Enemies Meet in an Arranged Marriage

Kaon nearly forgot he was hiding and almost burst out with a string of curses.

“Sir, you mentioned you had something urgent to discuss regarding the Forest of Monsters. This seems off-topic,” Alessia interrupted, thankfully cutting him off and allowing Kaon to regain his composure. At the same time, he felt an urge to strangle Georgie for lying to get Alessia to come out.

“I apologize. I feared you wouldn’t listen if I told you the truth from the start, so I had to use an excuse. I truly want nothing else. If you could just accept these flowers, I believe I could grow even more, nourished by the memory of that day.”

What nonsense about nourishment. Kaon felt like dumping all the compost prepared for the upcoming spring on him, hoping the stench would bring him to his senses.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but…”

“Please, I mean it. You were the first person to genuinely encourage me, and that’s why I’m making this request. I promise I won’t do this again and will focus solely on becoming a knight.”

What a disgrace, clinging to someone who clearly wasn’t interested. Kaon thought it was time to step in and separate this presumptuous would-be knight from Alessia.

Just as he was about to move, Alessia spoke.

“If that’s truly all you want, I’ll consider it.”

“Really? I swear, I mean it. I can swear it multiple times.”

What?

Kaon’s jaw dropped.

***

‘She probably just meant she’ll think about it.’

“You’re too fast!”

‘But what if she actually accepts?’

“Aaagh!”

The cry of pain didn’t reach Kaon’s ears. The terrified trainee knight was knocked down by Kaon’s relentless strikes.

“I surrender! I surren—!”

“Stop right now!”

Kaon was jolted back to reality by his instructor’s thunderous shout, realizing he was in the middle of a sparring session.

“Kaon! Where is your mind wandering off to?”

When alone, the instructor addressed Kaon as the young master of Ferdinand, but in front of others, he treated him like any other apprentice. The knight commander scolded him harshly.

“My apologies.”

“Was it wrong for me to want to see your sparring after a long time? Did you take out your anger on that kid because of it?”

“No, Commander. I’ve been preoccupied with a matter and couldn’t focus. I apologize. I’m sorry to you as well.”

Kaon bowed to the knight commander first, then helped the fallen trainee to his feet and apologized to him too.

“I’ve told you since you were young to always focus when you hold a sword! Especially since you have the skill to take down an enemy with a single strike, you can’t afford to be distracted!”

“I have no excuse. I’m sorry.”

The knight commander raised his voice even more, pointing out Kaon’s distracted behavior over the past few days. Kaon silently accepted his reprimand.

He knew that part of the commander’s anger stemmed from personal disappointment, but it was also to show the new trainees that even elite knights were not exempt from punishment when they made mistakes.

“Go outside and run a hundred laps. It seems that will be better training for you.”

“I will do so.”

Kaon followed the order without a word and went outside. He thought it might be a good way to clear his complicated mind.

It had been a few days since Georgie Flemming expressed his desire to present flowers to Alessia. Ever since then, Kaon had been preoccupied with her response, constantly thinking about it.

Her answer was truly unexpected. Initially, she refused, which he had anticipated, and he felt relieved. But then she suddenly said she would consider it.

Georgie’s voice had brightened instantly, while Kaon’s face had darkened. Even now, several days later, he couldn’t shake off his worries.

‘What on earth is she thinking?’

Kaon bit his lip and ran diligently, once again falling into the depths of his thoughts.

***

Kaon roughly dried his hair with a towel. Soaking in hot water had relaxed his tired muscles, but his mind was still in turmoil.

If he had been in his usual state, he would have easily noticed someone outside the bathroom. Unfortunately, Kaon was too distracted to sense anything like that.

“Hey, Kaon Fer—”

“Oh, you scared me!”

As a result, he was genuinely startled. Half of his mind still lingering on that day, Kaon screamed involuntarily when he saw someone as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom.

Even in that moment, his instincts led him to bring the towel down to cover himself. At the same time, he quickly glanced down to check his lower body. Though he had wrapped a large towel around himself while drying off, he wanted to make sure. Thankfully, the towel was covering everything it needed to.

“Why are you screaming?”

“Why are you barging into someone else’s room?”

She was truly an outrageous girl in many ways. He always made sure to check before entering, but she just barged in and even had the audacity to question him.

Of course, if he thought about it, he had sneaked in once too, but that was due to circumstances and it was only once, so it could be excused. But Alessia just came in without any hesitation and didn’t even look sorry.

“I called you, but you didn’t answer.”

“That’s because I was showering!”

“I was going to tell you I was leaving cookies, but you suddenly came out.”

“This is my room and my bathroom! Should I wait and come out only when you give me permission?”

