taking on a boring role. It was to carry out the plan highlighted by six underlines and three stars. Fortunately, it was not my first time in the capital, so I had a rough idea of the location of the Corntho bookstore. I nodded solemnly.
As far as I know, <The Adventures of Nivea: Historical Hotties of Milua> was an unprecedented bestseller at Corntho Bookstore. And yet, nowhere on the endless shelves could I find a book with a cleft-chinned blond man showing off his pecs on the cover. With a timid wave of my hand, I called out to an employee.
“Excuse me, Nivea… .”
“‘Hotties’? It will be delivered later, at 12 o’clock. If you write down your name and arrive on time, I will call your name sequentially.”
Perhaps because there were a lot of people asking questions, the employee half-heartedly handed me a piece of paper before I could finish speaking. There were roughly twenty minutes left until twelve o’clock, so it seemed like a good idea to kill time by looking around nearby.
To be honest, I was embarrassed to have my name put on the list of ‘Hotties’ buyers, so I used Brianna’s name and then walked out.
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