“Do as you please?”
“Yes.”
Well, opening my mouth, I said to Redian, “Haven’t you always done as you pleased?”
Looking back, it seemed Redian always did what he wanted. In this empire, Rere was the only one who could ignore my greetings.
“No.” Then Redian answered, not losing sight of my gaze. His playful yet languid eyes felt particularly strange. “I’ve never done as I pleased in front of Master.”
Redian slowly began to add. “If I really did everything I wanted to in front of my master…”
At that moment, his head tilted slightly in a way that felt peculiar. “Master might come to dislike me.”
“…What?”
Dislike? Instead of answering, I narrowed my eyes for a moment. I couldn’t understand what he was thinking anymore. The way he flinched at my slightest touch was nowhere to be found.
“Well, fine. How will you make me feel better?” I was genuinely curious about what Redian would do.
“Hand.”
“Hm?”
“Give me your hand.”
Hand? That was something I often said to Redian.
“Here.”
Wondering what cute act he was up to, I extended my hand. Then,
“…”
His large hand very slowly interlocked with mine, one finger at a time. Redian’s and my fingers intertwined without a hint of space between them.
What is this? Was it because our hands were tightly clasped or because of the veins protruding on the back of his hand? An inexplicable tingling sensation seemed to brush my fingertips. And then,
“…!”
While holding my hand tightly with one hand, Redian slowly cupped my cheek with the other. His fingers touched the corners of my eyes, brushed my cheeks, and then my lips…
“Rere, wait a minute.”
“Why?”
I called his name without thinking. It was nothing significant, but an indefinable tension made me feel as if… if he kept going, he might not stop.
“Master always did this when I was hurt.” Redian’s gaze lingered briefly on my lips before moving to my eyes.
“Did I… do this to you like this?”
I couldn’t move just because his hand touched mine. It seemed he was referring to his memories of the underground castle, realizing that he reacted the same way whenever my hand touched him.
“What did I do now?” Redian asked, tilting his head slightly. His sharp yet beautifully long eyes had a smile on them.
Aeron wasn’t wrong. Seeing him, I remembered Aeron exclaiming, Redian is a man! A real man! The difference in the size of our hands and strength made it ridiculous that I had treated our Rere as a child. And the feeling of our two hands tightly joined was too…
“Rere.”
It was odd for me, but I felt like teasing him. Especially when Redian sometimes seemed like a stranger, I wanted to do it even more. I wondered what would make him flustered and opened my mouth.
“Call me Noona.”
TL/N: Noona is a word that is usually used by males to address their older sister or their older female friend. It’s a term of endearment and respect, denoting a close relationship or familiarity. Noona can also be used in romantic relationships to indicate intimacy and affection. So, in this novel, Siani requests Redian to call her like that just because she wants to tease him, with a mind to let him know that he could use that word as they have already become close, not because of romantic relationships.
“…”
At that moment, Redian slowly raised his eyes to look at me. He let out a slight chuckle as if it was absurd.
He would never call me Noona. He hated being treated like a child so much. There’s no way he would say ‘Noona,’ even if I was his master.
“I am your Noona, right? Don’t forget, Rere. I am older than-”
“Noona?”
“…”
Suddenly, my heart seemed to drop. When Irik chased after me, calling me ‘Noona,’ I felt nothing, but why did this feel so different? Moreover, his tone wasn’t ‘Noona,’ but rather, ‘Huh, what? Noona?’ Why did my ears tingle like this?
TL/N: In this case, when Irik called Siani as Noona = called her as older sister.
“Noona, what….”
While our eyes met, Redian murmured softly. For a moment, the expression flitting across his face wasn’t Rere’s but Redian Hyu Rixon’s.
He’s getting cheekier by the day. It was all the author’s fault. If it were anyone else, I would have grabbed them by the collar already, but that face was guilty.
“I have to go. I’m busy with a lot to do.” I spoke in a robotic tone and got up from my seat. I had no intention of letting Redian see even a hint of flinch from me.
“What’s this.”
But I couldn’t move. Redian was not letting go of my hand.
“Let go.”
“…I don’t want to.” Then, looking up at me, Redian smiled lightly.
What should I do with him? But then,
“Princess, you were here.”
A man approached, having apparently been looking for me.
“Ah, I didn’t realize you were in a conversation. My apologies. I’ll come back later.”
However, he seemed to notice Redian with me and turned to leave.