“Not a bad idea.”

Alessia laughed as if she had heard something amusing and placed a familiar basket on the desk.

Kaon stared blankly at that smile for a moment. It had been a long time since she had shown him such a smile. They had become awkward with each other and hadn’t talked much recently.

“Madeleine gave me cookies, so you should have some too.”

He quickly came back to his senses. The smile wasn’t the issue; he had almost traded his dignity for some damn cookies. His heart was pounding like crazy.

‘Why is she so calm?’

In contrast, Alessia seemed completely unfazed. She might have been a little surprised at first, but now she was chatting away with a perfectly composed face. It made him feel strangely humiliated. After all, he was a man and she was a woman, yet it seemed like he was the only one who cared.

“Oh, and this is wrong. If you want to get the teacher’s attention again, you can leave it as is.”

On top of that, she was even pointing out his mistakes. How conceited.

“Got it, now get out.”

“I was going to leave anyway.”

“Leave quickly.”

Feeling utterly drained, Kaon was pushing Alessia out when he noticed a floral pattern on the sleeve of her dress.

“Wait a minute.”

“What now? You just told me to leave quickly.”

Kaon called out to her, suddenly remembering something. Alessia responded without turning around.

“You.”

“Me, what?”

Should he just say it? After some hesitation, Kaon made up his mind. He felt he might not get another chance.

“I have something to ask you.”

At that, Alessia slowly turned around. Instead of asking for permission, she suddenly declared, “I’m going to eat a cookie,” and walked straight to the basket. She then began munching on a cookie.

While she was eating, Kaon struggled internally. He had started the conversation, but now he didn’t know how to proceed without revealing that he had eavesdropped.

“This is ridiculous…”

He muttered to himself, feeling both amused and frustrated. Alessia, focused on her cookie, glanced downward.

“Ridiculous?”

“What the hell are you looking at?”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Alessia quickly turned her head away and resumed eating her cookie. Though he felt uneasy, Kaon knew he had to address the matter with Georgie first.

“About the flowers…”

“Flowers? What flowers?”

“…Georgie…”

His voice trailed off, but it was loud enough for Alessia to hear. She frowned upon understanding.

“How do you know about that?”

“I just happened to find out.”

“Did Sir Flemming tell people about it?”

“No, it’s not that. Don’t get the wrong idea; he didn’t spread it around.”

Though he disliked Georgie Flemming, Kaon couldn’t falsely accuse him. He shook his head firmly.

“Then how do you know?”

“I just happened to overhear…”

“Happened to overhear?”

Having eliminated other possibilities, Kaon had no choice but to tell the truth. Avoiding her gaze, he finally spoke.

“I went outside to watch the snow. I thought I’d take a walk, and as I walked, I wanted to enjoy nature up close, so…”

“That’s a long way to say you eavesdropped.”

Despite his lengthy explanation, it didn’t change the fact that he had eavesdropped. Kaon flinched but decided to ask without hesitation since he was already caught.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“What does it matter to you what I do?”

“How can it not matter? Did you forget I’m your fiancé?”

Kaon’s voice dropped lower. Alessia sighed and replied quietly.

“He just wants to show his gratitude. He said he wanted to use it as motivation to work harder.”

“Ha! Do you really believe that?”

It was obvious to anyone that Georgie’s words were just flattery. There was no way smart Alessia couldn’t see through it. Kaon clenched his fists, feeling his blood run cold.

“So, if I give you flowers, you’ll accept them too?”

If she accepted flowers from anyone, then he might as well give her a basket himself. If she agreed, Kaon was ready to step back. As her fiancé, that was the least he could do.

“……”

But Alessia didn’t respond. She simply stared at him with her shimmering red eyes before eventually shaking her head.

“…No. I won’t accept your flowers.”

Her voice was quiet but firm. Kaon couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. It always ended up like this. Just when things seemed to be getting better, it would happen again.

“You’ll accept his flowers, but not mine.”

Why? Kaon asked again, but Alessia remained silent. He didn’t press her further; he already knew the reason.

“Is it because you think I’ll never understand why you dislike me?”

“It’s not that.”

Alessia denied it calmly, but Kaon didn’t hear her. The emotions he had been bottling up were swirling inside him, ready to explode. He just wanted to end all of this.

“Then what is it?”

“Kaon Ferdinand.”

Kaon took a step closer. Alessia tried to stop him with a stern expression, but he didn’t waver.

“Then what…!”

Swoosh.

At that moment, something fell, and suddenly it felt way too breezy below.

 

 

🍉🍉🍉

T/N: First he was jealous, and then he was embarrassed. Our poor young master!