“Hey, Ares.”
I called out to him cautiously. As per our previous agreement, I had decided to vent a little about my sinking mood to him.
“Yeah?”
Ares, holding the reins, responded comfortably without noticing my mood at all.
I felt the need to choose my words even more carefully.
“Was Leia usually someone you had to take care of?”
I tried to speak without conveying any emotion. This was the first time I had directly mentioned Leia since my association with Ares.
As Leia’s name left my lips, I could tell Ares was tensing up. If he paid attention to rumors, he probably knew as well. Just like with Metis, people expected Ares to be involved with Leia.
Ares remained silent, perhaps choosing his words carefully. Only the sound of hooves and carriage wheels echoed in the dark streets.
I also kept silent, waiting for Ares to respond. I briefly regretted my unnecessary question, but I couldn’t sincerely smile at Ares while harboring this doubt.
Eventually, he spoke up.
“Yeah. She just moved to the city, so she’s unfamiliar with a lot of things and still quite young, so she needed a lot of help.”
He continued quickly without giving me a chance to respond.
“Do you know why you’re concerned about Leia? Probably because of the rumors, right?”
Though there was truth to it, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
The carriage slowed down a bit. As the surroundings grew quieter, Ares asked me in a calm tone.
“However, I honestly don’t quite understand why you’re having such doubts now. Can I ask for the reason?”
I replied calmly as well.
“If my words upset you, I apologize.”
“No, it’s okay. I mean it. I’m just really not sure. Did I make a mistake or something?”
I chuckled softly and shook my head.
“Not at all. It’s just that it felt awkward for me when you were looking after me so much.”
Ares didn’t respond immediately and stayed silent for a moment. Then he replied in a slightly lowered voice.
“I wanted to do more than just basic courtesy for you. I guess it felt a bit uncomfortable. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“It’s not because it’s uncomfortable. You can just do as you please, like now. The reason I brought up Leia… was because…”
To avoid any potential misunderstanding from Ares, I felt the need to explain.
“It was out of concern that you might treat me like you do Leia. She was the closest woman to you before we started seeing each other.”
Ares probably wouldn’t outright deny my words. Leia was the only woman who managed to break through his barriers and be around him under the pretext of friendship.
Instead of denying, Ares brought up something else.
“I’ll be careful not to make you worry about her. However it may sound, I’m really just friends with Leia.”
“Thanks, Ares. I’ll trust your words.”
Even though he might think of Lea as just a friend, the fact that Lea didn’t see it that way was a trap. But I didn’t want to go out of my way to teach him that.
Indeed, I didn’t like the idea of Lea somehow finding her place in Ares’s mind.
I casually tossed it out to him, like a passing remark.
“I’m just keeping in mind the rumors surrounding you and Lea. I trust you, but others might not.”
“Yeah. I’ll keep that in mind.”
I felt sorry for weighing down his mood on our way back from a joyful date.
“Sorry, Ares, for bringing up such a heavy topic out of the blue.”
I heard a soft chuckle from Ares.
“It’s okay. I actually appreciate you bringing it up. It means you trust me enough to bring up such bold topics, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, hehe.”
Ares’s carriage smoothly passed through the gates of the viscount’s mansion and up to the mansion’s entrance. A butler came out to greet me.
“You’ve arrived earlier than expected, Miss.”
Huh? I thought I was quite late, but earlier than expected…?
I turned to Ares in surprise, and he seemed oddly embarrassed.
“Rest up, Bianca. I’ll be in touch.”
And he seemed a bit rushed to leave. What were my parents talking about with him during the day?
As Ares’s carriage disappeared into the darkness, I stood at the entrance, seeing him off.