“Did Sir Aeron send you?”
“Yes? Ah, yes, that’s correct.”
I stopped the man, whose face seemed familiar. He was a knight of the duchy often seen with Aeron…
“Your last name…” I frowned slightly. “Ah, right. It’s Roberto.”
I remembered him even though I only saw him occasionally next to Aeron. He had a neat and somewhat cute appearance and seemed quite intelligent.
“How did you know me…” Surprised that I knew him, Roberto blinked.
“You were looking for me. What’s the matter?”
“Ah, yes. The monster hunting competition’s award ceremony has been contacted by the royal palace.”
“Has the date been set?”
It seemed a proper schedule was finally decided.
“Yes, it’s been scheduled for next week.”
“What?”
I was slightly startled. I had emphasized ‘grand’ so much I thought it would take a few weeks, but next week was sooner than expected.
“It would be right to wait until Princess returned, but I thought it better to inform Princess as soon as possible so you could prepare with more time…”
Listening to Roberto, I nodded. I shouldn’t be lingering here. After all, with Luna’s matter settled, I needed to focus on my duties.
“You’re smart. Got it. I’ll be returning soon, so tell Bergman to wait in the dressing room.”
“Yes, understood.” Roberto smiled shyly upon receiving my praise. “Then, I’ll take my leave.”
“Wait a moment.”
I stopped him as he turned to leave after bowing.
“Roberto is your last name, then your first name?”
“Yes? My… first name?” Roberto’s face showed he was shocked that I would ask for the name of a mere knight.
I should recruit him as a trainer for Norma. I had just cleared out the incompetent trainers, so we were short on staff. I planned to pick out the smart ones from the duke’s knights, so this was perfect.
“Yes, your name.”
“I am Phil Roberto.”
Phil Roberto.
“Got it. You may go.”
I watched his retreating figure for a moment. Even among the servants within the duchy, there were countless. So, I asked for his name as well as his surname, thinking it would be difficult to identify him by surname alone.
Moreover, his name is Phil. As if to ensure he wasn’t mistaken for an extra, both his surname and first name were utterly ordinary.
“Anyway, Rere.”
I took my gaze away from the man and looked at Redian again.
“…”
Redian was quietly observing Phil’s departing figure. His expressionless demeanor felt eerily cold.
“Rere?”
“…”
“Redian.”
“Ah, yes… Master.”
Only then did he turn his head upon hearing my call.
“What are you looking at?”
“No, just…”
Redian smiled as if it was nothing in response to my question.
“The name is unique.”
Unique? It’s the common name Phil.
“It’ll be easy to remember.”
His tone was as nonchalant as usual. Yet, that smile felt strangely profound.
* * *
At that moment, Luna was sitting face-to-face with Ash Benio.
“Is that how you came?”
Luna met Ash’s emotionless gaze head-on. She had rushed over in a casual robe thrown over an indoor dress. Moreover, her hair was a mess, and her makeup was smeared.
“To think you’d have such confidence when you’d barely catch my eye even if you dressed up…” Ash murmured with a sneer directed at her.
“What, did you expect me to come in some grand dress?”
Ash Benio was a man abandoned by Siani. Thus, he was utterly useless to her and lacked any charm or value.
“Just as Siani said. Lady Luna Lev, having spent so much time in the duchy, how could you…”
Luna knew what Ash was trying to say. It must be that she doesn’t look like Felicite at all. But no matter what he said, it didn’t affect Luna at all. After all, he was just a man Siani had discarded.
“I have to leave soon, so I don’t have much time. Please state your reason for coming here.”
“Older sister…”
Luna interrupted Ash, who seemed annoyed to ask. She didn’t want to waste time with Ash either.
“She said she would marry you and me.”
“What?”
“But I don’t want to marry you,” Luna spoke bluntly. There was no need to beat around the bush.
“What, Siani is going to marry off you and me?” Ash seemed quite shocked by her words and asked for a brief confirmation.
“Yes. Older sister is going to do that.”
“Nonsense…” Then, with a laugh as if he found it absurd, he brushed his hair back and asked, “What’s your scheme this time?” His gaze turned cold in an instant as he questioned her.
Luna looked at Ash and thought to herself. It’s pathetic for a grand prince to be unable to hide his own intentions. That’s why he got dumped by older sister.
Their gazes clashed sharply with each other.
WHY DIDNT RERE AND SIANI KISS 😭